Nicaragua News Service
                         January 8 - 14, 1995
                            Vol. 3, No. 3
                         by Coleen Littlejohn
 
Major News Stories for the week:
 
1. Resignations and Call for Unity in the FSLN.
2. Luis Humberto Guzman re-elected president of National Assembly.
3. Ministry of Labor rules in favor of workers of La Fosforera.
4. New faces in Chamorro's cabinet.
5. Chamorro's wish list--promises for 1995.
6. Costa Ricans tighten restrictions at border. 
7. New canal to be built in Nicaragua?
8. Army accuses OAS-CIAV.
_______________________________________________________________________
 
1. Resignations and Call for Unity in the FSLN.
 
The National Directorate of the FSLN last Friday called upon the 
335,000 affiliated members to come together within their party to 
strengthen it.  At the same time, the Directorate named Victor Tirado 
as national coordinator of the events which will highlight the year of 
the 100th birthday of Augusto C. Sandino.  1995 has been designated by 
the FSLN as the "Year of the 100th birthday of Augusto Sandino, Father 
of the Popular Anti-Imperialist Revolution."  
 
The National Directorate also ratified its decision to work to open 
"an ample dialogue in search of a national agreement on the political, 
economic and social problems of the nation."  The communique "lamented 
the decision of some companeros to resign their membership in the 
FSLN" but called on the remaining members to strengthen the party and 
"begin the process of preparation and accumulation of strength, in 
order to defeat the threat of a return to Somocismo in the elections 
of 1996."
 
The National Directorate statement referred to the recent decision of 
three prominent Sandinista militants to leave the party.  The first 
resignation came from Raul Venerio, a member of the National Assembly 
and veteran fighter of the years of insurrection against Somoza.  His 
resignation was followed by that of former vice-president and leader 
of the "Renovation" movement, Sergio Ramirez, and that of his 
daughter, Maria Ramirez, former Sandinista Youth leader and also a 
member of the National Assembly.  The Ramirez resignation came two 
days after Maria Ramirez was accused on FSLN-owned Radio Ya of having 
a personal relationship with another women, FSLN deputy and head of 
the Sandinista Bench, Dora Maria Tellez.  Tellez also resigned, not 
from the party, but from the National Directorate, to which she had 
been elected at the last party congress.  Tellez stated that she would 
have nothing to do within a party structure that covered up for and 
supported defamation campaigns.  "What ties unite me to the leadership 
of a party that uses its information channels for defamation 
campaigns?"  She also accused the director of Radio Ya, Carlos 
Guadamuz, of being "sick."  She denied that she was resigning from the 
FSLN stating that "I am a Sandinista and my militancy was earned 
throughout the years."


The National Directorate of the FSLN issued a short statement 
rejecting the "scandalous affirmations" about the private lives of the 
two women deputies but there has been no sign of sanction for the 
conduct of Guadamuz, the director of Radio Ya, already famous for his 
personal attacks against political enemies. 
 
The first reactions of the party to the resignations came from Monica 
Baltodano, member of the National Directorate.  In her opinion, the 
resignations of the Ramirez group put an end to the internal 
confrontations within Sandinismo and open the doors to the search for 
a national consensus around the recuperation of the country.  
Baltodano also did not deny the possibility that there could be 
agreements with Ramirez in the search for national solutions.  She 
also stated that although the resignations of Ramirez and Tellez are 
painful, they could be beneficial for the party and for the country 
in general, given that, as in a bad marriage, after a rupture the two 
sides might later come to friendly agreements.  She went on to state
that the decision of a minority of militants should not paralyze more 
than 300,000 others.  All Sandinistas now should concentrate on 
the identification of the most urgent organizational needs of the 
party internally, she said, as well as the identification of the 
responsibilities of the FSLN as the most important political force 
within the country, especially given the coming elections. 
 
