BORN: Nov. 11, 1945, in La Libertad, Chontales Department.

PARTY: Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN.)

EDUCATION: Studied law in 1962 at the Jesuit-run Central American University in Managua but abandoned his studies to dedicate himself full time to the FSLN.

EXPERIENCE: Son of a businessman who opposed Anastasio Somoza dictatorship and fought U.S.-occupation in 1927-1934. In 1963, Ortega joined the clandestine Sandinista National Liberation Front and led its urban resistance. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1967. He was released in 1974 after FSLN fighters kidnapped important government officials. In 1979, the Sandinistas overran the National Guard and took down the Somoza dictatorship. Ortega was elected president of the country in 1984 as U.S.-backed Contra rebels tried to topple the leftist government. He agreed to hold elections in 1990, ending the civil war. He lost to U.S.-backed Violeta Chamorro, owner of the newspaper La Prensa, and has run two unsuccessful presidential campaigns since.

FAMILY: Wife, Sandinista poet Rosario Murillo. They have seven children together. Ortega has three other children from previous relationships.

___

NAME: Eduardo Montealegre.

BORN: May 9, 1955, in Managua.

PARTY: Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance, breakaway party from Constitutionalist Liberal Party of former President Arnoldo Aleman, who was convicted of corruption during his 1997-2002 term.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in economics from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1976. Later obtained master's degree in business administration with emphasis on finance and strategic planning from Harvard University.

EXPERIENCE: Worked as assistant director at Nicaragua's Central Bank in 1976; managed the private Nicaraguan bank, BANIC; in the 1980s during the Contra war, Montealegre went to New York to work for the investment bank, Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc. in 1986; established his own financial consulting company Montealegre & Co. in Miami; served on boards of various banking institutions in Latin America until 1990; managed Central American Credit Bank, known as BANCENTRO, in Managua until 1997; served as senior adviser and foreign minister under Aleman in 1998; named finance minister under President Enrique Bolanos in 2002.

FAMILY: Wife, Eliza McGregor Raskosky. Four children.

___

NAME: Edmundo Jarquin.

BORN: Sept. 19, 1946, in Ocotal, Nueva Segovia Department.

PARTY: Sandinista Renovation Movement, spin-off of Sandinista party.

EDUCATION: Studied law at the University of Chile in 1971 and obtained a master's degree in economics from the university in 1973.

EXPERIENCE: In 1973, set groundwork with journalist Pedro Joaquin Chamorro for political alliance to end Somoza dictatorship; political science professor at Central American University; minister of International Foundation for Reconstruction of Nicaragua for Sandinista government from 1981-1984; Sandinista government's ambassador to Mexico 1984-1988 and to Spain 1988-1990; Sandinista lawmaker 1990-1992; founding member of Sandinista Renovation Movement party; economist for Inter-American Development Bank 1992-2005.

FAMILY: Wife, Claudia Lucia Chamorro Barrios, who is one of Violeta Chamorro's two daughters. Five children.

___

NAME: Jose Rizo

BORN: Sept. 27, 1944, in Jinotega, Jintogea Department.

PARTY: Constitutionalist Liberal Party, which has ruled Nicaragua since 1997.

EDUCATION: Studied law at Central American University in Managua and did postgraduate studies in law and economics at Grenoble University in France; Manchester University in Great Britain; and the London School of Economics.

EXPERIENCE: Son of a federal Liberal Party congressman, Rizo, a coffee producer, helped Aleman turn his Liberal Party into a key political force in postwar Nicaragua. He has served as the nation's assistant tourism director and representative to the International Organizations of Coffee, Sugar and Cacao in London and Geneva; elected vice president of Nicaragua in 2001-2006. He stepped down in 2005 to run for president.

FAMILY: Wife, Fabiola Salinas de Rizo. Three children.

___

NAME: Eden Pastora

BORN: Jan. 22, 1937, Ciudad Dario, Matagalpa Department.

PARTY: Alternative for Change party.

EDUCATION: Studied medicine at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico in 1957 but left to fight against the Somoza dictatorship.

EXPERIENCE: The murder of his father, a farmer, by the Somoza dictatorship in 1945, propelled him to join the revolution. He was a founding member of clandestine Sandinista National Liberation Front in 1961 and in 1978 helped seize the National Palace, taking hostage members of the Nicaraguan Congress and adopting the code name Comandante Cero; left for Panama in 1981 over differences with Sandinista government; in 1982 formed alliance against Sandinistas; in 1984 survived bomb blast suspected to be orchestrated by CIA in La Penca, Nicaragua, that killed U.S. journalist; dedicated himself to shark fishing in Costa Rica until 1990; activist against corruption.

FAMILY: Wife, Yolanda Torres de Pastora. They have four children. Pastora has two children from previous relationships.