U.S., Iran and Venezuelan battling for influence in Ortega's new Nicaragua
Saturday, January 20, 2007
SAN JOSE, Nicaragua (AP) - The U.S. is again battling leftists in Daniel Ortega's Nicaragua. This time, the fight is being waged not with guns and guerrilla warfare, but with free tractors, health clinics and donated electrical plants.
(snip)
Additionally, as a new member of the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the U.S., it is on the verge of receiving substantial international investment, mostly in the form of textile factories.
(snip)
Enter Ortega, a former Marxist who spent the 1980s fighting off the U.S.-backed Contra rebel insurgency.
Ortega led Nicaragua throughout the 1980s after his Sandinista rebel movement pushed out dictator Anastasio Somoza. Following his 1990 electoral loss, he ran for president three consecutive times, losing twice before finally triumphing in November.
(snip)
The U.S. government so despised Ortega during the 1980s that Oliver North and other aides to then-President Reagan secretly sold arms to Iran's radical Islamic government to finance clandestine aid for the Contra rebels in a bid to overthrow him. North showed up again during Ortega's latest presidential campaign, predicting dire consequences if he returned to power.
(snip/...)
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=24&ID=331281&r=2&subCategoryID=