José Daniel Ortega Saavedra
| Daniel Ortega | |
|---|---|
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| President of Nicaragua | |
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Assumed office 10 January 2007 |
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| Vice President |
Jaime Morales Carazo Omar Halleslevens Rosario Murillo |
| Preceded by | Enrique Bolaños |
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In office 10 January 1985 – 25 April 1990 |
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| Vice President | Sergio Ramírez Mercado |
| Preceded by | Himself (Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction) |
| Succeeded by | Violeta Chamorro |
| Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction of Nicaragua | |
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In office 18 July 1979 – 10 January 1985 |
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| Preceded by | Francisco Urcuyo (Acting President) |
| Succeeded by | Himself (President) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra 11 November 1945 La Libertad, Nicaragua |
| Political party | FSLN |
| Spouse(s) | Rosario Murillo (1979–present) |
| Children | 8 |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
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Presidential styles of Daniel Ortega |
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| Reference style | Daniel Ortega, Presidente de la República de Nicaragua Daniel Ortega, President of the Republic of Nicaragua |
| Spoken style | Presidente Ortega President Ortega |
| Alternative style | Señor Presidente Mister President |
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (Spanish pronunciation: [daˈnjel oɾˈteɣa]; born November 11, 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician who has been 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 socialist 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, he also travelled to Cuba to receive training in guerilla warfare from Fidel Castro's Marxist-Leninist government. 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. 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 El 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 Oscar 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.
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