Nicaragua News Service May 14 - 21, 1995 Vol. 3, No. 22 by Coleen Littlejohn Major news stories for the week: 1. Death toll begins in national protest. 2. International aid imperiled. 3. Fiallos--1996 elections at risk. 4. 100th birthday of Sandino celebrated. 5. Churches are victims of bombings. 6. Ramirez comments provoke speculation; MRS launched. _________________________________________________________________________ 1. Death toll begins in national protest. Three people were killed last Thursday when a group of over 600 anti- riot policemen opened fire on a group of protesters, the majority of whom were residents of the neighborhood of Villa Progreso located near the entrance to the Bello Horizonte neighborhood and not far from the installations of the "Parrales Vallejos" bus cooperative. According to eye witnesses, some delinquents from the neighborhood (a place becoming known for its high level of crime), fired the first shots, This caused the police to over-react and conclude automatically that the instigators were members of the Parrales Vallejos Cooperative, known for their belligerency in the national transportation strikes over the last couple of years. Two of the dead were members of the administrative staff of the Cooperative and the other was a police officer. The police, who remembered the death of one of their sub-commanders in 1993 during a transportation strike, arrested dozens of peaceful protesters and even dozens of people who happened to be in the area doing common errands. Some of the arrested were transferred to the Palo Alto Prison but the majority were released due to pressure from their neighbors. The police, however, did not release those who were more badly beaten by the anti-riot squads. The police have formed a commission to determine who is guilty of the three deaths but, of the commission of three, two members are directly related to the Ministry of Governance which includes the National Police. Members of the several human rights commissions were not invited to participate, but CENIDH, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, has offered to share its report with the commission. The first declarations of the police tried to implicate the Parrales Vallejos Cooperative for the deaths of all three men, including their own Co-op members. Minister of the Presidency Antonio Lacayo went so far as to accuse FSLN-affiliated Radio Ya of announcing the deaths even before the incident. The Managua FSLN leader, Emmett Lang, was arrested as he entered the hospital to check on the condition of the Cooperative members. He was later released without charges. The funerals of the Cooperative members were accompanied by hundreds of supporters. The FNT, the National Workers Front, has called for a total national strike of one day by their affiliates on Wednesday of this week in order to participate in a national protest march in Managua. (Interview by CRL of "Villa Progreso" neighbor, La Prensa, May 19; Barricada, May 20) 2. International aid imperiled. The government of Sweden via its ambassador to Nicaragua, Ms. Elvor Halkkjaer, issued a communique in which it reaffirmed its support for the advances that Nicaragua has made in areas such as pacification, reconciliation, economic stabilization and institutional strengthening of the government but also said that "taking into account the fragile situation of the moment, some serious backward steps have been observed that could put this process at risk." The government of Sweden manifested its concern that a prolonged institutional crisis could eventually put in danger economic recovery, the electoral process, the state of law and the confidence of the international donor community. Sweden is the country which gives the most foreign aid to Nicaragua: in 1995 its aid reached $38 million. In the its statement, the Swedish Government announced the approval of $11 million in balance- of-payment support, support in finding a negotiated solution to Nicaragua's commercial debt problems and the preparation of a new aid package for 1995-1998. The Swedish government warned however that a final agreement on aid would depend on substantial progress being made on the resolution of the present institutional crisis. Meanwhile, rumblings are also coming from the U.S. Congress. Representative Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) has proposed an amendment that would oblige the United States to condition its aid to Nicaragua on the clearing up of several assassinations (those of Jean Paul Genie, Enrique Bermudez and Arges Sequeira), the incident of the Santa Rosa weapons cache, compensation of U.S. citizens for their expropriated property and the reforming of the Nicaraguan judicial system. The Torricelli amendment was passed last week by the House International Relations Committee and will soon be presented to the full House. If passed, the amendment will affect aid to Nicaragua in the fiscal year 1997 aid budget. (La Prensa, May 15, 20) 3. Fiallos -- 1996 elections also at risk. As of the 19th of May, there were only 19 days left to finalize the elections of the magistrates who will make up the Supreme Electoral Council, the fourth body of government in