{"id":470000,"date":"2025-06-02T15:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T19:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/biography-of-margarita-cedeno-former-first-lady-vice-president-and-pld-leader\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T15:04:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T19:04:00","slug":"biography-of-margarita-cedeno-former-first-lady-vice-president-and-pld-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/history\/biographies\/biography-of-margarita-cedeno-former-first-lady-vice-president-and-pld-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Biography of Margarita Cede\u00f1o: former First Lady, Vice President, and PLD leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Margarita Mar\u00eda Cede\u00f1o Lizardo<\/strong> or just Margarita Cede\u00f1o (born May 1, 1965 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a renowned Dominican lawyer and politician. She served as Vice President of the Dominican Republic<\/strong> from 2012 to 2020, and previously as First Lady<\/strong> during the presidential terms of her then-husband, Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez, between 2004 and 2012. An active member of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD)<\/a><\/strong>, she has been a key figure in the implementation of social policies aimed at human development and gender equality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Academic and Professional Background of Margarita Cede\u00f1o<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Margarita Cede\u00f1o is a Doctor of Law<\/strong>, graduated cum laude<\/strong> in 1987 from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD)<\/a><\/strong>. In 1995, she obtained a magna cum laude master’s degree in Business Law and Economic Legislation<\/strong> at the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (PUCMM)<\/strong>. Subsequently, in 2010, she pursued a master’s degree in Political Science for Development<\/strong> at the University of Salamanca<\/strong>, Spain.<\/p>\n\n\nHe complemented his education with studies in negotiation, international law, and conflict resolution<\/strong> at prestigious institutions such as Georgetown University<\/strong>, Harvard University<\/strong>, and the University of Geneva<\/strong>.\n\nIn the professional field, she worked at prominent law firms, including that of Abel Rodr\u00edguez del Orbe<\/strong> and Fern\u00e1ndez y Asociados<\/strong>, of which she is a founding member. Between 1996 and 2000, she served as legal advisor to the President of the Republic<\/strong> with the rank of Undersecretary of State<\/strong>, and directed the Legal and Investment Climate Management<\/strong> of the Office for the Promotion of Foreign Investment.\n\n\n

First Lady of the Dominican Republic (2004\u20132012)<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Margarita
Margarita Cede\u00f1o y Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

During her time as First Lady, Margarita Cede\u00f1o transformed the Office of the First Lady into an active entity for public policies. She launched the \u201cProgresando\u201d<\/strong> program, focused on poverty reduction through actions in health, education, identity, income generation, and human development. Furthermore, she promoted the creation of the Community Technology Centers (CTC)<\/strong>, bringing access to technology and digital training to vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the realm of health, he promoted the construction and equipping of pediatric emergency rooms in public hospitals and the remodeling of the Dr. Robert Reid Cabral Children’s Hospital<\/strong>. He also inaugurated the first Children’s and Youth Library of the Dominican Republic<\/strong>, fostering reading and education in values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice President of the Dominican Republic (2012\u20132020)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, Margarita Cede\u00f1o was elected vice president alongside Danilo Medina, becoming the first woman from the PLD and the second in the country’s history to hold that position. During her tenure, she coordinated the Social Policy Coordination Cabinet<\/strong>, strengthening the program \u201cProgresando con Solidaridad (Prosoli)\u201d<\/strong>, which benefited more than 800,000 families through initiatives in financial education, entrepreneurship, and female empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also led programs such as \u201cSuperEntrepreneur Women\u201d<\/strong>, promoting financial inclusion and the economic development of Dominican women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recognitions and distinctions<\/h2>\n\n\nMargarita Cede\u00f1o has been recognized nationally and internationally for her social work. In 2009, she was named Extraordinary Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)<\/strong>. In addition, she has been designated Global Ambassador of the Special Olympics<\/strong> and Continental Ambassador for the Elimination of Rubella in the Americas<\/strong>.\n\n\n

Personal Life<\/h2>\n\n\nDaughter of Luis Emilio Cede\u00f1o Matos<\/strong> and Margarita Lizardo de Cede\u00f1o<\/strong>, Margarita married in 2003 to former president Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez<\/strong>, from whom she divorced in 2022. She is the mother of three children: Ram\u00f3n Emil<\/strong> and Gabriela Angelissa Fiorentino<\/strong>, from a previous relationship, and Yolanda Am\u00e9rica Mar\u00eda Fern\u00e1ndez Cede\u00f1o<\/strong>, the result of her marriage to Fern\u00e1ndez.\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Margarita Mar\u00eda Cede\u00f1o Lizardo or just Margarita Cede\u00f1o (born May 1, 1965 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a renowned Dominican lawyer and politician. She served as Vice President of the Dominican Republic from 2012 to 2020, and previously as First Lady during the presidential terms of her then-husband, Leonel Fern\u00e1ndez, between 2004 and 2012. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":470001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[16047],"tags":[40304,712,40898],"class_list":["post-470000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-biographies","tag-biography","tag-margarita-cedeno","tag-the-dominican-liberation-party-pld"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-1YgE","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Margarita-Cedeno.jpg","dum_api":{"author_name":"Redacci\u00f3n De \u00daltimo Minuto","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cropped-logo-de-ultimo-minuto-96x96.png","categories_name":["Biographies"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Margarita-Cedeno.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}