U.S. meddles in Nicaragua's elections (again)

[2-0-Sixx]

By Andrew Buncombe
Republished from The Independent
Strong words and opposition from the U.S.

For the people of Nicaragua there must be a sense of déjà vu, coupled with a deep feeling of foreboding that they are again under the harsh spotlight of a Republican US administration.

More than 20 years after the US illegally intervened to brutally oust a democratically elected government, the US is again being accused of interfering in the Central American nation’s domestic politics to ensure the victory of its preferred candidate. And again the US is controversially acting against the left-wing Sandinista party and its candidate, Daniel Ortega.

US intervention circa 2006 does not involve spending $300m (£157m) to support anti-government “Contra” forces, an intervention that led to a vicious war and the death of perhaps 30,000 people. This time, the US involvement entails making clear its preferences by having its ambassador denounce Mr Ortega as “anti-democratic”, a “candidate from the past” and a “tiger who hasn’t changed his stripes”. There is also the veiled threat that the US may not wish to cooperate with a government headed by the Sandinistas, with one senior US official writing in a Nicaraguan newspaper last year that should Mr Ortega be elected, ” Nicaragua would sink like a stone”.
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Click here to read the rest of the article

 

[PsyDaL]

Fuck Daniel Ortega....

 

[ReKz]

Fuck Daniel Ortega....

Co-Sign....


Now that Herty Lewites is dead.....there is only one clear choice (not Ortega)....

 

[Tha Sinner]

fuck that nigga fa real

 

[2-0-Sixx]

U.S. involvement sparks row in Nicaragua election
Thu 2 Nov 2006 19:21:45 GMT

By Catherine Bremer

MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The United States has kicked up a new storm in Nicaragua, one of its Cold War battlefields, over its efforts to derail former Marxist revolutionary Daniel Ortega's latest bid to return to power.

In the final stages of the Nov. 5 election race, a string of U.S. officials have publicly voiced concerns about Ortega, saying a victory for him could hit U.S. aid and investment.

Many Nicaraguans are fuming at what they say are blatant attempts to scare them away from voting for Ortega, whose Sandinista rebel army came to power in 1979 and fought U.S.-funded Contra rebels in a 1980s civil war.

"They're terrorizing people by saying aid and remittances will be cut off. But people have a right to elect whoever they want," said Mario Estrada, 44, a wheelchair-bound veteran of the revolution who was paralyzed at age 15 by a bullet in his spine.

But conservative voters welcome U.S. pressure, seeing it as protection from a powerful old friend against a dangerous radical who could win a first-round victory in Sunday's vote.

"I like it that the United States gets involved," said Sarbia Pena, 29. They helped us a lot in the past. They're still our friend."

U.S. pressure played a key role in the 1990 election when Ortega was toppled from power by war-weary voters and it helped block his return in the past two presidential votes.

Interference in Nicaragua goes back long before Ortega. Some of the first U.S. boots to march here belonged to the ragtag mercenary army of illegal military adventurer William Walker, who briefly declared himself Nicaragua's president in 1856.

Washington deployed Marines here in the early 1900s and deposed unfriendly presidents.

"We threw rocks at William Walker -- we should do the same now," Estrada muttered. "They always interfere in our elections. They act as if we're illiterate."

ANTI-U.S. ALLIANCE

The United States fears that a swing to the left under Ortega would bolster Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez's radical anti-American stance in Latin America.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Ambassador Paul Trivelli warn that Ortega could hurt investment and aid and they have tried to reunite divided right-wing parties to beat him.

Ortega's third comeback bid has been helped by a split in the conservative vote, the death of a Sandinista dissident rival, and a deal with Chavez to supply cut-price fuel.

Now 61 years old and balding, Ortega says he has mellowed and wants peace and fair markets. He has failed to convince some former U.S. heavyweights, who backed right-wing dictatorships in Latin America during the Cold War to keep communism at bay.

Former U.N. ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick co-hosted a recent fund-raiser for Ortega's center-right rival Eduardo Montealegre. Oliver North, the Marine lieutenant colonel at the center of the Iran-Contra scandal in the mid-1980s, says Washington should do more to block an Ortega victory and came to Managua last week to back ruling Liberal Party candidate Jose Rizo.

All the presidential candidates except Montealegre have complained about U.S. meddling, as have Nicaragua's top electoral council and the top regional body in the Americas.

"No one should impose their opinion on another country. It shouldn't happen," Patricio Gajardo, the Organization of American States' electoral coordinator, told Reuters in Managua.

Voters are most worried about dark rumors that the U.S. government could respond to an Ortega win by clamping down on the $700 million that Nicaraguan migrants send home to their impoverished families each year.

For Jessica Morales, 21, who shares a shabby mud-floor house in Managua with her half-blind grandmother, four cousins and a pet goose, the $50 her aunt sends from Florida each month has paid for a television and a mobile phone.

"I'm scared they mean it," she said of the rumored clampdown. "If the money stops coming we'll survive but we won't be able to pay for the extra things like clothes for the children or if someone gets sick."

