Word: ortega
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...Alem?n's self-confidence is stroked by a posse of yes-men who refer to him as their "maximum leader," but his insurance is rooted in a secretive power-sharing pact he forged in 2001 with the nation's leading powerbroker, President Daniel Ortega, in which the leaders agreed to divvy up power in state institutions...
...March, Alem?n's already loose conditions of house arrest were further relaxed to allow him the freedom to travel the country. And now that President Ortega needs opposition support for his government's agenda, Alem?n, who controls the second biggest legislative bloc in the National Assembly, is cashing in a few more chips. On April 19, Sandinista and Liberal lawmakers combined to pass a law reducing the prison term for money laundering to five years, which Alem?n conveniently will complete next December...
...hawkish Alem?n, who speaks wistfully of the repressive days of the Somoza dictatorship (which Ortega overthrew as leader of the Sandinista insurgents), was never a typical prisoner. He has spent more of his jail sentence in a hospital bed recovering from a minor finger surgery (three months to be exact) than he spent behind bars. And now that full freedom appears to be just around the corner, he has valiantly cast aside concerns for his own health for the good of his party...
...When you let the cat loose it eats the rats, and this cat is going to travel all over the country," Alem?n said. Ortega must be silently nodding in approval as he watches his opposition claw at each other - the same situation that helped him into the presidency last year...
...Alem?n warns Ortega, once he disposes of Montealegre he will be setting his sights on the presidency, which could lead to a rematch of the 1996 election when Alem?n beat Ortega. "Don't get too happy in power. There's no debt that goes unpaid and no soup that doesn't get cold. We will return to power...