NICARAGUA: Nicaraguan opposition campaigns close ahead of troubled presidential vote

Record ID: 346407

  • Title: NICARAGUA: Nicaraguan opposition campaigns close ahead of troubled presidential vote
  • Date: 31st October 2011
  • Summary: MANAGUA, NICARAGUA (OCTOBER 29, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ARNOLDO ALEMAN AT POLITICAL RALLY
  • Embargoed: 15th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nicaragua, Nicaragua
  • Country: Nicaragua
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3I3HS59DUB7BC1A6ANMT728LI
  • Story Text: Jubilant supporters of Nicaragua's opposition leaders took to the streets of the capital Managua for their final rallies on Saturday (October 29) ahead of November's controversial presidential vote.
    Although incumbent leftist President Daniel Ortega is expected to win a third term as leader, opposition supporters turned out in their masses to cheer on the country's embattled opposition.
    In what has become a race of the presidents, Ortega is up against former president Arnoldo Aleman and candidate for the conservative Constitutionalist Liberal Party who ruled over the impoverished nation from 1997 to 2002.
    Although the former President's tenure in power was marred by allegations of corruption, Aleman campaigned fiercely on dislodging ex-guerilla fighter Ortega's strong grip over the leadership.
    "Demand an end to those commanders who jailed us, robbed us, tortured us. From the bottom of my heart comes a yell for an end to Ortega's dictatorship and the commanders," declared Aleman.
    Ortega -- a left-wing fighter whose Sandinista rebels fought U.S. backed government forces during a Cold War-era civil war -- successfully petitioned the country's Supreme Court in 2010 to lift a constitutional barrier paving the way for his consecutive re-election, much to the ire of Aleman's supporters.
    With claims of corruption rife amongst candidates, supporters of the Independent Liberal Party are putting all their weight behind journalist Fabio Gadea to restore the country's democratic ideals.
    Gadea told a rally that he would bring an end to the sharp political divisions between leftists and conservatives that have thrived in the tiny country under Ortega's Venezuelan-funded presidency.
    "We are going to govern for all, not just for a party. We are going to govern for all parties, for all Nicaraguans and we are not going to ask if they are conservative or an Ortega supporter, a Sandinista, an Evangelical or a Protestant-- all are Nicaraguans and we need to help them," said Gadea.
    In what has been dubbed the political date of the year, millions of Nicaraguans are expected to turn out on November 06 to elect a new president, vice president and lawmakers for the Central American Parliament.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Audio restrictions: please see Business Notes for more information.
Register