Ortega menekankan bahwa ia menginginkan hubungan baik dengan AS, namun upacara pelantikannya itu menghadirkan dua musuh paling vokal AS  Chavez dan Presiden Bolivia Evo Morales.
Ortega insists he wants good relations with the United States, but his closest allies in Latin America are Chavez, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Bolivian President Evo Morales.