- Page 340 →Dora María Téllez (b. 1956), military officer, poet, feminist, stateswoman. While a medical student, Téllez came to see that malnutrition and starvation caused many of the diseases afflicting the Nicaraguan people and that eliminating the underlying social conditions was a must. Téllez joined the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and eventually took part in liberating Nicaragua from Somoza’s dictatorship. In 1976 Téllez left medical school and went underground to study political theory and strategy. Two years later, aged 22, she surfaced as one of the commandos who took over Somoza’s National Palace. A little later she led the Sandinista troops in liberating León. After the revolution (1979) Téllez remained an army commander and then headed the FSLN’s third region, consisting of the capital, Managua. Simultaneously she was elected vice president of Nicaragua’s first Counsel of State, the country’s legislative body. To her current position as Nicaragua’s minister of health, Téllez brings her military acumen, deep commitment to feminism, and experience as a political organizer.
|