Nicaragua. The magistrates are elected for a term of six years. The Council has been under the leadership of Sandinista Mariano Fiallos since 1989. Only the most extreme right wing has been critical of Fiallos' handling of elections that have been held in the country during the last six years. Fiallos however, according to an exclusive interview given to La Prensa last week, is worried that the current institutional crisis in the country could affect the legitimacy and order of the coming elections of the members of the Supreme Electoral Council. Fiallos stated that "If this is not resolved by this coming June 7th, the date on which the present period of the current magistrates comes to an end, conditions will not be set for elections the results of which would be generally acceptable. The current electoral process in Nicaragua, leading up to the elections of 1996, will be seriously affected by the current constitutional crisis given that it is necessary to finish distributing voter registration cards. This process is already behind schedule because of the crisis. Other preparations for the 1996 elections will also be affected, preparations on which the satisfactory development of the electoral process depends. Fiallos also mentioned that a date has not been set for the 1996 elections but that the actual date for the installation of the new government will be on January 10th 1997. The elections will be held either 60 or 90 days before the taking of possession but the final decision on dates depends on whether or not there will be run-off elections, which in turn depends on which Constitution is valid -- that of 1987 or the 1987 Constitution as amended in February of 1995. And that decision depends on the rapid solution to the worst Constitutional crisis that Nicaragua has seen in its history. (La Prensa, May 19th) 4. 100th birthday of Sandino celebrated. Augusto C. Sandino's 100th birthday was celebrated last Saturday in Masaya with a massive rally organized by the FSLN. One of the main speakers at the rally was former President Daniel Ortega who stated that as long as the government continued to impose neo-liberal economic policies, the FSLN would be with its people at the head of the struggle in the streets to fight against unemployment, misery, the high cost of living, and increases in the price of basic services as well as to preserve property democratization. Ortega declared that the people would continue to struggle even under the repression of the Chamorro government. Ortega also clarified that the FSLN was not calling on the people to start an insurrection nor to use armed violence. "[Managua Mayor] Aleman and [President] Violeta [Chamorro] are making war against the people with their unpopular economic policies." Ortega called on the police to act with prudence. "If the government orders you to repress your people, don't obey these orders because you will be violating the Constitution and murdering your own brothers." (Barricada, May 21) 5. Churches are victims of bombings. Four Catholic churches in different parts of Nicaragua have been victims of bomb attacks during the past two weeks. The latest incident took place in the city of Leon, when two young people on a motorcycle threw a bomb made with TNT against the church, trying to destroy the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The church and the image were not damaged but the park in the entrance was marred with a crater where the bomb exploded. It is the second church bombing in Leon and the fourth in the country. Other churches attacked have been the San Felipe Church in Leon, the Church in "Monsenor Lezcano" in Managua and a temple under construction in Nindiri. No suspects have yet been detained for any of these bombings. Bishop Bosco Vivas of Leon, refused to speculate on who could be behind these bombings but he also did not preclude the possibility that these actions are linked to the recent Bishop's pastoral letter that strongly criticized certain policies of the government. The government has ordered an exhaustive investigation. (La Prensa, May 15) 6. Ramirez' comments provoke speculation. Sergio Ramirez, former Vice-President and leader of the Sandinista Renovation Movement, provoked a series of criticisms from the left (FSLN) as well as from the right, when he insinuated that he would support allowing Antonio Lacayo to run for President if that were the key to a solution of the constitutional crisis facing Nicaragua. Ramirez stated that there is no price that should not be paid for the stability of the country and that, "if it is necessary to give up the constitutional amendment that prohibits family members of the current president from running for office, then a formula would have to be found to allow that person to be a candidate, period." The attacks on Ramirez have come two days before the official inauguration of his new political party, the Sandinista Renovation Movement, which was held on Sunday, May 21. Twelve hundred delegates from 90 municipalities attended the one-day session which was held at the Olaf Palme Convention Center. Further details will be given in next week's news summary. (Barricada, May 20; El Nuevo Diario, May 20) .