o were loyal to Alemán and also members of congress reacted angrily, and along with Sandinista parliament members, stripped the presidential powers of President Bolaños and his ministers, calling for his resignation and threatening impeachment. The Sandinistas alleged that their support for Bolaños was lost when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Bolaños to keep his distance from the FSLN. This "slow motion coup d'état" was averted partially due to pressure from the Central American presidents, who vowed not to recognize any movement that removed Bolaños; the U.S., the OAS, and the European Union also opposed the "slow motion coup d'état". The proposed constitutional changes, to be introduced in 2005 against the Bolaños administration, were delayed until January 2007 after the entrance of the new government. One day before they were due to be enforced, the National Assembly postponed their enforcement until January 2008.
Before the general elections on 5 November 2006, the National Assembly passed a bill further restricting abortion in Nicaragua 52-0 (9 abstaining, 29 absent). President Enrique Bolaños supported this measure, and signed the bill into law on 17 November 2006. As a result, Nicaragua is one of five countries in the world where abortion is illegal with no exceptions, along with Chile, Malta, El Salvador, and the Vatican City.
In the 2006 elections, Paul Trivelli, the US ambassador to Nicaragua issued a vigorous warning to the electorate against supporting Daniel Ortega. The ambassador said that an Ortega administration talked of a mixed economy and renegotiating CAFTA, the trade agreement between the U.S. and Central America – would force Washington to "re-evaluate" relations. "He has made it pretty clear what kind of model he would put in place. And I think that under those conditions. .. [bilateral relations] would definitely be re-examined – and not only by the executive or the State Department or the White House
