El regreso del FSLN al poder: ？Es posible hablar de realineamiento electoral en Nicaragua?

in the nicaraguan elections of 2006, the frente sandinista de liberación nacional (fsln) regained office after 16 years of being in the opposition. the objective of this article is to analyze the reasons for the sandinista victory and to verify if such elections constitute an electoral realignment in the country. first, the dynamics of electoral competition will be explained emphasizing a new cleavage that opposed the old sandinismo/antisandinismo since 1990. second, the features of the nicaraguan political system and the nature of the political forces as well as those of the campaign will be examined. finally, and in order to find (or not) the level of realingment, the electoral results will be analyzed. these results may open a new dynamic of electoral competition and a different party system in nicaragua.