Blasts From The Past; Oscar Arias and Daniel Ortega: Old warhorses on the stump.(Brief Article)(Cover Story)

Byline: Joseph Contreras

They are throwbacks to a bygone era when the world had two superpowers and the bush wars of Central America mattered to the outside world. As president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias played the earnest apostle of the olive branch to Nicaraguan Daniel Ortega's Yankee-baiting firebrand in green army fatigues. Barred from seeking re-election under the Costa Rican Constitution, Arias returned to private life in 1990 and established a foundation for "peace and human progress." Ortega lost the Nicaraguan presidential election that year and became leader of the internal political opposition.

Now in their 60s, both men will be back on the campaign trail in 2006. With his international reputation intact and his full head of hair flecked with gray, Arias is the prohibitive favorite to win the Feb. 5 election in a country that has seen two ex-presidents thrown in jail on corruption charges. Ortega, a shell of his former self, is running a distant ...