Nicaragua News Service Oct. 30 - Nov. 5, 1994 Vol. 2, No. 46 Major News stories for the week: 1. Family dies looking for firewood. 2. National Development Bank closes 23 offices. 3. Teachers hold protest march. 4. New editor and directors named for Barricada. 5. Government rejects comments of US ambassador. 6. National Assembly has amendments package ready. 7. Chele Grisby accuses Ramirez of treason. 8. Printing dollars in Managua? ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Family dies looking for firewood. Five persons, one adult and four children, lost their lives last week in the city of Granada while looking for firewood. Their desperation forced them to ask permission of a caretaker to take some wood out of the structure of an old adobe house. When a main beam was loosed, a whole wall of adobe fell on the victims, causing almost immediate suffocation. (Barricada, Nov. 2, 1994) 2. National Development Bank closes 23 offices. Despite the recent announcement by Antonio Lacayo, Minister of the Presidency, that there would be more credit for small farmers in 1995, the government decided last week to close 23 branch offices of the National Development Bank, (BND) the bank that has traditionally financed small and medium farm production in the country. Over 200 people will lose their jobs as a result of the measure. The decision was taken by the Bank's board of directors which includes a representative of the FSLN, Dionisio Marenco, and a representative from UNAG. The two representatives opposed the measures because of their negative effects on small farmers who are the principal producers of basic grains in the country. Marenco stated that it would be more logical to increase revenue by demanding payment from clients of the bank such as Roberto Rondon, the Minister of Agriculture, and other big borrowers. Meanwhile, as a result of the measures announced by the BND, small and medium farmers and ranchers throughout the country, organized in the UNAG, threatened to stop producing if the government continues to exclude them from their economic plans. UNAG members in Sebaco threatened to occupy the BND offices there and Daniel Nunez, UNAG national president, stated that "Nicaragua can not take any more structural adjustment." (Barricada, Nov. 1, 4, 1994) 3. Teachers hold protest march. Thousands of Nicaraguan teachers belonging to three teacher's federations marched on the Ministry of Labor last week to demand higher wages and better working conditions. Mario Quintano, Secretary General of ANDEN, the Association of Nicaraguan Teachers, called the march a "success" and stated that the partial slowdown in educational activities which accompanied the march in several departments around the country would continue until the middle of this month when the three teachers' federations have called for a national march. Last week's march marked the first time in years that Nicaraguan teachers have set aside political and ideological differences to take to the streets together. The teachers also protested the Ministry of Education's strategy of give administrative autonomy to each school, stating that it is just another way of privatizing education. This is because the education budget is so low that the individual schools will have to charge parents for what they need to run the schools. Daniel Ortega, in a talk given in the city of Granada stated that the government should implement a plan that responds to the interests of the popular sectors such as teachers, health workers, peasant farmers and workers. "We must be clear that we have to unite against all the wrong that this government, the IMF, and the World Bank are doing." (Barricada, Nov. 5, 1994) 4. New editor and directors named for Barricada. Tomas Borge was confirmed last week as the new president of the executive board and the editorial board of BARRICADA, replacing Bayardo Arce who had been traveling in Spain when the internal crisis at the FSLN owned newspaper came to a head last week. Arce, upon returning to the country, resigned from his position as president of the editorial board in a published letter in which he stated his disagreement with the removal of Carlos Fernando Chamorro as editor of the newspaper. Arce also stated that he had not been involved in the discussions with regard to a change in editorial policy and the newspaper's overall performance in the last few days, reason for which he was resigning and recommending that Tomas Borge assume the responsibility, given that "the presidency of the paper in these times should be in the hands of the National Directorate." "I would not be able to take one cassette out of my head and substitute another," stated Arce. He was clear in stating that "my disagreement, however, cannot be interpreted as a criticism of those who represent the newspaper's owners (the FSLN), much less as an attempt to deny them their rights. All property owners choose whom they want to administer their property." The FSLN's National Directorate issued a public statement recognizing Arce's contribution to the newspaper and stated that he will be assigned other party functions. As the new BARRICADA president, Tomas Borge announced that no reporter would be fired although that same day the editor of GENTE, Sophia Montenegro, was removed from that position. Sixteen of the newspapers' principal journalists in Managua proposed a negotiated settlement which would include recognition for years worked, overtime and vacations not taken. At this time it isn't clear exactly how many reporters have resigned. As part of the negotiated settlement, reporters hope to be actually fired so that they are able to get