politics

by José Luis Rocha
Nicaraguan political analyst

When it returned to power after 17 years, the Sandinista Front brought along an important package of social promises. Inspired by the premise that the economic blockade and the war were the only determining factors in the failure of the socio-economic project of the ‘80s, the FSLN is promising a new version of the social policies of the revolutionary period.

By Susan Frisbie
WCCN Development and Marketing Director

On Tuesday, November 7th millions of voters across the United States sat in their living rooms watching the television while waiting to hear the latest mid-term Congressional election results arriving from the polls. The night did not end well for the Fox News faithful who may have found further news to sulk about if they watched the news ticker at the bottom of the screen, as a familiar name they hadn’t seen in quite some time scrolled by. That name was Daniel Ortega. Though the Nicaraguan elections were held on Sunday, November 5th, it wasn’t until Tuesday evening with 91 percent of the ballots counted that Eduardo Montealegre, the U.S. government-favored right-wing candidate conceded the Nicaraguan presidential election to Ortega.

By Susan Frisbie
WCCN Development & Marketing Director

Over the past year, Nicaragua has slowly been gaining media coverage in the U.S. The fact that Nicaragua, a country that most Americans have long forgotten, has appeared on the mainstream U.S. media radar can only indicate one thing— elections are approaching. This is not uncommon; after all, the same trend of media coverage can be seen all over Latin America especially when a leading candidate does not fit the Washington neoliberal mold. In Nicaragua, that candidate is Daniel Ortega. And inevitably where Ortega’s name appears in print, Hugo Chavez’s name follows, setting off red flags all over Washington.

By Susan Frisbie
WCCN Development & Marketing Director

Thursday, May 11th marked the final day in which Nicaragua’s presidential hopefuls could register their party alliances in front of the Supreme Electoral Council. Speculation ran high as to whether or not the political right would settle their differences prior to the deadline. There have been instances of party swapping on the right, most notably former Alliance for the Republic (Apre) presidential candidate Jose Antonio Alvarado joining forces with the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC). However, the alliance that U.S. Ambassador Paul Trivelli had been jockeying for between the PLC and the U.S. government-favored Eduardo Monetealegre did not come to fruition.