A new day for Nicaragua...?

like so many other latin american countries, nicaragua is plagued by poverty that persists, generation after generation, no matter who is in power or what ideology they profess... nicaragua, along with el salvador and panama, is a perfect example of a country where the united states has shown its muscle by forcing changes in the political landscape that benefit only its interests while leaving the population as poor or poorer than before and harboring a reservoir of bitterness over broken promises...

Is Nicaragua swinging left with Sandinista Daniel Ortega's return to power? It certainly did not take long for his friends in Cuba and Venezuela to express their joy early Wednesday, shortly after Ortega, 60, was officially declared the winner of Sunday's vote without the need for a runoff.

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro sent congratulations as he recovers from surgery, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez welcomed Nicaragua as the latest member of the anti-US front.

But president-elect Ortega used a very different tone in his victory speech, just as he had in the campaign leading up to the election.

"We want to achieve a new political culture," the sandinista leader said in his first televised reaction. "We want to overcome the differences and pull Nicaragua out of poverty together."

As if to stress the point, his closest rival in the election, right-wing former banker Eduardo Montealegre, stood at his side during the broadcast.

"Reconciliation, not division," seems to be the Central American country's new motto. Ortega's joyous supporters on the streets also spoke of union.

maybe there's some real change on the horizon... we can only hope...

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