[3] In 1974, he joined the "Juan José Quezada" guerrilla column, which attacked the house of the Minister of Agriculture, under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle and negotiated for the freedom of various political prisoners, including Ortega.

[4] During the 1980s, Halleslevens was chief of the Army Political Directorate and, later, Military Counterintelligence.

Halleslevens served as Commander in Chief of the Nicaraguan Armed Forces from 2005, until his retirement from the military life in 2010.

In 2011, the Sandinista National Liberation Front nominated Halleslevens as Ortega's running mate.

Ortega was reelected that year, and Halleslevens took office, replacing Jaime Morales Carazo.