US Heats up Nicaragua Elections

Sandinista candidate Daniel Ortega

Managua, Oct 31 (Prensa Latina)

The United States jacked up pressure Tuesday to avoid a victory of Sandinista candidate Daniel Ortega, who is leading polls five days before the presidential and legislative elections begin.

The new agitation is from the US Congress, with at least three legislators in favor of revising relations with Nicaragua, which they say could include blocking family remittances if Ortega returns to power.

Congressmen Ed Royce and Peter Hoekstra agreed with their republican counterpart Dana Rohrabacher, who has demanded the government make a contingency plan before the possible triumph of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).

Consulted by Prensa Latina, local analyst Aldo Diaz Lacayo rejected the proposal of blocking family remittances, which amount to between 700 and 800 million dollars annually.

"This measure would directly affect the hundreds of Nicaraguans living in United States more than the Sandinista government," he said.

Ortega said if he wins November 5 he will try to reduce the expenses of the Nicaraguans living abroad to send money to their relatives at home.