Nicaraguans go to polls amid clashes

Nicaraguans go to the polls to choose a new president Sunday as violence erupts between supporters and opponents of President Daniel Ortega, who is eyeing a third term. About 150 supporters of Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) fought with sticks and stones in Sebaco, 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Managua Saturday, according to local authorities. At least 15 protesters and two policemen were injured. One of the injured apparently suffered from gunshot wounds or an improvised mortar explosion, a fire department spokesman said. The incident allegedly began when PLI supporters demanded to see identity cards. Police restored order and the municipal office was closed just hours before voting was due to begin. Other clashes took place in some northern and eastern villages. A tense climate prevailed ahead of the vote, as police, some in riot gear, patrolled the streets and stood guard near the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Council, west of Managua. Small groups of anti-Ortega activists burned tires, but without major incidents. Ortega, a former leftist rebel and harsh critic of the United States, has changed rules to seek a third term against a weakened and split opposition. The 65-year-old ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez helped overthrow the Somoza family dictatorship in 1979 and still heads the FSLN in Central America's poorest nation. Ortega, who sports a thick moustache, scored 48 percent against 30 percent for his closest rival, 79-year-old radio host Fabio Gadea, in the latest Cid Gallup poll. The PLI's Gadea stands on an anti-corruption ticket, while former president Arnoldo Aleman, a distant third, has fought off corruption allegations. Gadea supporter Javier Miranda claimed the authorities are "stealing the elections" in favor of Ortega. But electoral council chief Roberto Rivas accused the PLI of "hindering" the distribution of election materials in remote parts of the country in hopes of "boycotting" the voting process. With Ortega in the lead, his four right-wing rivals have focused Congress, where 90 seats are up for grabs. Judges in Nicaragua's Supreme Court controversially lifted a constitutional ban to clear the way for Ortega's candidacy, echoing similar attempts in many Latin American nations. Ortega says he is continuing the 1980s revolution and still enjoys solid support in rural and marginalized areas of Nicaragua, where almost half of the population of 5.8 million live in poverty. His opponents have criticized his bid to stay in power as well as the aid he has received from Chavez -- estimated at over $1.6 billion since 2007 -- which has propped up popular social programs, including for subsidized housing. The FSLN lost power in 1989, after a civil war against the US-backed Contra rebels. Ortega won a second five-year term as president in 2006. Despite his ties to the leftist firebrand Chavez, Ortega has succeeded in wooing investors, with Nicaragua seen as a relatively safe haven alongside some of the world's most violent nations, like neighboring Honduras or El Salvador. Ortega also maintains a free trade deal with the United States, despite his anti-imperialist discourse and links to Washington bugbears such as Iran. The United States is the main destination for Nicaragua's exports, followed by Venezuela. Economic growth is predicted to reach four percent in 2011. Inflation, which reached levels of 33,000 percent in the 1980s, is now under control, and foreign reserves are at a record $2 billion. While Nicaragua remains the second poorest country in the Americas -- only behind Haiti -- many voters said they saw Ortega as their best hope. "We want a house... and help from President Daniel Ortega," said 51-year-old Margarita Reyes, who lives in a dilapidated building still showing signs of an earthquake which destroyed the capital Managua in 1972. Residents of another poor neighborhood also backed Ortega. "He's done good things," said housewife Celia Cruz, underlining subsidies for transport and basic provisions.