Nicaraguan Revolutionary Back in Power

Daniel Ortega, left, is sworn in as Nicaragua's new President by Rene Nunez, President of the National Assembly, in Managua, Wednesday Jan. 10, 2007. Ortega, who ruled Nicaragua in the 1980's, returned to power after winning last November's presidential elections.(AP Photo/Esteban Felix) (Esteban Felix - AP)

MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Former revolutionary Daniel Ortega was sworn in as Nicaragua's president Wednesday, completing his two-decade fight to return to power with promises to build a leftist coalition with some of Washington's biggest foes.

Ortega took the oath of office at a plaza he constructed as president in the 1980s _ the same place where he conceded electoral defeat to Violeta Chamorro in 1990 after a turbulent decade in power marked by food rationing and civil war.

Ortega led Nicaragua throughout the 1980s after his Sandinista rebel movement pushed out dictator Anastasio Somoza. Following his 1990 loss, he ran for president three consecutive times, losing twice before finally triumphing in November.

Wearing his signature white button-down shirt _ his military fatigues abandoned _ the balding 61-year-old Ortega isn't the same fiery revolutionary who allied with the Soviet Union and fought off the U.S.-backed Contra rebel insurgency. He has promised moderate economic and social policies and continued ties with the U.S.

But none of those pledges made it into his inaugural speech late Wednesday, a fiery, leftist rally that included Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian leader Evo Morales.

"With unity there is strength," Ortega said. "With unity comes victory!"

President Bush and Chavez are fighting for influence in this former Cold War battleground, both promising aid while pushing vastly different prescriptions for one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.

Chavez, who arrived just hours after he was sworn in for another six-year term in his own country, has promised the impoverished nation 32 desperately needed electricity plants, low-interest loans to the poor from a branch of his state development bank and help in improving the Nicaragua's health and education systems.

The Venezuelan leader told thousands of Ortega's supporters that his "heart was overflowing with joy" to see Nicaragua in the hands of the Sandinista leader. He then gave Ortega a golden replica of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar's sword, and called for his allies to "unite our swords to bring justice and freedom to our people."

Morales, for his part, welcomed Ortega to the growing club of Latin leftists.

"We have three, four five commanders who will liberate Latin America," Morales said.

All three called for the quick recovery of Cuba's ailing Fidel Castro and pledged to form a coalition of leftist leaders who would fight to nationalize natural resources.

Castro's health prevented him from attending, but Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, one of the Cuban revolution's oldest surviving leaders, said the communist leader sent his "utmost support."

The U.S. has reluctantly welcomed Ortega's promises to respect private property and continue free trade agreements.

Late Tuesday, Ortega chatted with Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, who was heading the U.S. inaugural delegation. Before entering a private, 30-minute meeting, the two exchanged pleasantries about the weather and expressed their desire to maintain strong ties.

"I want to make very clear that our desire it to work with you," Leavitt told Ortega.

Ortega said he hoped the visit was the "first of several" and he described a phone call he had with Bush on Monday as a "very pleasant and positive conversation."

The U.S. government so despised Ortega during the 1980s that aides to President Reagan secretly sold arms to Iran's radical Islamic government to finance clandestine aid for the Contra rebels trying to overthrow Ortega.

Bush's father, who followed Reagan as president, sneeringly described Ortega as "this little man" and as an "unwanted animal at a garden party" when both attended a Central American summit in 1989 _ a year before Ortega was voted out of office.

Under Ortega's first rule, Nicaragua descended into economic chaos under radical economic policies that included property seizures.

The country has progressed since those days. Thousands of American retirees call Nicaragua home, and the country is poised to benefit from the newly implemented Central American Free Trade Agreement. Ortega has promised to respect that pact, along with private businesses.

Business leaders are optimistic he will keep his word. There are few signs of investor flight.

Jay Walsh, a 53-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident who owns Snooky's bar in Managua with two other Americans, said Ortega has changed.

"I think he's mellowed as far as his anger toward the United States," he said. "But I don't think he's totally forgiven the U.S. government."