Free Republic

The sight of a moustachioed former Marxist revolutionary and American Cold War foe hugging babies and autographing baseball caps as he embraces democracy should bring a frisson of pleasure to the US.But instead, the fact that the election campaign of the Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega is going so well that he may return to power in Nicaragua next month is causing alarm in Washington. For although Mr Ortega's old Soviet mentors have gone, his country is once again the focus of a crucial regional power play in Washington's Latin American back yard. Some 27 years after his Sandinista movement overthrew...

MANAGUA (AFP) - Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos put the army and police on high alert amid mounting protests against bus fare hikes, which have prompted calls for the president to resign. Blaming the unrest on opposition Sandinistas, Bolanos said in an address to the nations he wanted the armed forces to be ready "to contribute to the maintenance of tranquillity and order in the country. He also urged police to "take all necessary measures to ensure security and freedom of movement across national territory." The announcement came hours after demonstrators hurled rocks Bolanos, who had to be dragged back...

Nicaragua: the Ortega former president will briguera the presidency in 2006 MANAGUA - the former president of Nicaragua and historical leader of the Face sandinist of national release (FSLN, left) Daniel Ortega was designated Sunday like candidate for the presidential one of 2006. This nomination is disputed by the renovating wing of the party. Daniel Ortega imposed his candidature. Herty Lewites, another historical head sandinist, however claimed the behaviour of primary elections. Herty Lewites, very popular in Nicaragua and better placed than Daniel Ortega, according to surveys', was even excluded from the Face to have announced its presidential aspiration....

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) -- President Enrique Bolanos told U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld Friday that Nicaragua would completely eliminate a stockpile of hundreds of surface-to-air missiles with no expectation of compensation from the United States. The Sandinista party, now out of power, wants the United States to compensate the country for destroying the missiles, but a senior American defense official said that was unlikely.

Donald Rumsfeld paying a visit to Nicaragua? The Secretary of Defense has a lot on his plate right now, and rarely travels unless it’s awfully important. For him to go to such a small, impoverished country is a red flag marking something very significant swimming under the surface. So what’s been news in Nicaragua lately? Two ugly things – one, the political attack on President Enrique Bolanos, a U.S. ally embattled against leftist judges who want to jail him for political reasons. ... the second awful thing happening in this country is that Nicaragua’s desperate voters elected Sandinistas in several...