Ortega in reach of victory in Nicaragua

More than a generation after he and the Sandinistas first swept to power in Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega appears to have secured a historic victory to become the country's President again. The outcome is a huge embarrassment to the US, which actively campaigned against him. With 60 percent of the vote counted Ortega had 38.6 percent, with his nearest rival Eduardo Montealegre, of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance at 33 percent. Extrapolations carried out by two Nicaraguan electoral watchdog groups both gave Ortega a similar margin. Ortega requires either 40 percent, or else 35 percent with a five-point margin over the second-placed candidate. International observers said they believed voting had proceeded fairly. Jennifer McCoy, a spokeswoman for the Carter Center, which is helping to monitor the election in Managua, said: "Reports from our people around the country say that the process was substantially good, with very few challenges at the precinct level, which is where challenges have to be made if there is going to be a recount. However, we are still investigating claims about the longer-term process–that is, the conditions in the run-up to the election." Roberto Rivas, president of the country's Supreme Electoral Council, flatly rejected claims of irregularity. He said: "We have promised the Nicaraguan people transparent elections, and that's what we've done. I think there were enough observers to witness that." Ortega headed the revolution that swept aside the US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979. He was elected president in 1984 in elections that international observers announced were fair but which were boycotted by his opponents. During the 1980s the Sandinistas were engaged in a bloody and brutal war against anti-government Contra rebels who were supported and funded by the US in a war that led to the deaths of around 30,000 people. When Ortega ran for reelection in 1990 he was beaten by Violeta Chamorro, who was supported by the US. His subsequent attempts at reelection were also opposed by the US. During this campaign, the US ambassador in Managua, Paul Travelli, had been outspoken in his support for Montealegre and claimed that Ortega was a throwback to the past. Other US officials also threatened to withdraw aid from Nicaragua in the event that Ortega won. In addition, in one of the more extraordinary interventions, Colonel Oliver North, the one-time White House official convicted over his part in the Iran-Contra affair in which the proceeds of weapons sales to Iran were covertly diverted to the Contras, also traveled to Nicaragua to denounce Ortega. On the night of Nov. 5, thousands of Ortega's supporters set off fireworks and raced through the streets of Managua waving black-and-red party flags. Senior party members embraced at a celebration in the capital.