one month's extra salary. Under present Nicaragua law, workers who quit their jobs are not entitled to any extra benefits. Last Wednesday, BARRICADA published a revised version of an earlier interview in Mexico of Tomas Borge by a local journalist about the role of Barricada. In the interview Borge stated that BARRICADA would be autonomous within the universe of interests of the FSLN and that it would be the Editor and Editorial Council who would run the paper, not the National Directorate. During most of the week, mixed signals were coming from the newspaper, which published simultaneously protest letters from departing employees and others as well as the opinions of the new leadership within the newspaper. Then, on Friday, it was announced that the new Editor of BARRICADA would be William Grisby, the well known radio commentator of Radio La Primerisima and one of the most outspoken members of what had been called the "Democratic Left" of the FSLN. The assistant director will be Julio Lopez, who worked with the Office of International Relations of the FSLN during the 1980's. The naming of the two had been expected. Grisby and Lopez were two of the strongest critics in the Sandinista Assembly of the past BARRICADA administration. (Barricada, Nov. 1, 4, 5, 1994) 5. Government rejects comments of US ambassador. US ambassador to Nicaragua, John Maisto, was quoted in a local paper as saying that "in Nicaragua one lives in a situation without justice," referring to the killing of young Jean Paul Genie four years ago as "a perfect example of that impunity." The statement was rejected by Dr. Jose Antonio Tijerino, Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS and by representatives at the Inter-American Court of Justice (ICJ). Tijerino stated that the case has been tried according to the laws of the present Constitution and that Nicaragua had accepted the jurisdiction of the ICJ in the case and was cooperating fully in the process. (Barricada, Nov. 4) 6. National Assembly has amendments package ready. Members of the Constitutional Reform Commission of the National Assembly are now ready to bring to a vote their consensus agreement around 61 articles of the 1986 Constitution to be amended. The agreement has been negotiated between five different political grouping, including the UNO, the MDN, the UDC, APC and what the new leadership of Barricada is calling the "Ramirez Group" in reference to the majority of FSLN National Assembly members who have entered into conflict with the Sandinista Assembly over the issue. Four of the FSLN representatives are in disagreement with two of the articles which were proposed by the UNO coalition. The first states that high school education is free but that schools can charge for certain services. The second article in dispute is one which would authorize run-off elections in the case of presidential elections in which no one party has won a simple majority. According to Nathan Sevilla, who upholds the reform proposal supported by the Sandinista Assembly, run- off elections are not politically inclusive. He adds that in Latin America it is the political right that traditionally benefits from them. "We don't fear elections but you have to take into account that parties that have more resources can manipulate votes. It is more than clear that those who don't have resources lose votes even though they may be on the right side." The National Assembly will begin debate on the amendment proposals on November 15th. Any amendment will have to be approved by two separate legislative seasons according to the present Constitution. Attempts to change those procedures proved unsuccessful this year due to strong opposition from the Executive branch. (Barricada, Nov. 5, 1994) 7. Chele Grisby accuses Ramirez of treason. The new Editor of Barricada, William "Chele" Grisby made his debut in his first day in the office with a stinging headline accusing former Vice-President Sergio Ramirez of pacting against the FSLN and referred to the incident as worse than the infamous "Espino Negro" pact in 1927 where all the Liberal generals except Sandino turned over their weapons to representatives of the U.S. Grisby listed 10 "Ramirez concessions" referring to the latest consensus agreements on Constitutional amendments to be debated next week in the National Assembly. The concessions supposedly are: 1. Less money in the budget for the universities - restricting them to 6% of normal budget; 2. Legalizing a charge for high school education; 3. Permitting that Somocistas from Miami vote in elections; 4. Preparing the way to dismantle the army; 5. Naming Virgilio Godoy as President of the Council of Ministers; 6. Authorizing run-off elections; 7. Nullifying municipal governments; 8. Giving two seats to the UNO in the Executive Committee of the National Assembly; 9. Giving UNO control of the Supreme Court and Supreme Electoral Council; 10. Being ready to negotiate with Lacayo. (Barricada, Nov. 6) 8. Printing money in Managua? Banks and businesses were in a stir last week when it was confirmed that someone was making almost exact copies of cordoba bills, and that over 50,000 false cordobas were circulating in the country. At the end of the week, Nicaraguan police had arrested a street seller of music cassettes who supposedly has been using a high quality laser color photocopier to produce the cash. There are reportedly five more "money machines" in the country. During the last few months the police have been investigating the Nicaraguan connection with international narcotics rings who are trying to use Nicaragua as a trampoline to get to the United States. (Barricada, Nov. 5, 1994)