Resplendent in uniform, four gold stars on each shoulder, General Humberto Ortega looked out of place in the sea of tuxedoes and flowing gowns at the inauguration-night fiesta. Yet thanks to his rank, Ortega was very much on the inside of President Violeta Chamorro's government.
The new Nicaraguan leader's decision to retain him shook the hours-old administration. When they learned that Daniel Ortega's younger brother, one of the ruling Sandinista comandantes for ten years, would temporarily head the armed forces, two able men Chamorro had tapped as Cabinet Ministers backed out. The move also angered leaders of 10,000 armed contra rebels...
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