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José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo was born on 23 January 1946, in Managua to an official in the government of Anastasio Somoza García. He was President of Nicaragua from 10 January 1997 to 10 January 2002.
Career
He was a member of the young Somocistas. In 1967 he graduated in law from the National Autonomous University of León. Between [1968]] and 1979 he worked as a lawyer in the commercial and banking world. In 1980 he was arrested as a counterrevolutionary during the Junta of National Reconstruction and spent 9 months in prison. His father died when he was in prison, and was allowed to attend the funeral of his father. The apparently merciful act made Aleman feel resentful towards the Sandinista National Liberation Front, whose party dominated the junta, and during 1996, developed a presidential campaign based on an open and strong confrontation with the Sandinista party. Ironically, during his presidency (1997-2002), Aleman reversed this policy, and developed a strategic alliance with Daniel Ortega, leader of the Sandinistas, to rule the country without opposition by offering employment in public offices, bribes, and other privileges to key members of the Sandinista party. The strategy worked for Aleman in the short term, as it allowed him to conceal his corrupt government practices. At the end of his presidency, public information about his corrupt government became available.
Aleman and other members of his family were formally charged with corruption in December 2002, and on 7 December 2003 he was sentenced to a 20-year prison term for a string of crimes including money laundering, embezzlement and corruption.
External links
- Biography (http://library.thinkquest.org/17749/laleman.html?tqskip1=1)
- Ex-Nicaraguan President Gets 20 Years (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&e=4&u=/ap/20031208/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/nicaragua_former_president)
- Nicaragua Ex-President Gets 20 Years (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20031207_1235.html)
| Preceded by: Violeta Barrios de Chamorro | Presidents of Nicaragua 1997-2002 | Succeeded by: Enrique Bolaños |