He has been a close aide to Mr. Ortega since soon after the 1979 Sandinista takeover.

In the first years after the 1979 Sandinista takeover, the new leaders openly encouraged dissatisfied Nicaraguans to leave the country.

Several thousand former Guardsmen were imprisoned after the Sandinista takeover in 1979.

Surveys by the opposition have been illegal since soon after the Sandinista takeover in 1979.

Even more far-reaching is the prospect that for the first time since the Sandinista takeover, there could be a television station controlled by the opposition.

After the Sandinista takeover in 1979, Nicaraguan bishops issued a statement saying they had no intrinsic objection to socialism.

Adult education, which barely existed before the Sandinista takeover, is now widely available.

The Government has maintained a legal monopoly on television broadcasting since the 1979 Sandinista takeover.

Variants include the Sandinista takeover of an existing government weakened by external popular revolution.

Municipal governments have been run by appointed officials since the Sandinista takeover in 1979, and Mr. Ramirez said a change was needed.