Eduardo Montealegre

Eduardo Montealegre (born in Managua, May 9, 1955) is a Nicaraguan politician. He is running 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. 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. 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 is running for the FSLN for the fourth consecutive time since his 1985-1990 presidency. [2] Because of his stand against corruption, Arnoldo Alemán, and Daniel Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front, the U.S. ambassador in Managua has openly endorsed his candidacy.

A commission of Nicaragua's National Assembly has 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$300 million in bonds in favor of banks that acquired several failed banks.

The last four polls conducted in October place Montealegre in second place with 21.1%, 22.4%, 22.0% and 26.3%, respectively. All four polls place Ortega in first place. A voting simulation conducted also in October by university students, placed Montealegre in third place.