Sandinistas Lead Nicaraguan Election

**Ryan Ruck** · August 30th, 2006, 23:34

Despite U.S. efforts to stop left-wing Nicaraguan politician Daniel Ortega from returning to power, a poll released on Tuesday showed he maintained a six-point lead over rival presidential candidates.

Ortega, who headed the socialist Sandinista government in the 1980s, had the support of 29 percent of those surveyed, according to a poll by Cid-Gallup.

Twenty-three percent said they backed conservative banker and former Foreign Minister Eduardo Montealegre.

A June Cid-Gallup poll also gave Ortega a six-point lead.

Washington, which backed Contra rebels who battled the Soviet-supported Sandinista government, has criticized Ortega as "undemocratic" and tried to strengthen his rivals.

The U.S Embassy in Managua held several meetings before the campaign started in an attempt to unite Nicaragua's fractured right behind a single candidate.

Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the Americas.

When the Sandinistas took power in 1979, they improved living conditions for some of the poor and introduced free healthcare and universal education, but were criticized for human rights abuses and forced military conscription.

Ortega enjoys the support of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has upset the United States by using oil money to build anti-U.S. alliances and strengthen leftist candidates across Latin America.

Montealegre is competing against Jose Rizo, a former vice-president from the ruling Liberal Party.

Voters will choose a president on November 5. Nicaraguan elections include a run-off unless one candidate receives 40 percent of the vote or 35 percent with at least a five-point lead over his nearest rival.

This will be Ortega's third presidential bid since being defeated at the polls in 1990. Many in Nicaragua are skeptical whether he can hold his lead.

This time the leftist has struck alliances with old rivals to try and broaden his appeal.

In the poll, 14 percent of the 1,258 persons interviewed said they supported Sandinista dissident Edmundo Joaquin.

Cid-Gallup said the poll had a margin of error of 2.8 percent.

**Sean Osborne** · September 20th, 2006, 18:59

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...archived=False

Nicaragua's Ortega on comeback trail, upsets U.S.

Tue Sep 19, 2006 10:58am ET

By Frank Jack Daniel
ESTELI, Nicaragua (Reuters) - The United States hoped it had seen the last of Daniel Ortega, a Cold War foe who led Nicaragua's Sandinista revolution, when he was voted out of power in 1990 after a brutal war against U.S.-backed rebels.

But he refused to fade away and is back again, crisscrossing Nicaragua's rice-growing lowlands, dense jungles and tropical hills as its presidential election front-runner.
Ortega, a youthful 61, was one of the leaders of the 1979 revolution that ousted U.S.-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza.

He then made Nicaragua a Cold War ally of the Soviet Union and Cuba and fought a long civil war against U.S.-financed Contra rebels that killed about 30,000 people before losing power to conservative Violeta Chamorro in a 1990 election.

His list of international friends still includes U.S. foes Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but at home he portrays himself as a man of peace.

"The dictatorship is finished, the 1980s war has been overcome. Now, in peace, I have reached the hard conclusion that understanding and reconciliation are the only way to get this country moving," Ortega told Reuters in an interview.

The United States openly opposes another Ortega presidency, saying he is anti-democratic. Ortega insists the Bush administration is trapped in a Cold War mentality.
One recent poll gave him 34 percent support and a 15-point lead over his main rival, right-wing former Wall Street banker Eduardo Montealegre. All polls show him leading the field of five candidates, although some by as little as 3 points.

Those ratings mean Ortega could make a dramatic return to power in the first round of voting on November 5. However, he lost the last three elections despite early poll leads and could struggle again if it goes to a second round with anti-Sandinista voters rallying behind one candidate.

NEW LOOK, NEW FRIENDS

On the campaign trail, where flamingo pink and yellow have replaced the Sandinista party's traditional red and black colors, Ortega walks at the side of old enemies in an attempt to extend his appeal beyond his hard-core loyalists.
His running mate this time is Jaime Morales, who led the Contras during the war of the 1980s.

At confessional rallies in this and other Contra strongholds in northern Nicaragua, Ortega dishes out brotherly hugs to former rebels and dissident members of right-wing parties who line up to tell their war stories and pledge new-found support for Ortega.

He is banking on winning over Nicaragua's poor majority, even old foes like the Contras, tired of a string of pro-U.S. governments that have failed to lift living standards.

Still, Ortega's chances are hurt by his own record.

While loyalists see him as a hero who brought them literacy campaigns, housing and health care, a hugely unpopular military draft and economic crises turned many against the Sandinistas.
"If Daniel wins, trade with the United States will stop, they will cut the aid," said Lorenzo Palacio, 72, in the battle-scarred city of Leon, a center of the 1979 uprising. "He would take us to war again."

Ortega blames the war for the economic mayhem under his rule, when hyperinflation made bank notes almost worthless.

He has dropped the most radical economic policies from that era, such as state control of agriculture, and says he would not nationalize industries this time around. Business leaders are not convinced, and are opposing his campaign.

A mostly rural country of rolling hills and volcanic lakes, Nicaragua is one of the Western Hemisphere's poorest nations. Market reforms since 1990 have controlled inflation but per capita income is $900 a year and 70 percent of people live in poverty.
Ortega is now endorsed by the Catholic church that once condemned him, and he dots his speeches with references to a socially-conscious Jesus.

"My revolutionary inspiration was Christ. Then Sandino, then Marx," he said. "Faith and religion are a strong element that unites Nicaraguans."
Augusto Sandino led a rebellion against U.S. Marines in Nicaragua between 1927 and 1933 and eventually forced the U.S. troops to withdraw. The Sandinistas later named their movement after the independence hero.
Ortega says he is still a socialist despite making deals with former foes. He lives in a sprawling mansion that once belonged to his running mate Morales and was confiscated when the banker-turned-Contra leader fled during the revolution.

The Mercedes SUVs Ortega drives on the campaign trail are often cited by critics as a sign of fading principles. He says he rents the vehicles for their safety features. (Additional reporting by Ivan Castro)

**Sean Osborne** · September 20th, 2006, 23:37

Originally Posted by michael2

I noticed that the 'Catholic' clergy have endorsed Ortega....I guess people will realize communist infiltration of the Church is for real about the time the Nukes strike and it's too late for faithful and the Judases alike.

michael2,

Are you suggesting that you're unaware of the Roman Catholic-based "Liberation Theology" movement which facillitated the communist party's rise in many Latin American and South American nations?

It is most certainly at work once again in both Nicaragua, Venezuela and other nations south of the border.

Check these links for data:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_theology

http://www.landreform.org/boff2.htm

http://www.liberationtheology.org/

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-liberati.html