Mr Jarquin is now Mr Ortega's running-mate, even though in the 1980s he was also jailed by the Sandinists.

ECONOMIST: Could the Sandinist leader return to the presidency?

One of Mr Aleman's actions was to have Agustin Jarquin, the government comptroller and his chief accuser, jailed and later squeezed out of the job.

ECONOMIST: Could the Sandinist leader return to the presidency?

Another of Mr Jarquin's probes, into last year's sale of the biggest state bank, was recently ruled out of order by the Supreme Court because he did not present his report within 15 days of the deal, as the law supposedly requires.

ECONOMIST: Nicaragua