Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Politics in the 1990s
Chamorro took office in April 1990. The Contras called a heavily publicized ceasefire at
the end of June. The US trade embargo was lifted, and foreign aid began to pour in.
Chamorro faced a tricky balancing act in trying to reunify the country and satisfy all in-
terests. Economic recovery was slow; growth was sluggish and unemployment remained
stubbornly high. Nevertheless, in 1996, when Nicaragua went to the polls again, the people
rejected the FSLN's Ortega and opted for former Managua mayor Arnoldo Alemán of the
PLC, a center-right liberal alliance.
Alemán invested heavily in infrastructure and reduced the size of the army by a factor of
10, but his administration was plagued by scandal, as corruption soared and Alemán
amassed a personal fortune from the state's coffers, earning himself a place on Transparen-
cy International's list of the top 10 corrupt public officials of all time. Meanwhile, however,
the Sandinistas had their own image problems, as the ever-present Ortega was accused by
his stepdaughter of sexual abuse. In a gesture of mutual self-preservation, Ortega and
Alemán struck a sordid little deal, popularly known as
el pacto
(the pact), which
Time
magazine reported was designed to nullify the threat of the opposition, pull the teeth of
anti-corruption watchdogs and guarantee Alemán immunity from further investigation.
Sandinista diehards felt betrayed by Ortega's underhanded dealings, but many still be-
lieved in their party, and Ortega remained an important figure.
