Managua - The stepdaughter of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega dropped a complaint she had filed against him in connection with child abuse and rape, the Nicaraguan government said Friday. Nicaraguan Attorney General Hernan Estrada read out a letter at a press conference in Managua that was signed by Zoilamerica Narvaez, the daughter of Ortega's wife, Rosario Murillo, that was addressed to Santiago Canton, the secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
"Through this action, I put an end in a friendly fashion to the complaint and the petition filed," the letter said, as it was read by Estrada.
"I ask this honourable commission to file away the dossier," she said.
Narvaez had filed a complaint before the commission in 2001 for what she called a delay in the provision of justice in the case by Nicaraguan institutions.
In 1998, Narvaez, then 31, accused Ortega of having sexually abused her since she was 11, but the complaint against him did not go forward because he had parliamentary immunity at the time as a legislator and leader of the opposition.
Three years later, the sociologist Narvaez filed a complaint against the Nicaraguan state before the commission, and the commission had yet to decide on the matter.
Narvaez said she withdrew her complaint to "maintain a climate of peace and reconciliation."
Estrada said the move is "good news for the people of Nicaragua," and he stressed Narvaez's decision "had no economic costs."
In 2004, Narvaez said she pardoned her stepfather and her mother, and she denied having received compensation worth 200,000 dollars as Nicaraguan media speculated.
The allegations of child abuse have done much to harm the leftist Sandinista leader's reputation. A few weeks ago, they sparked protests in Honduras over Ortega's presence there to attend a meeting with other leaders of the region.
