Murillo has been first lady of Nicaragua twice (1985–1990 and 2007–2017), vice president (2017–2025), and copresident (since February 2025). She also is a published poet who has been involved in Sandinista politics since the late 1960s. With her husband, Daniel Ortega, she was part of the movement that fought against the Somoza dictatorship and then against the Contra rebels. Particularly since returning to power in the twenty-first century, Ortega and Murillo have become increasingly authoritarian, ordering imprisonment, torture, and murder of their perceived opponents, which has pushed thousands into exile and caused millions to live in fear. Karen Kampwirth draws on interviews with those close to Murillo, archival sources, and Murillo’s own words to create a portrait of a woman who was willing to sacrifice her principles, family, and allies in her quest for power. Murillo’s story challenges many of our assumptions about womanhood and dictatorship. It is a cautionary tale of the female condition, and how, in their effort to push against that condition, some women make awful choices, with terrible consequences.
