In his youth, Cruz was intrigued with the Sandinistas, but became disillusioned by the faction shortly after they took power. He became briefly involved with the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance. Cruz joined the United Nicaraguan Opposition (UNO) in 1985. Through UNO meetings at Oliver North’s office, Cruz met and had a relationship with North’s secretary, Fawn Hall. After leaving Contra politics, Cruz pursued a career in scholastics, becoming a professor at INCAE Business School in Managua, Nicaragua, and a visiting professor at the Advanced School of Economics and Business in San Salvador, El Salvador. 

 

He has worked as a consultant with the United Nations Development Program in El Salvador, the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development, the Boards of Directors for Banco de Istmo in Panama, Banco Agricola and Banco Cuscatlan in El Salvador, as well as the Central American Integration Bank in Honduras. He also served as a consultant to the government of Nicaragua for the CAFTA trade negotiations with the United States and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Banco UNO in Nicaragua. 

 

Cruz has authored or co-authored several books, including Memoirs of a Counterrevolutionary, Nicaragua’s Conservative Republic 1853-1893 and Varieties of Liberalism in Central America: Nation-States as Works in Progress.

 

Cruz is the son of Arturo Cruz, a prominent Nicaraguan banker and technocrat who became involved in politics during the Sandinista era and served as Nicaragua’s Ambassador to the US until 1981. Ironically, Cruz Sr. was handpicked by the CIA to run in opposition of Daniel Ortega in the 1984 elections.