Nicaragua: ex-President returns to power

6 Nov, 2006 10:07 / Updated 18 years ago

Leftist leader Daniel Ortega returns to power having won the presidential elections in the Latin American state of Nicaragua securing 38 percent support after 90 percent of votes counted.

Ortega first governed the country back in the 1980s fighting against US-sponsored Contra-rebels.Washington has reacted cautiously to Ortega's election, saying the US will work with the Nicaraguan leader depending on his commitment to democracy.His return to power has been welcomed by the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who praised what he called the rising power of the left and anti-U.S. movements in Latin America.