Story number 3 for 12 Nov 2001

(Nicaragua)–With Nicaragua’s economy in crisis and the current government widely seen as corrupt, church leaders are expressing their hope that the country’s new president, Enrique Bolaños, will clean up the government. Latin America Mission’s Ken MacHarg reports. “Bolaños defeated former Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega in a closely fought race. Now, evangelical leaders say they hope that Bolaños will follow through on his election promises of cleaning up corruption, addressing poverty, eliminating nepotism in the government, and assuring freedom of religion. Church leaders say that to accomplish these things, the new president will have to reform laws, offer additional services in the areas of health and education, promote agriculture, and govern in a transparent manner. Evangelicals had feared possible restrictions on their efforts if Ortega had been elected. However, with the election of Bolaños, those fears have subsided for now. For Mission Network News, I’m Ken MacHarg.”