SIX years after the electoral defeat of the Sandinista regime whose violent revolution overthrew decades of the Somoza dynasty, Nicaraguans go to the polls tomorrow in elections which, although unusually free of violence, reflect lingering deep divides.
An unprecedented 23 candidates dispute the presidency. But the race centres on the former right wing mayor of Managua, Mr Arnoldo Ale man, and the Sandinista former president, Mr Daniel Ortega. According to the latest polls, Mr Aleman leads Mr Ortega by less than five points, well clear of the rest.
Mr Ortega, who won around 40 per cent of the vote in the 1990 elections, is backed by a largely urban base of support, while Mr Aleman's base is with the poor peasant farmers and their families who formed the back bone of the US backed "contras" of the 1980s.
"Nicaragua is still in a post war phase. There is still enormous political polarisation," said Dr Sergio Caramagna, head of the Organisation of American States (OAS) Verification and Support Commission, which assisted in the demobilisation of some 22,000 contra fighters in 1990. But he said that the lack of serious incidents during the election campaign showed that changes were occurring, after a war which left 60,000 dead.
Mr Ortega's campaign centres around presenting a surprisingly new image of himself and his party, while Mr Aleman promises "changes without violence".
A founder of the guerrilla movement which toppled the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 Mr Ortega has put aside his olive green uniform and his fiery Marxist speeches warning of the evils of "Yankee imperialism". His election slogan is "a government for all Nicaraguans".
Mr Ortega has even promised important government posts, including the Interior Ministry, to some of his former arch enemies who fought in the contras' ranks. At the Sandinista's close of campaign election rally on Wednesday, a smiling Mr Ortega embraced the ex contra leader and former Somoza national guardsman, "Comandante Mack".
"The Sandinistas are not extremists. They have become a centre left party," said Maria Vigil, editor of a Jesuit-run magazine in Managua. She warned that a victory by Mr Aleman, however, could mean "great instability for Nicaragua
She said that the former mayor, a fierce anti-Sandinista, is being backed by right wing sectors who "could attempt to make the political changes which weren't possible during the [current] government of President Violeta Chamorro". Mr Aleman has denied such charges and goes to great lengths to deny links with the Somoza regime, with whom his father allegedly worked.
Three quarters of Nicaraguans live below the poverty line and around 50 per cent live in absolute poverty.
. President Chamorro said this week. "If he [Mr Ortega] wins, it will be because they portrayed him as a saint." She added that if he did she would not surrender the presidential sash to him, but rather give it to the president of the National Assembly.