Nicaragua News Service February 20 - 26, 1995 Vol. 3, No. 9 by Coleen Littlejohn Major news stories for the week: 1. Nicaragua with two Constitutions. 2. Humberto Ortega retires as head of army. 3. UNAN protest resolved; public school teachers plan strike. 4. George Bush visits Nicaragua. 5. Plywood workers sell out rights. 6. USAID suspends aid to IXCHEN. ________________________________________________________________________ 1. Nicaragua with two Constitutions. Nicaragua now has two Constitutions: a Constitution which was approved in 1986 and promulgated in 1997 after a long process of public discussion and a Constitution in which a substantial number of articles have been changed by the present National Assembly. During the week there were several efforts by the two governmental branches to sit down and negotiate but the political polarization between the two sides made any agreement impossible. At this point, probably no one would be willing to bet more than a few dollars on what will be the outcome of the most serious governability crisis in the country's history. Supposedly, the Nicaraguan Supreme Court must have the last say, but with two justices missing, there is no quorum in that judicial body to be able pronounce on the issue. The new amendments to the Constitution, according to the National Assembly President, should have been published in any public or state newspaper before the 23rd of February. According to the National Assembly, if President Chamorro did not promulgate the amendments, the President of the National Assembly had the authority to do so. Both sides have spent money during the last two weeks publishing paid advertisements in which they explained their positions, both citing articles from the 1987 Constitution which support their viewpoint. Last week President Violeta Chamorro refused to publish the amendments and Luis Humberto Guzman, President of the National Assembly, sent them to the newspapers. The complete text of the amendments appeared in the Friday, February 24th, edition of El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa. The last proposal of the presidency was that the amendments be published on March 4th, but only if concrete agreements were reached which were to be guaranteed by Cardinal Obando y Bravo. According to Guzman, however, the Executive Branch "maintained an absolutely inflexible attitude even after the Assembly made important concessions about the dates for the publication of the amendments." President Chamorro, in a speech to the nation several hours before the printing of the amendments, stated that publication by the Assembly was not legal and that she could not herself publish the reforms because there are several challenges to their constitutional validity in the lower courts. One of the challenges was filed last week by the Minister of the Presidency, Antonio Lacayo and his wife, Christina Chamorro, daughter of President Violeta Chamorro. They both claim that their rights as citizens are violated by the new reforms. If the amendments are declared legal, Antonio Lacayo would not be able to run for the presidency in 1996. Supporters of the amendments blame Lacayo's personal ambitions for plunging the country into this constitutional crisis. According to the Saturday edition of La Prensa, the Managua Appeals Court refused to consider the challenges to the reforms by Antonio Lacayo and seven other citizens. The President of the Appeals Court, Alfonso Davila, stated that none of the appeals had any legal validity given that they were contesting a set of amendments that had not as yet been published and therefore were not yet in effect. Supposedly, the amendments would have to be accepted by the Executive in order for lawsuits to be introduced challenging their content. Meanwhile, the National Assembly has begun a nation-wide campaign to gain support for the amendments. The Nicaraguan army, under new leadership as of February 21st, has announced that that institution will refrain from commenting on the current conflict between the different governmental powers. (Barricada, Feb. 24, El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 24, La Prensa, Feb. 25) 2. Humberto Ortega retires as head of Army. February 21st will be remembered by many as the historic day in Nicaraguan history when, for the first time, a commander-in-chief of the armed forces officially and peacefully turned over his responsibilities to another. General Humberto Ortega, chief strategist not only of the war of liberation of 1979 but also of the prolonged war against counter revolutionary forces in the decade of the 80's, handed over his command to his successor appointed by President Chamorro, General Joaquin Cuadra. Javier Carrion was later named number two in the army chain of command, assuming the position vacated by Cuadra. President Chamorro, in her speech at the event, stated that: "our people expect from their military respect, security, support for production, an active presence in the case of natural disasters, support for the work of health, collaboration for the defense of our