From: Michael Hoover <hoov-AT-freenet.tlh.fl.us> Subject: M-I: Archrivals Ortega, Aleman meet in Nicaragua (fwd) Date: Thu, 16 Jan 97 22:29:48 18000 Forwarded message: > Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 14:45:47 -0500 (EST) > From: "Victor O. Story" <story-AT-kutztown.edu> > To: ATWS <thrdwrld-AT-sphinx.Gsu.EDU> > Subject: Archrivals Ortega, Aleman meet in Nicaragua (fwd) > > On Mon, 13 Jan 1997 > <P> MANAGUA (Reuter) - Nicaragua took a major step toward > political stability Monday when President Arnoldo Aleman and > left-wing opposition leader Daniel Ortega met and agreed to > continue negotiations to end hostilites.</P> > <P> The long-awaited meeting between the bitter rivals who > dominate Nicaraguan politics came three days after Aleman > assumed the presidency.</P> > <P> ``We have agreed to maintain this communication, maintain > this exchange, to later take concrete steps that will allow us > to lay the basis for stability in Nicaragua,'' Ortega told > reporters after the meeting in Aleman's presidential office.</P> > <P> Ortega, a former president who lost the October elections to > Aleman, was accompanied by four members of the Sandinista ruling > council. Ortega and Aleman allowed a joint photo opportunity > upon entering the meeting but held separate news conferences > afterward.</P> > <P> Ortega said no pact had been reached, but the political will > existed to find a solution to Nicaragua's problems.</P> > <P> The meeting clearly eased tensions and brought relief to > Aleman, whose power to govern effectively will depend on his > ability to reach an agreement with the defeated but still > powerful Sandinistas, analysts have said.</P> > <P> Even though its civil war ended seven years ago, Nicaragua > remains polarized between the Sandinistas and Aleman's > right-wing Liberal Alliance.</P> > <P> ``This is a good signal that the country is now on the road > of dialogue that has always been the best weapon to move the > country forward without bloodshed,'' Aleman said.</P> > <P> Aleman said both his Liberal Alliance and the Sandinistas > agreed that the key issues needing to be resolved were the > lingering dispute over private property and the establishment of > the rule of law.</P> > <P> The legal status of thousands of properties confiscated > during the 1979-1990 Sandinista government remain in limbo, > pitting their former owners against the current occupants.</P> > <P> After beating Ortega in Nicaragua's Oct. 20 presidential > vote, Aleman had invited Ortega to meet with him, but Ortega > refused.</P> > <P> At the time he accused Aleman of having won by fraud and > refused to recognize the new government's legitimacy. -- --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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