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- <text id=90TT2228>
- <title>
- Aug. 20, 1990: She Just Can't Get Any Respect
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
- Aug. 20, 1990 Showdown
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- GRAPEVINE, Page 17
- She Just Can't Get Any Respect
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>By Paul Gray/Reported by David Ellis
- </p>
- <p> After 100 days of ruling Nicaragua, what power does the
- Violeta Chamorro government actually wield? Not much, according
- to State Department officials, who believe that the ousted
- Sandinistas still run the country. "The civilians hold the
- offices, but the Sandinistas have all of the muscle, and they
- monitor phone calls at will," says a U.S. diplomat just back
- from Nicaragua. Humberto Ortega, brother of the ex-President
- and Chamorro's army chief, earns grudging American respect as
- the most politically adroit figure in the country. Chamorro
- gets a harsh assessment. "Even her friends call her `Rag Doll,'"
- says the U.S. official. "She's basically apolitical and wants
- Nicaragua to be a big happy family. Not surprisingly, nobody
- respects her. Ministers ignore the orders she signs."
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-