Bush officials are worried that Chávez is backing Ortega financially. The Venezuelan president has signed a deal to provide low-cost oil to Sandinista mayors as a way of boosting Ortega’s campaign. The prospect of another leftist taking power in Latin America prompted Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to warn that an Ortega triumph might endanger a free-trade treaty with the United States. But officials are wary of saying too much–or backing one of several rival candidates–lest they too be accused of meddling.
