Violeta Chamorro

Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro ( Spanish pronunciation: [bjoˈleta ˈβarjos ˈtores de tʃaˈmoro]; 18 October 1929 – 14 June 2025) was a Nicaraguan politician who served as the president of Nicaragua from 1990 to 1997. She was the country's first female president. Previously, she was a member of the Junta of National Reconstruction (Spanish: Junta de Gobierno de Reconstrucción Nacional, JGRN) from 1979 to 1980.

Her husband, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, was a journalist with his family's newspaper, La Prensa, which he later inherited. As a result of his anti-government stance, he was often jailed or exiled, forcing Chamorro to spend a decade following him abroad or visiting him in jail. When he was assassinated in 1978, Chamorro took over the newspaper. Pedro's murder strengthened the Nicaraguan Revolution and his image, as wielded by his widow, became a powerful symbol for the opposition forces.