Lesson 22

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Question SA-9. Here is the text reference (p. 218/4):

In these circumstances Nicaraguans went to the polls in February 1990 in a remarkable election that was undoubtedly the most carefully watched ever in Latin America (there were several thousand outside observers, including Jimmy Carter and large numbers of UN and OAS poll-watchers). The results were a surprise to just about everyone: the FSLN and Daniel Ortega could get only 41% of the vote and lost to a coalition of center and right parties (55%) led by Violeta Chamorro, the widow of an assassinated staunchly anti-Somoza journalist. Perhaps even more amazing than the elections was the peaceful way in which power was transferred from the FSLN regime to the Chamorro administration. A second election in 1996 saw another peaceful transfer of power and a second electoral defeat for the FSLN.