Former Marxist guerrilla Daniel Ortega celebrated his return to power in Nicaragua with two of Washington's biggest critics -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales -- who welcomed him as an ally in their campaign to curb U.S. influence in Latin America.

Chavez, speaking just hours after he was sworn in for another six years, said his "heart was overflowing with joy" to see Nicaragua once again in Ortega's hands, 17 years after voters threw the Sandanista leader out of office.

Ortega took the oath of office Wednesday at a plaza where he conceded electoral defeat to Violeta Chamorro in 1990 after a turbulent decade in power marked by a civil war with U.S.-backed Contra rebels. This time he wore a white button-down shirt instead of the military fatigues he favored when he was president in the 1980s.

Ortega, 61, says he isn't the same fiery revolutionary who with help from the Soviet Union became one of Washington's most despised Cold War foes. He has promised moderate economic and social policies and continued ties with the United States.

But none of those pledges made it into his inaugural speech, which morphed into a fiery, leftist rally that highlighted his friendship with Chavez, who was recently re-elected to a third term.

Appearing in Managua before thousands of cheering supporters, the three presidents called for the quick recovery of another Latin American leftist, Cuba's ailing Fidel Castro, and pledged to build a coalition of leftist leaders who would nationalize natural resources.

"With unity there is strength," Ortega said. "With unity comes victory."
Castro's health prevented him from attending, but Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, one of the Cuban revolution's oldest surviving leaders, said the communist leader sent his "utmost support."

The Venezuelan leader gave the Nicaraguan leader a golden replica of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar's sword, and called for his allies to "unite our swords to bring justice and freedom to our people."

Chavez, who called President Bush a "devil" in a speech at the United Nations in September, has said he wants to make Venezuela a fully socialist state, announcing changes this week that include nationalizing telecom and electrical companies and stripping the central bank of its autonomy.

Morales, another fierce critic of U.S. policies who took office a year ago, welcomed Ortega to the growing club of Latin leftists.

"We have three, four, five commanders who will liberate Latin America," said Morales, Bolivia's first Indian president who came to power on a promise to lift his nation's indigenous majority out of centuries of poverty and discrimination.

Bush and Chavez are fighting for influence in this former Cold War battleground, both promising aid while pushing vastly different prescriptions for one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.

Chavez has promised the nation 32 desperately needed electricity plants, low-interest loans to the poor from a branch of his state development bank and help in improving the Nicaragua's health and education systems.

The highest-ranking U.S. official at the inauguration was Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, who met with Ortega on Tuesday and offered to build a regional training center for health workers.

Before entering a private, 30-minute meeting, the two exchanged pleasantries about the weather and expressed their desire to maintain strong ties.

"I want to make very clear that our desire it to work with you," Leavitt told Ortega.
Ortega said he hoped the visit was the "first of several," and he described a phone call he had with Bush on Monday as a "very pleasant and positive conversation."

Ortega led Nicaragua throughout the 1980s after his Sandinista rebel movement pushed out dictator Anastasio Somoza. Following his 1990 loss, he ran for president three consecutive times, losing twice before finally claiming victory in November.

The U.S. government so despised Ortega that aides to President Reagan secretly sold arms to Iran's radical Islamic government to finance clandestine aid for the Contra rebels trying to overthrow Ortega.

Nicaragua, while still the second-poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, has progressed since those days. Thousands of American retirees call Nicaragua home, and the country is poised to benefit from the newly implemented Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA.

Ortega, who seized private property and imposed a state-run economy in the 1980s, has said he will respect private business and support CAFTA.

Business leaders are optimistic he will keep his word, and there are few signs of investor flight.
Jay Walsh, a 53-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Florida, resident who owns Snooky's bar in Managua with two other Americans, said Ortega has changed.

"I think he's mellowed as far as his anger toward the United States," he said. "But I don't think he's totally forgiven the U.S. government."

Walsh said Ortega's second chance at power was an opportunity to make history and improve Nicaragua.
"He doesn't need money now. He's a wealthy guy. He doesn't need to take anything anymore," Walsh said.