Nicaragua approves Taiwan trade deal
Nicaragua's Congress ratified a trade deal with Taiwan on Wednesday with support from the opposition Sandinistas, despite promises by President-elect Daniel Ortega to renew diplomatic relations with China.

Leftist Ortega, a former Cold War foe of the United States, won last month's presidential elections and says he wants to heal old divisions in Nicaragua.

He said early in the election campaign he would re-establish relations with Beijing, which Nicaragua recognized during his rule in the 1980s. But he has since met visiting Taiwanese officials who have offered to increase financial aid to Nicaragua, the poorest country in the Americas after Haiti.

Nicaragua cut ties with China and established relations with Taiwan when Ortega lost an election in 1990.

The Central American country plans to export coffee, nuts, beef, craftwork, sugar cane and steel to Taiwan.