Difference between revisions of "Daniel Ortega" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
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When Somoza was overthrown by the FSLN in July 1979, Ortega became a member of the five-person [[Junta of National Reconstruction]], which also included Sandinista militant [[Moisés Hassan]], novelist [[Sergio Ramírez]], businessman [[Alfonso Robelo]], and [[Violeta Barrios de Chamorro]], the widow of a martyred journalist. The FSLN came to dominate the junta, Robelo and Chamorro resigned, and Ortega became the ''[[de facto]]'' ruler of the country.
 
When Somoza was overthrown by the FSLN in July 1979, Ortega became a member of the five-person [[Junta of National Reconstruction]], which also included Sandinista militant [[Moisés Hassan]], novelist [[Sergio Ramírez]], businessman [[Alfonso Robelo]], and [[Violeta Barrios de Chamorro]], the widow of a martyred journalist. The FSLN came to dominate the junta, Robelo and Chamorro resigned, and Ortega became the ''[[de facto]]'' ruler of the country.
 +
To begin the task of establishing a new government, they created a Council (or {{lang|es|''junta''}}) of National Reconstruction, made up of five appointed members. Three of the appointed members belonged to FSLN, which included – Sandinista militants [[Daniel Ortega]], [[Moises Hassan]], and novelist [[Sergio Ramírez]] (a member of [[Los Doce]] "the Twelve").  Two opposition members, businessman [[Alfonso Robelo]], and [[Violeta Barrios de Chamorro]] (the widow of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro), were also appointed.  Only three votes were needed to pass law.
 +
The FSLN also established a Council of State, subordinate to the junta, which was composed of representative bodies.  However, the Council of State only gave political parties twelve of forty-seven seats, the rest of the seats were given to Sandinista mass-organizations. <ref name="autogenerated3">{{cite journal|author=Williams, Philip|title=Dual Transition from Authoritarian Rule: Popular and Electoral Democracy in Nicaragua)|publisher=Comparative Politics|year=1994|month=January|volume=26|number=2|pages=177}}</ref> Of the twelve seats reserved for political parties, only three were not allied to the FSLN. <ref name="autogenerated3" /> Due to the rules governing the Council of State, in 1980 both non-FSLN junta members resigned. Nevertheless, as of the 1982 State of Emergency, opposition parties were no longer given representation in the council.<ref name="autogenerated3" />
 +
The preponderance of power also remained with the Sandinistas through their mass organizations, including the Sandinista Workers' Federation ({{lang|es|''Central Sandinista de Trabajadores''}}), the Luisa Amanda Espinoza Nicaraguan Women's Association ({{lang|es|''Asociación de Mujeres Nicaragüenses Luisa Amanda Espinoza''}}), the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers ({{lang|es|''Unión Nacional de Agricultores y Ganaderos''}}), and most importantly the Sandinista Defense Committees (CDS). The Sandinista controlled mass organizations were extremely influential over civil society and saw their power and popularity peak in the mid-1980s. <ref name="autogenerated3" />
 +
 +
Upon assuming power, the FSLNs political platform included the following, nationalization of property owned by the Somozas and their collaborators; land reform; improved rural and urban working conditions; free unionization for all workers, both urban and rural; price fixing for commodities of basic necessity; improved public services, housing conditions, education; abolition of torture, political assassination and the death penalty; protection of democratic liberties; Equality for women; non-aligned foreign policy; formation of a 'popular army' under the leadership of the FSLN and Humberto Ortega.
 +
 +