 

[kayvee]

if people in nicaragua werent so blinded to the fact that anything he says about changing his ways is bs then you wouldnt have u.s. intervention, and you wouldnt have nicaraguans who have double citizenship flying back for this election to vote.

~k.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

if people in nicaragua werent so blinded to the fact that anything he says about changing his ways is bs then you wouldnt have u.s. intervention, and you wouldnt have nicaraguans who have double citizenship flying back for this election to vote.

~k.

1). Who are you talking about? Ortega?

2). Regardless if you're speaking about Ortega or not, it is against international law to meddle in foriegn elections.

 

[kayvee]

1 - Ortega and the Sandanista Party.

2 - I'm not saying its legal. The US said long ago that they would cut aid if Ortega won the election. The fact that they are meddling in it is no surprise to me, or should it be to anyone.

~k.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

1). I would only hope that Ortega and the Sandinista Party stay true to their roots (Marxism) and do not become a reformist party, although I've read from various sources that Ortega is nothing more than an opportunist and has stated that he "found God and lost Marx." Regardless, I'm sure the Sandinistas will be much better, even as a reformist party, than the current leadership.

2). its no shock to me, but it's illegal regardless and therefore should not be ignored.

 

[kayvee]

1 - Only time will tell. We shall see how the elections go.

2 - I agree with you.

~k.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

2). Good. And we should all pay attention to what is going on over there, something the US media did not do the last time the US brutally intervened in Nicaragua, killing thousands of people (US television -- all networks -- devoted exactly one hour to Nicaragua in a ten year period while this occurred, and this hour was entirely for an earthquake in '72.).

Of the various state socialist parties of the twentieth century, the Sandinistas were among the better ones, truly socialist revolutionaries that brought about social justice for their country and respected a pluralistic democracy. They were the victim of the US-funded Contras who waged an ugly civil war against the socialist government right from the beginning of their administration. Nicaragua is in desperate need of a party like that again, so it’s important to see how these elections turn out, as well as if the leaders of the Sandinista party represent the same ideals of the past.

 

[ReKz]

1). I would only hope that Ortega and the Sandinista Party stay true to their roots (Marxism) and do not become a reformist party, although I've read from various sources that Ortega is nothing more than an opportunist and has stated that he "found God and lost Marx." Regardless, I'm sure the Sandinistas will be much better, even as a reformist party, than the current leadership.

.

The current leadership is fine, they're doing pretty well for what they have to work with (Ex-presidents Ortega and Aleman control both the Parliament and the Supreme Court).....

I'm fairly certain that Ortega is not going to win these elections. IMO these are the only two possible outcomes: None of the candidates obtains a sufficient amount of votes and there will be a run-off(in which the ALN and MRS form an alliance and win) or Montealegre (ALN) will win outright.

 

[kayvee]

2-0: i dunno..i have a different view of the whole thing...i think its because of what i hear from people that lived it.

~k.

 

[ReKz]

the US media did not do the last time the US brutally intervened in Nicaragua, killing thousands of people (US television -- all networks -- devoted exactly one hour to Nicaragua in a ten year period while this occurred, and this hour was entirely for an earthquake in '72.)

Not true....there was more media coverage of the events going during the revolution than you say....there were reporters/journalists from all the major networks providing coverage....ever heard of Bill Stewart?

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Not true....there was more media coverage of the events going during the revolution than you say....there were reporters/journalists from all the major networks providing coverage....ever heard of Bill Stewart?

That wasn't until '79. I was referring from the ten years prior to the overthrow of the Nicaraguan dictator Somoza in 1979. I should have been more clear. My point is that it's important to pay attention on the events that occuring there now, before it's too late.

 

[ReKz]

That wasn't until '79. I was referring from the ten years prior to the overthrow of the Nicaraguan dictator Somoza in 1979. I should have been more clear. My point is that it's important to pay attention on the events that occuring there now, before it's too late.

I agree.....

 

[JoMoDo]

Ortega's now riding with the catholic church, especially with his 'right to life' position regarding abortion...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728958/posts
Ortega poised for return to power in Nicaragua
The Daily Telegraph ^ | October 31, 2006 | Sophie Arie


Posted on 10/30/2006 10:57:31 PM PST by MadIvan


Daniel Ortega, the former leader of the Left-wing Sandinistas in Nicaragua and one of the United States' most reviled Cold War enemies, appears to be on the brink of making a spectacular comeback.

Twenty years after his Sandinista government fought a bitter civil war against American-funded ''Contra" rebels, he is leading in the polls for the presidential elections on Sunday.

But now he has ''found God" and talks of ''peace and love" not Marxist-Leninist ideals. In a final frenzy of campaigning, the podgy, balding 60-year-old, is spreading what he calls a "spiritual revolution", "full of love and hope" around this country, the second poorest in Latin America, after Haiti.

"Thanks to God, the Supreme Creator, whose message always was for the Nicaraguans to love each other," he shouted to a euphoric crowd in the Laureles Sur "barrio" slum of Managua. "We want work and peace," he went on, holding his arms up like an Evangelical preacher.

