At least democracy prevailed somewhere in the world today.
NICARAGUA'S former Marxist guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega bounced back to power on Tuesday in a presidential election victory that bolsters an increasingly assertive anti-US bloc in Latin America.
Ortega had 38 per cent support with votes tallied from more than 90 per cent of polling stations at Sunday's vote, a lead of 9 points over his Washington-backed conservative rival Eduardo Montealegre.
Ortega, who fought US-backed Contra rebels as president in the 1980s, was conciliatory in victory but the White House warned that its support for Nicaragua would hinge on the leftist's commitment to democracy.
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Nicaragua, the poorest country in the Americas after Haiti, has never recovered from the civil war that killed 30,000 people and ruined the economy.
A series of pro-Washington governments that have ruled since Ortega was defeated at elections in 1990 have done little to alleviate poverty.
Ortega's victory in a third comeback attempt was a huge boost for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is trying to build a Latin American alliance of anti-US leaders.
"Latin America is leaving forever its role as the backyard of the North American empire. Yankee go home! Gringo go home! This land is ours, this is our America!" said a delighted President Chavez, whose closest allies are Cuban President Fidel Castro and Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Although sick since intestinal surgery in July, Castro sent effusive congratulations to his old comrade.
A small measure of satisfaction for a beleaguered American voter on this otherwise useless night.
However, it's too soon to celebrate for Nicaraguans -
Washington recently warned of a cut in investment and aid to Nicaragua if Ortega was returned to power, and some senior officials in President George W. Bush's administration have a long history of opposition to the president-elect.
They include Elliott Abrams, who serves on the National Security Council and was a key figure in the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, when the US government secretly sold arms to Iran to channel funds to the Nicaraguan Contra rebels.
Ortega knows well the cost of confronting Washington. The Contra war and a US economic embargo in the 1980s wrecked the Sandinistas' ambitious education and health programs.
Put nothing past Washington - they would do it all over again to secure their corporate interests.
