Nicaragua News Service Nov. 6 - Nov. 12, 1994 Vol. 2, No. 47 by Coleen Littlejohn Major news stories for the week: 1. Nicaraguan volcanoes unusually active. 2. FSLN volcano also smoking. 3. Small farmers take over offices of National Bank. 4. Nicaraguans protest new California law. 5. Sumus reject NYCON. 6. Tropical storm affects Atlantic Coast. 7. President Chamorro appeals to public over pending issues. 8. Cuba pressured to give up embassy residence. 9. Recontras attack Miskitu village. _____________________________________________________________________ 1. Nicaraguan volcanoes unusually active. The Masaya volcano and the San Cristobal volcano in Chinandega Department have been unusually active during the last several weeks according to the people that live near the mountains. The Masaya volcano has been spitting out rocks and ashes over a radius of 150 meters around its mouth. Area farmers are also complaining that the smoke coming out of the two cones is seriously affecting their crops. 2. FSLN volcano still smoldering also. Thirteen departmental political secretaries of the FSLN published a statement in which they exhort the National Directorate to call for an immediate meeting of the Sandinista Assembly in order for that body to take some statutory positions that would define the situation of the Movement of Renovation led by Dr. Sergio Ramirez vis a vis the FSLN. The group went on to say that they rejected the proposals for amending the Constitution that were negotiated by the "Ramirez group" because the proposals go against the judicial framework established by the Revolution. The group called on the FSLN delegates to the National Assembly to defend the amendment proposals approved by the Sandinista Assembly. Meanwhile, Sergio Ramirez responded to the accusation which appeared in Barricada ten days ago that he has betrayed the party in a way similar to the betrayal of Moncada in 1927 in the Pact of Espino Negro when all of the Liberal generals except Sandino turned in their arms to the U.S. representative. Ramirez stated that the accusation was the equivalent of a death threat and that if anything should happen to him, the official apparatus of the FSLN should be held responsible. The two newspapers sympathetic to the Renovation movement published a series of articles in which they refuted the charges point by point including the charge of selling out to the right with their Constitutional amendment proposals. With respect to the changes in Barricada, sixteen reporters and technical workers appeared before the Human Rights Commission of the National Assembly to assert that their human rights had been violated by the paper. They were subsequently denied entrance to Barricada and were notified of the termination of their services. At present many of them are protesting against the FSLN, owner of Barricada, at the site of the Managua traffic circle near the new cathedral, polarizing even more the situation in the FSLN-associated news media. On November 8th, Sandinistas from all Managua gathered at the tomb of Carlos Fonseca, the founder of the FSLN, to commemorate the 18th anniversary of his death in combat. During the program, Daniel Ortega, General Secretary of the FSLN, insisted that, if necessary, the FSLN and the people would rebel again to better the living conditions of the Nicaraguan people. Another participant in the memorial program was the singer Carlos Mejia Godoy who pledged his allegiance to the FSLN and stated that he "would never leave the FSLN and that I will continue to struggle within the party so that one day we may find a way to heal the mortal wounds now afflicting the party." Carlos Mejia called upon the memory of Carlos Fonseca, Ricardo Morales, Leonel Rugama and Camilo Ortega and stated that the rank and file of the party had the moral obligation to pressure their leaders so that they will get back on the track towards unity." Mejia signed the original "Return to the Majorities Document" in February of 1994. (Barricada, Nov. 10, 11; La Prensa, Nov. 9) 3. Small farmers take over National Bank offices. Over 100 onion producers took over the Sebaco offices of the National Development Bank in protest about foreclosures by the bank against small farmers who have not paid their debts to the bank. The foreclosures are scheduled to begin next week. The farmers asserted that the government should forgive the debt because it has been the government policy of allowing the importing of Guatemalan onions which has led to the inability of the farmers of the area to find a stable market for their crop. After three unsuccessful onion seasons for the small farmers, the National Development Bank has suspended credit to the region for that crop. The bank continues to finance large farmers, however, and has renegotiated the bad debt of those larger farmers who have not paid. The protesting farmers have accused the government of trying to snuff them out so that they will be forced to sell to the large landholders of the area. (Barricada, Nov. 8) 4. Nicaraguans protest California law. Nicaraguans are outraged at the passing of Proposition 187 last week in California which will deny education and health care to illegal immigrants. The FSLN issued a statement in which it called the law "racist and a violation of human rights" and expressed the party's concern over the rise in racism in California reflected in the law which will surely affect thousands of Nicaraguans living in that state. The Nicaraguan government estimates that at least 60,000 Nicaraguans live in California. The U.S. Ambassador in Nicaragua, John Maisto, also was quoted as being against the law. He insisted that it has not been the policy of his government, at least until now, to discriminate between citizens and non-citizens in matters of basic services. (La Prensa, Nov. 9; Barricada, Nov. 12) 5. Sumus reject NYCON. Members of the Sumu communities of Colombian, Suniwas, Padre Was, Nazareth, Betel, Sabawas, Wingpolu, Musawas, Paniawas, Kisbusna, and Alai took over the main road between Bonanza and Siuna, the latter of which is the principal access to the mining center