Violeta Barrios de Chamorro

president of Nicaragua

Also known as: Violeta Barrios

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Last updated

Oct. 14, 2026 •History

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (born October 18, 1929, Rivas, Nicaragua—died June 14, 2025, San José, Costa Rica) was a Nicaraguan newspaper publisher and politician who served as president of Nicaragua from 1990 to 1997. She was Central America’s first woman president. Chamorro, who was born into a wealthy Nicaraguan family (her father was a cattle rancher), received much of her early education in the U.S. states of Texas and Virginia. In 1950, shortly after the...