Daniel Ortega

Who2 Biography: Daniel Ortega, Political Leader / President of Nicaragua

Born: 11 November 1945
Birthplace: La Libertad, Nicaragua
Best Known As: President of Nicaragua, 1985-90, 2007-present

Name at birth: José Daniel Ortega Saavedra

Daniel Ortega has been Nicaragua's most internationally-famous political figure since the 1980s. He has twice been elected the country's president: in 1984 and again in 2006. From an early age Ortega was a political aspirant with revolutionary leanings, ditching college in 1963 to work with the underground political group called Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (also called the Sandinista National Liberation Front, the FSLN or, popularly, the Sandinistas). Ortega emerged as a leader in the urban resistance campaign against the U.S.-trained forces of the ruling Somoza family, but in 1967 he was jailed for bank robbery and then exiled to Cuba for seven years. The Sandinistas came to power in 1979 by overthrowing Anastasio Somoza Debayle, and Ortega was elected president in 1984. Ortega's years in office were dominated by the civil war and factional turmoil. In addition, the FSLN and Ortega were condemned by U.S. president Ronald Reagan for their Marxist ideology and their close ties to the Soviet Union and Fidel Castro of Cuba. The U.S. financed a group of counter-revolutionaries, or Contras, using funds obtained by selling weapons to Iran in an illegal scheme run by Oliver North. (This became the Iran-Contra scandal in the U.S. in 1986-87.) Ortega lost his bid for re-election in 1990. The FSLN remained the biggest political party in Nicaragua but was dogged by accusations of corruption, and Ortega lost two more presidential races in 1996 and 2001. Ortega was finally able to cobble together enough unlikely political alliances to regain the presidency in the elections of November 2006. Ortega has toned down his anti-capitalist stance over the years, but his ties to Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez aggravate many American policy makers, especially those in the George W. Bush administration.

The Sandinistas took their name from the revolutionary martyr Augusto Cesar Sandino (1893-1934)... Ortega won about 38% of the vote in 2006, just barely enough to avoid a second round of voting (35% is required by Nicaraguan law)... In 1998 his grown step-daughter, Zoilamérica Narvaez Murillo, accused Ortega of sexually molesting her between 1979 and 1990. Ortega denied the charges and as a member of the National Assembly was immune from criminal prosecution.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: José Daniel Ortega Saavedra

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(born Nov. 11, 1945, La Libertad, Nic.) President of Nicaragua (1984 – 90; 2007 – ). In 1963 he became a member of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and organized urban resistance to the corrupt dictatorship of the Somoza family. Jailed and later exiled, he returned secretly to Nicaragua and helped unite opposition to Somoza. After the Sandinistas prevailed in 1979, he coordinated the ruling junta; in 1984 he was elected Nicaragua's president. U.S. efforts to destabilize his government led to economic hardship and a protracted war, and Ortega lost his bids for reelection in 1990, 1996, and 2001. He regained power after winning the presidential election of 2006. See also Violeta Chamorro; contras.

For more information on José Daniel Ortega Saavedra, visit Britannica.com.

Biography: Daniel Ortega

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Daniel Ortega (born 1945) joined the revolutionary Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación National - FSLN) in 1963, helped lead its overthrow of the Somoza dynasty, and was elected president of Nicaragua on November 4, 1984.

Daniel Ortega Saavedra was born on November 11, 1945, in the mining and ranching town of La Libertad, Nicaragua, in the municipality of Chontales. He was the third son of Daniel Ortega Serda, an accountant for a mining firm. The family later moved to Managua, where his father owned a small export-import business.

Ortega received his education in private and Catholic schools. He was an active Catholic during his youth, becoming a catechist and giving Bible studies to those who lived in poor neighborhoods. His seriousness, intelligence, oratorical skills, and religious devotion suggested to many that he would become a priest. He made good grades, but his parents sent him to four different high schools - trying fruitlessly to keep him out of a growing student opposition movement in the late 1950s. Ortega studied law for one year at Managua's Jesuit-run Central American University (c. 1961), but abandoned his formal education for revolutionary politics.

