Like turtlenecks under sweaters and leggings, another nightmare from the '80s has apparently made a comeback:
Leftist Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega appeared to slide into presidential victory on his third attempt at regaining the power he once wielded, according to preliminary results released this morning.
The former Marxist revolutionary garnered 38.5 percent of the vote, well above the 35-percent total and five-point margin over the second-place finisher needed to avoid a runoff, according to a quick count carried out by a respected civic organization.
U.S.-educated banker Eduardo Montealegre received 29.5 percent of the vote, according to the count by Ethics and Transparency.
Former vice president and coffee grower José Rizo received 24 percent of the vote. Lagging far behind were economist Edmundo Jarquín and Edén Pastora, both of whom broke with Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front.
The Marxist-led group led a massive uprising that, in 1979, brought an end to the Somoza family dynasty. The Sandinistas later fought against contra rebels financed by the Reagan administration.
Sigh. I guess it was too much to hope that Marxism would be permanently out of style.
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