Hillary Rodham Clinton lauded President Violeta Chamorro on Thursday as the architect of a “new Nicaragua” that offers women a real chance for prosperity.

On the first stop of a five-day Latin American tour, the first lady credited Chamorro with leading Nicaragua into democracy with “grace and courage,” with women playing a major role in rebuilding the nation.

“Peace brings definite rewards,” Mrs. Clinton said. “We admire greatly the progress that is being made and the example that is being set.”

Building democracy in Nicaragua “is a continuing challenge,” Mrs. Clinton said. “But if the leaders and citizens remain committed, there will be progress, as has been demonstrated in the new Nicaragua.”

Chamorro said Mrs. Clinton’s visit symbolized Nicaragua’s strengthened friendship with the United States.

“The friendship between our countries will deepen more,” said Chamorro, who was elected president in 1990 after 11 years of leftist Sandinista rule in the Central American nation.

Mrs. Clinton is in the region to assess the progress of social reforms and build better ties between the United States and Latin America. She also travels to Chile, Brazil and Paraguay. In Paraguay, she will address a gathering of wives of heads of state.

Arriving in Managua, Mrs. Clinton toured a women’s community bank then visited privately with Chamorro at the Nicaraguan leader’s home.

They discussed social reforms, Nicaragua’s continuing need for U.S. aid and efforts to increase women’s participation in the political process, said Alex Watson, an assistant secretary of state traveling with the first lady.

“Women have contributed mightily to building democracy here,” Mrs. Clinton said. “They have sacrificed daily to enhance their families’ standard of living and the prosperity of their communities.”

In Managua’s Acahualinca section, 30 women renamed the village bank they established in Mrs. Clinton’s honor. The bank, “Madres Unidas,” Spanish for Mothers United, is now called “Madres Unidas Hillary.”

The women met with Mrs. Clinton in a tin-roofed room alongside a local grocery, and told her how U.S. backed loans, some for as little as $140 helped them start small businesses as seamstresses, bakers, and in one case seller of auto parts.

The first lady told the women she was impressed by their effort. “Women who themselves think they cannot do anything learn that they can,” she said.

“I cannot do the things you do. I cannot make good tortillas or sell automotive parts, or make beautiful dresses or mosquito netting.”