Ortega Declared President
Former revolutionary and U.S. nemesis Daniel Ortega was declared Nicaragua's president-elect last night, cementing a dramatic comeback that adds a seventh leftist leader to a Latin America at odds with the Bush administration.

With 92 percent of votes counted, Ortega had 38 percent of ballots, nearly 9 points ahead of his closest rival in Sunday's five-way race, an insurmountable lead, the Supreme Electoral Council said. Ortega needed 35 percent and a 5-point advantage over the runner-up to win.

In an emotional speech, Ortega, 60, who has publicly traded Marx for God, promised he was a changed man who would govern as a moderate with none of the property seizures, mandatory draft and persecution of foes of his first presidency.

"We will fight poverty and create jobs," he said, and also "keep the country open to private investment and to economic and social development."

Supporters of the Ortega, danced and set off fireworks.

Ortega took power in 1979 after overthrowing the corrupt Somoza dynasty. He survived a civil war against U.S.-financed rightist rebels and a U.S. economic blockade, but was voted from office in 1990. This was his third attempt at re-election.

Eduardo Montealegre, the right-wing, U.S.-backed runner-up, immediately conceded defeat. He pledged to work with Ortega and met with him to publicly congratulate him, curbing fears of attempts to reverse the results through violence.

The Bush administration had threatened to freeze millions of dollars in U.S. aid and in earnings that Nicaraguans in the United States send home if Ortega won. But former President Jimmy Carter, in Nicaragua monitoring the vote, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told him by telephone yesterday that the United States would work with the victor.

In Venezuela, leftist President Hugo Chávez said the vote showed that "Latin America is ceasing to be and forever a backyard of U.S. imperialism."