Word: ortega
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Early last week there were disturbing signs that the cease-fire might never come to pass. In one of his final acts as Nicaragua's President, Daniel Ortega Saavedra demanded that the contras disarm before Chamorro's inauguration this week and suggested that failure to cooperate might jeopardize the peaceful transfer of power. Asked if the inauguration would take place as scheduled, he answered, "We are studying that. We are very close to peace and very close to war." The contra contingent that arrived in Managua the next day for cease- fire negotiations fanned the tension by vowing to avoid...
Next she invited Ortega. At the end of their 90-minute discussion, the Sandinista leader stood beside Chamorro on her doorstep and announced, "I want to make it clear that on April 25 there will be a transfer of power." As a bonus concession, Ortega also announced that visa requirements for Americans seeking to enter Nicaragua had been lifted. Then the past and future Presidents hugged...
...Daniel Ortega Saavedra could not disagree more. "If we don't want the storm of civil war and insurrection to sweep us away, then the contras must disarm," he said last week. While initially gracious in defeat, the Sandinista leader has since turned recalcitrant. Besides demanding that the contras demobilize immediately, Ortega & Co. have publicly insisted on the Sandinistas' retaining control of the 70,000-member army and the Interior Ministry even after the new government is sworn in April 25. In its last days, the defeated regime is also moving to enact sweeping laws that would turn public property...
...Still, the situation may not be as grim as it appears, given that both the contras and the Sandinistas are posturing, inflating their obstinacy in an effort to gain leverage. Ortega and his colleagues are seeking to secure as much power as possible in their role as the opposition in the new legislative assembly, where they will be the single largest party, controlling 39 of the 94 seats. The contras, for their part, want assurances that they will not be wiped out by the still armed Sandinista military once they agree to give up the fight and surrender their weapons...
...strong professional core remains well disciplined and loyal to the Sandinistas. Chamorro has vowed to abolish the draft and reduce the size of the military. Luis Humberto Guzman, a member of U.N.O.'s senior advisory board, has said that military spending should not exceed 15% of the budget. Under Ortega, defense expenditures totaled 50% of the budget. For that reason alone, demobilization of both armies makes sense if Nicaragua is going to rebuild itself...