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Former Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos, a conservative who fought corruption on the right even though a steadfast adversary of Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega, died Tuesday at 93, his family said.
The Ortega administration announced three days of mourning for Bolanos, who was president from 2002-2007.
"With great sadness the family of engineer Enrique Bolanos Geyer, former president of the Republic of Nicaragua, announces the passing of their beloved father, grandfather and great-grandfather," his relatives said in a statement.
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An engineer, Bolanos led Nicaragua's main business lobby in the 1980s. His properties were expropriated and he was twice jailed for counter-revolutionary activities during an earlier Ortega presidency, following the ousting of the Somoza family from power during the Sandinista Revolution of 1979.
Bolanos remained at odds with the Sandinistas yet defeated his old adversary in the 2001 presidential election. Once in power, he denounced corruption under his predecessor as president, fellow conservative Arnoldo Aleman.
Relatives and friends of the late former president of Nicaragua Enrique Bolanos Geyer carry the coffin to carry out the funeral service in Managua, Nicaragua, 15 June 2021. �� epa / EFE / Jorge Torres #Bolanos #Nicaragua #epaphotos #visualizingtheworld pic.twitter.com/ca6C3AZwaP
— european pressphoto agency (@epaphotos) June 15, 2021
During his administration, Bolanos had no majority in the National Assembly and thus his legislative agenda was largely inoperative given opposition from both FSLN lawmakers and those loyal to the far-right Aleman.
That said, his presidency was remembered for advances in expanding certain rights for certain women in Nicaragua.
After leaving office, Bolanos retired from politics and founded a library bearing his name, in which he collected documents and archives on Nicaraguan history.
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