Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista guerrilla leader who ran Nicaragua in the 1980s, regained power by winning the Central American country's presidential election, an early count of the votes showed.
http://www.bloomberg.com/...
The entire world is rising up to repudiate the neocon policies of the Bush administration, and now Nicaragua has cast its vote. In a victory for democracy, Nicaraguans have voted overwhelmingly to return Sandinista Daniel Ortega to office. Early returns have Ortega with 40% of the vote in a 5 way race, with 35% needed to win without forcing a runoff.
Of course US officials opposed Ortega's campaign, as well as proto-neocon Oliver North, returning to his well-aged vomit to support the opposition to the Sandinista. Now, with the results in, they are muttering about voting irregularities, but the Carter Center, which observed the election, says they are not aware of any such.
U.S. officials, including Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, have raised alarm over the prospect of a victory by Ortega, 61. Gutierrez said $220 million in U.S. aid and Nicaragua's participation in the Central American Free Trade Agreement would be at risk if Ortega wins.
But this, certainly, is the point of the election: that Nicaragua is repudiating US influence, as represented by the Bush administration. In effect this was a surrogate contest between George Bush and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and Chavez is the clear winner.
The election Sunday in Nicaragua, the second-poorest nation in the hemisphere, has become a tug-of-war issue between Venezuela and the United States. The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, has openly favored his "brother" Ortega, while Washington remains wary of the balding 60-year-old, once an iconic figure of the Latin American left and ally of the Soviet Union.
http://www.iht.com/...
Now we can only hope that the American people follow the example of the Nicaraguans.
And perhaps wish the Carter Center were here, observing the vote tomorrow.