On his third attempt to win back power after losing it to conservatives for the past 16 years, Mr Ortega is offering himself as "the solution" for almost every walk of Nicaraguan life.

Without explaining how, he promises to provide jobs, improve human rights and turn Nicaragua into the most developed country in the region.

Several indigenous communities who were forced to flee during his 1979 to 1990 government, Contra fighters who fought a bitter civil war against the Sandinistas and members of the Catholic Church, which he once accused of collaborating with the CIA, have all been "converted" and now openly support the man they once hated.

"Ortega is just saying whatever he can to every group, to win their votes," said Sofia Montenegro, a sociologist and the director of Cinco a Managua-based think tank. "There is nothing left of the revolutionary man. Now it is just pure opportunism. He is a political pendulum, ready to say whatever people want to hear. He has no scruples."

As the vote approaches, Washington has made clear its discomfort.

"We've made clear we want to have a close, positive, constructive relationship with Nicaragua, and up to this point that's been reciprocated," Thomas Shannon, the assistant Secretary of State, told Newsweek.

"I'm not sure that would be the case with Daniel Ortega."

Human rights campaigners, including Nicaraguan-born Bianca Jagger, have warned that Ortega's human rights record is far from squeaky clean. He is accused of presiding over "disappearances" and imprisonment of thousands of political opponents.

While large numbers, perhaps even the majority of the 5.5 million population, are against Ortega, their vote is likely to fragment among four different parties, giving the Sandinista leader a chance of a victory in the first round of voting. Under a recent change to electoral law, a party wins if it secures 35 percent of the vote, with a five percent lead.

"He is going to win, thank God," said Arodys Villega, 54, a diedhard Sandinista supporter whose son died aged 15 fighting against the Contras. "Until now we have had democracy only for the bourgeois. The poor have remained poor. Daniel will change that. Nicaragua is going to be blessed by him."

 

[kayvee]

Mario Moncada
REDACCIÓN CENTRAL
[email protected]
El director ejecutivo del Instituto para el Desarrollo y la Democracia (Ipade), Mauricio Zúñiga, denunció que miles de votos depositados de forma transparente por los ciudadanos, podrían ser anulados si el Poder Electoral da trámites a denuncias por impugnaciones, basadas en actos de omisión de miembros de Juntas Receptoras de Votos (JRV).

Estas omisiones, recordó Zúñiga, constituyen delitos electorales y, por lo tanto, deben ser tratadas como tal, sostuvo.

"Alertamos a las autoridades del Consejo Supremo Electoral (CSE) para que no dé trámite a ningún tipo de impugnación basada en omisiones o comisión de delitos electorales por parte de miembros de Juntas Receptoras de Votos, sino que se aplique el rigor de la ley que establece de uno a seis meses de cárcel a todos los infractores", declaró Zúñiga en conferencia de prensa.

Zuñiga argumentó que, a última hora, los observadores del Ipade están viendo "manipulaciones y actos de omisión de presidentes de mesas y de segundos miembros", hasta en un tres por ciento de JRV que está observando el organismo.

Ejemplificó que, en muchos casos, el presidente de la JRV no ha suscrito el número de control de seguridad que debe ubicar, por ley, a cada boleta electoral.

"Esto puede abrir impugnaciones que después terminen matando los votos, a través de una lluvia de impugnaciones a estas JRV donde ha ocurrido esto", añadió.

"Esta situación podría representar la anulación de miles de votos de forma significativa, si el CSE recibe y da trámite a estas impugnaciones como válida", subrayó el director ejecutivo del Ipade

~k.

 

[kayvee]

http://laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2006/noviembre/06/noticias/portada/

Ortega vencedor

REDACCIÓN CENTRAL

[email protected]
El candidato presidencial del Frente Sandinista, Daniel Ortega encabeza los resultados preliminares de los comicios nacionales, con un 40.1 por ciento de los votos, con el 40.43 por ciento de las Juntas Receptoras de Votos (JRV) escrutadas. Eduardo Montealegre, candidato de la Alianza Liberal Nicaragüense le sigue con un 32.72 por ciento de los votos, de acuerdo al tercer informe del Consejo Supremo Electoral (CSE).

En tercer lugar se ubica el Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC) con 20.33 por ciento de los votos, en cuarto el Movimiento Renovador Sandinista (MRS) con 7.5 por ciento, y en último lugar el partido Alternativa Cristiana (AC) con apenas 0.29 por ciento.

En el segundo informe preliminar el Frente Sandinista obtuvo un 40.04 por ciento de los votos, con el 14.65 por ciento de las JRV escrutadas, seguido de ALN, con 33.29 por ciento.

El primer informe preliminar indicaba que con el 7.22 por ciento, el FSLN obtuvo 41,529 votos, y la ALN 33,219. Mientras el PLC obtuvo 21,720, el MRS 4,950, y AC 236.

~k.

sigh...

 

[2-0-Sixx]

inglés traducción por favor?