More than 60 writers and cultural leaders in Latin America have banded together and called for an end to what they say is a vendetta by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega against poet Ernesto Cardenal.

The 83-year-old writer is considered a cultural icon in the country, but faces jail after making comments while attending the inauguration of Paraguay's new president, Fernando Lugo, this summer.

Cardenal called Ortega a "thief" who runs "a monarchy made up of a few families in alliance with the old Somoza interests."Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, seen here at left shaking hands with his rival Eduardo Montealegre, came back to power in 2006. (Associated Press)

In late August, a Nicaraguan judge revived an old case against Cardenal. The case in 2005 concerned a German citizen who sued Cardenal for insulting him. All charges were dismissed until now.

The judge fined Cardenal $1,000 US but the poet refused to pay, calling the sentence unjust and illegal, and said he would go to jail if necessary.

Critics of Ortega's regime say the timing was not coincidental and accuse the president of putting pressure on the judiciary to inflict revenge on the poet.

Cardenal and Ortega used to be on the same team.

Ortega once led the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front, which overthrew the 40-year Somoza family dynasty. He served as Nicaragua's president for most of the 1980s, but lost power in 1990. Ortega was then elected president again in 2006.

Cardenal, who is also a Catholic priest, served as culture minister under Ortega.

A joint letter by the 60, released this week, refers to Ortega's dictatorial rule and systematic persecution of those who do not agree with him.

"It is being directed against all who raise their voices to protest the lack of transparency, the authoritarian style, the unscrupulous behaviour and the lack of ethics that Daniel Ortega has shown since his return to power."

The Portuguese Nobel laureate, José Saramago, expressed his disappointment at Ortega — once a beacon for social justice.

"Once more a revolution has been betrayed from within."