Free Republic

MONKEY POINT, Nicaragua — If the ruling mullahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran were chafing enough about U.S. Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz to send speedboats after them last month, they must take some comfort in having projected an equivalent threat in America's own backyard, in this unlikeliest of locales.

Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega is reverting to radicalism, writes JAIME DAREMBLUM. But the opposition is fighting back. When Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega returned to power as president of Nicaragua last year, there were encouraging signs that this time would be different. Ortega’s first term as president in the 1980s was marred by failed socialist economic policies, his support of Communist revolutions in the region, and a military conflict with the U.S.-backed Contra rebels. Even so, at the time of Ortega’s election in late 2006, Latin American democrats hoped this onetime revolutionary had abandoned his radical past in favor of a...

MONKEY POINT, Nicaragua — The second military helicopter in as many days hovered over the jungle and then landed to a most unwelcome reception from several dozen angry Rama Indian and Creole villagers. Rupert Allen Clear Duncan, a leader of some 400 Creole who live along the shoreline, confronted the foreigners dressed in suits and military uniforms that day in March and demanded to know the purpose of their aerial trespasses. "This is our land; we have always lived here, and you don't have our permission to be here," Duncan spat, when refused the courtesy of an explanation. Not until...

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to "shut up" Saturday during a heated exchange at a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Chavez, who called President Bush the "devil" ...

Translator - AltaVista/Babelfish: SANGTIAGO DE CHILE. - The United States had to pay 50,000 million dollars to Nicaragua by their support in the decade of 1980 to the "cons", maintained Central American president Daniel Ortega during XVII the Latin American Summit. "the United States must pay to Nicaragua a compensation of 50,000 million dollars by the sanction that applied in 1986 the Court the International to him of Is It", it affirmed Ortega Saturday in an extensive speech in which it reviewed to American interventions in the world. Ortega indicated that There is condemned It to the United States by...

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has accused foreign textile companies, mostly Taiwanese, of "enslaving" workers and leaving the country instead of paying higher wages. Ortega said several industries closed in free zones following the government's recent decision to increase the minimum wage by 18 percent. "There is talk that the companies are going to leave the free zones, that people are going to be left unemployed," the leftist Ortega said in a speech late on Wednesday. "When they find that they have to pay more, it is no longer worthwhile and they leave," he said. The president said the owners of...

President Daniel Ortega has swapped one John Lennon tune for another to promote his Sandinista party. But the new message has some opposition leaders and democracy activists fearing a return to his authoritarian ways of the 1980s. The former Marxist leader wants to form thousands of "citizen power councils," from the neighborhood to the federal levels, that would have an official role in public policymaking and distributing food in his Zero Hunger program. To promote the first major initiative of his seven-month presidency, Ortega has saturated the airwaves with a Spanish version of Lennon's "Power to the People." As a...

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said he does not trust the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration because its operations mask "unexpected interests" and "terrible things." During a celebration of the Nicaraguan Navy's 27th anniversary on Monday, Ortega remarked, "You have to be careful with the DEA. You can't be blind." The DEA has cooperated with Nicaragua's army and the police since 1990 in the fight against drug traffickers, but Ortega insisted that behind the DEA's operations exist "unexpected interests" and "terrible things." He did not elaborate. "We have to wage the war against drugs (but) don't come to us with stories about...

Has Former Marxist Revolutionary Turned Practicing Catholic, Pro-life Advocate Had Sincere Conversion? Nicaragua, July 6, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Ever since Daniel Ortega accompanied his re-election as the president of Nicaragua with a series of conciliatory gestures towards the Catholic Church, including asking forgiveness for his past offences against the Church, many have been daring to ask whether Ortega's apparent conversion is sincere. An article that appeared earlier this week in the California Catholic Daily asks this very question, pointing out that shortly after taking office in 2007, the leader who was once known for his virulent hatred for the Catholic...

HAVANA - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega met with Fidel Castro for four hours Saturday, the third leftist head of state to visit Cuba's ailing "Maximum Leader" in little over a week. The pair discussed Nicaragua's recent energy crunch, which has included blackouts and a shortage of basic materials, as well as a literacy drive in the Central American country and how the use of biofuels can combat global warming, according to a Cuban government statement. Ortega was joined in the closed-door meeting by his wife and presidential spokeswoman, Rosario Murillo, the statement said. "Fidel was very satisfied with the meeting...

