Nicaragua News Service May 15-21, 1994 Vol. 2, No. 22 by Colleen Littlejohn Major news stories for the week: 1. FSLN celebrates special Congress. 2. Armed groups threaten to take-over Waspam. 3. Military law sent to National Assembly. 4. President Chamorro's government involved in Venezuela scandal. 5. Police refuse to accept delinquents as law enforcement officials. 6. US and Nicaragua differ over an application of the Helms Amendment. 7. Number of cholera cases is on the rise. 1. FSLN celebrates special Congress. The much awaited special Congress of the FSLN took place last weekend, from the 20th to the early hours of Monday, May 23rd. The basic theme of the Congress was the preservation of the unity of the FSLN, a concern overriding many of the positions of the 'currents' which have emerged over the past few months. The cry for unity within the party was made very evident during the second day of the Congress as Victor Tirado, when given the microphone, complained the Congress had still not dealt with the issue of unity within the party. He further indicated that there was a real possibility the party could split into factions. Tirado then urged Daniel Ortega, leader of the 'left' current, Sergio Ramirez, leader of the 'majority' current, and Henry Ruiz, representative of those 'without current', to "put all their cards on the table." Tirado said, "We can ~ot permit Sergio Ramirez and Daniel Ortega to go off and work on their own, or let one try to squash the other." William Ramirez demanded that these three leaders mentioned, should announce publicly that they would accept the results of the Congress, and that they would commit themselves to remain in the party. Neither of the three chose to speak at that moment, but there was a spontaneous chant for unity that arose from the delegates. Discussion continued for about two hours and then a recess was held before the voting of the Sandinista Assembly. Before Tirado's intervention, the delegates had voted not to legalize the different currents within the FSLN. Some observers commented that the generalized discussion for unity would have an effect of producing a more "balanced vote", meaning that each current would be represented adequately in the National Directorate and the Sandinista Assembly. Brian Wilson, who was invited as a special guest, expressed that the successfulness of unity would come with admitting diversity. Fifteen persons out of a total of 30 candidates, were elected to the New National Directorate, the executive branch of the party that retained its former name. Five of the elected are women; one of the decisions made by the Congress is that at least 30% of all leadership positions in the party must be held by women. The National Directorate, which will guide the party for the next three years is comprised of: Daniel Ortega Saavedra, Tomas Borge, Bayardo Arce, Monica Baltedano, Rene Nunez, Victor Hugo Tinoco, Dora Maria Tellez, Dorotea Wilson, Henry Ruiz, Luis Carrion, Lumberto Campbell, Rene Vivas, Benigna Mendiola, Mirna Cunningham and Victor Tirado. Sergio Ramirez, head of the majority current, was not elected to the National Directorate. It remains to be seen if he will retain his position as head of the FSLN members in the National Assembly. Daniel Ortega was re-elected as Secretary-General, and Tomas Borge was elected Vice Secretary-General of the National Directorate. The structure and membership of the party leadership are issues that are especially crucial to the FSLN given that 1996 is a national election year. The election of the National Directorate by secret vote was preceded by the election of the Sandinista Assembly, the maximum decision-making body in the FSLN. The Sandinista Assembly was expanded to 135 members. Before the election the Congress decided that 50% of the Sandinista Assembly must be elected from the different departments in order to ensure territorial representation. The rest of the Assembly could be persons elected because of national recognition. One of the surprising decisions of the Congress was to not approve the creation of a Party President position, a job Tomas Borge had made clear that he wanted. Although Borge received a standing ovation before his candidacy was announced, the vote was tied at 189-189. Borge then decided to withdraw his candidacy when faced with the fact that his election would not receive a majority approval. Six party program issues were amply discussed and positions were approved by the Congress. The summary of these discussions will be analyzed and become part of a document entitled "Program of the FSLN". The points discussed were: - position of FSLN with regard to the rural situation - position of FSLN with the government of Nicaragua - position of FSLN with the government of the United States - position of FSLN with respect to property - position of FSLN with respect to the social make-up of the party - participation of youth in the party (A summary of these party positions will be given in next news summary.) One interesting commentary on the Sandinista Congress came from Cardinal Obando y Bravo during the weekly Sunday Mass in his cathedral. Obando stated: "The Sandinistas are not going to divide; they are expert politicians, very astute; they will leave the Congress even more unified to be able to be ready, if it is possible, for the moment when they take over power again...They know that a division would mean their political death. They are not going to divide." (Barricada 5/22) 2. Armed groups threaten to take-over Waspam. Last week it was reported that a group of armed irregular forces were planning to take over the mayor's office of Waspam, located along the Rio Coco in the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region. The group, rumored to have been instigated by the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC), also threatened to take over the offices of the CIAV-OAS (Organization of American States). The band has supposedly been digging up arms in the towns of Wiwinak, Saklin and Ohri, according to Sandinista National Assembly member, Mirna Cunningham. The Nicaraguan army has entered into certain communities to look for the arms, as in the case of the town of Kururia. The troops began to register individual homes