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Rosario Murillo
Rosario Murillo
	Murillo in 2017
Vice President of Nicaragua
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 10 January 2017
President	Daniel Ortega
Preceded by	Omar Halleslevens
First Lady of Nicaragua
	Current
	Assumed role ; 10 January 2007
President	Daniel Ortega
Preceded by	Lila T. Abaunza
	In role; 10 January 1985 – 25 April 1990
President	Daniel Ortega
Preceded by	Hope Portocarrero (1979)
Succeeded by	Cristiana Chamorro Barrios
Member of the National Assembly of Nicaragua
	In office; 4 November 1984 – 25 February 1990
Personal details
Born	Rosario María Murillo Zambrana; 22 June 1951 (age 73); Managua, Nicaragua
Political party	FSLN
Spouses	; Jorge Narváez Parajón (m. 1967; died 1968) ; Anuar Moisés Hassan Morales (m. 1968⁠–⁠1972) ; Carlos Vicente "Quincho" Ibarra (m. 1973⁠–⁠1977) ; Daniel Ortega (m. 1979)
Children	10, 7 with Daniel Ortega, 2 with Jorge Narváez and 1 with Moisés Hassan
Parent(s)	Teódulo Murillo Molina; Zoilamérica Zambrana Sandino
Relatives	Augusto César Sandino (great uncle); Xiomara Blandino (daughter-in-law)

Rosario María Murillo Zambrana (Spanish pronunciation: [roˈsaɾjo muˈɾiʝo]; born 22 June 1951) is a Nicaraguan politician and poet who is the Vice President of Nicaragua, the country's second highest office, since January 2017 and First Lady of Nicaragua since 2007 and from 1985 to 1990 as the wife of President Daniel Ortega. Murillo has served as the Nicaraguan government's lead spokesperson,^[1] government minister,^[2] head of the Sandinista Association of Cultural Workers, and Communications Coordinator of the Council on Communication and Citizenry. She was sworn in as vice president of Nicaragua on 10 January 2017.^[3]^[4] In August 2021, she was personally sanctioned by the European Union, over alleged human rights violations.^[5]

Life and career

Murillo was born in Managua, Nicaragua. Her father was Teódulo Murillo Molina (1915–1996), a cotton grower and livestock owner. Her mother was Zoilamérica Zambrana Sandino (1926–1973; the daughter of Orlando José Zambrana Báez and Zoilamérica Sandino Tiffer), a niece of General Augusto César Sandino (1895–1934) who fought against the US occupation in Nicaragua.^[6] Murillo's maternal grandmother, Zoilamérica Sandino Tiffer, was a paternal half-sister of Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino, also known as Augusto César Sandino.^[7] She married Daniel Ortega and had eight children. According to Nicaraguan historian Roberto Sánchez, Murillo is maternally related to Nicaragua's national hero, Augusto Sandino.^[8]

Murillo was schooled at Colegio Teresiano in Managua, a K-12 Catholic, all-girls school, also known as Saint Teresa's Academy. She attended high school at the Greenway Convent Collegiate School in Tiverton, Great Britain, and studied Art at the Institut Anglo-Suisse Le Manoir at La Neuveville in Switzerland.^[8] Murillo possesses certificates in the English and French language, granted respectively by the University of Cambridge in Great Britain. She also attended the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua in her hometown.^[9]

Sandinista

Murillo joined the Sandinista National Liberation Front in 1969, and provided shelter in her house, which was located in the Barrio San José Oriental in Managua, to Sandinista guerrillas, among them Tomás Borge, one of the founders of the FSLN.^[8]

During the early 1970s Murillo worked for La Prensa as a secretary to two of Nicaragua's leading political and literary figures, Pedro Joaquin Chamorro and Pablo Antonio Cuadra. Murillo was arrested in Estelí in 1976 for her activities in politics. Soon after, she fled and lived for several months in Panama and Venezuela. She later moved to Costa Rica where she dedicated herself completely to her political work with the FSLN, helped start Radio Sandino, and met her future husband, Daniel Ortega.^[10] When the Sandinistas overthrew Somoza in 1979, she returned to Nicaragua. Murillo and Ortega were married in 2005.^[10]

Politics

Murillo started to gain power politically in 1998 after defending Ortega after he was accused by his stepdaughter, Zoilamérica Narváez Murrillo,^[11] Murillo's daughter, of sexually abusing her for many years.^[12] Murillo stated that the accusations were "a total falsehood"^[12] and afterwards sided unconditionally with Ortega and publicly shunned her daughter who has still maintained that her accusations were true.^[11] The case was thrown out by the Supreme Court in 2001 because the statute of limitations had expired.^[10]

Ortega was elected president in 2006 and re-elected in 2011. In the 2016 general election Murillo ran as Ortega's vice-presidential candidate. She is "widely seen as the power behind the presidency" according to Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman.^[13]

During her term, a series of protests broke out, resulting in 309 deaths by July 2018, some 25 of casualties being under the age of 17.^[14] Murillo and aide Néstor Moncada Lau were particularly targeted in an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump on 27 November 2018. This executive order is one of several sanctions placed against her and her husband's government by the United States since the unrest began.^[15]

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 Murillo declared copresident.^[16] The measures passed in a first reading at the National Assembly on 22 November, with a second reading scheduled in January 2025.^[17]

Personal life

A polyglot, she speaks Spanish, English, Italian and French;^{[disputed – discuss]} she also reads German.^[18]^[19] Murillo is Roman Catholic with strong Marian veneration.^[20]^[21]^[22]