The FSLN's literacy campaign, which saw teachers flood the countryside, is often noted as their greatest success. Within six months, half a million people had been taught rudimentary reading, bringing the national illiteracy rate down from over 50% to just under 12%. Over 100,000 Nicaraguans participated as literacy teachers. One of the stated aims of the literacy campaign was to create a literate electorate which would be able to make informed choices at the promised elections. The successes of the literacy campaign was recognized by [[UNESCO]] with the award of a [[Nadezhda Krupskaya]] International Prize.
 +
 +
The FSLN also created neighborhood groups similar to the Cuban [[Committees for the Defense of the Revolution]], called [[Sandinista Defense Committees]] ({{lang|es|''Comités de Defensa Sandinista''}} or CDS). Especially in the early days following the overthrow of Somoza, the CDS's served as ''de facto'' units of local governance. Their obligations included political education, the organization of Sandinista rallies, the distribution of food rations,  organization of neighborhood/regional cleanup and recreational activities, and policing to control looting, and the apprehension of counter-revolutionaries. The CDS's organized civilian defense efforts against Contra activities and a network of intelligence systems in order to apprehend their supporters. These activities led critics of the Sandinistas to argue that the CDS was a system of local spy networks for the government used to stifle political dissent, and it is true that the CDS did hold limited powers — such as the ability to suspend privileges such as driver licenses and passports — if locals refused to cooperate with the new government. After the initiation of full-scale U.S. military involvement in the Nicaraguan conflict the CDS was empowered to enforce wartime bans on political assembly and association with other political parties (i.e. — parties associated with the "Contras")..{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
 +
 +
By 1980, conflicts began to emerge between the Sandinista and non-Sandinista members of the governing junta. [[Violeta Chamorro]] and [[Alfonso Robelo]] resigned from the governing junta in 1980, and rumours began that members of the Ortega junta would consolidate power amongst themselves. These allegations spread, and rumors intensified that it was Ortega's goal to turn Nicaragua into a state modeled after [[Cuba]]n [[Communism]]. In 1979 and 1980, former Somoza supporters and ex-members of Somoza's National Guard formed irregular military forces, while the original core of the FSLN began to splinter.  Armed opposition to the Sandinista Government eventually divided into two main groups: The Fuerza Democratica Nicaraguense (FDN), a U.S. supported army formed in 1981 by  the CIA, U.S. State Department, and former members of the widely condemned Somoza-era Nicaraguan National Guard; and the Alianza Revolucionaria Democratica (ARDE), a group that had existed since before the FSLN and was led by Sandinista founder and former FSLN supreme commander, Eden Pastora, a.k.a. "Commander Zero".<ref>{{cite book|author=International Court Of Justice|title=Case Concerning Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua V. United States of America)|publisher=United Nations Press|year=2000|month=January|isbn=9-21070826-1|page=512}}</ref> and Milpistas, former anti-Somoza rural militias, which eventually formed the largest pool of recruits for the Contras.  Although independent and often at conflict with each other, these guerrilla bands — along with a few others — all became generally known as "Contras" (short for "{{lang|es|contrarrevolucionarios}}", en. "counter-revolutionaries").<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Timothy C.|title=When the Ak-47s Fall Silent: Revolutionaries, Guerrillas, and the Dangers of Peace|publisher=Hoover Institute Press|year=2000|month=October|isbn=0-81799842-X|page=162}}</ref>
 +
 +
The opposition militias were initially organized and largely remained segregated according to regional affiliation and political backgrounds.  They  conducted attacks on economic, military, and civilian targets.  During the Contra war, the Sandinistas arrested suspected members of the Contra militias and censored publications they accused of collaborating with the enemy (i.e. the U.S., the FDN, and ARDE, among others).
  
