Nicaragua's Ortega asks US for more aid

MANAGUA, Feb 28 (Reuters) Nicaraguan leftist President Daniel Ortega urged Washington to give more aid to his impoverished country to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to the United States.

Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla and once Washington's Cold War enemy, made the plea during a visit by US Assistant Economy, Energy and Business Secretary Daniel Sullivan, saying countries that were better off than Nicaragua received more financial aid.

The United States approved 175 million dollar in aid over five years in 2005 for Nicaragua, second only to Haiti as the poorest nation in the Americas, under the so-called Millennium Challenge Account program that aims to reward pro-business, democratic and progressive developing nations.

''I insist that this (more financial aid) is the only way that the United States can stop Central American immigration, not by building walls,'' Ortega said in a speech, referring to plans by US President George W Bush to build a fence along part of the US-Mexico border.

Ortega, who first took power in a 1979 revolution, won Nicaragua's presidential election last November, making a remarkable comeback more than 16 years after voters threw him out of office.

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