Much of the Ortega family had revolutionary credentials. Father Daniel fought in A.C. Sandino's 1927-1934 rebellion against U.S. occupation of Nicaragua, for which he served three months in prison. Daniel's younger brothers, Humberto (born 1948) and Camilo (born 1950) also became Sandinista revolutionaries. Humberto, a top military strategist, eventually became minister of defense of the revolutionary government, beginning in 1979. Camilo died fighting in the insurrection (1978). Their mother, Lidia Saavedra, became active in the 1970s in protests and went to jail for these actions. Daniel Ortega's wife was poetess Rosario Murillo; they had seven children. She worked with the FSLN after 1969 and was captured by the Somoza regime's security forces in 1979. After the victory she became general secretary of the Sandinista Cultural Workers Association and in 1985 became an FSLN delegate in the National Assembly.

Revolutionary Activity

After the 1956 assassination of Anastasio Somoza Garcia, founder of the Somoza dynasty, Luis Somoza Debayle succeeded his father as president and Anastasio Somoza Debayle assumed command of the National Guard. They terrorized suspected opponents of the regime to avenge their father's death. Repression kindled opposition, which surfaced after Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista regime in 1959. Ortega, still in high school in Managua in 1959, took part in a widespread student struggle against the Somoza regime. The protests of 1959 were organized by the Nicaraguan Patriotic Youth (Juventud Patriótico Nicaragüense - JPN), which Ortega joined in 1960. JPN members later took part in several guerrilla insurgent movements, but only the FSLN survived. In 1960 Ortega was captured and tortured for his role in the protests. Not deterred from his opposition to the Somoza dynasty, he helped establish the Nicaraguan Revolutionary Youth (Juventud Revolucionaria Nicaragüense - JRN), along with the FSLN's Marxist founders Carlos Fonseca Amador and Tomás Borge Martínez. In 1961 Ortega was again arrested and tortured by the regime. But by 1962 he was again organizing JRN revolutionary cells in Managua's poor barrios.

In 1963 Ortega was recruited into the FSLN, a Marxist-Leninist vanguard revolutionary party committed to the armed overthrow of the Somozas. He helped organize the Federation of Secondary Students (Federación de Estudiantes de Secundaria - FES) and was again arrested and tortured. In 1964 he was captured in Guatemala with other Sandinistas and deported to Nicaragua, again to be imprisoned and tortured. Free in 1965, he cofounded the newspaper El Estudiante (The Student), the official paper of the Revolutionary Student Front (Frente Estudiantil Revolucionario - FER), the university support wing of the FSLN. By 1965 he had earned sufficient respect from other top Sandinistas that they named him to the FSLN's Dirección Nacional (National Directorate), the organization's top policy council.

In 1966-1967 Ortega headed the Internal Front, an urban underground that robbed several banks and in 1967 assassinated Gonzalo Lacayo, a reputed National Guard torturer. In November 1967 the security police captured Ortega, and he was given a lengthy sentence for the Lacayo killing. During his seven years in prison he and other Sandinistas exercised, wrote poetry, studied, and continued political activity - including resistance within the prison. During the seven years Ortega spent in jail the FSLN developed and grew. In a December 1974 commando raid in Managua, the FSLN took hostage several top regime officials and Somoza kin. The hostages were freed in exchange for a $5 million ransom, publicity, and the freedom of many Sandinistas, including Ortega and Tomás Borge.

In 1974 President Anastasio Somoza Debayle declared a state of siege (1974-1977) and sharply increased repression of opponents. Under fierce persecution and with many of its elements isolated, the FSLN began to develop different "tendencies" (factions) based on different political-military strategies. In 1975 Ortega rejoined the National Directorate. The next year he resumed clandestine organizing in Managua and Masaya. He helped his brother Humberto and others shape the strategy of the Tercerista (Third Force) tendency of the FSLN. The Terceristas allied with the rapidly growing non-Marxist opposition, and their ranks swelled. Militarily much bolder than the other tendencies in 1977-1978, the Terceristas helped spark a general popular insurrection in September and October of 1978.

Ortega helped form and lead the Terceristas' northern front campaign in 1977, and in 1978-1979 helped lead the rapidly expanding southern front. The FSLN's three tendencies reunited in early 1979 as popular rebellion spread. Daniel and Humberto Ortega became members of the new, joint National Directorate. During the final offensive in June 1979 Ortega was named to the junta of the rebel coalition's National Reconstruction Government. On July 19 the Somoza regime collapsed and the junta took over the shattered nation.

Role in Revolutionary Government

Ortega served on the junta of the National Reconstruction Government from 1979 until its dissolution in January 1985 and was the key liaison between the junta and the National Directorate, which set general policy guidelines for the revolution. In 1981 Ortega became coordinator of the junta, consolidating his leadership role. Within the National Directorate he became a leader of a pragmatic majority faction and emerged as the directorate's and junta's major international representative and domestic policy spokesman. When the FSLN had to choose a nominee for president for the November 4, 1984 election, the directorate selected Ortega. He won with 67 percent of the vote, competing against six other candidates.

