Nicaragua News Service April 17-23, 1994 Vol. 2, No. 16 by Colleen Littlejohn Major news stories for the week: 1. John Hull again in Nicaragua 2. President disapproves law to stall evictions 3. 3-80 Front disarms but violence continues in the North 4. Pre-Congress discussions continue 5. DEA to open office in Nicaragua 6. Education Minister Belli returns to stone age at United Nations 7. Intense negotiations on the Atlantic Coast 8. FSLN assembly members to propose agricultural debt restructuring. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. John Hull again in Nicaragua John Hull, one of the key persons in the network that the CIA organized in Costa Rica in order to facilitate arms to the contra as well as to traffic in drugs, was again sighted in Nicaragua last week. Hull, originally from the United States, but now a nationalized Costa Rican citizen, is on the run from Costa Rican authorities. He reportedly entered Nicaragua on February 17 and has been seen in the Fifth Region (Southern Nicaragua). Hull, 74, is wanted in Costa Rica on multiple charges, including attempted murder, and drug trafficking. According to Barricada, Hull is hiding out in a mobile home located on the property of a well known conservative Nicaraguan cattle rancher, Rafael "Payo" Martinez. Hull is known to be very friendly with the large cattle ranchers of the area including the vice-Minister of Government Joaquin Lovo. Hull renounced his US citizenship in 1984 in order to avoid complications with the Boland Amendment which at that time prohibited the US government from aiding the contra. Hull is also considered to be a key witness in the investigation of the attempted murder to former Sandinista turned contra commander, Eden Pastora, at La Penca, Costa Rica. Hull had earlier been spotted in Nicaragua in 1990, but disappeared when Costa Rica formally requested his extradition. The Foreign Minister of Nicaragua, Ernesto Leal, was quoted as saying that if Costa Rica asked for Hull's extradition, Nicaragua would immediately proceed to capture the fugitive. Costa Rican President Rafael Calderon, confirmed that extradition procedures against Hull are still active. Later in the week, the mayor of Juilgalpa, Isaac Deleo, confirmed that Hull was in the region on a business trip, given that he wishes to invest in several projects. Deleo stated that Hull had already been involved in several social projects, such as donations to the local hospital, via the US Dulles Foundation. (Barricada, 4-18, 4-19) 2. President does not approve of law to stall evictions President Chamorro has declared that she will not sign into law the National Assembly proposal known as the "Eviction Suspension law," because she considers that the law violates the Constitution, especially article number 129 which refers to the independence of the different powers of the government. This law was passed by the National Assembly on March 28 in response to the wave of evictions throughout the country. The law gave a six month breathing space to those beneficiaries of the laws number 85 and 86 who were in immediate danger of being evicted in spite of the fact that many of them had been granted Certificates of Ownership from the Chamorro government's Office of Territorial Ordering (OOT). President Chamorro stated in a letter to the National Assembly explaining her position, that she will not veto the bill but she does suggest that the National Assembly communicate with the judicial branch of the government in order to resolve this problem. Chamorro stated, "I have respected the laws 85 and 86 because they were law when I assumed the Presidency, but nevertheless, one cannot pass a law, which, in order to correct abuses, commits an even greater abuse, that of denying the right of any citizen to go to the courts of law to claim justice." For that reason, Chamorro has decided not to sign the bill into law, despite the negative effect that this decision could have on her relations with the National Assembly, a relationship that had seemed to take a turn for the better last week. Antonio Lacayo had stated that the President would sign the law to reform the Constitution but she has also not done so. The National Assembly, after a certain amount of time, may publish the law in any communication medium so that it will become law, in the event that the Executive neither vetoes nor signs a bill. The Assembly will soon publish the Law to reform the Constitution and may we do so with the bill to suspend evictions. Meanwhile, the National Property Commission, whose membership includes a large number of peasant, sectorial and union organizations, are proposing a draft of a law to the National Assembly which would "give stability to urban and rural property" and "give a definitive solution to the situation of these properties." Some of the most important sections of the draft contemplate that