 
In 1981, [[United States|U.S.]] President [[Ronald Reagan]] condemned the FSLN for joining with [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-backed [[Cuba]] in supporting [[Marxism|Marxist]] revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries such as [[El Salvador]]. The Reagan Administration authorized the [[CIA]] to begin financing, arming and training rebels, some of whom were former officers from Somoza's National Guard, as anti-Sandinista guerrillas. These were known collectively as the [[Contra (guerrillas)|Contras]]. This also led to one of the largest political scandals in US history, (Iran-Gate or the [[Iran Contra Affair]]), when [[Oliver North]] and several  members of the Reagan Administration defied the [[Boland Amendment]], and going against the [[US Congress]], helped sell arms to [[Iran]], using the proceeds to fund the [[Contras]]. Between 1980 and 1989, over 30,000 Nicaraguans died in the conflict between the Sandinista government and the Contras. <ref>Thomas Walker, ''Nicaragua: Living in the Shadow of the Eagle'', 4th Ed. (Westview Press, 2003)</ref>
 
In 1981, [[United States|U.S.]] President [[Ronald Reagan]] condemned the FSLN for joining with [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-backed [[Cuba]] in supporting [[Marxism|Marxist]] revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries such as [[El Salvador]]. The Reagan Administration authorized the [[CIA]] to begin financing, arming and training rebels, some of whom were former officers from Somoza's National Guard, as anti-Sandinista guerrillas. These were known collectively as the [[Contra (guerrillas)|Contras]]. This also led to one of the largest political scandals in US history, (Iran-Gate or the [[Iran Contra Affair]]), when [[Oliver North]] and several  members of the Reagan Administration defied the [[Boland Amendment]], and going against the [[US Congress]], helped sell arms to [[Iran]], using the proceeds to fund the [[Contras]]. Between 1980 and 1989, over 30,000 Nicaraguans died in the conflict between the Sandinista government and the Contras. <ref>Thomas Walker, ''Nicaragua: Living in the Shadow of the Eagle'', 4th Ed. (Westview Press, 2003)</ref>

Revision as of 04:51, 17 September 2008

Daniel Ortega
[[Image:{{{image name}}}|225px|center|Daniel Ortega]]
President of Nicaragua
Term of office {{{date1}}} – {{{date2}}}
Preceded by {{{preceded}}}
Succeeded by {{{succeeded}}}
Date of birth {{{date of birth}}}
Place of birth {{{place of birth}}}
Date of death {{{date of death}}}
Place of death {{{place of death}}}
Spouse {{{wife}}}
Political party FSLN

José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (pronounced [xoˈse ðanjεl ɔrteγa saˈβeðra])(born 11 November 1945) is the current President of Nicaragua. For much of his life, he has been a leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional or FSLN).

After a popular rebellion resulted in the overthrow and exile of dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, Ortega became a member of the ruling multipartisan junta and was later elected president, serving from 1985 to 1990. His first period in office was characterized by a controversial program of land reform and wealth redistribution, hostility from the United States, and armed rebellion by U.S.-backed Contras.

Ortega was defeated by Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in the 1990 presidential election, but he remained an important figure in Nicaraguan opposition politics. He was an unsuccessful candidate for president in 1996 and 2001 before winning the 2006 presidential election. [1]

Personal life

Early years

Ortega was born to a middle-class family in La Libertad, department of Chontales, Nicaragua. His parents, Daniel Ortega and Lidia Saavedra, were in opposition to the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. His mother was imprisoned by the Somoza's National Guard for being in possession of love letters which the police insisted were coded political missives. He has two brothers, Humberto Ortega, former General, military leader and published writer, and Camilo Ortega, who died during combat in 1978. Ortega was arrested for political activities at the early age of 15. In 1963, he attended the Universidad Centroamericana in Managua, where he studied law,[2] and quickly joined the then-underground FSLN.[3] Ortega was imprisoned in 1967 for taking part in robbing a branch of the Bank of America brandishing a machine gun, but was released in late 1974 along with other Sandinista prisoners in exchange for Somocista hostages. While he was imprisoned at the El Modelo jail, just outside of Managua, he wrote poems, one of which he titled "I Never Saw Managua When Miniskirts Were in Fashion".[4]

After his release, Ortega was exiled to Cuba, where he received several months of guerrilla training. He later returned to Nicaragua secretly.[5] Ortega married Rosario Murillo in 1978 but remarried her in 2005 to have the marriage recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. The couple has eight children.[2][6] She is currently the government's spokeswoman, government minister, among other positions.[7][8]

The Sandinista revolution (1979-1990)

For more details on Ortega’s past presidency, see Sandinista National Liberation Front.