The National Directorate and the junta in 1979 adopted, and have since followed, two pragmatic policies that are unusual for a Marxist regime: the economy would be mixed - 40 percent in the public sector, 60 percent private - and political parties other than the FSLN (except those linked to the Somozas) could take part in politics and hold cabinet posts. The FSLN quickly consolidated its political advantage in the revolutionary government, fusing itself with the new Sandinista popular army and police and adding new seats to the Council of State in a move denounced by opponents as a power grab.

Ortega exercised no charismatic dominance of the Nicaraguan revolution, but gradually emerged as a first among equals within the top Sandinista leadership. A somewhat gruff and intensely private person, he showed little threat of developing the charismatic mass following that other directorate members feared. Moreover, his ability to concentrate power remained limited by the control of key ministries by other members of the National Directorate.

Ortega's sometimes abrasive or confrontational public style at times caused friction for the revolutionary government, especially with the United States. Members of the U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Central America, for example, reported that Ortega's comments during two 1983 meetings were rather hostile in tone. In contrast, his religious background and longtime acquaintance with Miguel Obando y Bravo, Archbishop of Managua, made him a useful emissary to the Catholic Church hierarchy. But relations with the Catholic Church grew increasingly strained as the Church became an outspoken critic of the Sandinistas in the early 1980s.

As president of Nicaragua, Ortega established a modern team of technical advisers; his cabinet included other top Sandinistas as well as non-Sandinistas. Ortega's rise to the presidency was regarded by many as a commitment by the FSLN's National Directorate to continue the pragmatism of 1979-1985, a sign also reflected in his moderate inaugural speech.

However, daunting problems faced the Ortega administration and the FSLN's National Directorate. Under their leadership Nicaragua expressed solidarity with other Central American rebel movements, built up its military with the help of Cuban advisers, purchased Soviet-bloc arms, increased trade and friendship with the Soviet Union, and sought to increase independence from the United States while remaining friendly with Western Europe and Latin America. U.S. disapproval, however, had severe consequences. The Reagan administration financed a revolt by 10-15,000 anti-Sandinista counterrevolutionary forces sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency. The civil war severely strained Nicaraguan domestic consensus and resources. U.S. troops maneuvered in neighboring Honduras, fueling Nicaraguans' fear of an invasion. A U.S.-engineered international credit slowdown and trade embargo, begun in May 1985, eroded an economy already shrunken by private sector fears, falling export prices, and management problems. Under such pressures, President Ortega's major task was to struggle for the mere survival of the Nicaraguan revolution in an increasingly hostile international environment.

United States aid to the "contra" forces became increasingly controversial with the 1986 disclosure of "unauthorized" funds being sent to the anti-Sandinistas. It was charged that some of the money realized from the sale of arms to Iran was siphoned off to the contras.

Unsuccessful Bid for Reelection

In February 1990 Ortega's bid for reelection was challenged by Violeta Chamorro. She questioned the Sandinistas' close links with Cuba and the Soviet Union and reached out to center and conservative parties to help defeat Ortega. A second attempt to regain power in 1996 was again unsuccessful. Twenty-three presidential candidates ran in the October 1996 elections, but Ortega and Arnoldo Alemán emerged as favorites. After several days of vote counting, Alemán was declared the winner with 51 percent of the vote; Ortega came in second with 38 percent. Ortega conceded defeat but continued to question the legitimacy of Alemán's government.

Daniel Ortega

President of Nicaragua
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 January 2007
Vice President	Jaime Morales Carazo
Preceded by	Enrique Bolaños
In office 10 January 1985 – 25 April 1990
Vice President	Sergio Ramírez
Preceded by	Junta of National Reconstruction
Succeeded by	Violeta Chamorro
Junta of National Reconstruction
In office 18 July 1979 – 10 January 1985 Alongside: Sergio Ramírez Violeta Chamorro Alfonso Robelo Arturo Cruz Moisés Hassan Rafael Rivas
Preceded by	Francisco Urcuyo
Succeeded by	Office abolished

Born	11 November 1945 (1945-11-11) (age 64) La Libertad, Chontales, Nicaragua
Political party	FSLN
Spouse(s)	Rosario Murillo

