Nicaraguan Anti-Sandinista
Opposition Divided
MANAGUA - Far from uniting, the
anti-Sandinista opposition is more divided
than ever, after Arnoldo Aleman and Eduardo
Montealegre presented their presidential
candidacies for next year''s general
elections.
Aleman nominated himself on July 11 and is
supported by the Constitutionalist Liberal
Party (PLC), the organization that the
former president controls without any major
rivals. Montealegre did the same on Sunday
with support from the so-called Vamos con
Eduardo Movement (MVCE), which lacks legal
status.
According to their statements, the two
candidates are willing to run against each
other in the primaries to decide on a single
opposition candidate to run against the
Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)
in November 2011, but that showdwon is not
likely to happen.
The fact that both politicians have
presented their candidacies separately is
the result of the failure of all
negotiations to achieve unity among
opposition forces, because neither Aleman
nor Montealegre seem to be willing to yield
in their personal political ambitions.
Over the past few weeks, the two politicians
have criticized each other and at the MVCE
convention on Sunday, one of the keynote
speakers described Aleman as a loser and a
divisive candidate.
According to press reports, residents of the
municipality of San Miguelito reacted to an
Aleman campaign stop there by stoning his
campaign caravan and effectively cancelling
his rally.
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