Holy Sandinista!

mike65

Daniel Ortega (mk2) was elected the president of the Western Hemispheres second poorest nation on Wednesday, 16 years after loosing elections to the National Opposition Union and 27 after the Sandinistas took power in a marxist-inspired revolution backed by Cuba.

He's been making it clear the new boss ain't like the old one and property owners should'nt flee and investors (which they desperatly need) run for cover.

Said Chavez to this news

“Latin America is ceasing to be – and forever – a backyard of US imperialism. Yankee, go home!”

The US warned against his election but seems to be open to co-operation according to Jimmy Carter who keeps an eye on these things nowadays.

Ortega has talked about bridging the gap so it'll remain to be seen if he is as good as his word once back in power (in January) and if US goodwill will hold up.

Mike.

sovtek

mike65 wrote:

Daniel Ortega (mk2) was elected the president of the Western Hemispheres second poorest nation on Wednesday, 16 years after loosing elections to the National Opposition Union and 27 after the Sandinistas took power in a marxist-inspired revolution backed by Cuba.

He's been making it clear the new boss ain't like the old one and property owners should'nt flee and investors (which they desperatly need) run for cover.

Said Chavez to this news



The US warned against his election but seems to be open to co-operation according to Jimmy Carter who keeps an eye on these things nowadays.

Ortega has talked about bridging the gap so it'll remain to be seen if he is as good as his word once back in power (in January) and if US goodwill will hold up.

Mike.

co-operation means "do what we tell you and we wont kill anyone".

flogen

Didn't America threaten to withdraw funding if Ortega won; talk about trying to hold a country to ransom (although I appreciate it's their money which they can spend as they like, it's still scary stuff).

gandalf

Jaysus poor old George a 2nd kick in the melons for him !!!

sovtek

"marxist inspired"...that's funny. It had nothing to do with the excesses and repression of the Somoza family.

The Saint

Election monitors from the Organization of American States have warned the Bush administration not to interfere in the upcoming presidential election in Nicaragua. The Bush administration has openly opposed the front-runner Daniel Ortega. The Sandinista leader is trying to regain power for the first time since 1990.
The OAS singled out Paul Trivelli, the U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez for meddling in the November 5th election. In recent weeks a number of current and former U.S. officials have warned about the consequences of an Ortega victory. On Tuesday Oliver North traveled to Nicaragua and said a victory by Ortega would be “the worst thing” for the country. North is the former White House aide who was at the center of the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980s when the Reagan administration secretly helped arm the Contras to fight Ortega and the Sandinistas.

Last week U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said an Ortega win could scare off foreign investors and jeopardize Nicaragua’s participation in CAFTA. Three weeks ago Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Nicaragua but denied he was meddling in the election.


Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “I don't get involved in politics in the United States so you can be certain that I'm not going to get involved in politics in Nicaragua.”
Last month Republican Congressman Dan Burton also visited the country and warned that foreign aid would be cut off if Ortega was elected.

It's good to see the US not interfering and suppoerting free and fair elections. I guess Ollie North was just there on a sight seeing trip and not to intimidate people and remind them of his previous support for terrorists in the country. I wonder why Rumsfeld was there too. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he's quite a hawkish defence secretary that might be seen as a warning to Nicaragua. Nice to see democracy in action.

mike65

Ortega did a grubby deal to win the election it seems.


from San Fransisco Chronicle

They are most angry about el pacto -- an agreement with former conservative President Arnoldo Aleman, who supported an amendment that lowered the requirement for a first-round victory from 45 percent to 35 percent. In exchange, Aleman received a loosening of the conditions of his house arrest. In 2003, Aleman was sentenced to a 20-year prison term for money laundering, embezzlement and corruption.

Very revolutionary.

Mike

Rebeller

Well, I suspect that Ortega is simply proclaiming a business (i.e. US friendly) agenda to ensure that he gets an initial foothold. Many of the new breed of Latin leaders have learned from history that it is best to keep the land reform and more socialist policy aspects off the agenda until their regime is more securely bedded down.

Once power has ben secured and the "business" community has left down its guard they can then move in for the kill (not literally of course).

Nicaragua is a broken state after decades of US funded and organised terror.

I'd say wait and see. I don't think such a man as Ortega can change his spots so easily and rapidly.

Viva la revolucion!

constitutionus

isnt this the same guy the states were trying to overthrow by backing the contras way back when? reagan must be spinning like a dynamo

sovtek

constitutionus wrote:

isnt this the same guy the states were trying to overthrow by backing the contras way back when? reagan must be spinning like a dynamo

Yup...the Contras killing thousands of civilians in the process...trained by the CIA.

The Saint

And illegally mined Nicaragua's harbours and was condemned for illegal use of force by the World Court and was condemned by the security council (except for it's own veto of course). And then they sent down the guy who was supplying weapons and cash to the contras just to remind them of the good old days and to get them to remember to vote the right way. Nice to see the people were not intimidated.

Akrasia

The Saint wrote:

And illegally mined Nicaragua's harbours and was condemned for illegal use of force by the World Court and was condemned by the security council (except for it's own veto of course). And then they sent down the guy who was supplying weapons and cash to the contras just to remind them of the good old days and to get them to remember to vote the right way. Nice to see the people were not intimidated.

And to think, the greedy, cowardly Irish refuse enforce Irish neutrality or inspect CIA torture flights because it might 'offend the Americans'

we really are a pathetic bunch.

Victor

Rebeller wrote:

I don't think such a man as Ortega can change his spots so easily and rapidly.

It has been 16 years.