Daniel Ortega

José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (born November 11, 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007; previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction (1979–1985) and then as President (1985–1990). A leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN), his policies in government have seen the implementation of leftist reforms across Nicaragua.

Born into a working-class family, from an early age Ortega opposed ruling President Anastasio Somoza Debayle, widely recognized as a dictator, and became involved in the underground movement against his regime. Joining the Sandinistas as a student in 1963, Ortega's urban resistance activities led to his arrest in 1967. After his release in 1974, he also travelled to Cuba to receive training in guerilla warfare from Fidel Castro's Marxist–Leninist government. He played a crucial role in forming the Insurrectionist faction, which united the FSLN and sparked the mass uprisings of 1978-1979. After the Nicaraguan Revolution resulted in the overthrow and exile of Somoza's government, Ortega became leader of the ruling multipartisan Junta of National Reconstruction. In 1984, Ortega, the FSLN candidate, won Nicaragua's free presidential election with over 60 percent of the vote. A Marxist–Leninist, his first period in office was characterized by a controversial program of nationalization, land reform, wealth redistribution and literacy programs.

Ortega's relationship with the United States was never very cordial, due to U.S. support for Somoza prior to the revolution. Although the U.S. supplied post-revolution Nicaragua with tens of millions of dollars in economic aid, relations broke down when the Sandinistas supplied weapons to leftist Salvadoran rebels (something which Ortega later admitted occurred). His government was opposed by the Contras in a vicious civil war; the Contras were funded by the Reagan administration of the United States. A joint peace proposal by the Democratic Speaker of the House Jim Wright and Ronald Reagan helped precipitate a peace agreement at a meeting of five Central American chiefs of state in July 1987, which won Costa Rican President Óscar Arias the Nobel Peace Prize. This led to free elections in which Ortega was defeated by Violeta Chamorro in the 1990 presidential election, but he remained an important figure in Nicaraguan opposition politics, gradually moderating in his political position from Marxism–Leninism to democratic socialism. Also, he restored relations with the Catholic Church, with adoption of anti-abortion policies.

Ortega was an unsuccessful candidate for president in 1996 and 2001, before winning the 2006 presidential election. In office, he made alliances with fellow Latin American socialists, such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and under his leadership, Nicaragua joined the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.

As of April 19, 2018, Amnesty International and the IACHR of the Organization of American States stated that Ortega has engaged in a violent oppression campaign against protesters, while government officials and government-owned media have denied such actions.

Early life
Ortega was born in La Libertad, department of Chontales, Nicaragua. His parents, Daniel Ortega Cerda and Lidia Saavedra, were opposed 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. Ortega and his two brothers, Humberto Ortega, former general, military leader, and published writer, and Camilo Ortega, grew to become revolutionaries. He also had a sister named Germania who is also deceased.

The search for stable employment took the family from La Libertad to the provincial capital of Juigalpa, and then on to a working-class neighborhood in Managua. Daniel Ortega Cedra detested U.S. military intervention in Nicaragua and Washington's support for the Somoza dictatorship, and he imparted the anti-American sentiment to his sons.

Ortega was arrested for political activities at the age of 15, and quickly joined the then-underground Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). In 1964, Ortega travelled to Guatemala, where the police arrested him and turned him over to the Nicaraguan National Guard. After his release from detainment, Ortega arranged the assassination of his torturer, Guardsman Gonzalo Lacayo, in August 1967. He was imprisoned in 1967 for taking part in robbing a branch of the Bank of America while brandishing a machine gun, telling collaborators that they should be killed if they did not partake in the robbery. Ortega 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 Managua, he wrote poems, one of which he titled "I Never Saw Managua When Miniskirts Were in Fashion". During his imprisonment, Ortega was severely tortured. While at El Modelo, his mother helped stage protests and hunger strikes for political prisoners, which improved the treatment of incarcerated Sandinistas. After his release, Ortega was exiled to Cuba, where he received several months of guerrilla training. He later returned to Nicaragua secretly.

In the late 1970s, divisions over the FSLN's campaign against Somoza led Daniel and Humberto Ortega to form the Insurrectionist, or Tercerista (Third Way) faction. The Terceristas sought to combine the distinct guerrilla war strategies of the two other factions, Tomas Borge's Guerra Prolongada Popular (GPP or Prolonged People's War), and Jaime Wheelock's Proletarians. The Ortega brothers forged alliances with a wide array of anti-Somoza forces, including Catholic and Protestant activists and other non-Marxist civil society groups. The Terceristas became the most effective faction in wielding political and military strength, and their push for FSLN solidarity received the support of reputable revolutionary leaders like Fidel Castro.

Ortega married Rosario Murillo in 1979 in a secret ceremony. and moved to Costa Rica with her three children from a previous marriage. Ortega remarried Murillo in 2005 to have the marriage recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. The couple has eight children, three of them together. She is currently the government's spokeswoman and a government minister, among other positions. Ortega adopted stepdaughter Zoilamérica Narváez in 1986, through a court case.