‘DONA VIOLETA’: A PROFILE

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, 60, surprise winner of Nicaraguan election, emerged into politics from the shadow of her assassinated husband, a Nicaraguan hero . . . she was born Oct. 18, 1929, to wealthy landowners in Rivas, a small town near border with Costa Rica . . . married Pedro Joaquin Chamorro in 1950 and loyally supported him during years of jailing and exile under dictatorship of Somoza family . . . was thrust into limelight in 1978 after her husband, publisher of La Prensa newspaper, was assassinated on orders of supporters of dictator Anastasio Somoza . . . served with Daniel Ortega on five-member junta that ruled Nicaragua just after the 1979 revolution . . . became disillusioned with Sandinistas and left government in April, 1980 . . . devoted herself to La Prensa and turned it into vehement opponent of Sandinistas . . . although widely viewed as figurehead, was chosen in September, 1989, to lead National Opposition Union (UNO), with platform calling for market economy, end to compulsory military service and return of land illegally confiscated by Sandinistas . . . unaligned with any single party, she stresses values of Roman Catholicism, democracy and private enterprise . . . has been treated for bone disease osteoporosis . . . was sidelined from campaign for several weeks by broken knee . . . is referred to even by some opponents as “Dona Violeta” . . . heads family badly split by revolution, with two children backing Sandinistas and two others supporting opposition.

Source: Reuters