The voters' rejection of the Sandinistas stemmed in large part from the party's abuse of power and a "sense of oppression" on the part of the Nicaraguan people, said Wallach.

This oppression could have stemmed from the presence of Ortega's military of 150,000 soldiers, supposedly formed to combat the 15,000-strong Contra resistance. Ortega also used the war against the Contras to excuse censoring La Prensa, harassing non-Sandinista priests and bishops and dislocating an indigent tribe from its ancestral homeland.

Many observers blame the United States for Nicaragua's economic troubles and say the election was ultimately decided on economic grounds. In part it was. But ill-planned "reforms," mostly in the form of nationalization and collectivization are just as much to blame for the devastation of the Nicaraguan economy.

In the end, the Sandinistas became almost as abusive of their power as the Samoza regime. Self-described "neutral" human rights groups such as Witness for Peace, however, explained away or simply ignored abuses by the Sandinistas in their haste to catalog violations by the contras.

NOW Violeta Chamorro has an opportunity to re-form her country on a more democratic and more free-market model. The privatization of state assets and the allowance of discourse, political dissent and religious activity will breathe new life into her country.

If Chamorro respects the will of the people and does not try to cast them into an ill-conceived and pre-conceived mold, she will bring them the peace her country has not known since before the Samozas took power. And with peace will come prosperity and human rights that Nicaragua has never fully known.