Nicaragua News Service
                         February 5-11, 1995
                            Vol. 3, No. 7
                         by Coleen Littlejohn
 
Major News Stories for the Week:
 
1. US volunteer kidnapped by recontra group.
2. Major conflict continues over Constitutional amendments.
3. Farmers' and ranchers' strike continues.
4. Barricada reveals that "Marcos" lived in Nicaragua.
5. Energy rationing begins again on national level.
6. World Bank holds up funds for Nicaragua.
7. CENIDH: human rights situation in Nicaragua is a disaster. 
_______________________________________________________________________
 
1. US Volunteer kidnapped by recontra group.
 
Gary Hicks, a US citizen, was kidnapped last week by recontra troops 
under the leadership of a man named "El Charro."  The Nicaraguan 
Foreign Ministry as of Saturday was attempting to form a commission of 
representatives of the Catholic Church and the conservative Permanent 
Commission on Human Rights (CPDH), in order to achieve the release of 
Hicks. 
 
Hicks was working on a development project with Sumu Indians in the 
area of the Bocay river with the Danish government funded Humboldt 
Project, when he was captured by 15 of the irregular forces.
 
In a letter addressed to the CIAV-OAS mission in Nicaragua, El Charro 
admitted that he was holding Hicks and demanded the presence of the 
CIAV-OAS as well as that of other human rights organizations.  There 
was no explanation of why the American citizen was being held.  (La 
Prensa, Feb. 11)
 
[Editor's Note: Hicks was released Saturday night according to the 
State Department.  Other information supplied by the New River Bocay 
Project which raises money to support Hicks is that Hicks was captured 
with Sarah Howard, a British citizen working on a study of Indians in 
the Bocay region, and four Nicaraguans, by the contra group FAN-380.  
This is a remnant of the contras which has never laid down its arms.  
Howard and the Nicaraguans were released late Thursday to carry the 
group's demands to Managua.  FAN-380 threatened to kill Hicks on 
Sunday unless a commission arrived to hear their demands and unless 
the Nicaraguan army was removed from the region.  FAN-380 may have 
been looking specifically for Hicks.  They blamed him for calling the 
Army to report their attack in November on two isolated Indian 
villages.  FAN-380 suffered heavy losses when the army sent helicopter 
gunships in response.]
 
2. Major conflict continues over Constitutional amendments.
 
The Constitutional amendments approved recently by the Nicaraguan 
National Assembly were signed last week by the President of the 
Assembly, Luis Humberto Guzman, in a formal ceremony at the Olaf
Palme Convention Center, a ceremony in which the executive branch of 

the government was conspicuously absent.
 
According to National Assembly sources, the President has 15 days 
(until February 23rd) to publish the amendments in whatever print 
medium she chooses in order for the amendments to become law.  If the 
President decides not to publish the amendments, the Assembly 
leadership has said that it will publish them.  That procedure, 
however, is stipulated in the new amendments but not in the present 
Constitution which gives only the President the authority to publish 
the results of legislation.  In the event that the President does not 
publish the amendments, the Assembly has threatened not to consider 
the bill to privatized TELCOR.  The passage of this bill is holding up 
the renegotiation of Nicaragua's foreign debt with the Club of Paris 
countries, according to the Executive Branch, as well as disbursements 
from multilateral lenders (see article below).
 
At least two lawsuits have been filed to question the legitimacy of 
the amendments and/or of the process which resulted in the amendments.  
The Nicaraguan Supreme Court admitted an appeal brought by two members 
of the "Center" Group in the National Assembly who are claiming that 
the reform process violated the internal procedure of the National 
Assembly because the executive committee of the Assembly did not have 
sufficient quorum to discuss the proposed amendments.  Three of last 
year's members of the committee had boycotted the sessions in order to 
delay the discussion of the amendments, but the internal statutes of 
the Assembly were modified by the plenary to overcome any legal 
problems due to that boycott.
 
