Daniel OrtegaOr·te·ga, Daniel /ɔːˈteɪɡə $ ɔːr-/ (1945–) a Nicaraguan politician and leader of its government from 1979 to 1990, and president from 1984 to 1990. As leader of the left-wing Sandinista group, Ortega was very unpopular with the US government, which supported his right wing Nicaraguan opponents, the Contras, in their attempts to remove his government from power. In 2006 he was re-elected as president.