Murillo defended Ortega when her daughter Zoilamérica accused her stepfather Ortega of sexual abuse in the 1990s, which still affects her reputation with some Nicaraguans. Although Zoilamérica tried to pursue legal action, Ortega had immunity as a member of the National Assembly.^[23]

Murillo is known for her New Age beliefs and practices.^[24]

In popular culture

Rosario Murillo is featured in the 2019 documentary film Exiliada, which revolves around her daughter, Zoilamérica Narváez, and her sexual abuse complaints against Daniel Ortega.^[25]

Published works

Gualtayán (1975)
Sube a nacer conmigo (1977)
Un deber de cantar (1981)
Amar es combatir (antología) (1982)
En espléndidas ciudades (1985)
Las esperanzas misteriosas (1990)
Angel in the deluge (1992) translated from the Spanish by Alejandro Murguía. ISBN 0-87286-274-7

References

^ "Iran and Nicaragua in barter deal". BBC News. 5 August 2007. Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
^ "Nicaragua-Venezuela Talk Cooperation". Prensa Latina. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2008. ... informed Government minister and first lady, Rosario Murillo.
^ "Morning Star :: Nicaragua: Sandinista Ortega sworn in for fourth term as president | The People's Daily". www.morningstaronline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017.
^ Goldman, Francisco (29 March 1987). "Poetry and Power in Nicaragua". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
^ "EU sanctions Nicaragua's first lady and vice-president over human rights violations". Guardian. 2 August 2021. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
^ Gadea, Francisco (4 November 2015). "Desde España, Aparicio Sandino se estableció en Nicaragua". Stereo Romance (105.3 FM) (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 June 2021.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ del Castillo Ortiz, Marcos Antonio (1 January 2020). Le Marois, Jacques; Baboin, Renaud; Cassaigne, Julie (eds.). "Zoilamérica Sandino Tiffer". GeneaNet. Paris, France: Geneanet SA. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Laguna, Xiomara (20 March 2007). Ortiz, Igor; Vázquez, Ronald; Molina, Mellkcon; Cantarero Pineda, Maryine; Sacasa Pasos, Alejandro (eds.). "Etapas más importantes de Rosario Murillo". Canal 2 (Televicentro de Nicaragua) (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua: Televicentro de Nicaragua, S.A. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
^ Ramos, Helena. "Rosario Murillo: Una cadencia de fervores". Asociación Nicaragüense de Escritoras (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c Otis, John (24 March 2015). Beiser, Elana; Dunham, Jennifer; Zeveloff, Naomi; Crouch, Erik (eds.). "Long silence from Nicaragua's president as first lady keeps press at arm's length". Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). New York City, New York, United States of America. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b Rauen, Alexia; Stolle-McAllister, John; Hall, Sharri K.; Timmons, Liam; Quinteros, Erika (19 June 2017). Zamorano, Patricio; Mills, Frederick B.; Clark-Gollub, Jill; Camcaro, William (eds.). "Nicaragua's Proposed Legal Reforms Hinder Women's Rights and Threaten Political Opposition". Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA). Washington, D.C., United States of America: Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Inc. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b Cad (1 January 1998). Douglas, Carol Anne; Dejanikus, Tacie; Robertson, Amaya; Whatley, Sherri; Butterbaugh, Laura; Elliott, Farar; Manzano, Angie; Mantilla, Karla; Rubby, Jennie; Smith, Jenn; Henry, Alice; Young, Angie (eds.). "Nicaragua: Ortega charged with abusing stepdaughter". Off Our Backs (OOB). 28 (4). Arlington, Virginia, United States of America: Off Our Backs, inc.: 7. ISSN 0030-0071. JSTOR 00300071. LCCN sv86023034. OCLC 1038241.
^ Newman, Lucia (7 November 2016). Trendle, Giles; Al Thani, Hamad bin Thamer (eds.). "Nicaragua: President Ortega on course for third term". Al Jazeera. Doha, Qatar: Al Jazeera Media Network. Al Jazeera Santiago de Chile Bureau. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
^ "Cifra de muertos por crisis en Nicaragua asciende a 309". El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua: El Nuevo Diario, S.A. de C.V. (Editora Nuevo Amanecer). Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
^ "President Donald J. Trump is Pressuring the Nicaraguan Regime to Restore Democracy and the Rule of Law". WhiteHouse.gov (archival version of President Trump's tenure). Washington, D.C., United States of America: White House Office of the Press Secretary. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021 – via National Archives.
^ "Nicaragua's Ortega proposes reform to make him and his wife 'copresidents'". Associated Press. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
^ "Nicaragua OKs reform to boost powers of president, wife". France 24. 23 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
^ Salinas Maldonado, Carlos. "Su majestad Murillo; Culta y Ambiciosa". La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
^ Laguna, Xiomara. "Murillo la voz de Ortega". Canal 2 (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 23 July 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
^ "Declaraciones de la compañera Rosario Murillo, Vice Presidenta de Nicaragua (08/09/2020) (Texto íntegro)". La Voz del Sandinismo (in Spanish). 8 September 2020. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
^ "Compañera Rosario Murillo en Multinoticias (3-11-20)". Canal 4 (in Spanish). 4 November 2020. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
^ "Compañera Rosario: Festejamos a la Virgen María colmados de amor, salud y fuerza". La Voz del Sandinismo (in Spanish). 7 December 2020. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
^ "Nicaragua president's running mate: his wife". The Independent. 2 November 2016. Archived from the original on 22 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
^ "With Savvy And New-Age Speeches, A First Couple Runs Nicaragua". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
^ "Documental "Exiliada" ya puede verse en Nicaragua". Niú (in Spanish). 7 May 2020. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.