MADURO, RICARDO (1946– ), president of Honduras. Maduro is a member of a prominent Jewish family of Portuguese origin that can be traced from Portugal to Amsterdam and then to Curaçao and Panama. His father, Osmond Levy Maduro of Panama, settled in Tegulcigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Ricardo Maduro studied economy at Stanford University and became a successful businessman. As a supporter of democracy he became active in the Nationalist Party of Honduras. After losing his son to kidnappers, he also worked for measures to ensure law and order. After he was accused of being a Panamian, and therefore ineligible to run for president, the High Election Tribunal declared him a Honduran citizen; he was elected president on Jan. 27, 2002.
[Mordechai Arbell (2nd ed.)]
Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.