World Notes NICARAGUA

During 10 years in power, Nicaragua's Sandinista National Liberation Front confiscated millions of dollars worth of privately owned factories, farms and houses for the state. Since their electoral defeat last February, however, some Sandinistas have decided to make money the old-fashioned way: by earning it.

Last week Central American Airlines, owned partly by former Sandinista officials, inaugurated service between Managua and Miami, its rented Boeing 727 less than half-filled with passengers lured by a bargain $275 round-trip fare. Said CAAL director Herty Lewites, the former Minister of Tourism: "I want to be the richest man in Nicaragua." Backed by $1.75 million from a Nicaraguan-born millionaire living in Greece, CAAL hopes its thrice-weekly flights can undercut state-owned Aeronica, which charges $298.

But in Florida, Nicaraguan exiles are urging their countrymen to boycott the new air carrier. "They have stolen money that was supposed to go to the Nicaraguan people," protested Francisco Ortega, president of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce in Miami. It may prove difficult for this example of Sandinista enterprise to fly.