Jan 8, 2007, 22:02 GMT
Washington - US President George W Bush spoke Monday with incoming Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, once Washington's foe, to explore ways the United States can help him with his domestic agenda.
Bush congratulated Ortega for winning the November 5 presidential election, White House spokesman Tony Snow said.
'The president also noted that reconciliation, unity, democracy and job creations - the centrepieces of president-elect Ortega's platform - are also possible areas for cooperation,' Snow said.
Bush also spoke with outgoing President Enrique Bolanos, Snow said. Ortega is set to take office on Wednesday.
In Managua, Bolanos' office release a statement saying Bush reiterated 'that his country will continue to support Nicaragua, like it did over the past five years.'
Ortega was president from 1985 to 1990, and a leader of the Sandinista Revolution that began in 1979. The decade was marked by a civil war between his Marxist-leaning Sandinista regime and the US- sponsored Contra insurgents that left more than 50,000 people dead.
After his election victory on November 5, Ortega said he wanted to have 'respectful and friendly relations' with the US government.
About 75 per cent of Nicaragua's 5.5 million people live in poverty, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The actual numbers of poor have swollen from 2.2 million in 1990 to a current 4.2 million.
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