Violeta Chamorro - Rise To Power

Rise To Power

Violeta Chamorro's rise to power began with the assassination of her husband when she took over as editor La Prensa. The paper was traditionally anti-Somoza, and initially backed the Sandinistas. As a result, she was invited to join the Sandinista First Coalition Junta, however she resigned in 1980 when she claimed to have felt slighted and manipulated by the junta, and shocked by their socialist agenda. She then turned to the opposition: the Contras. As a result La Prensa was temporarily shut down. During that time, Chamorro was appointed the presidential candidate for UNO.

Her rise to power can be attributed to more than her affiliation with La Prensa, and in part was the result of the lack of international support for the Sandinista regime, the tiring of the masses of civil war, the symbol she meant to the people, and her strong campaign focus on being the opposition rather than trying to convince people to accept a political program. Furthermore, Chamorro was portrayed as the mother figure, a hero, and a martyr whereas Ortega was depicted as a macho rooster.

The scheduled 1990 elections were about to take place, and opposition parties took advantage of this opportunity to run and the UNO was created, combining the fourteen most prominent political parties in the country. Violeta Chamorro was selected as their candidate.

At the beginning, no one thought she could win against the government-financed campaign Ortega was running, but in the final days, she was able to defeat the incumbent president. The United States Embassy spent more than $1 million on her behalf. A broad desire for an end to the 11- year long civil war led to her besting Ortega in the elections. Upon her election, the United States stopped funding the insurgents better known as "Contras."