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Article: Nicaraguan Presidential Election Could Return Rule of Sandinistas
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- October 18, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The presidential election scheduled here Sunday has boiled
down to a tight race between the once-Marxist Sandinistas and an
arch-conservative populist, both urging voters not only to choose
Nicaragua's future but also to define its past.
Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista candidate, was president from
1979 to 1990, during which his Cuban-allied government battled a
U.S.-sponsored insurgency by Contra rebels and sought to establish a
political system inspired by Marxism. Defeated at the polls by
President Violeta Chamorro in 1990, Ortega now claims to represent
not Marxism or revolution, but rather a future free of the
authoritarian legacy of former dictator Anastasio Somoza.
His ...