Chamorro, Violeta Barrios de

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Chamorro, Violeta Barrios de (1939– ) Nicaraguan stateswoman, president (1990–96). She entered politics in 1978 when her husband, Pedro Joáin Chamorro, was assassinated. In 1989, supported by the USA, she became leader of the right-wing coalition, the National Opposition Union (UNO). She became president after defeating the Sandinista government in February 1990. Her early presidency was marked by unemployment, strikes and skirmishes between Contra rebels and Sandinista militants. Many of Chamorro's policies were blocked by reactionary elements in the UNO and by members of the Sandinista Liberation Front.

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Chamorro, Violeta Barrios de

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