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 Somoza's National Guard for being in possession of "love letters" which the police stated 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 age of 15. ,^[2] and quickly joined the then-underground Sandinista National Liberation Front.(FSLN)^[3] He was imprisoned in 1967 for taking part in robbing a branch of the Bank of America while 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 in a secret ceremony (conducted by a Spanish priest turned guerrilla fighter)^[2] and moved to Costa Rica with her three children from a previous marriage.^[4] Ortega remarried Murillo in 2005 to have the marriage recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. The couple has eight children,^[6] three of them together.^[2] She is currently the government's spokeswoman and a government minister, among other positions.^[7]^[8] Ortega adopted stepdaughter Zoilamérica Narváez in 1986, through a court case.^[9]

Sexual abuse allegations

In 1998, Daniel Ortega's adopted stepdaughter Zoilamérica Narváez released a 48-page report^[10] describing her allegations that Ortega had systematically sexually abused her from 1979, when she was 11, until 1990.^[11] Ortega and his wife Murillo denied the allegations.^[12] 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 took a complaint to the Inter American Human Rights Commission, which was ruled admissible on 15 October 2001.^[13] On 4 March 2002 the Nicaraguan government accepted the Commission's recommendation of a friendly settlement.^[9] As of 2006 Ortega continues to deny the allegations, but Narváez has not withdrawn them.^[12]

In 2006, Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, expressed concern that the 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.^[14]

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.

In 1981, United States President Ronald Reagan accused the FSLN of joining with Soviet-backed Cuba in supporting Marxist revolutionary movements in other Latin American countries such as El Salvador, although no proof was provided. People within the Reagan administration authorized the Central Intelligence Agency 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, (the Iran Contra Affair), when Oliver North and several members of the Reagan administration defied the Boland Amendment to sell arms to Iran, and then used 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.^[15]

In November 1984, Ortega called national elections; he won the presidency with 63% of the vote and took office on 10 January 1985. According to many 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 US 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 harsh terms. Most foreign and independent observers noted this pluralism in debunking the Reagan administration charge – ubiquitous in the US media – that it was a "Soviet-style sham" election.^[16] Some opposition parties boycotted the election, allegedly under pressure from US embassy officials, and so it was denounced as being unfair by the Reagan administration.^[17] Reagan thus maintained that he was justified to continue supporting what he referred to as the Contras' "democratic resistance".^[18]

Interim years (1990 - 2006)

In the 1990 presidential election, Ortega lost to Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, his former colleague in the junta. Chamorro was supported by the US and 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 what most observers expected ^[19], Chamorro shocked Ortega and won the election. 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 of US dollars) became the private property of various FSLN officials, including Ortega himself.^{[citation needed]}

Ortega's policies became more moderate during his time in opposition, and he gradually changed much of his former Marxist stance in favor of an agenda of democratic socialism. His Roman Catholic faith has become more public 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.

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 is aimed at distributing power 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 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

A presidential election was held on 5 November 2006. In the run up to the election, FSLN presidential candidate Ortega converted to Catholicism and publicly "reconciled" with Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo; he also selected former Contra leader Jaime Morales Carazo as his vice-presidential candidate.^[20] Ortega won the election with 37.99% of the votes cast, fewer - both in absolute numbers and as percentage of all votes - than in his previous three attempts. The Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) won 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 was the party out in force to celebrate a victory on the following night. International observers, including the Carter Center, judged the election to be free and fair. Ortega was congratulated by President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Fidel Castro of Cuba.^[21] Chávez, who spoke by telephone, chanted "long live the Sandinista revolution!" The White House confirmed on 8 January 2007 that U.S. President George W. Bush also had called Ortega to congratulate him on his election victory.

Herty Lewites – who was also running for president before 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 won. Under the old law, Ortega would have gone to a second round against Eduardo Montealegre (he would have needed 45% instead of 35%.)

Second presidency (2006 - present)

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While supporting abortion rights during his presidency during the 1980s, Ortega has since embraced the Catholic Church's position of strong opposition.^[22] 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.^[23]

Ortega himself denies that the abortion legislation outlaws medical procedures necessary to save the woman's life if they result in the termination of pregnancy. "The medical Procedural Code, he says, is not affected by the law, and requires doctors to do what is necessary to save a woman's life if it is threatened by conditions related to her pregnancy."

