Eduardo Montealegre

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Eduardo Montealegre (born in Managua, 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) [1] 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 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. [2] He later became a businessman in Nicaragua.

Montealegre served as minister to the presidency in 1998 to 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 current 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, currently serving a 20-year sentence 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 for the FSLN for the fourth consecutive time since his 1985-1990 presidency, this time successfully. [3] Because of his stand against corruption, Arnoldo Alemán, and Daniel Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front, the U.S. ambassador in Managua openly endorsed his candidacy.

By virtue of his second place finish in the 2006 presidential election, Montealegre won a seat in the Nicaraguan National Assembly.