Chamorro, who brought peace to Nicaragua, dead at 95
As president, Chamorro managed to bring to an end a civil war that had raged for much of the 1980s as US-backed rebels known as the 'Contras' fought the leftist Sandinista government.
That conflict made Nicaragua one of the big proxy battlegrounds of the Cold War.
Chamorro put her country on the path to democracy in the difficult years following the Sandinista revolution of 1979, which had toppled the US-backed right-wing regime of Anastasio Somoza.
In a country known for macho culture, Chamorro had a maternal style and was known for her patience and a desire for reconciliation.
When she won the 1990 election at the head of a broad coalition, she defeated Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista guerrilla leader and icon who is now president again.
Ortega has been in power for 17 years and is widely criticised by governments and rights groups as having crushed personal freedoms, all political opposition and judicial independence with autocratic rule.
Chamorro died in Costa Rica, where she moved in 2023, to be close to her children, three of whom are living here in exile because of their opposition to Ortega.
Chamorro — Nicaraguans referred to her affectionately as 'Dona Violeta' — had been living far removed from public life for decades. In her later years, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
'Her legacy is unquestionable,' said Felix Madariaga, a Nicaraguan academic and political activist living in exile in the United States.
'She led the transition from war to peace, healing a country destroyed by war. The contrast with Ortega is clear and deep,' said Madariaga.
Chamorro was the widow of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, who came from one of Nicaragua's most prominent families. — AFP
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