Nearly three decades after coming to power behind the barrel of a gun, Washington's Cold War-era nemesis Daniel Ortega has joined hands with former battlefield enemies, changed his campaign colors from revolutionary red to peace-loving pink, and could be on the verge of an electoral comeback.

Excellent analysis of what he was back when and what he is now from the Boston Globe's Latin American Bureau Chief Indira Lakshmanan.

New packaging:

The bold red-and-black stripes of the Sandinista flag have been replaced by a soothing pink and turquoise motif on campaign posters, and John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" blares from speakers at his campaign rallies ...

Substance:

Ortega's election prospects, detractors maintain, say less about his genuine transformation since that painful era than about the desperation and enduring fault lines in Nicaraguan society. 

1980s, [US] saw Ortega as a proxy for Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the Soviet Union, and backed the anti communist Contra forces against the Sandinistas, who had toppled rightist dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979. The Contra war that followed killed 30,000 people, destroyed agricultural and livestock production and, along with a US-imposed embargo, left the economy in shambles.

I just could not resist posting this for those who want to stand back and laugh: 

... Trading A-Rod [3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez] would lead to a disaster in the American League East. It would embolden other teams and threaten future Yankee clubs. To cut and run is not an option.

Neither is “Stay the course.”

Not once has the Yankee brass said, “Stay the course.” That’s never been the plan!

We need an A-Rod exit strategy. Getting him was always a mistake. We were told the Yankees would greet him as a liberator. After three years, it’s a fiasco — yes, a fiasco. Against the Tigers in the playoffs, he went 1-for-14, struck out with the bases loaded and made a critical fielding error. Each day, the news reports worsened. ...