Nicaragua's Ortega to US: Now Bail Out Central America

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega says the US should extend its zeal for bailouts south of the border, the Miami Herald reports. Ortega says Central America is reeling from the downturn as US manufacturing and textile plants shut down or downsize. It’s only fair, then, that the US offer a bailout to the region, similar to the ones for the American banking industry.

“It is their obligation to give resources to the region,” Ortega said yesterday at a summit of Central American leaders. He’s going to have a government official make a formal request next week when VP Joe Biden visits Costa Rica. No other president seconded Ortega’s appeal. In fact, Panama’s president—working on his own free-trade deal with the US—seemed to slouch deep in his chair as Ortega spoke. (More Daniel Ortega stories.)