Another suit was filed in the Masaya appeals court by a Nicaraguan 
resident in the United States, Rene Arguello Sacasa, who is claiming 
that his rights will be irreversibly violated by the promulgation of 
the amendments.  The Masaya court, in a decision questioned by many 
jurists, ordered the President to suspend the publication of the 
amendments. 
 
Not much is expected from the Nicaraguan Supreme Court at this moment 
since it does not presently have sufficient quorum to hear cases.  Two 
nominees to the Court have not been approved by the National Assembly 
and two other justices have assumed duties with the Central American 
Court of Justice.
 
Meanwhile, as the executive and legislative branches of the government 
continue to be inflexible in their positions, the country is headed 
toward the worst constitutional crisis in its history.  Ironically, 
the majority of Nicaraguans are rather confused as to whether the 
approved amendments will actually benefit them or not.  None of the 
Managua daily newspapers has taken the trouble to analyze the 
different positions on the most controversial articles of the 
amendment package.  Rather, the now more overt political positions of 
each of the major papers, in the pre-electoral year, make it much more 
difficult for an average citizen in Nicaragua to actually know what is 
going on.
 
What is generally accepted is that some type of national consensus is 
needed in order for the government to start dealing with some of the 
more pressing issues pending in the National Assembly, such as the 

property law. 
 
At the end of last week, the FSLN issued a statement giving the 
party's official opinion on the current political crisis.  An 
unofficial translation of the statement follows:
 
"Year of the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Augusto C. Sandino"
 
"The FSLN wishes to communicate to its members and to the national and 
international community the following: The FSLN has from the beginning 
been in agreement with the need to amend the Constitution in order to 
modernize the organization and functioning of the State, in an attempt 
to increase our nation's stability.
 
"For that reason, the FSLN's position has been that the Constitutional 
Reforms should have been analyzed from the perspective of the serious 
crisis created by neo-liberal economic policies causing recession and 
high levels of unemployment.  The amendments should therefore 
contribute to changes in these policies imposed by the international 
financial institutions.
 
"To that effect, the Sandinista Assembly made its opinion known to 
the public in general and to the members of the National Assembly. It 
presented its proposal for the reforms, in which more emphasis was 
given to important issues that would contribute to the solution of our 
nation's problems, such as guarantees for urban and rural 
property, a fair equilibrium between the powers of the legislature and 
the executive branches of government, free education and health 
services, jurisdiction in matters of taxation for the legislature, and 
respect for autonomy and democracy in the Atlantic Coast regions and 
in municipalities in general.  All these issues were treated in an 
attempt to search for a wide consensus that would facilitate a 
possible understanding between all social sectors and the different 
powers of the government.
 
"Nevertheless, the alliance made up of the UNO coalition, the 
Christian Democratic Union (UDC), and the Sandinista Renovation 
Movement (MRS) decided to promote an amendment package without 
sufficiently consulting the different social sectors, in a climate of 
confrontation and speed as well as questionable legal validity that 
does not contribute in any way to the original objectives of the 
Constitutional Reform.
 
"On the other hand, the government maintained itself on the margin of 
the discussions, a position that did not promote dialogue and the 
search for consensus in moments when those were necessary.  
 
"The FSLN made serious public efforts to search for consensus and for 
the opportunity to open an wide national dialogue that could lead to 
an agreement on Nicaragua's economic, political and social problems, 
including that of the Constitutional Reforms.  Therefore, we reject 
the dirty campaign of lies that the Executive is promoting in the mass 
media against the FSLN, within the framework of the Executive's 
confrontation with the National Assembly.
 
"The FSLN is convinced that the solution to this crisis that has been 

artifically created does not lie in the use of force and that only 
dialogue and negotiation can offer solutions beneficial to the Nation.  
It is urgent that the Executive Branch and the Legislature enter into 
that process.  The FSLN calls on each social sector to come out in 
defense of its legitimate rights and demand a national dialogue that 
will lead to a true national government.
 
