NICARAGUA: Nicaragua's former Marxist guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega looks set to come back to power

Nicaragua's former Marxist guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega was set to cap a long climb back to power on Tuesday (November 07) with an election victory that bolsters an anti-U.S. bloc in Latin America. Ortega had a clear lead as results trickled in from Sunday's(November 5) presidential vote and victory was expected to be confirmed with a final batch of returns later in the day or on Wednesday. While Ortega, 60, kept a low profile waiting for the full results, thousands of left-wing Sandinista party supporters celebrated late into Monday(November 6) night. Ortega had 38.6 percent support with votes tallied from more than 60 percent of polling stations, almost 8 points ahead of his conservative, pro-U.S. rival Eduardo Montealegre. "Daniel Ortega also repeated his commitment to the trade agreement with the United States and other, to free enterprise, to property rights, civil liberties and about the future relationship with the United States," former U.S. President Jimmy Carter who served as an electoral observer said during a news conference. He added: "This morning, I called Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, and she assured me that no matter who was elected president, we don't know who it will be, that the United States would respond positively and favourably." Ortega led a 1979 revolution against dictator Anastasio Somoza and then fought U.S.-backed Contra rebels in a vicious civil war in the 1980s. Third place candidate Jose Rizo warned that the results must be seen to be clean. "The votes have to properly incorporated because if not, we would be accomplices of fraud that will not be permitted by the liberals. The PLC Party will not permit any fraud," said Rizo. Ortega needs at least 35 percent and a lead of 5 points to take victory in the first round and avoid a difficult runoff. It is a boost for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is trying to build a Latin American alliance of anti-U.S. leaders. Chavez helped Ortega's campaign by sending cheap fertilizer and fuel to Sandinista-led groups. He is expected to help finance social programs in Nicaragua, which trails only Haiti as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Ortega has dropped his Marxism of the Cold War era and now speaks mainly of God, peace and reconciliation. He promises to work with business leaders and has backed a trade deal with the United States, but U.S. officials still do not trust him and worry about his friendship with Chavez. "Commander Daniel Ortega promised during his campaign that he would promote investment both nationally and internationally and as a businessman I trust that he will fulfill that promise," business owner Armando Somarriba said. Ortega stopped short of claiming victory on Monday night but said that, no matter who won, he was ready to work with other parties to "eradicate poverty and reassure the private sector and international investors." Still, Ortega knows well the cost of confrontation with Washington. Some 30,000 people were killed in the Contra war and a U.S. economic embargo caused chaos, helping to wreck the Sandinistas' ambitious education and health programs. Combined with his Marxist government's mismanagement and heavy-handed repression of dissent, the U.S. campaign finally put Ortega out of power when voters elected the first of three straight Washington-backed presidents in 1990. U.S. officials recently warned of a cut in investment and aid to Nicaragua if Ortega returned to power in this election, his third attempt. Voters apparently ignored the warnings, although Ortega was also helped by divisions in the right, which had in previous elections united behind a single candidate to keep him out.

ITN Source | November 8, 2006

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