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NICARAGUA'S PRESIDENT-ELECT SIGNALS HOW HE WILL GOVERN.

Article Excerpt
Nicaraguan President-elect Daniel Ortega has been busy since his comeback re-election signaling friends and foes alike how he intends to govern. His first of several trips outside Nicaragua was to Guatemala, to discuss Central American unity with President Oscar Berger. "We have to work toward a union of the Americas, of Central America with the Caribbean and South America. Meanwhile, let's build the unity of Central America," he told the media after his meeting with Berger.

While the statement gives ample clues to Ortega's direction, the selection of Guatemala as his first stop was taken by analysts to mean that he is concerned about distancing himself from the dispute between Venezuela and the US. Venezuela supported Ortega's candidacy as enthusiastically as the US opposed it (see NotiCen, 2006-04-27 and 2006-11-09).

Ortega did not avoid criticizing the US during the visit, however. He sharply rebuked Washington's plans to build a wall on...