Daniel Ortega who won the Presidential elections of Nicaragua last year is considered as the most important figure in the nation’s political scenario. However, critics are of the view that his wife Rosario Murillo holds an imminent position in the former revolutionary’s government.
In one of his first moves after being sworn in Ortega made her the government’s chief spokesperson and gave her a say in a wide range of affairs, including health, education and culture.
She was placed on third rank in the governmental official web site. But some Nicaraguans think that ranking does not fully reflect reality. They are of the view ‘that the person in charge’ of the nation is Rosario Murillo than her husband.
A Latin American diplomat asserted,
’she’s a mixture of political strategist, image consultant, and cheerleader. But even more importantly, she controls access to Ortega.’
Critics too claimed that she was instrumental in Ortega’s victory, on his third attempt to recapture the presidency.
Murillo is widely believed to have been the driving force behind some of the back room deals that reshaped the political landscape in the past few years as Ortega forged alliances with former enemies, including the man who is now vice president and the former archbishop of Managua, Miguel Obandoy Bravo.
Relations between Murillo and Ortega have been as chaotic as their country’s recent history. The two first met when Murillo visited a prison where Ortega served time for robbing a Managua bank, part of the then-clandestine Sandinista movement’s fund-raising activities.
The two became associates after the victory of the Sandinistas but their relationship was fodder for the Managua gossip mill for many years.
The couple grew inseparable after Murillo’s daughter, Zoilamerica, accused her stepfather of having molested her sexually from the age of 11 and started raping her when she was 15.
It seemed that his political career would turn to damnation but Murillo stood by her man and sided against her daughter, saying she was mentally unstable, consequent upon which, the condemnation was subsided.
