Ortega Rallies Sandinistas 35 Years After Revolt

With the red and black flags of the Sandinista National Liberation Front waving in the crowd before him, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega this weekend celebrated the anniversary of the revolution he helped lead 35 years ago. Alongside Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Ortega rallied supporters Saturday in Managua. "Even as we have achieved great victories we still have greater victories ahead." The sixty-eight year-old Ortega, who is serving his third term as president, was part of the Sandinista revolt that ousted dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979. He is now facing criticism himself of overstepping his bounds, after opposition members said constitutional changes earlier this year are designed to keep Ortega as leader of the impoverished Central American country for life. In January, the largely Sandinista National Assembly approved controversial amendments that would allow him to be re-elected indefinitely. Ortega was elected president for one term in 1984, and his government survived the U.S.-backed "Contra" rebellion throughout the 1980s. He was reelected in 2006, and the Sandinista leader has expressed interest in seeking a new term in 2016. According to the World Bank's most recent estimates in 2009, 42.5 percent of Nicaraguans live at or below the poverty rate, a slight improvement over the 2005 estimate of 48.3 percent.



from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1jPxA8W