Managua, February 8, 1995"
 
(Barricada, Feb. 10, 11)
 
3. Farmers' and ranchers' strike continues.
 
Road barricades were placed on major highways last week to highlight 
the seriousness of the strike called by farmers and cattle ranchers 
who are protesting the decision of the government not to renegotiate 
their debts with the national banking system.  Many of the protesters 
are in danger of losing their farms for lack of payment.  Tension 
increased during the week when the government called on the police to 
clear the highway to let goods come into Managua.
 
The farmers are demanding that the National Assembly pass a law that 
would automatically order the refinancing of the major part of the 
agricultural debt pending.  Central Bank President Jose Evenor 
Taboada stated, however, that such a law would signify the 
liquidation of the country's financial system given that the total 
owed by the farmers and ranchers to state and private financial 
institutions amounts to over $114 million.  
 
The president of the Federation of Nicaraguan Cattle Raisers 
(FAGANIC), Pablo Sierra, warned that if the government "did not listen 
to the demands of the farmers and ranchers, the situation could become 
chaotic and uncontrollable."
 
Food prices are beginning to rise in Managua and other major cities 
due to price speculation and excess inventories accumulated to prepare 
for the strike.  Supermarkets in the capital city have not suffered 
shortages as of yet.  (Barricada, Feb. 10)
 
4. Barricada reveals that "Marcos" lived in Nicaragua.
 
Sub-Commander "Marcos" of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation 
(EZLN) of Chiapas, Mexico, was an international volunteer in the north 
of Nicaragua during the early years of the revolution, according to 
information published in Barricada last week.  The article in question 
stated that the villagers of San Juan de Rio Coco knew last year at 
the time of the Chiapas offensive that "Marcos" was Rafael Sebastian 
Guillen Vicente who had worked with them in the organization of 
agricultural cooperatives and farm workers unions as well as the 
organization of
 
During the week, La Prensa also published articles accusing the 
Nicaraguan armed forces, in the person of Lenin Cerna, of having 
personally trained Sub-Commander Marcos.  The army denied the 
allegations.  (Barricada, Feb. 11)


5. Energy rationing begins again on national level.
 
Energy rationing, which was for a brief time suspended during the 
months of December and January of this year, has again become a part 
of the daily reality of Nicaragua.  The now defunct National Energy 
Institute (INE) did however live up to its promise that IT would no 
longer ration energy.  The responsibility has now passed to the newly 
formed Nicaragua Energy Company (ENEL).  
 
According to ENEL officials, the rationing is due to the current 
phenomenon of "El Nino" which has caused a cycle of severe droughts 
during the last six years in the entire Central American region. (La 
Prensa, Feb. 7)
 
5. World Bank holds up funds for Nicaragua
 
According to last week's Barricada, the World Bank has kept frozen 
since last year a $64 million disbursement for Nicaragua because the 
country has not yet privatized TELCOR, the telecommunications 
ministry, part of the commitment that Nicaragua made to the Bank and 
the IMF last year in order to be able to receive Economic Structural 
Adjustment Fund (ESAF) consideration.
 
The retention was confirmed by the Minister of Foreign Cooperation.  
Edwin Kruger, who stated that it would affect resources available to 
finance this year's agricultural season.  Kruger stated that as long 
as Nicaragua does not approve the privatization of TELCOR, the World 
Bank will not release the money. (Barricada, Feb. 10)
 
6. CENIDH: human rights situation in Nicaragua is a disaster.
 
Last week, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) issued its 
annual report on human rights in Nicaragua in which the Center stated 
that the major problem in Nicaragua in 1994 has been the progressive 
deterioration of economic and social rights of citizens.  CENIDH 
reported that ESAF agreements and the tightening of their prescribed 
economic structural adjustment measures have meant the loss of 13,500 
jobs in the state sector.  The percentage of Nicaraguans who live in 
poverty has risen to 75% with 44% of the population living in extreme 
poverty.
 
CENIDH also criticized national politicians for letting their 
individual political ambitions take priority over the search for some 
period of minimum national consensus.  This  would allow the taking of 
measures to begin to solve the nation's desperate economic problems 
such as unemployment which has been the principal cause of the rise in 
violence, delinquency and corruption. (Barricada, Feb. 10)