When Somoza was overthrown by the FSLN in July 1979, Ortega became a member of the five-person Junta of National Reconstruction, which also included Sandinista militant Moisés Hassan, novelist Sergio Ramírez, businessman Alfonso Robelo, and Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, the widow of a martyred journalist. The FSLN came to dominate the junta, Robelo and Chamorro resigned, and Ortega became the de facto ruler of the country. To begin the task of establishing a new government, they created a Council (or junta) of National Reconstruction, made up of five appointed members. Three of the appointed members belonged to FSLN, which included – Sandinista militants Daniel Ortega, Moises Hassan, and novelist Sergio Ramírez (a member of Los Doce "the Twelve"). Two opposition members, businessman Alfonso Robelo, and Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (the widow of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro), were also appointed. Only three votes were needed to pass law. The FSLN also established a Council of State, subordinate to the junta, which was composed of representative bodies. However, the Council of State only gave political parties twelve of forty-seven seats, the rest of the seats were given to Sandinista mass-organizations. [9] Of the twelve seats reserved for political parties, only three were not allied to the FSLN. [9] Due to the rules governing the Council of State, in 1980 both non-FSLN junta members resigned. Nevertheless, as of the 1982 State of Emergency, opposition parties were no longer given representation in the council.[9] The preponderance of power also remained with the Sandinistas through their mass organizations, including the Sandinista Workers' Federation (Central Sandinista de Trabajadores), the Luisa Amanda Espinoza Nicaraguan Women's Association (Asociación de Mujeres Nicaragüenses Luisa Amanda Espinoza), the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers (Unión Nacional de Agricultores y Ganaderos), and most importantly the Sandinista Defense Committees (CDS). The Sandinista controlled mass organizations were extremely influential over civil society and saw their power and popularity peak in the mid-1980s. [9]

Upon assuming power, the FSLNs political platform included the following, nationalization of property owned by the Somozas and their collaborators; land reform; improved rural and urban working conditions; free unionization for all workers, both urban and rural; price fixing for commodities of basic necessity; improved public services, housing conditions, education; abolition of torture, political assassination and the death penalty; protection of democratic liberties; Equality for women; non-aligned foreign policy; formation of a 'popular army' under the leadership of the FSLN and Humberto Ortega.

The FSLN's literacy campaign, which saw teachers flood the countryside, is often noted as their greatest success. Within six months, half a million people had been taught rudimentary reading, bringing the national illiteracy rate down from over 50% to just under 12%. Over 100,000 Nicaraguans participated as literacy teachers. One of the stated aims of the literacy campaign was to create a literate electorate which would be able to make informed choices at the promised elections. The successes of the literacy campaign was recognized by UNESCO with the award of a Nadezhda Krupskaya International Prize.

The FSLN also created neighborhood groups similar to the Cuban Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, called Sandinista Defense Committees (Comités de Defensa Sandinista or CDS). Especially in the early days following the overthrow of Somoza, the CDS's served as de facto units of local governance. Their obligations included political education, the organization of Sandinista rallies, the distribution of food rations, organization of neighborhood/regional cleanup and recreational activities, and policing to control looting, and the apprehension of counter-revolutionaries. The CDS's organized civilian defense efforts against Contra activities and a network of intelligence systems in order to apprehend their supporters. These activities led critics of the Sandinistas to argue that the CDS was a system of local spy networks for the government used to stifle political dissent, and it is true that the CDS did hold limited powers — such as the ability to suspend privileges such as driver licenses and passports — if locals refused to cooperate with the new government. After the initiation of full-scale U.S. military involvement in the Nicaraguan conflict the CDS was empowered to enforce wartime bans on political assembly and association with other political parties (i.e. — parties associated with the "Contras")..[citation needed]

