Daniel Ortega wins the presidency.

Managua -- Nicaragua's presidential election of November 7, 2006, showed a clear majority for former Marxist Daniel Ortega. As leader of the revolutionary Sandanista party, Ortega defeated U.S.-backed Contra insurgents and ruled the country from 1979 to 1990, in which year he lost the presidency to Violeta Chamorro.

He has worked to regain it for the last 16 years, in the process accumulating some unlikely allies, partly by reconciling with the Catholic Church. In an ironic situation which has seen him accused of sexual abuse by a stepdaughter, Ortega celebrated his marriage to his long-time "partner," and later his 61st birthday, at the cathedral of Managua. In another paradoxical twist, he has maintained close ties with Venezuelan leftist leader, Hugo Chavez, while simultaneously consulting with financial powerbrokers whose help he will need in order to reduce poverty in the country.

One position indicates some sincerity in his 'conversion,' namely that Ortega has endorsed his predecessor Enrique Bolanos' position against abortion. In the final days of his presidency, Bolanos signed a bill passed unanimously in the National Assembly, banning abortion in Nicaragua with no exceptions, including the mother's life. This gives Nicaragua the strictest abortion law in Latin America. Opposition came from women's groups, doctors and foreign elements including a since-denied attempt at intervention by UNICEF (Zenit, Nov. 15, 2006; AP, Nov. 18, 2006).