(English IPS News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Nov. 25, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- The government
of Nicaragua is seeking Russia's support in a strategy that some
analysts view as risky for the future diplomatic relations between
this Central American nation with the United States and with the
European Union.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has reestablished friendly
relations and economic ties with the Kremlin, after over 16 years
of a virtual freeze.

Nicaragua was the second country, after Russia, to recognize
last August the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two
breakaway provinces of the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Russia's invasion of Georgia in August precipitated the greatest
crisis between the West and Moscow since the end of the Cold War,
which stretched from the mid-1940s, shortly after World War II, to
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In September and early this month, Ortega received Russian
Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin in Managua to discuss a
Nicaragua-Russia economic cooperation program. Ortega also plans
to travel to Moscow in December.

Ortega hailed Russia for "illuminating the planet" with its
fight for "peace and justice," while the United States "turns its
military force against these in an attempt to shatter them."

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos, who visited Moscow
early this month, said the two countries are discussing a number
of possible cooperation and aid initiatives, in areas like energy,
health, education, agriculture, mining, fisheries, transportation,
science, sports and trade.

Russia's ambassador to Nicaragua, Igor Kondrashev, announced on
Nicaraguan public television that a technical mission will be
coming to the country in December to explore for oil and gas in a
region southwest of the capital.

Kondrashev also said there are plans to build a deep water port
in the Caribbean Sea and restore a civilian airport located on the
Pacific Ocean, which was initially constructed as a military base
with technical and financial aid from the former Soviet Union in
1980.

Another project under consideration is the construction of a
Nicaraguan canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which
would compete with the Panama Canal.

The Nicaraguan army confirmed that the assistance it will
receive includes the purchase of weapons, technology, means of
transportation and military supplies, in addition to training.

This month, 14 Nicaraguan military academy cadets traveled to
Russia for training, and a Moscow team will come to Managua to
deactivate land mines in the northern and central provinces,
according to statements by Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov.

During Ortega's first term (1985-1990) -- after governing the
country as a member of the revolutionary council following the
overthrow of the 1934-1979 Anastasio Somoza dictatorship -- the
Soviet Union supplied arms, tanks and helicopters to Nicaragua. But
the aid dried up after the collapse of the superpower.

The United States criticized Nicaragua's support to the Georgia
separatists and called off two high-level missions that were
scheduled to travel to Managua to strengthen economic ties.

In the wake of Nicaragua's Nov. 9 municipal elections,
Washington issued stronger statements against the Ortega
administration, complaining of an alleged lack of electoral
transparency.

Moscow came to Ortega's defense, demanding that Washington and
the governments of the European Union stop meddling in Nicaragua's
internal affairs.

But according to a former Nicaraguan ambassador to the EU, R?ger
Guevara, the country's new diplomatic alliance with Russia could
hurt Ortega's relations with EU countries and Washington.

"Ortega has accused European nations of organizing actions to
oust him from power. And now Russia is backing Ortega and accusing
the U.S. of contributing to that alleged mission. That's called
allied hostility, and it does Nicaragua no good," he said.

Both Washington and the EU have accused the government of the

Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) of a lack of
transparency. Ortega and other government officials have condemned
the criticism as meddling and threatened to expel diplomats.

According to Guevara, Russia's economic aid amounts to less than
5 percent of the more than $500 million of combined U.S. and EU
contributions, which is why he sees the alliance with Moscow as
"more ideological than strategic."

In his view, "Ortega is not looking for economic aid, but rather
international support to legitimize his political agenda aimed at
creating his own version of a socialist country, and as he finds
no echo among his neighbors, he has turned to Venezuela, Cuba and
now Russia to feel he has international backing."

Nicaragua has already sought an alliance with Iran, backed North
Korea and criticized the U.S. occupation of Iraq, thus annoying the
government of George W. Bush.

For Javier Mel?ndez, the head of the Institute for Public Policy
Studies and Strategies, Ortega's move toward Russia is in response
to the Kremlin's strategy of setting up political, economic and
military enclaves in the U.S.'s "backyard."

"This is all prompted to a great extent by Russia's aim to
counter the influence that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
and the U.S. in particular, exert throughout Europe and Asia,
especially in the former Soviet republics," he said.

Ortega's other motivation, according to Mel?ndez, is the search
for new sources of economic and energy support in the face of the
slowdown in the Venezuelan economy as a result of the drop in oil
prices, which have plunged below $50 per barrel, after peaking at
nearly $150 a barrel in mid-July

Caracas is Managua's main source of economic aid.

"Ortega is seeking economic and material support similar to that
granted by Venezuelan President Hugo Ch?vez -- especially sources
of support that won't impose conditions of transparency,
accountability or fiscal responsibility," Mel?ndez said.

"And Russian, like Chinese, aid typically comes free of such
conditions," he added.

In Mel?ndez's view that should not necessarily affect the
traditional relations that Nicaragua has maintained with the EU and
the United States.

"They would only be harmed if Nicaragua uses its relations with
Russia as a springboard for strengthening an international
anti-U.S. front. But, in any case, I'm not at all sure that Moscow
is pushing that kind of agenda with Managua. Nicaragua is too small
to provide Russia with any measure of security," he said.

"We can't ignore the fact that Russia is a world power, but it's
not a 'big brother' to Nicaragua, just a friendly country that has
felt attacked, like we have, by the U.S., with its attempts to set
up missile bases in their vicinity," Nicaraguan Vice President
Jaime Morales said.

"I spoke with the Russian deputy prime minister, and he told me
that the relations they're seeking to establish with Nicaragua are
the same as any relations they have with the rest of the world. I
think that if these ties do not entail confrontations, or an
involvement in any cold war, it's good for Nicaragua to have them
with every country," the vice president said.

Copyright ? 2008 Global Information Network

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