those who were benefited by a property that measured more than 100 square meters should pay a tax equivalent to 20% of the registered value of the property in order to receive a solvency statement and that those who already have that statement, should not be subject to judicial processes. The law also contemplates that any case that has not been resolved by the OOT as of February 28 of this year, should be considered favorable for the property holder. Any legal action taken by those who feel that they had been unjustly confiscated must be directed against the state and not the present owner of the property in dispute. Enrique Picado, national coordinator of the Community Movement, which is a member of the National Commission explained, "The problem of property is a national problem and affects all sectors of the population: city dwellers, peasants, cooperative members, ex-members of the army, the Resistance, MINGOB (formerly Ministry of Interior) and the army. The new law is to protect not only those who benefited by the laws 85 and 86 but also those who received land after 1990, especially those ex-Resistance and ex-Nicaraguan armed forces. Stated Nasser Gutierrez, leader of the Association of Ex-Commandos of the Resistance (ACOR), "As members of the ex-RN, they are kicking us off our land...they assigned us land, now the are evicting us.... as Nicaraguans this problem of property hurts us all, we are against all evictions and especially those that involve incidents such as the burning of the house of Pablo Emilio Barreto, the journalist." (Barricada, 4-21) 3. 3-80 Front Disarms but violence continues in the North The men of "El Chacal" completed their process of disarmament last week with the supervised destruction of 2 red eye missiles, although no one could guarantee that that had been the total number of missiles in possession of the FN-380. Nevertheless, violence is still the order of the day in northern Nicaragua. Recontras, members of the group of "El Charro" burned another truck last week near the town of Rio Blanco - causing over 50% of public transport to again cease work for fear of more destruction. Private transport representatives reported that 7 trucks have been destroyed in the last ten days. Unofficially, there is talk of approximately 117 armed bands operating in the north. (Barricada, 4-20) 4. Pre-Congress discussions continue Since the meeting of the Sandinista Assembly two weeks ago, the FSLN has initiated a series of departmental assemblies in order to discuss the new proposal of "Statutes and Programs of the FSLN." Some of the issues being discussed at the various assemblies include: nominations to the National Directorate and adopting a new name for that executive body, the question of the use of violence as a legitimate method of struggle, the question of confiscations, the existence of different "currents" of opinion within the FSLN, etc. It is difficult, however, to get an objective view of what is going on in the discussions considering the fact that the major sources of information within the FSLN are practically all tied to the two major "currents" within the FSLN, that of the sympathizers of Daniel Ortega (Radio Ya, La Primerisma, Channel 4 TV) and that of Sergio Ramirez (Barricada, La Seminario). Those of "no current," which may well be the majority of Sandinista militants and affiliates have limited access to the media, with the exception of letters to the editor, etc. Meanwhile, AMNLAE, the Sandinista women's organization, is proposing that 50% of all executive structures, including the National Directorate, be comprised of women. AMNLAE's candidates for the National Directorate are: Dora Maria Tellez, Monica Baltedano, Leticia Herrera, Mirna Cunningham, Vilma Nunez and Lily Soto. Sandinista youth leaders such as Rafael Henriquez, student leader and member of the Sandinista Assembly, publicly stated that the FSLN is slowly turning into a party of old people and that that tendency will continue if the party does not incorporate a new contingent of young people into the party fold. The Sandinista Assembly will meet once more on May 2 to discuss the internal organization and procedures to be used during the Congress, to be held at the end of May. (Barricada, 4-18, 4-20) 5. DEA to open office in Nicaragua Minister of Government Alfredo Mendieta, announced last week that Nicaragua will formally request that the US government's Drug Enforcement Agency open an office here in Nicaragua. Mendieta also affirmed that the fact that INTERPOL now has an office in Nicaragua is an "international recognition of Nicaragua's fight against international delinquency." He also announced that INTERPOL was installing a sophisticated information network in the country. The US embassy, however, has not officially received a request from the Nicaraguan government. Any decision about a DEA office in Nicaragua must