Nicaraguan president meets with new president-elect, seeks smooth hand over
Nicaragua's outgoing president, Enrique Bolaños, met Sunday with President-elect Daniel Ortega to work out details of this week's inauguration and assured the incoming leader he wants a smooth handover.

Presidential spokesman Lindolfo Monjarretz told The Associated Press that Bolanos' government has been working with Ortega's transition team to give the new government, which takes office on Wednesday, all the information it needs.

It was the third meeting between the two since Ortega's Nov. 5 electoral victory. Bolanos was scheduled to give a radio address to the nation on Monday. He wasn't expected to speak during Wednesday's inaugural ceremonies.

Ortega led the Soviet-allied, Sandinista government in the 1980s and was one of the biggest enemies of the U.S. government, which backed a rebel insurgency aimed at toppling him. He lost power during elections in 1990, and spent the past 17 years trying to return to the presidency.

Since his victory, he has said he wants to lead a more moderate government that will maintain relations with Washington. But so far he has stayed closely allied to one of the U.S. government's harshest critics, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.