Sandinistas Win Key Nicaraguan Vote

A leftist Sandinista candidate was declared the winner of the mayoral race in Managua on Monday, a defeat for the ruling party that supported the U.S.-backed Contra rebels during their decade-long war in the 1980s.

President Arnoldo Aleman conceded that Sandinista candidate Herty Lewites won the race in the capital, but predicted his own Liberal Constitutionalist Party would prove the winner of at least 90 of the 154 mayoral races held Sunday around the country.

The Sandinistas, who ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1989 and had close ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union, hope the elections will mark a comeback. The Liberal Constitutionalist Party won 91 mayoralties in 1996, including Managua.

Voting was mostly calm Sunday. Police and soldiers were sent to the northern city of Puerto Cabezas after an Indian group threatened armed rebellion there last week, but they were withdrawn when the group decided to boycott the vote instead.