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who has raised eyebrows in Washington by forging ties with Iran, said on Sunday he will travel to the country aboard a jet on loan from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Ortega, a Cold War-era enemy of Washington who is an ally of U.S. antagonist Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, told reporters he was leaving for Caracas, the first stop in a 10-day tour that will take him to Iran, Algeria, Libya and Cuba. " We want to improve relations with Iran in all fields, in all areas,"... A former Marxist guerrilla who fought U.S.-backed Contra rebels during...

This past week, the chief proponent of Jihadi Islam and the use of terror to force people to believe in his religion, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, traveled to Latin America to create an alliance with three atheistic Communists: Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, and Rafael Correa of Ecuador. This emerging "Marxist-Islamist entente," as it has been described, has caught a lot of folks by surprise. How in the world, they ask, could Chavez toast Ahmadinutjob by hailing him as the leader of "a revolution kindred to the Venezuelan revolution: the Islamic revolution." What could the imposition of...

Nicaragua's President-elect Daniel Ortega said in Managua on Thursday that he is enthusiastically waiting to welcome his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad due to arrive the country on Sunday. During his sworn in ceremony in the capital city of Managua, Ortega made the remark in a meeting with the invited Iranian delegate headed by the Deputy Foreign Minister in Europe and America affairs, Saeed Jalili. Ortega called the Iranian delegation's attendance in the nauguration ceremony and Ahmadinejad's decision to pay a state visit to Nicaragua as an honor for his country, and termed it a milestone in Tehran-Managua ties, Iranian Embassy...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to kick off a four-day tour Saturday to Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, whose leaders share his defiance towards the United States, media said. "Ahmadinejad will start his visit with a trip to Venezuela to hold official talks with his counterpart President Hugo Chavez," the Kayhan newspaper quoted a presidential statement as saying. The Iranian president has maintained a close relationship with his fiery Venezuelan counterpart, who has given his unequivocal support to Iran's nuclear programme and its hostility towards the United States. Ahmadinejad visited Venezuela last September while Chavez has made numerous trips to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush congratulated by telephone once bitter U.S. foe Daniel Ortega on his election as Nicaraguan president, the White House said on Monday. ~ snip ~

In 1984, Robert M. Gates, then the No. 2 CIA official, advocated U.S. airstrikes against Nicaragua's pro-Cuban government to reverse what he described as an ineffective U.S. strategy to deal with Communist advances in Central America, previously classified documents say. Gates, President Bush's nominee to be defense secretary, said the United States could no longer justify what he described as "halfhearted" attempts to contain Nicaragua's Sandinista government, according to documents released yesterday by the National Security Archive, a private research group. In a memo to CIA Director William J. Casey dated Dec. 14, 1984, Gates said his proposed airstrikes would...

It was a bittersweet week for Sen. Christopher J. Dodd. On Tuesday, his new pal Ned Lamont saw his senatorial dreams dashed, but old pal Daniel Ortega took away some of the sting by winning the Nicaraguan presidency. As head of the Sandinista communists, the iron-fisted Ortega ruled Nicaragua from 1985-90 with financial support from Moscow and Havana and the moral support of career diplomats left over from Jimmy Carter's State Department. Ortega's reign was renowned for human-rights abuses, including torture, summary executions, genocide, and the seizure of homes and businesses. Since his defeat, Ortega has sought to regain power...

Howard Ortega joined the Navy in 1943 and went to war aboard the submarine USS Lagarto. He never returned, and the fate of Ortega and 86 crewmates remained a mystery for six decades until divers found the sub 150 miles off the coast of Thailand. mms://216.139.229.126/11-10-06usslagarto.wmv

Around world citizens applaud political humiliation of US president by Democratic Party, hoping that lesson would placate him. Iran's media, however, warn of dangerous relationship between Jews, Democrats. And what about Kremlin? Ronen Bodoni Published: 11.09.06, 15:27 It seems as though everywhere around the world politicians, commentators and regular people are celebrating the political blow dealt to President George W. Bush in the midterm elections. Not to mention the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. It also seems, however, that amidst the very vocal merriment there is a growing concern over the perceived polarity on the Hill between Republicans and...

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - A beaming Daniel Ortega, who spent the 1980s fighting a U.S.-backed insurgency, said in his presidential victory speech Wednesday night that he would work closely with other leftist leaders in Latin American, while rejecting U.S. Republicans and the Iraq war. After spending the day in meetings aimed at calming critics shaken by his return to power, Ortega gave a rousing speech before a sea of supporters calling for increased trade with all countries, including the United States. He blasted naysayers who warned his victory would scare away investors, saying "days have passed, and the country is calm."...