Violeta Chamorro, Historic Nicaraguan Leader, Dies at 95

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, Nicaragua’s first female president and the first woman elected head of state in Latin America, died at age 95 in Costa Rica. Emerging as a political leader after her journalist husband was assassinated in 1978, she became a key opponent of both the Somoza dictatorship and later the Sandinista government. Chamorro won the 1990 presidential election heading a broad coalition, ending Nicaragua’s civil war and guiding the nation toward peace and democracy. Her presidency marked a major political turning point, but she later lived in exile in Costa Rica due to renewed repression under Daniel Ortega, with several of her children also in exile for safety. Chamorro was celebrated for her conciliatory and maternal leadership style, uniting a deeply divided country. Her death has spurred tributes to her pivotal role in leading Nicaragua from dictatorship and conflict to national reconciliation.