Emiliano Chamorro

Chamorro, Emiliano (āmēlyä'nō chämō'rō), 1871-1966, president of Nicaragua (1917-20, 1926). A conservative army chief, Chamorro supported the revolt (1909) against José Santos Zelaya. Originally at odds with the United States, he was a signer of the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty, which granted the United States an option on the Nicaragua Canal. He seized power by coup in 1925, but fled from office after the United States ordered gunboats to the country the next year.