He claims that the accusations that the abortion laws outlaw medical procedures necessary to save the life of the mother are part of "a media war".^[24]

Soon after his inauguration, Ortega met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The two heads of state toured shanty towns 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."^[25]

In June 2008 the Nicaraguan Supreme Electoral Council disqualified the MRS and the Conservative Party from participation.^[20] In November, 2008, the Supreme Electoral Council received national and international criticism following irregularities in municipal elections, but agreed to review results for Managua only, while the opposition demanded a nationwide review.^[26] For the first time since 1990, the Council decided not to allow national or international observers to witness the election.^[27]^[28] Instances of intimidation, violence, and harassment of opposition political party members and NGO representatives have been recorded.^[29] Official results show Sandinista candidates winning 94 of the 146 municipal mayorships, compared to 46 for the main opposition Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC).^[30] The opposition claimed that marked ballots were dumped and destroyed, that party members were refused access to some of the vote counts and that tallies from many polling places were altered.^[31] As a result of the fraud allegations, the European Union suspended $70m of aid, and the US $64m.^[32]

With the late-2000s recession, Ortega said that capitalism is in its "death throes" and the Bolivarian Alternative for the People of Our America (ALBA) is the most advanced, Christian and fairest project. He also said God was punishing the United States with the financial crisis for trying to impose its economic principles on poor countries. "It's incredible that in the most powerful country in the world, which spends billions of dollars on brutal wars ... people do not have enough money to stay in their homes."^[33]^[34]

During an interview with Sir David Frost for the Al Jazeera English programme Frost Over The World in March 2009, Ortega suggested that he would like to change the constitution to allow him to run again for president. ^[35]

Foreign policy

Ortega with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev whilst on a state visit to Russia on 18 December 2008.

On 6 March 2008, following the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis, Ortega announced that Nicaragua was breaking diplomatic ties with Colombia "in solidarity with the Ecuadoran people".^[36] Ortega also stated, "We are not breaking relations with the Colombian people. We are breaking relations with the terrorist policy practiced by Álvaro Uribe's government".^[37] The relations were restored with the resolution at a Rio Group summit held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on 7 March 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. Uribe then quipped that he would send him the bill for his ambassador's plane fare.^[38]^[39]

On 25 May 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.^[40]^[41] The declarations were protested by the Colombian government and criticized in the major Colombian media outlets because FARC actions are deemed criminal by their opponents.

On 2 September 2008, during ceremonies for the 29th anniversary of the founding of the Nicaraguan army, Ortega announced that "Nicaragua recognizes the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and fully supports the Russian government's position." Ortega's decision made Nicaragua the first country after Russia to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia.^[42] A day after Venezuela recognised the two Republics, Nicaragua established diplomatic relations with Abkhazia, and plans to establish diplomatic relations with South Ossetia.

