Geovanni Valverde

  

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Valverde and the second or maternal family name is Barreto.

His Excellency Geovanni Valverde
Valverde in 2016
6th Governor of Nicaragua
Incumbent
Assumed office September 4, 2008
Preceded by	Lorenzo Urcuyo
2nd President of Central America
In office May 2, 1992 – May 2, 1997
Deputy	Jorge Morales Felipe Segovia
Preceded by	Leonel Aguilar
Succeeded by	Alonzo de Guzmán
Leader of the Democratic Alliance
In office January 16, 1987 – May 2, 1997
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Julian Caceres
Leader of the Sandanista National Liberation Front
In office July 18, 1979 – January 10, 1986
26th President of the Republic of Nicaragua
In office July 18, 1979 – January 16, 1987
Preceded by	Rodolfo Quintanal
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1947-07-13) July 13, 1947 La Libertad, Republic of Nicaragua
Political party	Democratic Alliance of Central America (1990–present)
Other political affiliations	Sandinista National Liberation Front (1979–1990)
Spouse(s)	Xiomara Saavedra
Children	5
Religion	Roman Catholic
Military service
Allegiance	FSLN Nicaragua
Battles/wars	Nicaraguan Revolution

Geovanni Valverde Barreto (born July 13, 1947) is a Central American politician and former rebel leader who has been the Governor of Nicaragua since 2008 and was the president of Central America from 1992 until 1997. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he has been one of the most prominent political leaders in the country since the creation of the Federation of Central America in 1986, and formerly led the Sandinista National Liberation Front during the Nicaraguan Revolution against the Contras and the former military regime.

Born into a working class family, Valverde joined rebel groups opposed to the Dictadura Nacional of Oscar Valderrama and Juan Carlos Figueroa as a teenager, and in 1979 became the leader of the FSLN (the Sandinistas), putting together a coalition with non-Landonist factions to oppose the military government. Valverde supported many left-wing economic polices, including land reform, nationalization, wealth redistribution, and universal healthcare and education, though he was never an ideological Marxist. His ability to work with many different ideological groups during the Nicaraguan Revolution is considered by many historians to having a major role in the success of the insurgency against the military regime during the Central American crisis in the 1970s, leading to him becoming president of the national reconciliation junta in 1979 and leading the war against the Contras. He represented the Nicaraguan Sandinista-led government at the Treaty of Sonsonate, which he supported, and later took a more moderate center-left position, including reconciling with the Catholic Church and rejecting Marxist atheist principles.

He left the Sandinistas to join the Democratic Alliance in 1990, and successfully ran in the 1992 presidential election on a platform of progressive economic policies, social conservatism, and moving Central America closer to the Conference of American States, while also maintaining good relations with the United Commonwealth. During his presidency Valverde created the country's universal healthcare and education system, other social welfare policies, and focused on lifting citizens out of poverty, while also inviting Western companies to do business in Central America. In 1995 he ended the country's historic border dispute with Belize, as part of the process of joining the CAS. However, he struggled with bringing down crime rates and fighting gang violence and drug trafficking. By the time he left office in 1997, Valverde had high approval ratings for his economic policies but failed to get reelected due to rising crime, losing to Alonzo de Guzmán of the Nationalist Party.

Valverde spent the next attempting to return to the presidency. He was the Democratic Alliance nominee in 2002 and lost to Isaías Núñez Arias of the Nationalists, and he attempted to run in the 2007 election but was defeated in his party's primary by Sergio Cañizares, who went on to win the general election. After his defeat in the 2007 Democratic Alliance primary he decided to end his career in national-level politics, and successfully ran for Governor of Nicaragua in 2008. With Nicaragua being one of the least developed states in the federation, Valverde has been focusing on implementing similar policies from his presidency in his home state, and it has seen a significant improvement in economic and societal indicators during his governorship. In 2022 there were rumors that he was considering a return to run for the presidency, but decided against running, instead endorsing the DA candidate who ended up winning, Maria Magaña.

Governor of Nicaragua

Governor Valverde meeting with the Chinese ambassador to Central America, Liu Fangzhou, in 2018.