Central America : Rise of Helms Worries Nicaragua : With GOP in control of Congress, Managua fears the far-right senator will revive U.S. attempts to meddle in the nation’s policies.

For more than a century, politics here has been intertwined with events in Washington. Fortunes in Managua often depended on who was up and who was down in American government. And Nicaraguans routinely turned to their U.S. allies to resolve domestic problems.

So last month’s GOP sweep of Congress sent heads here spinning, and the likely return of far-right Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) to a powerful position in foreign policy has become a matter of intense debate.

Just as the Clinton Administration was convincing Nicaraguans that it had really adopted a “hands-off” policy in Central America, Helms’ ascension to the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to revive attempts at direct influence--or interference, depending on one’s perspective.

“My concern is that Jesse Helms will introduce a greater degree of polarization in Nicaragua (by) backing positions of the extreme right here,” said Sandinista official Victor Hugo Tinoco. “He could find a way to go around (President Clinton) to make his own policy in Nicaragua.”

A die-hard enemy of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which ruled Nicaragua throughout the 1980s and fought a civil war with U.S.-backed Contra rebels, Helms has often blasted the democratically elected, conservative government of President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro for being too soft on the left.

Helms, a longtime member of the Foreign Relations Committee, was instrumental in blocking millions of dollars in U.S. aid to Nicaragua, money that finally began to flow last year. Nicaraguan officials are afraid that U.S. aid is in danger again.

The most explosive issue that Helms has championed--and will renew--is the return to U.S. citizens of property confiscated by the Sandinista regime.

According to the U.S. Embassy, there are 1,546 property claims pending from U.S. citizens. The Nicaraguan government has settled 220 claims in the past year, but the process is slow. Many of the compensated property owners are not satisfied with the bonds that the government is offering.

The properties, ranging from homes and farms to businesses and gold mines, are in the hands of former Sandinista officials, the Cuban Embassy, and, in a few cases, the Chamorro government.

Further complicating the matter is the fact that the number of claims grows as Nicaraguans who become U.S. citizens add themselves to the list. But the confiscados , as they call themselves, are well-organized and are confident Helms will renew pressure on Chamorro.

Enlisting Washington’s help is a time-honored Nicaraguan tradition. Long before elements of the right joined with the CIA to form the Contras, a faction of Nicaraguans a century ago invited U.S. adventurer William Walker to take over the country. He was later defeated and executed.

More recently, however, U.S. officials had taken pains not to show favoritism and to work with all sides, even the Sandinistas.

In the wake of Republican victories Nov. 8, some Nicaraguans are already planning to call on Helms. Adolfo Calero, for years a senior leader of the Contras, said he will use Helms’ help in his upcoming presidential campaign. “He (Helms) has the same demands as the Nicaraguan people,” Calero said. “The only difference is he has the power to get what he wants.”

Other Nicaraguans are glum at the prospect. With aid in jeopardy, Foreign Minister Ernesto Leal warned of an increase in “internal tension.”

Former Vice President Sergio Ramirez, head of a moderate Sandinista faction, added: “Jesse Helms will demand something even higher than an A-plus--a grade that doesn’t exist. He will totally shut us out.”