By Ivan Castro CHINANDEGA, Nicaragua, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Nicaragua's conservative candidates accused left-wing former guerrilla Daniel Ortega on Sunday of representing a return to civil war violence, and urged voters to block his presidential bid. Closing his campaign for the Nov. 5 election in his tropical hometown of Chinandega, center-right presidential hopeful Eduardo Montealegre said voting for Ortega would send Nicaragua back to its painful past. "You can choose ... the path of going backwards, of the past, the path of caudillos, of war, which has only brought pain and death, (or) the other path which we offer," he told thousands of supporters under a sweltering sun. Ortega, whose Sandinista government fought a decade-long civil war against U.S.-backed Contra rebels, is leading opinion polls in his third attempt at a comeback since war-weary voters ousted him from power in 1990. His lead is largely due to a split in the conservative vote between Montealegre and the ruling Liberal Party's candidate Jose Rizo, who are now competing furiously for enough votes to beat Ortega in a possible second-round run-off. Rizo told his closing campaign rally in the capital Managua that the Sandinistas wanted to take the nation back to the Cold War era in "the biggest swindle" since they first swept to power in a popular 1979 revolution. Braving a torrential downpour, tens of thousands of red-clad Rizo supporters clapped to hip-shaking dancers in red swimwear and chanted "All to the front, against the Front," referring to the Sandinista National Liberation Front. Ortega says he has softened since his Marxist days and now embraces "fair markets." He has made peace with former foes and even brought former Contra leaders on board his campaign platform of peace and reconciliation. However, many Nicaraguans associate him with the bloodshed and food shortages of a civil war that killed an estimated 30,000 people. Polls have him teetering on the edge of the 35 score he would need to win in the first round of voting. If no candidate scores 40 percent, or 35 percent with a 5 point lead, there will be a second round of voting between the top two hopefuls. Pollsters predict Ortega would lose a run off, especially if he is pitted against Montealegre. Montealegre said on Sunday that Ortega's switching his khaki military garb for white cotton did not mean he had changed. An Ivy League-educated former banker, Montealegre broke away from the corruption-stained Liberal Party to run for president. He promises to create jobs, clean up government and bring foreign investment to impoverished Nicaragua. Impressed by Montealegre, U.S. officials have tried to unite the right behind him, worried by Ortega's friendship with Venezuela's hard-line leftist leader Hugo Chavez. Ortega will hold his campaign finale in Managua on Wednesday, the deadline for all campaigns to wrap up.