By 1980, conflicts began to emerge between the Sandinista and non-Sandinista members of the governing junta. Violeta Chamorro and Alfonso Robelo resigned from the governing junta in 1980, and rumours began that members of the Ortega junta would consolidate power amongst themselves. These allegations spread, and rumors intensified that it was Ortega's goal to turn Nicaragua into a state modeled after Cuban Communism. In 1979 and 1980, former Somoza supporters and ex-members of Somoza's National Guard formed irregular military forces, while the original core of the FSLN began to splinter. Armed opposition to the Sandinista Government eventually divided into two main groups: The Fuerza Democratica Nicaraguense (FDN), a U.S. supported army formed in 1981 by the CIA, U.S. State Department, and former members of the widely condemned Somoza-era Nicaraguan National Guard; and the Alianza Revolucionaria Democratica (ARDE), a group that had existed since before the FSLN and was led by Sandinista founder and former FSLN supreme commander, Eden Pastora, a.k.a. "Commander Zero".[10] and Milpistas, former anti-Somoza rural militias, which eventually formed the largest pool of recruits for the Contras. Although independent and often at conflict with each other, these guerrilla bands — along with a few others — all became generally known as "Contras" (short for "contrarrevolucionarios", en. "counter-revolutionaries").[11]

The opposition militias were initially organized and largely remained segregated according to regional affiliation and political backgrounds. They conducted attacks on economic, military, and civilian targets. During the Contra war, the Sandinistas arrested suspected members of the Contra militias and censored publications they accused of collaborating with the enemy (i.e. the U.S., the FDN, and ARDE, among others).

In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan condemned the FSLN for joining with Soviet-backed Cuba in supporting Marxist revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries such as El Salvador. The Reagan Administration authorized the CIA to begin financing, arming and training rebels, some of whom were former officers from Somoza's National Guard, as anti-Sandinista guerrillas. These were known collectively as the Contras. This also led to one of the largest political scandals in US history, (Iran-Gate or the Iran Contra Affair), when Oliver North and several members of the Reagan Administration defied the Boland Amendment, and going against the US Congress, helped sell arms to Iran, using the proceeds to fund the Contras. Between 1980 and 1989, over 30,000 Nicaraguans died in the conflict between the Sandinista government and the Contras. [12]

In November 1984, Ortega called national elections; he won the presidency with 63% of the vote and took office on January 10, 1985. According to the vast majority of independent observers, the 1984 elections were perhaps the freest and fairest in Nicaraguan history. A report by an Irish parliamentary delegation stated: "The electoral process was carried out with total integrity. The seven parties participating in the elections represented a broad spectrum of political ideologies." The general counsel of New York's Human Rights Commission described the election as "free, fair and hotly contested." A study by the U.S. Latin American Studies Association (LASA) concluded that the FSLN (Sandinista Front) "did little more to take advantage of its incumbency than incumbent parties everywhere (including the U.S.) routinely do."

Thirty-three percent of the Nicaraguan voters cast ballots for one of six opposition parties—three to the right of the Sandinistas, three to the left—which had campaigned with the aid of government funds and free TV and radio time. Two conservative parties captured a combined 23 percent of the vote. They held rallies across the country (a few of which were disrupted by FSLN supporters) and blasted the Sandinistas in terms far harsher than Walter Mondale's 1984 critiques of incumbent U.S. President Reagan. Most foreign and independent observers noted this pluralism in debunking the Reagan administration charge – prominent in the U.S. press – that it was a "Soviet-style sham" election.[13] Some opposition parties boycotted it, under pressure from U.S. embassy officials, and it was denounced as being unfair by the Reagan administration.[14] Reagan thus maintained that he was justified to continue supporting the Contras' "democratic resistance".[15]

Interim years

File:Ortega Daniel.jpg
Celebrating May 1, 2005, in the Plaza of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba.

