NICARAGUA: FORMER PRESIDENT ORTEGA ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ABUSE

(4 Mar 1998) Spanish/Nat Nicaragua's former president, Daniel Ortega, has been accused of sexual abuse by his stepdaughter. In a written statement to the press, Zoilamerica Narváez Murillo - now aged 30 - said that she had been abused for several years since she was eleven. Ortega, secretary general of the Sandinista Party, has denied the claims. A sexual scandal has hit Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega. In a public letter sent to the press, his stepdaughter - Zoilamerica Narvaez Murillo - has accused the former Nicaraguan president of sexual abuse. Ortega said the accusations were causing him great pain, and his wife Rosario Murillo supported her husband by claiming they were false. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish), Daniel Ortega, Sandinista leader "We're here to address a very sensitive issue, one that moves us, hurts us and makes us sad. It also causes indignation that this situation is being manipulated as a conspiracy by some of our colleagues." SUPER CAPTION: Daniel Ortega, Sandinista leader Ortega was accompanied at the news conference by seven of his nine children. His wife, and mother of Zoilamerica, was also there. She said the statement came as a blow to their family. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "At the moment we only want to say that for us it is a family matter, painful and emotional which has political connotations because we're a family whose father has assumed - since he was 14 years old - a restless commitment in the political life of this country and that has compensations and costs." SUPER CAPTION: Rosario Murillo, Daniel Ortega's wife and mother of Zoilamerica Narvaez 30-year-old Zoilamerica Narváez is Murillo's child from a previous marriage, and Ortega adopted her. In the letter she wrote that she had been repeatedly abused sexually since the age of 11 by someone who abused his political power. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "I demand my right to defend my identity. I have been abused and assaulted in all dimensions. I've been assaulted psychologically, physically, sexually and I've also been assaulted from a powerful position and that's why this case has a connotation that transcends my personal life." SUPER CAPTION: Zoilamerica Narvaez Murillo, Daniel Ortega's stepdaughter Although she has always used the last name Ortega, she said in her letter that she would now take the name of her biological father, Jorge Narvaez, who is dead. When Narváez Murillo was 11, Ortega had not yet risen to power. He was a Sandinista guerrilla making forays into Nicaragua from Costa Rica. The Sandinistas came to power in 1979 after toppling the U-S - backed Somoza family dictatorship. They were defeated in elections in 1990. Ortega - now 53 - is still secretary-general of the Sandinista Party. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...