Ortega returns to power in Nicaragua

The U.S. government so despised Ortega during the 1980s that aides to President Reagan secretly sold arms to Iran’s radical Islamic government to finance clandestine aid for the Contra rebels trying to overthrow Ortega.

Bush’s father, who followed Reagan as president, sneeringly described Ortega as “this little man” and as an “unwanted animal at a garden party” when both attended a Central American summit in 1989 — a year before Ortega was voted out of office.

Plan for future unclear
Ortega also met with representatives from Japan, Korea and Russia. In a meeting with Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, Ortega expressed his willingness to continue to work with Taiwan — dispelling rumors that he might cut ties with the island and seek stronger relations with China.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing still claims sovereignty over the island.

Ortega has been guarded about his new government, but Wednesday’s ceremony should provide a better idea of his future plans. He is expected to confirm members of his Cabinet.

Ortega will be sworn in at the Omar Torrijos Nonaligned Plaza, which he constructed as president in the 1980s. It is the same plaza where he conceded defeat to Violeta Chamorro after the Feb. 25, 1990, election.

He plans to use a former convention center near Congress as his office, instead of the presidential palace built by former President Arnoldo Aleman with $10 million donated by Taiwan.

Ortega’s Sandinista party has the largest number of lawmakers in Congress, but it is short of the majority needed to approve new laws. Many have speculated that Ortega could renew his past coalition with the party of Aleman, who was convicted in 2003 for money laundering and embezzlement.

During their first session on Tuesday, lawmakers elected a Sandinista as leader of Congress. But lawmakers from all opposition parties warned Ortega not to return the country to the dark days of his previous leadership.

“May God light the path of the new president and his government ... so that they don’t fall victim to totalitarian temptations or even think of setting back our democracy even a centimeter,” warned Wilfredo Navarro, of Aleman’s party.

In an interview with The Associated Press, outgoing President Enrique Bolanos predicted that Ortega’s government would be “as strong as it was in the 1980s.”

“It won’t be a democracy, because democracy requires divided power,” said Bolanos, who was jailed twice and had much of his property seized under Ortega’s previous rule.

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