Baltodano, recently returned from a visit to Daniel Ortega in Cuba, 
also stated that Ortega's condition was evolving satisfactorily and 
that he would finish his treatment by the first week in February.  
Alarm had spread throughout Managua last week when (according to El 
Nuevo Diario) Damaso Vargas, FNT leader in the National Assembly, 
mistakenly declared that Ortega had suffered a relapse and that his 
condition had deteriorated severely.  (Barricada, Jan. 10, 12, 14; El 
Nuevo Diario, Jan. 10)
 
2. Luis Humberto Guzman re-elected president of National Assembly.
 
Luis Humberto Guzman was re-elected President of the National Assembly 
last week after a week of heavy campaigning against Miriam Arguello, 
veteran leader of the Conservative Party.  Arguello had the support of 
the Executive Branch, the official FSLN and the Liberal 
Constitutionalist Party.  Guzman was supported by the majority of the 
FSLN deputies, as well as his own Christian Democrats and what remains 
of the UNO Coalition.  
 
For the first time in such an election, the vote of the FSLN was 
divided.  Those who favored the candidacy of Miriam Arguello were: 
Benigna Mendiola, Francisco Rivera, Omar Cabezas, Damaso Vargas, 
Nathan Sevilla, Gladys Baez, Roberto Laguna and Juan Ramon Aragon.  
The other FSLN deputies supported Guzman. Nathan Sevilla commented to 
Barricada that the election of the new executive committee was the 
"result of the imposition of minority groups that came together to 
form a political alliance which will try to maintain a style of 
political confrontation that will negatively affect the country in 
this new year."  Bayardo Arce commented that the effects of the 
election could not be foreseen but that the election left the Assembly 
without pluralism or consensus, and was the result of a campaign of 

"political terrorism."  The FSLN made some political headway, 
according to Arce, despite the fact that the FSLN's representative 
force in the National Assembly was "kidnaped and usurped" by 
sympathizers of Sergio Ramirez.  
 
Besides Luis Humberto Guzman, the new executive committee is composed 
of Reynaldo Antonio Tefel, Doris Tijerino, and Ray Hooker all of the 
FSLN, Nicolas Bolanos (UNO), Julia Mena (PLC) and Luis Sanchez (UNO).  
(Barricada, Jan. 10)
 
3. Ministry of Labor rules in favor of workers of La Fosforera.
 
The Ministry of Labor, in a ruling last week, declaring illegal those 
actions taken by Pedro Ortega Macho, President of the match company, 
La Fosforera, and stated that Ortega should "comply with what is 
laid down in paragraphs 11 and 42 of the labor contract" signed by 
the company and union officials.  
 
Adrian Meza, lawyer for the match workers unions, declared that with 
its ruling, the Ministry of Labor has recognized the validity of the 
accusations made by the workers and that a strict interpretation of 
the ruling would annul the massive firing ordered by the company 
management and would reinstate the rights of the unions.  It is yet to 
be seen what the reaction of Pedro Ortega Macho will be and how 
concretely the ruling will be implemented.  (Barricada, Jan. 11)
 
4. New faces in President Chamorro's cabinet.
 
While the IMF and World Bank demand that the state reduce its size 
with respect to numbers of workers and with respect to salaries which 
have been frozen since 1990, President Violeta Chamorro swore in a 
new enlarged cabinet last week.  The Cabinet now consists of 15 
ministers, 26 vice-ministers, 25 directors or presidents of 
"autonomous" institutes and 15 vice-presidents or assistant directors 
of those institutes.  Barricada estimated the total cost of 
maintaining this part of a top-heavy bureaucracy at at least $3.5 
million.
 
Changes in this year's cabinet include:
--The removal of the Minister of Government, Alfredo Mendieta, 
presumably because of his inability to get along with the hierarchy of 
the National Police under his command.  His replacement is Sergio 
Narvaez Sampson.
--Dionisio Cuadra Kautz replaces Roberto Rondon as Minister of 
Agriculture.  Rondon was named Director of the National Program for 
Rural Development. 
--Jose Ley Lau replaces Emilio Rapaccioli as Minister of the 
Nicaragua Energy Institute (INE) which begins its process of 
privatization.  Rapaccioli, Minister of INE for 15 years, was named 
head of the Nicaraguan Energy Company.  (Barricada, Jan. 11)
 
5.  President Chamorro's wish list--promises for 1995.
 
In a conciliatory tone, after having announced her new cabinet in her 
annual address to the nation, President Chamorro asked for the support 
of the National Assembly in order to move through important 
legislature such as the privatization of TELCOR and INE.  Chamorro was 

optimistic in her discourse, stating that the country was beginning to 
see the positive effects of her economic policies, such as a 3.2% 
growth rate in GNP and an increase in exports form $267 million in 
1993 to $343 million in 1994.  
 
