US Still Meddling in Nicaragua Election
Political analyst Aldo Diaz predicted that US Ambassador to Nicaragua Paul Trivelli will step up his pressure in a bid to unify the rightwing forces for the election against the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)

El Nuevo Diario quoted the well-known historian on Thursday as saying that the US diplomat will continue his escalation of pressure until May 30, the date scheduled to register party alliances.

According to Diaz, the main goal is for ex Nicaraguan president and leader of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC), Arnoldo Aleman, to remove his current candidate, Jose Rizo, and replace him with Eduardo Montealegre, a dissident of that organization.

Montealegre, who was foreign minister during Aleman´s administration (1997-2001) and now leads the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance, is shaping up as Washington’s man.

The analyst said that if the US fails to get their candidate in, he predicted it will launch a smear campaign against the PLC, to channel the liberal vote to its favourite.