without authorization, which caused an outcry among the population. The army later disclosed that the military in charge of this mission was being investigated in a military court. The army did make it clear, though, that they would not tolerate irregular activity in Waspam. The military head of the area, Maximo Zeledon, sent a verbal message to El Tigre 19, head of the irregulars, telling him that he was breaking the law to even think about trying a military take-over of Waspam. It is estimated that there are over 13,000 arms in the area in the hands of the now, civilian population. (Barricada 5/21, 5/22) 3. Military law sent to National Assembly. The new military law sent to the National Assembly for its approval proposes that the head of the army be appointed for a term of five years; he/she may not be removed for political or party reasons. The head of the army will be appointed by the President, who will take into account candidates proposed by the national Military Council. The President also has the right to remove the army head for reasons of insubordination, disobedience of presidential orders, criminal activity, or for mental or physical disabilities that affect performance. President Chamorro announced the new law in a ceremony commemorating the 100th birthday of General Augusto C. Sandino. She also announced that the Popular Sandinista Army will now be called the National Army. In that same announcement it was made known that a replacement for General Humberto Ortega will be announced on December 21st, and that he would retire exactly two months later on February 21, 1995. One positive comment on the events came from the mayor of Managua, Arnaldo Aleman, who stated: "General Ortega has just entered the front door of the history of Nicaragua, demonstrating that he is a professional person." (Barricada, 5/20) 4. President Chamorro's government involved in Venezuela scandal. Carlos Andres Perez, former president of Venezuela and old friend of Nicaragua, especially of the Chamorro family, is behind bars now in his country for the misuse of a secret slush fund of $17 million. According to evidence weighed by the Venezuelan Supreme Court, Perez spent part of that money to pay for the creation of a special police force for President Chamorro's security after the elections of 1990. The money was supposedly disbursed between April and June of 1990. The funds were supposed to be used for internal security measures in Venezuela. The government of Nicaragua upon hearing the charges issued a statement in which it rejected "with indignation, all attempts to involve the clean and honest figure of President Chamorro in the process that is being done against Carlos Andres Perez. Perez has consistently affirmed that he is being accused for political reasons and for his commitment to all Latin American countries." (Barricada 5/19, 5/20) 5. Police refuse to accept delinquents as law enforcement officials. Last week El Chacal, demobilized chief of the 380 front, accused Brigade Commander Fernando Caldera, head of the Nicaraguan police, of not following the terms of the disarmament agreement between the irregulars and the government. El Chacal claimed that Caldera refused to allow two ex-380 leaders into the hierarchy of the police because they had been convicted of crimes while in the police force, and, later, became deserters. Caldera warned that his institution would only allow entrance into the police force by legal means, which include public recruiting through the media. The Minister of Gobernation, Alfredo Mendieta, in a move meant to placate El Chacal, appointed the two persons in question, El Cascaabel and Parajillo, to authority positions within his ministry. They would be stationed in the zone of San Rafael del Norte in the Sixth Region. Caldera, however, declared that the two would have no authority over the local police force there. Meanwhile, ex-Resistance and now police officials of the Fifth Region supported Caldera's position in a public letter to Mendietta. They also demanded that the government keep its promises to all ex-Resistance members, not only those who used force after the signing of the initial peace agreements in 1990. (Barricada, 5/18) 6. US and Nicaragua differ over on application of Helms amendment. Nicaraguan Foreign Minister, Ernesto Leal, stated last week that the Nicaraguan government has yet to resolve the cases of 125 US citizens who are reclaiming 256 properties out of a total of 10,000 properties being reclaimed by more than 5000 persons. However, John Maisto, US ambassador to Nicaragua, claims that there are over 1285 US citizens who are filing claims against the government and only 170 cases have been resolved to date. The Association of American Confiscated, the latest non-governmental association to be created in Nicaragua, agrees with the US ambassador. Maisto stated his version when he was on a field trip visiting projects with President Chamorro. Chamorro said she would not publicly contradict him, explaining: "Everybody can say what they want. The government of Nicaragua is not considering as US citizens those cases of Nicaraguans who changed their citizenship after having their property confiscated, whereas for the US ambassador there is only one class of US citizen. One is a US citizen or one is not, and that's it." Officially, the Nicaraguan government is claiming that they are not affected by the Helms-Gonzalez amendment because there are already established mechanisms to resolve the property problem in the country. Maisto, on the other hand, stated that in June the State Department would reveal its position paper on the situation of property rights in Nicaragua and it will not be until then that the official position of the US is made public. (Barricada 5/19) 7. Number of cholera cases on the rise. MINSA, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, may soon declare a 'state of national alert' because of the increasing number of cholera cases reported nationally. Of the 1054 cases reported for 1994, 28 have proven fatal. Forty new cases are appearing daily, and with the onset of the rainy season, this number is expected to rise. At present MINSA is trying to mobilize 1500 health volunteers to mount a massive education campaign.