In her address, Chamorro also made the following promises for 1995:
--Resolve once and for all the property problem in Nicaragua;
--Increase public investment by 25%, to $285 million;
--Begin the clean-up of Lake Managua;
--Carry out 1,200 social projects in 123 townships;
--Spend $3 million in potable water projects and school repair;
--Provide potable water for 500,000 more people.  (Barricada, Jan. 11)
 
6.  Costa Ricans tighten restrictions at border.
 
Despite the flexibility with which they may travel to any other 
Central American country after to the signing last year of the Central 
American Integration Treaty, last week Nicaraguans traveling to Costa 
Rica had to present $200 each in cash in order to enter that country.  
Each traveler's passport must also be stamped to prevent him or her 
from working in Costa Rica and the person must present a round-trip 
ticket to prove that he or she has the means and intention of leaving 
the country.
 
Thousands of Nicaraguans travel to Costa Rica to work in the banana 
plantations or the coffee harvests in that country despite the 
mistreatment and abuse received from their southern neighbors.  Last 
week, 358 Nicaraguans were deported from Costa Rica, which number must 
be added to the over 12,000 that have been deported during the last 
seven months.  Despite the fact that Costa Rica does not have enough 
labor to cover the demands at harvest time, the government has decided 
to be inflexible when it comes to illegal immigration.  Costa Ricans 
also fear that uncontrolled travel from Nicaragua will inundate their 
country with problems of cholera, tuberculosis and dengue due to the 
fact that illegal immigrants do not report to the public health system 
for fear of being deported.  (Barricada, Jan. 9, 1995)
 
7.  New canal to be built in Nicaragua?
 
An ambitious project to construct a "dry canal" consisting of a 135 
mile super-modern railway is being proposed to the government by a 
local engineering consulting firm, Canal Interoceanico de Nicaragua 
(CINSA).  The proposed route would be from the port of Greytown in San 
Juan del Norte on the Caribbean to the new port of La Flor on the 
Pacific coast.  Total cost is estimated at $1.3 billion over a three 
year period.  Twenty thousand jobs supposedly would be created.  A 
consortium of international firms are supporting the venture, 
including Woodward Clyde International and the Port Authority of New 
York, both from the US.  The Nicaraguan government is now supposedly 
studying the proposal.  
 
There has been much speculation in recent years about a proposed canal 
or connection in southern Nicaragua.  Rumors are beginning to cause 
land speculation in the area of Rivas and San Juan del Sur.  (El Nuevo 
Diario, Jan. 13)


8.  Army accuses OAS-CIAV.
 
At a press conference called last week to give details about the death 
of thirteen re-armed men in combat with army forces in the Comarca of 
La Maranosa, Ricardo Wheelock, spokesperson for the army, accused the 
representatives of the Verification Commission of the OAS (CIAV-OAS) 
of interfering in the internal affairs of the country.  At the 
same time Wheelock publicly asked why the staff of the CIAV-OAS in 
Nicaragua had so much contact with the re-armed groups, to the extent 
of continuously offering them transportation and protecting them in 
their vehicles.  
 
The reaction of the army came as a result of public declarations by
the CIAV-OAS and the Permanent Commission on Human Rights (CPDH) 
accusing the army of massacring thirteen disarmed delinquents as they 
were being transported to a nearby army base for processing.  
 
According to a police investigation done a day after the incident, the 
irregular forces, who had been captured by the army, were being 
transported in army trucks to a nearby base to be disarmed.  The 
irregulars, however, overcame and killed the army driver and his 
companion and entered into battle with an army truck that had been 
following them.  The battle resulted in the death of the thirteen 
irregulars.
 
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, CENIDH, has called for a 
complete investigation given the conflicting versions of the story.  
President Chamorro has also called for an investigation.  (Barricada, 
Jan. 14)