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| Daniel Ortega wins Nicaraguan presidential vote |
| Managua, 09.11.2006 |
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| MANAGUA (AFP) - Former US-Cold War foe Daniel Ortega won Sunday's presidential election in Nicaragua, the electoral council said.
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Ortega, 60, won 38.07 percent of the vote, with 91.48 percent of voting precincts counted, the council said.
Conservative candidate Eduardo Montealegre came in second with 29 percent of the vote, followed by also conservative Jose Rizo with 26.2 percent.
Ortega has won the Nicaraguan vote outright, since by law he had to secure at least 35 percent of the vote and a five-point lead on his closest rival.
"The results favor Daniel Ortega, whom I've called to congratulate," Montealegre, of the National Liberal Alliance, said in a speech conceding defeat.
"He has been elected democratically and will have to govern so," Montealegre added, hinting at Ortega's murky past as President of Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government from 1979 to 1990.
Guatemalan President Oscar Berger was the first international leader to applaud Ortega's victory.
"We respect the will of the Nicaraguan people and congratulate Daniel Ortega," he said told reporters in Guatemala City.
The White House said warily that it would work with Ortega based on his commitment to his country's "democratic future."
"The United States is committed to the Nicaraguan people. We will work with their leaders based on their commitment to and actions in support of Nicaragua's democratic future," said national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Johndroe went on to emphasize that "the groundwork has been laid to allow for increased prosperity and opportunity for the Nicaraguan people" through channels like the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), US programs to reward democratic and free market reforms, and debt relief.
Former US president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that US officials were willing to work with Ortega if he "reaches out" first to his one-time enemy.
Carter, who was in Nicaragua to monitor Sunday's election, said on CNN television that he discussed Ortega's election Tuesday with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
He quoted Rice as saying that if the election is certified by international monitors as "honest and fair, and if the Ortega government reaches out in a respectful and supportive way to the United States, then the United States will reciprocate."
"I think there is no doubt that the future relations between the US and Nicaragua will be improved," Carter said.
The State Department confirmed Rice's conversation with Carter Tuesday, without comment on its contents.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack noted that Washington had negotiated aid and trade deals with the Nicaraguans, including Sandinistas.
And he left the door open to improved relations.
"We'll see what government this election produces. We'll see what the platform of that government is," he said.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez on Tuesday lowered the tone of official US statements: "We look forward to working with the new president.
"We hope that we continue to build a relationship and to build trade and prosperity to both countries."
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