Former United States President Jimmy Carter called for transparency in the coming Nicaraguan November presidential election hopefully with no foreign influence of any kind.
Speaking in Managua at the end of a four days familiarization visit Mr Carter said that "almost all of the Nicaraguans with whom we spoke expressed concern about foreign governments endorsing, vetoing, or funding specific candidates".
Carter criticized the U.S. government which only considers two of the five Nicaraguan presidential hopefuls as "acceptable", and also raised the issue of another country, he did not name, which is financially supporting some of the Nicaraguan municipalities ruled by the leftist Sandinista party.
Venezuela recently signed an agreement with Sandinista ruled municipalities to supply oil at preferential prices, as well as delivering fertilizers and offering free of cost eye operations to poor Nicaraguans.
During his four day stay Carter actually met with four of the five presidential candidates, except for Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega who ruled the country from 1979 to 1990 and did not show up at two appointments in different days.
The candidates he did meet include Liberal Jose Rizo; Conservative Eduardo Montealegre; Sandinista dissident Edmundo Jarquin and sociologist Mercedes Tenorio.
Carter also met with President Enrique Bolaños, former President Violeta Chamorro, Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo and with members of the Supreme Electoral Council.
U.S. Ambassador Paul Trivelli has insisted that Nicaragua's democratic forces have to unite to prevent a Sandinista victory in the general elections November 5.
Ambassador Trivelli and other U.S. officials have made it clear they would prefer to see the Conservative or dissident Sandinista candidate as Nicaragua's next president
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesCommenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!