Citizen - online
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Former US-Cold War foe Daniel Ortega won Sunday's presidential election in Nicaragua, the electoral council said.
Ortega, 60, won 38.07 percent of the vote, with 91.48 percent of voting precincts counted, the council said.
Conservative candidate Eduardo Montealegre came in second with 29 percent of the vote, followed by also conservative Jose Rizo with 26.2 percent.
Ortega has won the Nicaraguan vote outright, since by law he had to secure at least 35 percent of the vote and a five-point lead on his closest rival.
"The results favor Daniel Ortega, whom I've called to congratulate," Montealegre, of the National Liberal Alliance, said in a speech conceding defeat.
"He has been elected democratically and will have to govern so," Montealegre added, hinting at Ortega's murky past as President of Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government from 1979 to 1990.
Guatemalan President Oscar Berger was the first international leader to applaud Ortega's victory.
"We respect the will of the Nicaraguan people and congratulate Daniel Ortega," he said told reporters in Guatemala City.
The White House said warily that it would work with Ortega based on his commitment to his country's "democratic future."
"The United States is committed to the Nicaraguan people. We will work with their leaders based on their commitment to and actions in support of Nicaragua's democratic future," said national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Johndroe went on to emphasize that "the groundwork has been laid to allow for increased prosperity and opportunity for the Nicaraguan people" through channels like the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), US programs to reward democratic and free market reforms, and debt relief.