In the 1990 presidential election, Ortega lost to Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, his former colleague in the junta. Chamorro was supported by a 14-party anti-Sandinista alliance known as the National Opposition Union (Unión Nacional Opositora, UNO), an alliance that ranged from conservatives and liberals to communists. Contrary to most pre-election polling data, Chamorro surprised Ortega and won the election. Pollsters later admitted that some of those polled had given them false information fearing retribution for expressing anti-government sentiments. In Ortega's concession speech the following day he vowed to keep "ruling from below" a reference to the power that the FSLN still wielded in various sectors. He was also quoted saying:

...We leave victorious... because we Sandinistas have spilled blood and sweat not to cling to government posts, but to bring Latin America a little dignity, a little social justice.

Daniel Ortega[4]

Ortega ran for election again, in October 1996 and November 2001, but lost on both occasions to Arnoldo Alemán and Enrique Bolaños, respectively. In these elections, a key issue was the allegation of corruption. In Ortega’s last days as president, through a series of legislative acts known as “The Piñata,” estates that had been seized by the Sandinista government (some valued at millions and even billions US$) became the private property of various FSLN officials, including Ortega himself.

Ortega's policies became more moderate during his time in opposition. After the collapse of the Soviet Union he gradually reduced much of his former Marxist rhetoric in favor of an agenda of more moderate democratic socialism. His Roman Catholic faith has become more intense in recent years as well, leading Ortega to embrace a variety of socially conservative policies; in 2006 the FSLN endorsed a strict law banning all abortions in Nicaragua.

In 1998, Daniel Ortega's stepdaughter Zoilamérica Narváez released a 48-page report describing her allegations that Ortega had systematically sexually abused her for 9 years beginning when she was 11.[16] The case could not proceed in Nicaraguan courts because Ortega had immunity from prosecution as a member of parliament, and the five-year statute of limitations for sexual abuse and rape charges was judged to have been exceeded. Narváez's complaint was heard by the Inter American Human Rights Commission on March 4, 2002. [17]

In 2006, Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, expressed concern that election of Ortega, described as having "highly substantiated" charges of sexual abuse raised against him, to the Presidency of Nicaragua, could undermine worldwide NGO efforts against child abuse and sexual violence.[18]

Current activities

FSLN-PLC Alliance in the National Assembly

Ortega was instrumental in creating the controversial strategic pact between the FSLN and the Constitutional Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Constitucionalista, PLC).

The controversial alliance of Nicaragua's two major parties aimed at distributing the powers between the PLC and FSLN, and preventing other parties from rising. "El Pacto," as it is known in Nicaragua, is said to have personally benefited former presidents Ortega and Alemán greatly, while constraining then president Enrique Bolaños. One of the key accords of the pact was to lower the percentage necessary to win a presidential election in the first round from 45% to 35%, a change in electoral law that would become decisive in Ortega's favor in the 2006 elections.

2006 Presidential Election

The 2006 Nicaraguan presidential election was held on November 5 2006. FSLN presidential candidate Ortega was the victor in the November elections, having attained 37.99% of the votes cast. The Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) gained 28.30%, the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC) won 27.11%, the Movement for Sandinista renewal (MRS) 6.29% and the Alternative for Change (AC) 0.29%. The FSLN were the party out in force to celebrate a victory the night after the election took place on November 6. Following his election, Ortega was congratulated by Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, and Fidel Castro, then-president of Cuba.[19].

Herty Lewites—who was also running for president prior to his death in July 2006—suggested that Ortega's pact with Alemán had given Ortega de facto control of the bodies responsible for administering the election, and thus that Ortega would most likely have been the winner. Under the old law, Ortega would have gone to a second round against Eduardo Montealegre (he would have needed 45% instead of 35%.) International observers, including the Carter Center, judged the election to be free and fair. Ortega was congratulated by telephone by Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, who chanted "long live the Sandinista revolution!" The White House confirmed on January 8, 2007 that U.S. President Bush also had called Ortega to congratulate him on his election victory.