References

^ Ortega wins Nicaraguan election: Nicaragua's former leader, Daniel Ortega, has won the country's presidential election 8 November 2006
^ ^a ^b ^c "Five facts about Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega". Reuters. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N01359367.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
^ "Daniel Ortega Saavedra, candidato presidencial del FSLN" (in Spanish). La Prensa. 2007-05-10. http://www-ni.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2006/septiembre/15/elecciones/candidatos/143891.shtml. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
^ ^a ^b ^c Vulliamy, Ed. "Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega; In the Lions' Den Again". http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0902-05.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
^ "Hispanic Heritage in the Americas: Ortega, Daniel". Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/hispanic_heritage/article-9057473. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
^ "Cardenal Obando caso a Daniel Ortega y poetisa Rosario Murillo". Cardinal Rating. 2005-09-28. http://www.cardinalrating.com/cardinal_68__article_2094.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
^ "Iran and Nicaragua in barter deal". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6931807.stm. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
^ "Nicaragua-Venezuela Talk Cooperation". Prensa Latina. http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B9FB2EF41-A435-459E-8111-4B04A12681DA%7D)&language=EN. Retrieved 2008-01-15. ""... Government minister and first lady, Rosario Murillo.""
^ ^a ^b Envio, March 2002, No 248 Case 12,230: Zoilamérica Narváez vs. the Nicaraguan State
^ (Spanish) Zoilamerica Narvaez 48-page testimony about sexual abuse; Zoilamerica Narvaez 48-page testimony about sexual abuse (in English)
^ Time, March 23, 1998, An Ugly Family Affair: Charges of sexual abuse leveled against Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega swirl atop a power struggle
^ ^a ^b The Guardian, 7 November 2006, From comandante to caudillo
^ [1]
^ "Nicaraguan Vote Could Send Wrong Message on Child Abuse". Human Rights Tribune. 2006-11-03. http://www.humanrights-geneva.info/article.php3?id_article=707. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
^ Thomas Walker, Nicaragua: Living in the Shadow of the Eagle, 4th Ed. (Westview Press, 2003)
^ 'The Sandinistas won't submit to free elections' Article from "Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting" ]. November 1987
^ Ronald Reagan. Remarks Following Discussions With President Jose Napoleon Duarte of El Salvador. 16 May 1985
^ "Aid to the Nicaraguan Democratic Resistance". U.S. Department of State Bulletin. October 1987. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1079/is_n2127_v87/ai_6101573. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
^ Alma Guillermoprieto, The Heart That Bleeds: Latin America Now, pp. 23-25
^ ^a ^b Robert Burbach, CounterPunch, 27 February 2009, Et Tu, Daniel? The Betrayal of the Sandinista Revolution
^ BBC Article Second chance for Nicaragua's Ortega
^ 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
^ Abortion Outlawed in Nicaragua Ten Days Before Controversial Elections 27 October 2006
^ http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08010804.html
^ Nicaragua e Iran, "Unión Invencible" Hauser, Karim BBC Mundo, June 2007
^ "Review follows election fraud allegations in Nicaragua". CNN. 2008-11-12. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/11/12/nicaragua.elections/. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
^ "How to steal an election". The Economist. 2008-11-13. http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12607338. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
^ "Conozca como Daniel Ortega preparo el fraude electoral". http://central-america-forum.com/forum-topic/daniel-ortega-y-el-fraude-electoral-nicaragua. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
^ Wood, Robert. "Irregularities in Nicaraguan Municipal Elections". US Department of State. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/nov/111736.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
^ Aleman, Filadelfo. "Nicaraguan opposition demands election review". Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/766863.html.
^ LA Times, 20 November 2008, Voter fraud allegations directed at Nicaragua's Sandinistas
^ Daily Times (Pakistan), 20 February 2009, COMMENT: The Mugabe of Latin America —Carlos R Chamorro
^ http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKTRE4997KH20081010
^ http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2008/october/11/reg01.htm
^ http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/frostovertheworld/2009/03/2009378501399631.html
^ "Nicaragua breaks diplomatic relations with Colombia" 6 March 2008 CNN
^ Mu, Xuequan. "Nicaragua breaks off relations with Colombian gov't". Xinhua News. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/07/content_7734634.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
^ "Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela Agree to End Border Crisis". VOA. 2008-03-07. http://voanews.com/english/2008-03-07-voa73.cfm. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
^ "Leaders say Colombia crisis over". BBC News. 2008-03-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7284597.stm. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
^ Bridges, Tyler (2008-05-25). "Colombian rebels' loss of leader ends an era". Miami Herald. http://www.miamiherald.com/519/story/546814.html.
^ "Ortega expresa condolencias a FARC por muerte líder" (in spanish). Reuters. 2008-05-25. http://espanol.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/080525/latinoamerica/latinoamerica_farc_marulanda_ortega_sol.
^ Nicaragua recognizes South Ossetia and Abkhazia

External links

La Voz del Sandinismo (Spanish)

Wikinews has related news: Nicaragua's Ortega visits Imam Khamenei in Iran

Office of the President
Extended bio by CIDOB Foundation (in Spanish)
Daniel Ortega: Sandanista leader, Nicaraguan president September 1997
Remember Daniel Ortega? He's back. September 15, 2005
An old-school Ortega keeps the pink flag flying November 2, 2006
Leftward Tilt: Political Shift in Latin America 2007
Intellectuals condemn authoritarian Ortega June 24, 2008
Et Tu, Daniel?: The Betrayal of the Sandinista Revolution by Roger Burbach, March 1 2009

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

v • d • e Presidents and heads of state of Nicaragua

Fruto Chamorro · Francisco Castellón¹ · Nazario Escoto¹ · 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

¹ in León.

v • d • e Current heads of state in Central American countries

Elizabeth II (Belize) · Óscar Arias (Costa Rica) · Mauricio Funes (El Salvador) · Álvaro Colom (Guatemala) · Roberto Micheletti [de facto] (Honduras) · Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) · Ricardo Martinelli (Panama)

Persondata
NAME	Ortega, Daniel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ortega Saavedra, Jose Daniel (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	President of Nicaragua
DATE OF BIRTH	11 November 1945 (1945-11-11) (age 64)
PLACE OF BIRTH	La Libertad, Chontales, Nicaragua
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH

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