NICARAGUA: Nicaraguans prepare for Presidential elections as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrives as part of electoral observers mission

The United States has kicked up a new storm in Nicaragua, one of its Cold War battlefields, over its efforts to derail former Marxist revolutionary Daniel Ortega's latest bid to return to power. In the final stages of the Nov. 5 election race, a string of U.S. officials have publicly voiced concerns about Ortega, saying a victory for him could hit U.S. aid and investment. Many Nicaraguans are fuming at what they say are blatant attempts to scare them away from voting for Ortega, whose Sandinista rebel army came to power in 1979 and fought U.S.-funded Contra rebels in a 1980s civil war. During a visit to the country's national stadium, Nicaragua's Defense Minister Omar Hausleven said that he did not expect any incidents on election day. "I can't see that there will be difficult situations on a national level," Hausleven said. "I see that tomorrow everyone will go to the polls in a tranquil fashion to exercise their constitutional right and I can see that on Monday, we will have the final part and see who will be president of this country." Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrived to Managua on Saturday (November 04) and will head up the group of electoral observers from his centre, The Carter Center. During a news conference, Carter said that all candidates have behaved accordingly. "Candidates have been very careful to avoid any sort of conflict or violence, and I believe the people have committed to ensure that the election will be honest and fair with the responses and performance of the CSE (Supreme Electoral Council)," Carter said. Peru's former president Alejandro Toledo, part of the observers mission with Carter, said outside influence should not be permitted. "I share the opinion of the Carter Center, that no external influence should be permitted in an internal electoral process," Toledo said. U.S. pressure played a key role in the 1990 election when Ortega was toppled from power by war-weary voters and it helped block his return in the past two presidential votes. Interference in Nicaragua goes back long before Ortega. Some of the first U.S. boots to march here belonged to the ragtag mercenary army of illegal military adventurer William Walker, who briefly declared himself Nicaragua's president in 1856. Washington deployed Marines here in the early 1900s and deposed unfriendly presidents. The United States fears that a swing to the left under Ortega would bolster Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez's anti-American stance in Latin America. Ortega's third comeback bid has been helped by a split in the conservative vote, the death of a Sandinista dissident rival, and a deal with Chavez to supply cut-price fuel. Now 60 years old and balding, Ortega says he has mellowed and wants peace and fair markets. He has failed to convince some former U.S. heavyweights, who backed right-wing dictatorships in Latin America during the Cold War to keep communism at bay. All the presidential candidates except Montealegre have complained about U.S. meddling, as have Nicaragua's top electoral council and the top regional body in the Americas. Voters are most worried about rumours the U.S. government could respond to an Ortega win by clamping down on the $700 million that Nicaraguan migrants send back home each year.

ITN Source | November 5, 2006

Tags:. .jimmy. .conflict. .latin. .swing. .scare