by Jane Furchgott

José Marroquin and I arrived in Santa Teresa the evening before Nicaragua's 2006 national elections. Getting up the next morning, Sunday, November 5, and walking around town, we saw long lines of people waiting to vote at various polling places. The voting looked orderly, and there were a number of foreign election observers watching the process.
By that evening, it was clear that the leading candidates in the field were ex-President Daniel Ortega, from the socialist Sandinista party, and U.S. Government-supported Eduardo Montealegre, from the center right ALN party. Neither had yet received the necessary margin (35% of the vote, with 5% over the runner-up) required by Nicaraguan law to win the election. If the margin was not attained, there would be a run-off election between the two men.
It took almost three days for all the votes to be counted and Daniel Ortega to be declared the winner; but the celebration started the first night. Fireworks were set off all over town, and car caravans of young people with red and black FSLN flags cruised Santa Teresa's streets. It looked like a real Sandinista town, the enthusiasm was so evident.
Ortega won with 38% of the vote, in an election certified by the Carter Center. Jimmy Carter described the election as a "much more careful and meticulous process and much more uniform throughout the country than anything we've seen in the United States." The final results came in along with news of the U.S. elections back home. Despite mixed feeling about Daniel Ortega, José and I were happy about his victory. It seemed like a moment of hope for positive change.
Santa Teresa's ex-mayor José Martinez also won re-election as the Carazo department's representative in the national Congress. A few days after the election, he showed up at the house where we were staying with a couple of six-packs and a bodyguard, still celebrating.
President Ortega, who ran with a promise of peace and reconciliation, is now in the difficult position of balancing and sustaining national and international alliances that will benefit Nicaragua. He is trying to maintain a good relationship with the U.S. while forming close ties with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Latin America's other socialist regimes. Oil-rich Venezuela will be giving Nicaragua a special deal on oil along with other aid.
My hope is that the Sandinistas will keep their socialist promise to improve Nicaragua's health care and education systems, both of which have worsened in the past three administrations. This is something that would improve the lives of our many friends in Santa Teresa and the Chacocente villages.