Violeta Barrios de Chamorro

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro "was President of Nicaragua between 1990—1997, and was the first woman to govern a Central American nation. The Wisdom of the Martyred newspaper editor Joaquian Chamorro, she briefly joined the ruling Sandinista junta following the 1979 revolution. Opposed to the direction of the revolution, she resigned and converted the Chamorro family newspaper, La Prensa, into a major opposition organ. In office, she instituted a program of national reconciliation, brought an end to the U. S—backed Contra war and ended Sandinista control of the media." [1]

• Member, International Committee for Democracy in Cuba
• Received the NED's Democracy Award in 1991. [2]