Nicaragua News Service April 16-22, 1995 Vol. 3, No. 17 by Coleen Littlejohn Major news stories for the week: 1. Atlantic Coast judge releases drug traffickers 2. Cholera epidemic on southern Atlantic Coast 3. Police headquarters attacked by terrorists 4. Electricity bill to be raised in May 5. More problems for Managua's mayor's projects 6. Representatives Torricelli and Burton to visit Nicaragua 7. Serrano calls for population to demand solution to current political crisis. 8. Winter comes early to Nicaragua 1. Atlantic Coast judge releases drug traffickers Five people who were found with 1,400 kilos of cocaine last week and detained by the Nicaraguan Coast Guard, were ordered released for lack of evidence by a local judge in Bluefields. Only one person was ordered to remain in jail. Two days later the Supreme Court permanently removed the judge from his position. One of the first decisions of the new judge, Alfredo Castro, was to reverse the ruling that freed the suspected drug traffickers and order them back to jail. (Barricada, April 18, 22) 2. Cholera epidemic on southern Atlantic Coast There has been a serious outbreak of cholera in the town of Rama, located in the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS), according to army officials in the area who broadcast an urgent SOS to the Ministry of Health (MINSA) in Managua. Later in the week MINSA announced that it was sending a special emergency medical brigade to the zone. MINSA has not been able to operate in the area of El Tortuguero during the last few months because of the actions of armed irregular forces. 3. Police headquarters attacked by terrorists The national police headquarters, located near the new cathedral at Metrocenter, was attacked last Thursday night by unknown assailants who threw an M 79 grenade which destroyed the windows of the office of Sub-Commandant Pedro Aquilar, head of the anti-riot forces of the National Police. Police officials are speculating that the attack may be linked to the 1,400 kilograms of cocaine recently captured off the Atlantic Coast. The chief suspects of the drug trafficking were released by a local judge, causing the national police to issue a communique calling for the population to "reflect about what measures to take in order to stop those delinquents who were incredibly, almost immediately freed." During the week, various high schools also received several bomb threats by telephone, but the calls were linked to a 13 year-old prankster. Nicaraguan newspapers have given front page coverage this week to the car bomb tragedy in Oklahoma. (Barricada, April 19, 22) 4. Electricity bill to be raised in May Practically every sector in the nation is in agreement over one issue -- disagreement with the announcement last week that electricity rates will rise in the month of May. Last week, authorities of the Nicaraguan Energy Institute (INE), announced that rates will be increased due to increased use of fuel oil to generate electricity, due to the drop in the generation of hydroelectric power caused by the effects of the dry season. Last week's announcement is another blow to the economy of survival for the majority of Nicaraguans. One woman in Somotillo, in a typical Catch-22 situation provoked by the economic crisis, sold her iron, her only source of income, in order to reconnect her electricity. (La Prensa, April 19) 5. More problems for Managua mayor's projects Managua Mayor Arnoldo Aleman is under intense scrutiny for faulty engineering and other problems relating to several of the major construction projects that the Aleman hopes will boost his bid for the Presidency in the 1996 election. One of the most frequently seen signs in Managua is the one that says "Managua is changing, the City Government lives up to its word." Aleman's most recent problem is that cracks are appearing in the walls of a major underground flood drainage canal which crosses the Masaya highway into the Pancasan neighborhood. A major road is planned to be built on top of the canal, but it is now uncertain that the canal construction will carry the load. The mayor's office has admitted that the problem stems from miscalculations in the design by city engineers. The city is now building a series of reinforcing supports that will cost an additional 2 million cordobas. Other engineers have stated however that the only solution is to pull down the construction and start again. The canal has now cost over US$1.5 million. The canal had been rejected by the previous FSLN Mayor of Managua Carlos Carrion as inappropriate and too costly. The main objective of the canal is to help clean up Lake Tiscapa by diverting flood waters to Lake Managua instead. Several members of the FSLN and center group UNO parties in the National Assembly have called on the mayor to contract with qualified local engineering consultants to examine the structural integrity of the canal. Members of the Managua City Council, including