Ortega's second presidency

While supporting abortion rights during his presidency during the 1980s, Ortega has since embraced the Catholic church's position of strong opposition.[20] While non-emergency abortions have long been illegal in Nicaragua, recently even abortions "in the case where the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life" have been made illegal in the days before the election, with a six year prison term in such cases too–a move supported by Ortega.[21]

In his first week as President of Nicaragua, Ortega met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The two heads of state toured shantytowns in Managua. Ortega told the press that the "revolutions of Iran and Nicaragua are almost twin revolutions...since both revolutions are about justice, liberty, self-determination, and the struggle against imperialism."[22]

As of June 2007, a CID-Gallup survey published in the Managua daily La Prensa found that Ortega's approval level had dropped significantly, 26% of Nicaraguans having a positive image of his handling of the job, 36% a negative impression, and the remaining a neutral impression. The poll also indicated that 54% were still optimistic about Ortega and the government, in particular the health and education policies. Additionally, 57% of Nicaraguans believed the country is on the "wrong track," and only 31% believed that the country is on the "right track." CID-Gallup surveyed 1,258 people throughout the country and had a margin of error of more or less 2.5%.[23]

On March 6, 2008, following the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis, Ortega announced that Nicaragua was breaking diplomatic ties with Colombia "in solidarity with the Ecuadoran people."[24] Ortega also stated, "We are not breaking relations with the Colombian people. We are breaking relations with the terrorist policy practiced by Alvaro Uribe's government."[25] The relations were restored with the resolution at a Rio Group summit held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on March 7, 2008. At the summit Colombia's Álvaro Uribe, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Ortega publicly shook hands in a show of good will. The handshakes, broadcast live throughout Latin America, appeared to be a signal that a week of military buildups and diplomatic repercussions was over. After the handshakes, Ortega said he would re-establish diplomatic ties with Colombia.[26][27]

On May 25, 2008, Ortega, upon learning of the death of FARC guerrilla leader Manuel Marulanda in Colombia, expressed condolences to the family of Marulanda and solidarity with the FARC and called Marulanda an extraordinary fighter who battled against profound inequalities in Colombia.[28][29] The declarations were protested by the Colombian government and criticized in the major Colombian media outlets because FARC actions are deemed criminal.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  1. ↑ Ortega wins Nicaraguan election: Nicaragua's former leader, Daniel Ortega, has won the country's presidential election 8 November 2006
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Five facts about Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega", Reuters. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  3. ↑ "Daniel Ortega Saavedra, candidato presidencial del FSLN", La Prensa, 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2007-05-11. (written in Spanish)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Vulliamy, Ed, "Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega; In the Lions' Den Again". Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  5. ↑ "Hispanic Heritage in the Americas: Ortega, Daniel", Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  6. ↑ "Cardenal Obando caso a Daniel Ortega y poetisa Rosario Murillo", Cardinal Rating, 2005-09-28. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  7. ↑ "Iran and Nicaragua in barter deal", BBC News. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  8. ↑ "Nicaragua-Venezuela Talk Cooperation", Prensa Latina. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Williams, Philip (January 1994). Dual Transition from Authoritarian Rule: Popular and Electoral Democracy in Nicaragua) 26: 177.
  10. ↑ International Court Of Justice (January 2000). Case Concerning Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicaragua V. United States of America). United Nations Press. ISBN 9-21070826-1. 
  11. ↑ Brown, Timothy C. (October 2000). When the Ak-47s Fall Silent: Revolutionaries, Guerrillas, and the Dangers of Peace. Hoover Institute Press. ISBN 0-81799842-X. 
  12. ↑ Thomas Walker, Nicaragua: Living in the Shadow of the Eagle, 4th Ed. (Westview Press, 2003)
  13. ↑ 'The Sandinistas won't submit to free elections' Article from "Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting" ]. November 1987
  14. ↑ Ronald Reagan. Remarks Following Discussions With President Jose Napoleon Duarte of El Salvador. May 16, 1985
  15. ↑ "Aid to the Nicaraguan Democratic Resistance", U.S. Department of State Bulletin, October 1987. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
  16. ↑ Hilton, Isabel, "The sins of Nicaragua's fathers", BBC News, 1999-04-19. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  17. ↑ "Zoilamerica Narvaez presents her case at the Inter-American", NicaNet, 2002-03-11. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  18. ↑ "Nicaraguan Vote Could Send Wrong Message on Child Abuse", Human Rights Tribune, 2006-11-03. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  19. ↑ BBC Article Second chance for Nicaragua's Ortega
  20. ↑ Nicaragua brings in abortion ban: Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños has signed into law a ban on all abortions, even in cases when a woman's life is judged to be at risk 18 November 2006
  21. ↑ Abortion Outlawed in Nicaragua Ten Days Before Controversial Elections 27 October 2006
  22. ↑ Nicaragua e Iran, "Unión Invencible" Hauser, Karim BBC Mundo, June 2007
  23. ↑ "Dramática caída de Ortega" June 20, 2007 La Prensa
  24. ↑ "Nicaragua breaks diplomatic relations with Colombia" March 6, 2008 CNN
  25. ↑ Mu, Xuequan, "Nicaragua breaks off relations with Colombian gov't", Xinhua News. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
  26. ↑ "Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela Agree to End Border Crisis", VOA, 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  27. ↑ "Leaders say Colombia crisis over", BBC News, 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  28. ↑ Bridges, Tyler, "Colombian rebels' loss of leader ends an era", Miami Herald, 2008-05-25.
  29. ↑ "Ortega expresa condolencias a FARC por muerte líder", Reuters, 2008-05-25. (written in spanish)

