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Violeta Chamorro

Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro (18 October 1929 – 14 June 2025) was a Nicaraguan politician. She and was President of Nicaragua from 1990 to 1996.[1] Her husband, Pedro Chamorro, was a newspaper editor. He was assassinated in 1978. She took over as editor of the paper, La Prensa.

Violeta Chamorro
File:Violeta Chamorro 1993.jpg
Chamorro in 1993
55th President of Nicaragua
In office
25 April 1990 – 10 January 1997
Vice President
Preceded byDaniel Ortega
Succeeded byArnoldo Alemán
Member of the Junta of National Reconstruction
In office
17 July 1979 – 19 April 1980
Personal details
Born
Violeta Barrios Torres

(1929-10-18)18 October 1929
Rivas, Nicaragua
Died14 June 2025(2025-06-14) (aged 95)
San José, Costa Rica
Political partyDemocratic Union of Liberation
Other political
affiliations		National Opposition Union
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1950; died 1978)​
ChildrenPedro, Claudia, Cristiana and Carlos

Early life

Violeta Barrios Torres was born on 18 October 1929 in Rivas, a small city near the Nicaraguan border with Costa Rica, to Carlos José Barrios Sacasa and Amalia Torres Hurtado.[2][3][4] Her family were rich and conservative.[4]

Presidency

Chamorro ran for president in 1990. When she announced her candidacy, many people and the media thought she could not win because she did not have any experience.[5] She was running against President Daniel Ortega.[6]

On 25 February 1990, Chamorro won the election with a 54.7% of the vote, beating Ortega.[7][8] She became the first elected woman president in the Americas.[9][10] Her victory was seen as an upset victory.[11][12] Ortega accepted the results and peacefully transferred power over to Chamorro.[13]

Two months after the election, on 25 April 1990, Chamorro was sworn into office.[14]

Death

Chamorro died on 14 June 2025 in San José, Costa Rica at the age of 95.[15]

Violeta Chamorro Media

  • Coat of arms of Nicaragua.svg

    Coat of arms of Nicaragua.

  • Peace park boy krk.jpg

    Cement-covered AK-47s held by unknown boy in Chamorro's Peace Park in central Managua

  • Cement-covered tank in Chamorro's Peace Park (Parque de la Paz) symbolizing the wish of Nicaraguans that their country "never again" be plagued by such violence.

  • Peace park bush krk.jpg

    A plaque in Chamorro's Peace Park thanking US President George H. W. Bush for his contribution to the re-establishment of democracy in Nicaragua.

  • Photograph of President William Jefferson Clinton with Presidents of Central American Nations on the State Floor of the White House - NARA - 5899990.jpg

    Chamorro with US president Bill Clinton and Central American presidents in the White House, 30 November 1993

  • Violeta Chamorro Carlos Menem.png

    Chamorro with Argentine president Carlos Menem in Colombia, June 1994

References

  1. ↑ "Indigenous Internet Chamber of Commerce". iicoc.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  2. ↑ Jalalzai, Farida (28 March 2013). Shattered, Cracked, Or Firmly Intact?: Women and the Executive Glass Ceiling Worldwide. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-19-994353-1.
  3. ↑ Pallais, María L (March–April 1992). "Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. La reinamadre de la nación" (PDF). Nueva Sociedad (in español). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Fundación Foro Nueva Sociedad (118): 89–98. ISSN 0251-3552. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Violeta Barrios de Chamorro". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  5. ↑ "The Electoral Process Gears Up". Revista Envío. Managua, Nicaragua: Central American University. 100. November 1989. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  6. ↑ Wattenberg, Ben (15 February 1990). Media Piranhas, Where Are You Now?. Orlando, Florida. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1990/02/15/media-piranhas-where-are-you-now/. Retrieved 31 August 2015. 
  7. ↑ Uhlig, Mark A. (27 February 1990). "Turnover in Nicaragua; Nicaraguan opposition routs Sandinistas; U.S. pledges aid, tied to orderly turnover". The New York Times. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFDF173DF934A15751C0A966958260. Retrieved 30 April 2010. 
  8. ↑ (in es) El legado de doña Violeta. Managua, Nicaragua: Confidencial. 25 February 2013. http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/10450/el-legado-de-dona-violeta. Retrieved 31 August 2015. 
  9. ↑ The women presidents of Latin America. London, England: BBC. 31 October 2010. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-11447598. Retrieved 1 September 2015. 
  10. ↑ "Violeta Chamorro, first female president of Nicaragua, who brought peace after years of civil war". Yahoo. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  11. ↑ "After the Poll Wars – Explaining the Upset". Revista Envío. March 1990.
  12. ↑ Gunson, Phil (15 June 2025). "Violeta Chamorro obituary". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/15/violeta-chamorro-obituary. Retrieved 15 June 2025. 
  13. ↑ Uhlig, Mark A. (28 February 1990). Turnover in Nicaragua; Sandinista Leaders, Facing Defeat, Didn't Argue, Carter Says. New York, New York. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/28/world/turnover-in-nicaragua-sandinista-leaders-facing-defeat-didn-t-argue-carter-says.html. Retrieved 1 September 2015. 
  14. ↑ Pallmeyer, Hannah (18 December 2006). A Surprising Defeat?: Using the Importance of People to Create a Better Understanding of the 1990 Electoral Defeat of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Macalester College. http://www.macalester.edu/las/facultystaff/pauldosh/courseresources/LAPResearchPaper-Pallmeyer-1.pdf. Retrieved 5 September 2015. [dead link]
  15. ↑ "Fallece expresidenta Violeta Barrios de Chamorro". La Prensa (in español). 14 June 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2025.

Other websites

Media related to Violeta Chamorro at Wikimedia Commons


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