Eduardo Montealegre

Eduardo Montealegre

Eduardo Montealegre Rivas (born May 9, 1955) is a Nicaraguan politician. He ran for president in the 2006 general election as the candidate of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN-PC) a spin-off of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) in alliance with other liberal parties and the Conservative Party. He finished in second place after Daniel Ortega, receiving 28.3% of the vote.

Montealegre was born in Nicaragua's capital Managua, from a wealthy and prominent family in the banking sector. He received an Sc. B in Economics from Brown University in 1976 and an MBA with a focus in finance and strategic planning from Harvard University in 1980. He later became a businessman in Nicaragua.

Montealegre served as minister to the presidency in 1998 under Arnoldo Alemán. He also served as foreign minister from 1999 to 2000 in the government of Arnoldo Alemán and as finance minister from 2002 to 2003 in the government of the next President Enrique Bolaños. Subsequently, he served as minister to the presidency of Enrique Bolaños. He announced his split from the PLC in protest of the control of the party by former President Alemán, who was imprisoned for misappropriation of funds. Montealegre objects to an alliance, referred to in the popular media as "El Pacto", between Arnoldo Alemán and Daniel Ortega, who ran as the candidate of the FSLN in 2006 for the fourth consecutive time since his 1985-1990 presidency, this time successfully. Because of Montealegre's stand against corruption, Arnoldo Alemán, and Daniel Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front, the U.S. ambassador in Managua openly endorsed his candidacy.

A commission of Nicaragua's National Assembly threatened to criminally charge Montealegre, as well as a former head of the central bank and the former superintendent of banks. They allege that they abused their positions to enrich themselves by illegally issuing US$400 million in bonds in favor of banks that acquired several failed banks. Montealegre dismisses the charges, stating that he was no longer employed by the government when the bonds were emitted.

Montealegre was granted a seat in the Nicaraguan congress after the 2006 general elections, since a seat in Congress is guaranteed to the candidate who comes in second in presidential elections.

After losing control of the leadership of the ALN, Montealegre agreed to run for mayor of Managua in the November 2008 municipal elections as candidate of the alliance led by his former party, the PLC still ruled by Arnoldo Aleman. Montealegre lost the election to Alexis Argüello, but alleged that the election was rife with fraud. The municipal elections which were held in November 2008 were highly contested and were held without international observers due to the Sandinista government's reluctance to invite any observers. The supposed fraud of the municipal elections resulted in several days of protest mostly in but not limited to Managua.