be approved by the US Department of State. (Barricada, 4-19) 6. MED minister Belli returns to stone age at United Nations Fifteen Nicaraguan non-governmental organizations belonging to the "health network" made public their disagreement with the positions stated by Minister of Education Humberto Belli as part of his participation in a UN conference about "Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Women." In his conference, Belli defended the use of sexual abstinence and maintained his disagreement with the use of condoms. He also announced that he is against the access of young people to services of reproductive health because those services "take away from the authority of parents over their children." Belli wrote in his official declaration to the conference that, "Young people should know that all sex is inherently dangerous." Belli, along with his colleagues of El Salvador and Honduras have established an official definition of the family as "that group where there is a father, mother, children and a decision to procreate children." In Nicaragua, over 30% of all families are headed by women. (Barricada, 4-20) 7. Intense negotiations on the Atlantic Coast On May 4, the newly elected Autonomous Regional Councils of both the North and South Atlantic Coastal regions will meet to elect their regional executives, or governors. It is still not clear, however, what will be the results of over two months of intensive negotiations between the different political affiliations in the Coast, neither of which were able to win a 60% majority which would have given them almost automatic access to the governor's chair in both regions. In the RAAS, Jaime Bonilla of the National Executive Committee of the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC) of Arnaldo Aleman, accused Virgilio Godoy of obstructing an agreement which would allow a representative of the PLC to assume the governorship of that region. The candidate of the PLC in the RAAS is Rayfield Hodgson, former Sandinista and mayor of Bluefields in the 80's who was removed from his responsibilities for supposed misuse of municipal funds. Another PLC candidate for Governor of the Regional Council, Augusto de la Rocha, is also unacceptable to the PLI because of his Somocista background. Stated Wilfredo Navarro, national president of the PLI, "Neither of the two candidates have a past that would guarantee an honest administration and we will not be accomplices to a corrupt administration." In the RAAS, there is a rumor that an alliance between the FSLN, YATAMA and two other regional organizations, could guarantee the election of Faran Dometz, a charismatic Moravian pastor from Pearl Lagoon. In the North, there are also strong differences of opinions between the PLI and the PLC a well as with Yatama. Yatama leaders of have stated that they will not support PLC candidate, Steadman Fagoth, because they consider him a "traitor." Rumors also talk of an FSLN-Yatama alliance in the RAAN. (Barricada, 4-19, La Prensa, 4-19) 8. FSLN assembly members to propose agricultural debt restructuring. With the issuing of the letter of intention to sign the famous ESAF agreement with the IMF, Nicaragua bankers are optimistic that production will eventually be reactivated, although initially the measures may seem very harsh. On the other hand, producers associations, such as the Union of Farmers and Ranchers (UNAG), who are tentatively supporting the signing of the ESAF, do not see much change on the horizon with respect to agricultural credit, which even though it may become theoretically available, will not in fact be accessible due to the excessively high interest rates being charged by Nicaraguan banks. Producers of all political tendencies, represented in the National Agricultural Emergency Committee, have requested that the banks grant a moratorium on pending credit payments to give farmers a breathing space to recover. The FSLN representatives, in response to a request from the Committee, will be introducing this week a bill in the National Assembly which would facilitate the restructuring of pending loans in order to make those in debt again eligible for new credits. The Nicaraguan banking system, however, vehemently opposes the proposed measure. The President of the National Development Bank, the largest state bank, Alvaro Mungia, warned that the measure "would mean the end of the banking system" because new credit is contingent upon the recovery of pending obligations, and the new measure would seriously delay that recovery. Supposedly, with the signing of the ESAF agreement, fresh funds would be available for credit in order to reactivate the productive sectors, especially agriculture. Critics, however, contend that any fresh funds will immediately be turned over to pay the interest on Nicaragua's foreign debt, now calculated at over $11.5 billion. (Barricada, 4-18)