WORLD : Bush Promotes Foe of Ortega

WASHINGTON — President Bush, declaring “time is short” for the opposition party in Nicaragua, made an unusual appeal today to the Democratic and Republican parties and their members to contribute jointly to Violeta Chamorro’s campaign.

In a letter sent to Republican Party chief Lee Atwater and Democratic Party Chairman Ronald Brown, the President said, “Violeta Chamorro and the National Opposition Union are valiantly waging an electoral campaign and need the help of all democratic parties.

“I am asking your help to give UNO (the party’s Spanish acronym) a chance to let the Nicaraguan people achieve government by consent.”

Chamorro, the opposition candidate facing Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in elections scheduled Feb. 25, has experienced a drop in the polls and recently was sidelined by surgery after a fall on New Year’s Day.