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Nicaragua's Ortega says U.S. should aid ex-Contras

15.03.2007

MANAGUA (Reuters) - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said the United States should pay $300 million to support former "Contra" rebels who Washington funded in the 1980s to fight the leftist's first Sandinista government.
Ortega, a Cold War foe of the United States who now heads his second government after winning last year's election, said U.S. President George W. Bush's administration should assume some responsibility for the welfare of the ex-Contras.
The former rebels are demanding housing, land and farm credits promised to them at the end of Nicaragua's civil war that pitted the U.S.-financed fighters against the Sandinista revolutionary government.
"I would like the U.S. government, President Bush ... to take into account the United States' responsibility in this war during the government of President Reagan," Ortega said.
"It would be good if the United States contributed at least $300 million to this fund, permitting the construction of housing for these families, that will allow us to give them credits to work the land or set up small businesses," he told reporters.
Ortega won the presidential election in November after a campaign in which he promised reconciliation with former enemies like the Roman Catholic Church and the Contras.
Ortega now enjoys the support of some former Contras who live in poverty and feel betrayed by the right-wing governments that ruled Nicaragua after the Sandinistas were voted out in 1990.
The support that former President Ronald Reagan's government gave to the Contras developed into a political scandal when it was revealed members of his administration illegally sold arms to Iran and used the proceeds to fund the Nicaraguan rebels.
At least 30,000 people died in the civil war and both sides were accused of atrocities.
The Sandinistas first swept to power in 1979 after toppling dictator Anastasio Somoza. They ruled with the help of communist Cuba and the Soviet Union.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1432880520070315

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