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WITH U.S. OPPOSITION AT HIS BACK, ORTEGA SURGES IN NICARAGUA PRESIDENTIAL RACE.

Article Excerpt
Daniel Ortega has gained considerable ground in the race for Nicaragua's presidency. The election is seven months away. The ex-president (1979-1990) and evergreen candidate of the Frente Sandinista para la Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) is now in a statistical tie with upstart challenger Herty Lewites and just three points behind Eduardo Montealegre, who broke with the official Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC) to run under his own banner. Earlier on, Ortega was running substantially behind both these candidates.

A national poll by the firm M&R Consultores published in La Prensa, the major national daily, showed Montealegre of the Alianza Liberal Nicaraguense (ALN) in front with 26.6% of the intended vote, and Ortega dogging his heels with 23.5%. Lewites, at 22.3%, has lost four points since the last poll in December. The PLC just announced its candidate, ex-vice president Jose Rizo, too late to be included in the poll.

Ortega still has a hard road ahead. He would need 35% of the valid vote to win outright, and the survey indicates that, if the election went to a second round, as of now Lewites would be the only candidate capable of beating either Ortega or Montealegre. Montealegre would beat Ortega in that hypothetical election. According to another poll, Ortega remains weak in voter-dense Managua.

In an interesting bit of strategic byplay, Lewites has taken on Otton Solis to be one of his principal advisors. Solis...

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