Monica Baltodano of the FSLN and Agustin Jarquin also called for a study of the canal's safety. Several local engineers have stated that the canal, under the pressure of severe local rains, could explode causing incredible levels of damage to the neighborhoods of Pancasan, Los Robles and the Masaya Highway. This is not the first time the beginning winter rains have foiled the chance for the mayor to bask in glory. Last year, one week before the official inauguration of the new traffic circle at Metrocenter, rains caused over 200 potholes in the recently paved surface. Another headache of the mayor's is construction of the extension of the Avenida Bolivar. The only section yet to be constructed is that which is blocked by a Managua lawyer who is holding out for a better price for his home which sits in the middle of the highway right of way. The lawyer, who has used every legal measure available to hold on to his property, wants $200,000 for his property. Meanwhile, construction is paralyzed. The mayor is also having problems with the construction of the traffic circle at Plaza Espana where the owner of the PETRONIC gasoline station is holding up construction because the mayor's office has not compensated him as promised. (La Prensa, April 19, Barricada, April 22) 6. Representatives Torricelli and Burton to visit Nicaragua Four US congressional staff persons are in Nicaragua as part of an advance team to prepare the visit if Congresspersons Dan Burton and Robert Torricelli in May. Among the special interests of the congressmen are: the conflict between the different state powers, the causes of the deaths of Jean Paul Genie and National Guard Colonel Enrique Bermudez, the privatization of TELCOR, and the question of private property. Torricelli supports a bill by Sen. Jesse Helms that would deny US visas to those who now own or occupy property formerly owned by US citizens, which in Helms' bill includes those who were Nicaraguans at the time their property was confiscated by who have since become naturalized US citizens. (La Prensa, April 20) 7. Serreno calls for population to demand solution to current political crisis. Former president of the Nicaragua Supreme Court Alejandro Serrano affirmed last that it was time that the Nicaraguan people started to react and demonstrate against the political institutional crisis that has engulfed the country over the last few weeks. Serrano stated that the Nicaraguan people are being held hostage to the political elites of the country but that it was extremely dangerous for this situation to continue situation to continue because it could lead to a situation of complete "ingovernability." He affirmed that the situation will become even more complicated if the crisis is not resolved by June when the National assembly must nominate members to the Supreme Electoral Council, whose six year terms expire at that time. If Antonio Lacayo decided not to recognize the nominees of the National Assembly, the legality of the electoral process of 1996 will be brought into question. Earlier in the week, Bayardo Arce of the FSLN National Directorate called for an immediate dialogue without conditions. Arce also asked Cardinal Obando y Bravo to mediate the conflict. Last week the five Supreme Court justices newly elected by the National Assembly were to have been installed in their offices but only one, Julio Ramon Garcia Vilchez, who had been head of the Legal Section of the National Assembly, had actually received his credentials. Meanwhile, a group of ambassadors from Spain, Mexico, Canada, Holland and Sweden, suspended their efforts to facilitate negotiations between the National Assembly and the Executive Branch of the government. The ambassadors concluded that their efforts had been useless and the image of their countries were being damaged by the appearance that they were interfering in the internal affairs of the country. (La Prensa, April 19; Barricada, April 22) 8. Winter comes early to Nicaragua More than a dozen heavy rainfalls have soaked Managua during the last month although this time of the year is considered the height of summer (the dry season) in Nicaragua. Normally the country is parched and dry awaiting the first "rains of May" which generally start to fall during June due to the drought conditions that have affected Central America for the last several years. Meteorologists have pointed out that these rains should not be considered as the "stabilization" of the rainy season and forecast an "irregular" winter from May to November. Those forecasts, however, are rather easy to predict considering that for the last 10 years or so, abnormal winters have been the norm in Nicaragua due to the tremendous ecological damage done to the region by deforestation. Despite the warnings of the specialists, many small farmers have taken their chances and begun to plant, thus inaugurating the 1995-1996 agricultural season. (La Prensa, April 19)