External links

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Political offices
Preceded by:
Francisco Urcuyo 		Member of the Junta of National Reconstruction
1979 – 1985 		Succeeded by:
Office abolished
Preceded by:
Junta of National Reconstruction 		President of Nicaragua
1985 – 1990 		Succeeded by:
Violeta Chamorro
Preceded by:
Enrique Bolaños 		President of Nicaragua
2007 – present 		Incumbent
Presidents and Heads of State of Nicaragua
Fruto Chamorro ·Francisco Castellón in León ·Nazario Escoto in León ·José María Estrada ·Patricio Rivas ·William Walker ·Patricio Rivas ·Tomás Martínez and Máximo Jerez Junta ·Fernando Guzmán ·José Vicente Cuadra ·Pedro Joaquín Chamorro ·Joaquín Zavala ·Adán Cárdenas ·Evaristo Carazo ·Nicolás Osorno ·Roberto Sacasa ·Ignacio Chávez ·Roberto Sacasa ·Junta ·Salvador Machado ·Joaquín Zavala ·José Santos Zelaya ·José Madriz ·José Dolores Estrada ·Luis Mena ·Juan José Estrada ·Adolfo Díaz ·Emiliano Chamorro ·Diego Manuel Chamorro ·Rosendo Chamorro ·Bartolomé Martínez ·Carlos José Solórzano ·Emiliano Chamorro ·Sebastián Uriza ·Adolfo Díaz ·José María Moncada ·Juan Bautista Sacasa ·Carlos Alberto Brenes ·Anastasio Somoza García ·Leonardo Argüello ·Benjamín Lacayo ·Víctor Manuel Román ·Manuel Fernando Zurita ·Anastasio Somoza García ·Luis Somoza ·René Schick ·Orlando Montenegro ·Lorenzo Guerrero ·Anastasio Somoza Debayle ·Liberal-Conservative Junta ·Anastasio Somoza Debayle ·Francisco Urcuyo ·Junta of National Reconstruction ·Daniel Ortega ·Violeta Chamorro ·Arnoldo Alemán ·Enrique Bolaños ·Daniel Ortega
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Persondata
NAME Ortega, Daniel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ortega Saavedra, Jose Daniel (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION President of Nicaragua
DATE OF BIRTH November 11 1945 (1945-11-11) (age 78)
PLACE OF BIRTH La Libertad, Chontales, Nicaragua
DATE OF DEATH living
PLACE OF DEATH

categor:Politics

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