Sergio Ramírez

Sergio Ramírez Mercado (b.August 5 1942 in Masatepe, Nicaragua) is a leading Nicaraguan writer and intellectual who served in the leftist Government Junta of National Reconstruction and as Vice President of the country 1985-1990 under the presidency of Daniel Ortega.

Born in Masatepe in 1942, he published his first book, "Cuentos", in 1963. He graduated from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua of León in 1964, where he obtained the Gold Medal for being the best student.

In 1977 Ramírez became head of the "Group of Twelve", a group of prominent intellectuals, priests, businesspeople, and members of civil society who publicly stated their support for the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) in its struggle to topple the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. With the triumph of the Revolution in 1979, he became part of the Junta of the Government of National Reconstruction, where he presided over the National Council of Education. He was elected vice-president of Nicaragua in 1984 and was sworn in 1985.

Though the FSLN lost power to the UNO coalition headed by Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in 1990, Ramírez continued to serve as the leader of the Sandinista block in the National Assembly until 1995, when he founded the Movimiento de Renovación Sandinista (MRS) because of his differences with other leaders of the FSLN, such as former president Daniel Ortega, on issues of democratic reform. He has since become retrospectively critical of certain Sandinista policies that he views as having turned the country against the FSLN. He made an unsuccessful bid for president on the MRS ticket in 1996. Since then, Ramírez has retired definitively from politics. He currently lives in Managua, Nicaragua.

He married his wife, Gertrudis "Tulita" Guerrero Mayorga, in 1964. He has three children: Sergio, Maria, and Dorel and 6 Grandchildren: Elianne, Carlos Fernando, Camila, Alejandro, Luciana and Andres.

Even during his years in politics, Sergio Ramírez continued to publish his work, for which he has won numerous awards and distinctions. His books include:

*De Tropeles y Tropelías (1971)
*El Pensamiento vivo de Sandino (1975)
*Charles Atlas también muere (1976)
*¿Te dio miedo la sangre? (1978)
*Castigo Divino (1988)
*Clave de Sol (1993)
*Un baile de máscaras (1995)
*Cuentos Completos (1998)
*Margarita, está linda la mar (1998)
*Adiós muchachos (1999)
*Mentiras Verdaderas (2001)
*Catalina y Catalina (2001)
*Sombras nada más (2002)
*Mil y una muertes (2004)
*El Reino Animal (2006)

Sergio Ramírez participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.

External links

* [http://www.sergioramirez.com: Sergio Ramírez - Official Website]
* [http://www.stockexchangeofvisions.org/speaker.php?id=20 Stock Exchange Of Visions: Visions of Sergio Ramírez (Video Interviews)]
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~yaf/sand71899.html Miami Herald article that includes comments from Ramírez]
* [http://www.lettre-ulysses-award.org/jury05/bio_ramirez.html Sketchy biography with focus on literature]