Six years after his guerrilla movement swept away a brutal dictatorship, Daniel Ortega stood on stage in his army fatigues and characteristic thick square glasses, vindicated as he celebrated his election as president of Nicaragua.

He held his clenched fist high on the podium in front of adoring crowds as the looming figure of Fidel Castro clapped approvingly behind. Socialism had prevailed. The revolution was underway. And all under the noses of the US at the height of the Cold War.

Crowds returned to Managua’s main plaza in July this year as Mr Ortega marked the 39th anniversary of his revolution. Whether he will see its 40th as President, however, is in serious doubt.

Nearly 100 days of protests had left the country criss-crossed with makeshift checkpoints after demonstrations over misjudged reforms spilled into a full-blown uprising against the aging tyrant.

Mr Ortega, his grip on power slipping through his fingers, fought back with a brutal campaign of state-sponsored bloodshed that has left already dirt poor Nicaragua on the brink collapse.