Barely 24 hours have passed since Alberto Guevara, Nicaragua’s newly appointed finance minister, moved into his office in central Managua, and he looks as if he still has some settling-in to do.

There are no family portraits or ornaments on display, no glossy picture books on the coffee table and Mr Guevara, a svelte, dark-skinned 43-year-old economist, has the appearance of a man who still does not know where the light switches are.