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Thursday January 11th, 2007
| Daniel
Ortega takes office in Nicaragua with help from 'Brother' Chavez
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Daniel Ortega Saavedra took the reins of Nicaragua Wednesday amid big embraces with Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, and Evo Morales, the Bolivian leader. Ortega referred to the left-wing Chávez as a brother. Among the guests was Arnoldo Alemán, the former president sentenced to 20 years house arrest for money laundering and corruption. Members of the Frente Sandinista Liberación Nacional and other supporters turned out later in a massive crowd to hear Ortega speak at the Plaza de la Fe, Juan Pablo II. Ortega trashed neo-liberalism and promised a new road. Neo-liberalism is a term for capitalism. Chávez delayed Ortega's inauguration by an hour because he was late. Some 2,000 persons attended the transfer of power, including 16 heads of state. Among them was Óscar Arias Sánchez of Costa Rica. |
Earlier in a luncheon Arias said that
prosperity in Nicaragua is vital to Costa Rica where some 600,000
Nicaraguans live. Chávez, a close friend of Fidel Castro of Cuba just announced that he would nationalize major telecommunications and other industries in his country. He is promising a socialism for the 21st century. And he wants a constitutional change so he can rule by decree. Patria, socialismo o muerte shouted Chávez from the platform where Ortega delivered his later speech, meaning "country, socialism or death." Morales shouted that the imperialism of North America should die. Although Ortega has seemed to be receptive to foreign investment and says he has changed his political thinking since he led Nicaragua during the 1980s Contra wars promoted by the United States, U.S. officials are still leery. Chávez has promised significant financial aid to Nicaragua, including funds to build 200,000 houses. |