natural resources and the protection of our national territory." In his farewell address, General Ortega made it clear that his retirement did not signify a farewell to the world of Nicaraguan politics, an arena where he stated that he would dedicate himself to "bringing together those who maintain apparently irreconcilable positions." He said that "We must end intolerance and the blindness which leads to political passion. Nicaragua deserves constructive results, such as the ones we are delivering today." It has been widely commented that Ortega may run for the presidency in 2002. (Barricada, Feb. 22) 3. UNAN protest resolved; public school teachers plan strike. Students protesting the increase in registration fees at the National Autonomous University (UNAN), reached an agreement with university officials last week and ended the 18 day protest which was marked by a hunger strike by four of the students affiliated with the UNEN, the Nicaraguan National Student Union. Registration fees were confirmed at 200 cordobas, the decision which sparked the protest, but students who can not afford this amount will be given a discount of 20%. Registration fees will be used to improve university infrastructure. Meanwhile, however, plans have been finalized for the beginning, on February 27th, of a national teacher's strike of primary and secondary teachers. February 27th is the official opening of the Nicaraguan school year. Union representatives estimate that 80% of all teachers will support the strike. The Ministry of Education has already warned that anyone participating will be immediately fired. (Barricada, Feb. 24) 4. George Bush visits Nicaragua. Former President George Bush and his wife Barbara were special guests of President Violeta Chamorro on the 5th anniversary celebrations of her election in 1990. Bush arrived on Saturday noon for a 24 hour visit, which included his participation in the destruction of 2,000 weapons of the "contras" in the national peace park located in the downtown ruins of Managua, as well as in the official lighting ceremonies of the old cathedral destroyed by the 1972 earthquake and the National Palace, now being converted into a museum with funds donated by the Japanese government. Ironically Bush, the enthusiastic heir of the Reagan administration policies of trying to destroy the Sandinista government by military means as well as economic strangulation, was awarded the Jose Dolores Estrada Medal by the Chamorro government; Jose Dolores Estrada is a national hero that fought against US filibusters led by William Walker in 1856. Other than the intense security mobilization in the old downtown area of Managua, no other "victory" celebrations for Chamorro were visible in the capital city. (Barricada, Feb. 26) 5. Plywood workers sell out rights. Despite the fact that on January 12th the government and the workers of Plywood of Nicaragua negotiated the selling of 21% of the company to the workers, 103 of the 152 workers renounced their right to the shares. The reason given by the workers was that they could no longer stand the pressure of the major shareholders nor the questionable actions of certain union leaders, referring to the conflicts between the Nicaraguan Workers Central (CTN) and Sandinista Workers Central (CST) that divided the workers internally. (Barricada, Feb. 21) 6. USAID suspends aid for IXCHEN. USAID has suspended funds for a project to expand the health services offered by IXCHEN, a Nicaraguan non-governmental organization that offers alternative health services for low-income women. The organization was founded in 1989 and has 9 clinics throughout the country. The new AID funding was to have allowed IXCHEN to operate in over 22 rural areas where the communities had already started to organize to receive basic gynecological services and health training to prevent cancer and sexually transmitted diseases. According to newspaper reports, AID received pressure from militants of right wing religious organizations such as Opus Dei which has accused IXCHEN of performing abortions. Education Minister Humberto Belli is one of the best known members of this movement in Nicaragua and is joined by several other high ranking members of the government. The Director of IXCHEN, Dr. Maria Lourdes Bolanos, stated that IXCHEN is respecting the laws of the country and that abortion is not contemplated in their work as a form of family planning. She also stated that AID has no proof of the charges received but that as a result of the rumors, had put several conditions in the aid contract that were unacceptable to her organization. She insisted, however, that the attacks on IXCHEN, are part of a world wide campaign by organizations such as Opus Dei to weaken and destroy women's rights movements and to return women to the times of the stone age. (El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 24) [Editor's note: Washington sources say Senator Jesse Helms also put pressure on AID not to provide funding to IXCHEN but that President Chamorro could have decided to stand up for the program and chose not