Daniel Ortega facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Daniel Ortega
Ortega in 2017
54th and 58th President of Nicaragua
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 January 2007
Vice President	Jaime Morales Carazo (2007–2012) Omar Halleslevens (2012–2017) Rosario Murillo (2017–present)
Preceded by	Enrique Bolaños
In office 10 January 1985 – 25 April 1990
Vice President	Sergio Ramírez
Preceded by	Himself (as Coordinator of the JNR)
Succeeded by	Violeta Chamorro
Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction
In office 18 July 1979 – 10 January 1985
Preceded by	Francisco Urcuyo (as Acting President)
Succeeded by	Himself (as President)
Personal details
Born	José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (1945-11-11) 11 November 1945 (age 79) La Libertad, Chontales, Nicaragua
Political party	FSLN
Spouse	Rosario Murillo ​ (m. 1979)​
Children	8, 7 with Rosario Murillo and 1 with Leticia Herrera
Relatives	Humberto Ortega (brother) Camilo Ortega (brother) Xiomara Blandino (daughter-in-law)
Awards	Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Nicaragua
Years of service	1963–present
Battles/wars	Nicaraguan Revolution

José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (Spanish pronunciation: [daˈnjel oɾˈteɣa]; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician who has served as the 58th president of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as Coordinator of the Junta of National Reconstruction from 1979 to 1985, and then as the 54th President from 1985 to 1990.

Early life

Ortega was born in La Libertad, department of Chontales, Nicaragua, into a working-class family. His parents, Daniel Ortega Cerda and Lidia Saavedra, were opposed to the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. His mother was imprisoned by Somoza's National Guard for being in possession of "love letters", which the police said were coded political missives. Ortega and his two brothers grew up to become revolutionaries. His brother Humberto Ortega is a former general, military leader, and published writer, and the third brother Camilo Ortega died fighting the Somoza regime in 1978. They had a sister, Germania, who died.

Seeking stable employment, the family migrated from La Libertad to the provincial capital of Juigalpa, and then to a middle-class neighborhood in Managua. In Managua, Ortega and his brother studied at the upper-middle class high school, the LaSalle Institute, where Ortega was classmates with Arnoldo Aleman, who would go on to be mayor of Managua (1990-1995) and later President of Nicaragua (1997-2002). Ortega's father Daniel Ortega Cedra detested US military intervention in Nicaragua and Washington's support for the Somoza government. He imparted this anti-American sentiment to his sons.

Political career

From an early age, Ortega opposed Nicaragua's president Anastasio Somoza Debayle, and became involved in the underground movement against his government. Ortega was first arrested for political activities at the age of 15, and quickly joined the then-underground Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in 1963.

After the overthrow and exile of US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, Ortega became leader of the ruling Junta of National Reconstruction. A Marxist–Leninist, Ortega pursued a program of nationalization, land reform, wealth redistribution, and literacy programs during his first period in office. Ortega's government was responsible for the forced displacement of 10,000 indigenous people. In 1984, Ortega won Nicaragua's first ever free and fair presidential election with over 60% of the vote as the FSLN's candidate. Throughout the 1980s, Ortega's government faced a rebellion by US-backed rebels, known as the Contras. The US also sought to place economic pressure on the Sandinista government, imposing a full trade embargo, and planting underwater mines in Nicaragua's ports. After a presidency marred by conflict and economic collapse, Ortega was defeated in the 1990 Nicaraguan general election by Violeta Chamorro.

Ortega was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1996 and 2001 but won the 2006 Nicaraguan general election.

Presidency

In office, Ortega made alliances with fellow Latin American socialists. His second administration, in contrast to his previous political career, abandoned most of his earlier leftist principles, and became increasingly anti-democratic, alienating many of his former revolutionary allies.

In June 2018, organisations such as Amnesty International and the OAS reported that Ortega had engaged in a violent oppression campaign against the anti-Ortega 2018–2022 Nicaraguan protests. The violent crackdown and subsequent constriction of civil liberties have led to massive waves of emigration to neighboring Costa Rica, with more than 30,000 Nicaraguans filing for asylum in that country. In his fourth term, Ortega ordered the closure of several NGOs, universities, and newspapers.

His government jailed many potential rival candidates in the 2021 Nicaraguan general election, including Cristiana Chamorro Barrios. Ortega's government also imprisoned other opponents, such as former allies Dora María Téllez and Hugo Torres Jiménez. In August 2021, Nicaragua cancelled the operating permits of six US and European NGOs. Many critics of the Ortega government, including opposition leaders, journalists and members of civil society, fled the country in mid-2021. After Ortega was re-elected in 2021, United States President Joe Biden banned him and his officials from entering the United States.

On 20 November 2024, Ortega unveiled proposals to amend the Nicaraguan constitution in order to extend his term from five years to six and have his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo declared copresident. The measures passed in a first reading at the National Assembly on 22 November, with a second reading scheduled in January 2025.

Foreign honours

• Abkhazia
  • Order of Honour and Glory, First Class
• Cuba
  • Order of José Martí
• Mongolia
  • Order of Sukhbaatar
• Peru
  • Order of the Sun of Peru
• Russia
  • Order of Friendship
• South Ossetia
  • Uatsamonga Order

Images for kids

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  Ortega (far right) with Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González, Cuban President Fidel Castro and Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Alfonso Guerra in Madrid, 1984

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  Ortega and Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González in 1989

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  Ortega in 2013

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  Ortega with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Russia on 18 December 2008

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  Ortega with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at Itamaraty Palace in Brasília, 28 July 2010.

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  Ortega with the president of the Republic of China Tsai Ing-wen, 10 January 2017

See also

In Spanish: Daniel Ortega para niños