start Radio Sandino, and met her future husband, Daniel Ortega. When the Sandinistas overthrew Somoza in 1979, she returned to Nicaragua. Murillo and Ortega were married in 2005. Politics Murillo started to gain power politically in 1998 after defending Ortega after he was accused by his stepdaughter, Zoilamérica Narváez Murrillo, Murillo's daughter, of sexually abusing her for many years. Murillo stated that the accusations were "a total falsehood" and afterwards sided unconditionally with Ortega and publicly shunned her daughter who has still maintained that her accusations were true. The case was thrown out by the Supreme Court in 2001 because the statute of limitations had expired. Murillo helped re-brand Ortega after three unsuccessful election bids in 1990, 1996, and 2001 as a less extreme candidate. Ortega was elected president in 2006 and re-elected in 2011. In the 2016 general election Murillo ran as Ortega's vice-presidential candidate. She is "widely seen as the power behind the presidency" according to Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman. Murillo appointed herself as "communications chief", a position which she used to address the public regularly before her vice-presidency. During her term, a series of protests broke out, resulting in 309 deaths by July 2018, some 25 of casualties being under the age of 17. Murillo and aide Néstor Moncada Lau were particularly targeted in an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump on 27 November 2018. This executive order is one of several sanctions placed against her and her husband's government by the United States since the unrest began. Personal life A polyglot, she speaks Spanish, English, Italian and French; she also reads German. Rosario Murillo is Roman Catholic with strong Marian veneration Murillo defended Ortega when her daughter Zoilamérica accused her stepfather Ortega of sexual abuse in the 1990s, which still affects her reputation with some Nicaraguans. Although Zoilamérica tried to pursue legal action, Ortega had immunity as a member of the National Assembly. Murillo has had a history of struggling with both alcohol and drug abuse. She is known for her New Age beliefs and practices. In popular culture Rosario Murillo is featured in the 2019 documentary film Exiliada, which revolves around her daughter, Zoilamérica Narváez, and her sexual abuse complaints against Daniel Ortega. Published works Gualtayán (1975) Sube a nacer conmigo (1977) Un deber de cantar (1981) Amar es combatir (antología) (1982) En espléndidas ciudades (1985) Las esperanzas misteriosas (1990) Angel in the