Revenge, Fair and Square

It took more than a decade for Enrique Bolanos to get back at former Sandinista comandante Daniel Ortega. Sunday, Bolanos did it fair and square, by winning the race for the Nicaraguan presidency against his old nemesis.

Back in the early 1980s Ortega ordered the “nationalization” of Bolanos’ home and some of his businesses in the name of the revolution. When the businessman protested, he was jailed. That’s the way the Sandinista justice system worked.

Conceding defeat Monday, Ortega sounded conciliatory. As the leader of the opposition party, the Sandinista chief said he accepted the mandate of the people and vowed to work to bring the country together from within the National Assembly, the equivalent of the U.S. Congress.

Bolanos won’t have an easy time in finding the political middle ground in Nicaragua. It’s a divided and impoverished nation racked by political corruption. It has endured ruthless dictatorships and officials who played upon their people’s misery. It survived devastating earthquakes and hurricane floods. And even though misguided U.S. military interventions there left deep scars, most Nicaraguans do not hold a grudge against the United States.

The people of this Central American nation showed wisdom in choosing Liberal Party candidate Bolanos over Ortega. Now the Bush administration should reach out to Nicaragua by inviting the countries of Central America into the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Fox administration in Mexico has been working on a way to do this by promoting private investment in the region. The Bush administration should join this initiative and extend the benefits of trade to Nicaragua, making a partner out of a nation that has too often been a problem.