They include Elliott Abrams, who serves on the National Security Council and was a key figure in the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, when the US government secretly sold arms to Iran to channel funds to the Nicaraguan Contra rebels.
Ortega knows the cost of confronting Washington. The Contra war and a US economic embargo in the 1980s wrecked the Sandinistas' ambitious education and health programs.
Combined with his Marxist government's mismanagement and heavy-handed repression of dissent, the US pressure finally toppled Ortega when voters turned against him in 1990.
Ortega was helped back to power by divisions in the right, which had in previous elections united behind a single candidate to keep him out.
Still, he is despised by many who blame him for the bloodshed and chaos. Even some who voted for him are wary.
"I hope I didn't make a mistake. I gave him my vote of faith. He has to govern and meet all his promises," said Cecilia Rivas, a student.
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