After the last day of campaigning, polls show Daniel Ortega to have a strong lead, but the former pro-Kremlin president, branded a 'Marxist-Leninist dictator' by Ronald Reagan 20 years ago, says the United States is now trying to keep him from the presidency.
Mikhail Kamynin, the main spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, said: "According to information coming from Managua [Nicaragua's capital], both U.S. officials and numerous funds and NGOs that have settled in the territory of that country are threatening, in case of victory by the Sandinista National Liberation Front, to halt their aid."
If Sandinista leader Ortega's party wins, the U.S. and its organizations are also threatening to "review current agreements and contracts... toughen the migration regime, and deport from U.S. territory Nicaraguans temporarily working there," the Russian diplomat said.
Since his term in office, Daniel Ortega, 60, has made two failed bids for the leadership.
Ortega's main rival at the upcoming elections, U.S.-educated banker Eduardo Montealegre, claims the former socialist leader, who supported anti-U.S. rebels in the 1980s and nationalized land in the country, has not changed his colors since he was president.
However, the Sandinista leader, who is believed to have strong support from Socialist Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, another scourge of the United States, has stressed his pro-business credentials and his commitment to turning the impoverished nation in to a healthy economy.
Kamynin said Russia is convinced that open, universal elections are the key element of any democratic process, and that no obstacles should be put in the way of the Nicaraguan people freely declaring its will.
The elections will be held on November 5.
