To be added or removed from this list, please FReepmail me. Also ping to proudyank and stjacques.
Posted on 01/23/2007 3:52:36 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
MANAGUA (Reuters) - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a U.S. foe from the Cold War who is now back in office, told Washington on Monday that it cannot stop him forming alliances with anti-U.S. leaders in Iran, Cuba and Venezuela.
Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla, has courted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and upgraded diplomatic ties to Cuba since winning an election last November.
Concern in Washington was raised further when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid a high-profile visit to Managua earlier this month.
"We want relations with all the countries in the world, with all the international community. What does that mean? No one can go around telling us who to be friendly with," Ortega said.
The United States has a long history of intervention in Nicaragua and sponsored right-wing Contra rebels who waged a civil war against Ortega's Sandinista government in the 1980s.
Some 30,000 people died and Ortega was booted out of office in 1990 by voters tired of the conflict.
"Never mind Iran, Nicaragua has been a victim of historical conflicts with the United States," he told a news conference, citing a 19th century battle against an American adventurer who tried to conquer Central America.
Chavez, who told Washington on Sunday to "go to hell," gives cheap fuel and fertilizer to Nicaragua and will build an oil refinery here.
Ortega said Venezuela will also aid Nicaragua, the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, to build a road link between its Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
Nicaragua's transport minister said in an interview published on Monday that the Venezuelan army will help construct around 310 miles of road inland from the Caribbean port of Puerto Cabezas at a cost of $350 million.
Ortega says he will not pull out of the Central American Free Trade Agreement between regional countries and the United States but he complained the pact was defective because Central America did not negotiate it as one bloc.
Ortega was congratulated by President George W. Bush after his election victory and insists he wants good relations with Washington, despite criticizing the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
I hope the Contras held on to their weapons.
Time to do a Panama/Noriega job on this clown before the
rest of the Americas turns marxist?
Nicaragua has already been contacted by Vladimir Putin, the leader of the neo-Soviet union.
ML/NJ
I wonder how soon his execution squads will start roaming the country and getting rid of all those who oppose him and/or were members of the former government.
To be added or removed from this list, please FReepmail me. Also ping to proudyank and stjacques.
He picked Jimmah long ago...
Contras: Phase Two! (this time finish the job.)
Chris Dodd is so happy.
Ortega had a good time while he was living in Marion, Illinois. Saw some real wheeler dealers while Ortega was there. I don't think he ever lost any power.
You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose.
"And always remember, comrades...you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."
7.62
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/102522.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/294533.stm
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35168
http://sadlynormal.wordpress.com/tag/world-news/nicaragua/
Thanks for the ping.
Great research work on those links.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.