Left I on the News

I have to admit this is better than "democracy" at the point of a gun:

Washington, which backed Contra rebels who battled the Soviet-supported Sandinista government, has criticized [Daniel] Ortega as "undemocratic" and tried to strengthen his rivals.

The U.S Embassy in Managua held several meetings before the campaign started in an attempt to unite Nicaragua's fractured right behind a single candidate.

Fortunately, so far the effort hasn't had the desired effect:

Despite U.S. efforts to stop left-wing Nicaraguan politician Daniel Ortega from returning to power, a poll released on Tuesday showed he maintained a six-point lead over rival presidential candidates.

And just why does the U.S. government not like the Sandinistas? One guess:

When the Sandinistas took power in 1979, they improved living conditions for some of the poor and introduced free healthcare and universal education, but were criticized for human rights abuses and forced military conscription.

"Forced military conscription." Isn't that...a draft?

Reuters mentions that: "This will be Ortega's third presidential bid since being defeated at the polls in 1990." What they neglect to mention is that that 1990 defeat was the result of the same kind of U.S. intervention as they are attempting in 2006. Just a minor detail. I'm sure it slipped their minds. As did the minor detail that the U.S. is trying the identical thing ("convincing" a divided opposition to unite behind a single, U.S.-funded candidate) right now in Venezuela. But Reuters didn't forget Venezuela entirely. Oh no.:

Ortega enjoys the support of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has upset the United States by using oil money to build anti-U.S. alliances and strengthen leftist candidates across Latin America.

U.S. money being used to strengthen right-wing candidates? Oh no, the U.S. just "holds meetings" according to Reuters. Sure they do.

Update: I have to add in my pet peeve (one of many). The headine to this article reads: "Sandinistas lead Nicaraguan election." They do no such thing. They (or anyone else) won't do that until sometime late on November 5 when the votes are being counted. They lead in a poll.