HHS Secretary Leavitt Leads U.S. Delegation at Inauguration of Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua

Left to right: The Honorable José Daniel Ortega, President of the Republic of Nicaragua, and the Honorable Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who represented President George W. Bush at the inaugural ceremony for President Ortega. Photo by Bill Steiger, HHS

The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, representing President George W. Bush, and The Honorable John J. Danilovich, Chief Executive Officer, Millennium Challenge Corporation at the inauguration of President Ortega of Nicaragua. Photo by Bill Steiger HHS

The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (second from right); the Honorable Maritza Quant, M.D., the new Minister of Health of Nicaragua; and the Honorable Paul Trivelli, U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua, before the inauguration of the Honorable José Daniel Ortega Saavedra as President of the Republic of Nicaragua. Photo by Bill Steiger, HHS

January 12, 2007 - On Wednesday, January 10, 2007, Secretary Leavitt represented President Bush at the inauguration of Daniel Ortega Saavedra as President of the Republic of Nicaragua in Managua, Nicaragua. The U.S. delegation also included the Honorable John Danilovich, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the Honorable Tom Shannon, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs; and the Honorable Paul Trivelli, U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua.

On the previous evening, Secretary Leavitt and the U.S. delegation met with President-Elect Ortega and incoming First Lady Rosario Murillo. The Secretary brought greetings from President Bush, who had spoken to the President-Elect the day before, and reiterated the Administration’s desire to support the Nicaraguan people in the promotion and preservation of their democratic and economic freedoms.

On the morning of the inauguration, the Secretary and the U.S. delegation met with the outgoing Nicaraguan President, the Honorable Enrique Bolaños, in his office. The Secretary thanked the outgoing President for his service to his nation, and for his friendship to the United States.

Also before the inauguration, Secretary Leavitt had the opportunity to meet with the Presidents of El Salvador (the Honorable Elias Antonio Saca González) and Honduras (the Honorable José Manuel Zelaya Rosales), the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala (the Honorable Luis Fernando Andrade Falla), and the Minister of Health of Panamá (the Honorable Camilo Alleyne Marshall, M.D.) to discuss regional cooperation on health. The Secretary also had a meeting with the incoming Nicaraguan Health Minister, the Honorable Maritza Quant, M.D., at the behest of the President-Elect, even before she took her oath of office.

Finally, during the inaugural ceremonies themselves, the Secretary had a chance to pass President Bush’s greetings on to the Presidents of Guatemala, Panamá, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Colombia, México, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Venezuela, as well as to the President-Elect of Ecuador, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Felipe of Spain.

The total U.S. government foreign assistance to Nicaragua for Fiscal Year 2006 was $52.4 million. Of this, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided $43.6 million. HHS provided $8.76 million in regional, health-related assistance in Central America in Fiscal Year 2006, from which Nicaragua benefited, including $2.7 million directed at influenza preparedness and response. The United States is also Nicaragua’s largest trading partner.

HHS, through its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), maintains a regional office for Central America in Guatemala City, Guatemala, which is one of HHS' six Global Disease-Detection and Response Centers. Initiatives include programs for parasitic diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis control and prevention, and surveillance for birth defects. The HHS National Institutes of Health also has several research initiatives in Nicaragua.

Last revised: October 01, 2007