Herty Lewites

Herty Lewites Rodríguez (born December 24, 1939) is a Nicaraguan politician.

Related Topics:
December 24 - 1939 - Politician

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Lewites was born in the San Felipe barrio of Jinotepe, Nicaragua, the son of a Jewish immigrant from Poland. He joined the struggle against the Somoza dictatorship in 1958 and went into exile in Brazil in 1960. Herty's brother Israel died in the attack on the Masaya barracks in October 1977 by the Tercerista faction Sandinista Front. Instead of fighting, Herty was apparently involved in financial matters and arms smuggling for the revolutionary movement.

Related Topics:
Jinotepe - Nicaragua - Israel - Sandinista

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During the period of Sandinista rule in the 1980s, Lewites was an ally of the powerful Ortega brothers. As Minister of Tourism, he promoted state development projects, such as the Montelimar beach resort in 1986 and the Olof Palme Convention Center in Managua. After leaving government, he built the "Hertylandia" private amusement park.

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Lewites was elected to congress on the FSLN ticket in 1990, the year Daniel Ortega lost the presidency. He aligned himself with Sergio Ramírez's Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) against the faction of Secretary General Ortega in 1994. He ran for mayor of Managua, the capital, in 1996 on his own "Sol" ticket, splitting the Sandinista vote to throw the election to the Liberal candidate. With the support of the FSLN "Business Bloc" led by Bayardo Arce, Lewites rejoined the mainline FSLN in 1998 and, with Ortega's blessing, won the Managua mayorship as a Sandinista in 2000.

Related Topics:
FSLN - Daniel Ortega - Sergio Ramírez - Managua - Bayardo Arce

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Following Ortega's third successive election defeat in 2001, Lewites advocated FSLN cooperation with President Enrique Bolaños in his struggle to hold ex-President Arnoldo Alemán accountable for corruption. Ortega, however, eventually concluded a pact with Alemán in 2004. Meanwhile, Lewites removed corrupt members of the Ortega and Arce factions from positions in the Managua municipality. By appealing to both leftists and rightest fed-up with corruption, Lewites has become the most popular politician in Nicaragua and has attracted the support of many historically prominent Sandinistas. He attempted to challenge Daniel Ortega for the 2006 FSLN presidential nomination, but was expelled from the FSLN (Sandinista Party) in February 2005.

Related Topics:
Enrique Bolaños - Arnoldo Alemán - Daniel Ortega

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