Nicaragua council begins; most moderates present

Nicaragua's first postrevolutionary legislative assembly took office Monday with the participation of most moderate political groups, which had earlier threatened a boycott. Only 2 of a total 47 members stayed away from the inaugural session of the Council of State, set up by the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which led the overthrow of President Anastasio Somoza Debayle last year. The assembly, which will act under the guidance of the country's governing junta, includes Sandinista commanders and representatives of non-Sandinista political organizations, business groups, labor unions, and the church. Of the 47-seat total, the Sandinistas control 24.

In its first act, the council elected as its president Comandante Bayardo Arce Castano, a member of the Sandinista's nine-man ruling directorate.