recently purchased by the NYCON Resources Company. The Sumus stated that they would not allow representatives of the company to enter the area because their presence would be harmful to the preservation of the area's natural resources. Alta Hooker, President of the Autonomous Regional Council of the RAAN (North Atlantic Autonomous Region) went to the zone to show her support for the rights of the Sumu people. The Sumus are demanding that the NYCON company sit down and negotiate with their community representatives as well as representatives of the RAAN regional council. The central government's Ministry of Economy and Development granted the concession to NYCON without consulting the indigenous peoples of the area. The Regional Council urged that pressure be mounted to stop this type of concessions and promised to "carry this struggle to its final consequences in order to reaffirm the historic rights of the Indian peoples to their land." (Barricada, Nov. 12) 6. Tropical storm affects Atlantic Coast. Local plane flights were suspended last week as the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua was hit by tropical storm "Gordon." The storm caused torrential rains in that part of the country and heavy rains in the central and Pacific regions. Over 500 people lost their possessions due to flooding in the southern Atlantic. Ironically, with the dry season about to officially begin, the the weather is acting more like the onset of the rainy season. The past Nicaraguan rainy season, which began in May, was characterized by a severe drought. (Barricada, Nov. 11, La Prensa, Nov. 9) 7. President Chamorro appeals to public over pending issues. In a message to the nation last week, Violeta Chamorro, President of Nicaragua, confirmed her support for the partial reform of the present Constitution stating that the country "could not waste the historic opportunity that the democratization of Nicaragua offers us to elaborate a Magna Carta which unites us in a national consensus about the country's most pressing issues." She went on to declare that she was willing to support the constitutional amendments if they were approved by the National Assembly and if they were to the benefit of the country and responded to Nicaragua's national interest. In her address, the President also gave her opinion about other pressing issues such as the privatization of TELCOR, the 1995 public sector budget and the instability of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court. In the latter case she was referring to the fact that the National Assembly still has not processed her list of nominations for the replacement of Rodrigo Reyes who resigned earlier this year. The Supreme Court has been without a quorum for several months given that after Reyes' resignation, another member of the Court, Dr. Rafael Chamorro, agreed to serve on the Central American Court of Justice and thus deferred his other responsibilities. The President also called on the National Assembly to approve the 1995 budget as presented without raising salaries for health, education and public security officials. Chamorro stated that "to try to increase the operating budget of each ministry because of salary increases would mean an increase in inflation and would go against our efforts to stimulate economic growth, investment and job creation. If we succumb to these pressures, we would have to raise taxes or put the country even more in debt." She continued, "I know that these decisions I have made are subject to much political criticism but I am going to do what I have to do to fulfill my historic responsibility to form the basis for the stabilization and economic reactivation of Nicaragua." (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 10) 8. Cuba pressured to give up embassy residence. The formers owners of the present embassy of Cuba in Managua won a court battle, the decision of which authorizes them to retake possession of the embassy building. Based on the court ruling, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua is pressuring the Cuban representative in Managua, Pedro Lovaina, to give up the residence which was purchased by Cuba during the Sandinista government. The mansion had been confiscated from the former owners because of their links to Somoza. When asked about the problem for which the Nicaraguan government has threatened to cut relations with Cuba, Jose Pallais, Vice-Minister of Foreign Relations stated that his government respected the authority of the judicial branch of the government to return the house to its original owners but that the Foreign Ministry was willing to find a solution to the conflict. Pallais is reported to have close personal relations with the former owners. A similar situation arose several months ago when the government of Nicaragua tried to pressure German diplomats to leave several houses which had been purchased by the former country of East Germany (GDR) but which became property of the Federal Republic after the unification of the two Germanies. The German government threatened to force Nicaragua to pay, penny by penny, the foreign debt contracted with the GDR if Nicaragua insisted on its demands for the houses. Needless to say, a solution was found. Unfortunately for Cuba, Cuban aid to Nicaragua has been almost exclusively donations and not loans. (Barricada, Nov. 12) 9. Recontras attack Miskitu village A spokesperson for the Nicaraguan Army (EPS) confirmed last week that a recontra band under the leadership of "Cinta Negra" (black belt), a follower of another contra leader, Northiel, entered the village of El Paraiso, just north of the town of San Andres de Bocay on the banks of the Rio Coco and murdered one of the residents of the town. The villagers followed the band and engaged them in a battle during which four more townspeople were killed. Meanwhile, the EPS has mounted military operations throughout the First and Sixth Regions of the country (Nueva Segovia / Esteli / Somoto and Matagalpa/Jinotega) in order to safeguard the upcoming coffee harvest from raiding bands of delinquents and recontras. (Barricada, Nov. 12)