U.S. Prepares For Ortega Victory

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

Washington prepared for a new development in Latin America yesterday as Daniel Ortega, the former Nicaraguan Marxist and bogeyman of the Reagan presidency, went into his country’s general election leading in opinion polls.

America has said it will “revise” its policy toward the tiny Central American country if its Cold War foe were to win.

“If Daniel wins, this country will go down,” said Ramon de la Cruz Fernandez, 47, a mechanic and father of eight, as he stood in line to vote in a central Managua polling station.

“If he does things wrong, the United States will invade,” he added, as he prepared to vote for Jose Rizo, one of two conservative candidates standing against Mr. Ortega.

Some 8,000 soldiers were patrolling the empty, palm-lined streets. Shops were closed and sales of alcohol were banned.

Ahead of yesterday’s vote, Mr. Ortega led polls with around 33% of votes against 29% for his closest rival, Eduardo Montealegre, an American-backed former banker.

But overall support for Mr. Ortega seemed to be on the decline, with his Sandinistas holding a smaller proportion in the polls that in the two elections since he was voted out of power in 1990.

Sandinistas say America’s threats to cut off the cash flow do not scare them because other countries will come to their aid. Venezuela is already supplying cheap oil and fertilizer to rural areas. Many Nicaraguans are tempted to vote for Mr. Ortega after years of American-backed pro-market reforms which, they feel, have created a rich elite but have not improved their lives.

Analysts said Mr. Ortega only sniffed victory because the predominant “anti-Sandinista” vote was split between three parties: Mr. Montealegre’s National Liberal Alliance, Mr. Rizo’s PLC and the new leftist Sandinista Renewal Movement.


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use