Nicaragua News Service
                          July 23 - 29, 1995
                            Vol. 3, No. 31
                         by Coleen Littlejohn
 
Major news stories for the week:
 
1.  Government to return properties to Somocistas.
2.  Mayor of Managua wishes to construct municipal palace.
3.  Nicaraguan men - the most unfaithful in Central America.
4.  Survey results released on voting patterns for 1996.
5.  Bread Prices to Rise: Nicaragua Food Situation Critical.
6.  Report details corruption in government.
7.  MRS: no deals with FSLN.
8.  Mercedes Soza and Elton John to perform in Nicaragua.
______________________________________________________________________
 
1.  Government to return properties to Somocistas.
 
With the excuse that the government must "repair injustices," the 
Chamorro government will allow Somocistas affected by Decrees Numbers 
3 and 38 of 1979 to file claim for the return of their property or 
receive compensation if it is not possible to return the original 
property.  Decrees 3 and 38 confiscated the properties of those who 
were directly linked to and became rich from their contact with the 
Somoza dynasty.
 
Supposedly, the persons who will reclaim their properties must 
demonstrate that those properties were purchased or acquired 
"honestly."
 
Meanwhile, the Nicaraguan Community Movement is demanding that the 
government reconsider the over 2,000 "solvencias" that have been denied 
by the OOT- Office of Territorial Reordering.  The Community Movement 
maintains that in many cases the documents, which certify that a 
person has no impediment to obtaining legal title to a piece of 
property, were denied for political reasons.  At the present time, 
thousands of others who had not previously presented their papers to 
the OOT to legalize their situation are now doing so, without having 
to pay any fee, thanks to a recent agreement between the government 
and the Community Movement.
 
Leaders of the 250 spontaneous settlements which have sprouted up in 
Managua will soon be demanding that the City of Managua formulate a 
plan to consolidate and legalize the neighborhoods.  The Mayor's 
office has done nothing for these settlements in the last five years; 
the majority still lack the most basic services of potable water, 
sewage systems and electricity. (Barricada, July 24, 25)
 
2.   Mayor of Managua to construct municipal palace.
 
Arnoldo Aleman, Mayor of Managua and the first declared candidate for 
the presidency in 1996, last week tried to get the approval of the 
Managua City Council to take out a $10 million loan to build a complex 
which would serve as his offices.  The structure would be financed and 
built by an Italian company since Aleman has had trouble finding a 

local bank to loan him money given the severe financial crisis facing 
the city at this moment.
 
The city, for example, owes over $16 million to the Social Security 
Administration; city workers are not covered by benefits at this time 
even though the worker contribution is taken out of their monthly 
paychecks.
 
The city council decided to form a technical commission to study the 
matter and to evaluate alternatives such as having the construction 
done by local firms.  The mayor also wants to remodel the existing 
offices now used in the Zumen area of Managua. (Barricada July 24)
 
3.  Nicaraguan men - the most unfaithful in Central America.
 
A survey done in all of Central America by the weekly magazine, 
"Panorama International," shows that Nicaraguan men are by far the most 
unfaithful in their martial relations.  The poll surveyed company 
executives, businessmen and professionals and concluded that 62% of 
all those surveyed had engaged in extra-marital relations.  The most 
faithful husbands, according to the survey are the Costa Ricans (32% 
were unfaithful) followed by the El Salvadorans (33%), Guatemalans 
(40%) and Hondurans (44%). (Barricada, July 24)
 
4.  Survey results released on voting patterns for 1996.
 
A recent survey by the "Fundacion Centroamerica 2000" and the M & R 
polling firm, revealed that a total of 58.5% of the population 
expressed willingness to vote in the 1996 elections.  21.9% say they 
will not vote and another 17.6% have not decided if they will vote or 
not.  The results were taken from an analysis of 825 heads of 
households in Managua and in departmental capitals of the country.
 
The poll showed that 70% of young people are very anxious to vote but 
only 50% of those between the ages of 40 and 60 expressed interest.
 
In the 1990 elections, 90% of those registered voted.  It is not clear 
yet if the declining interest in voting comes from the fact that there 
is still over a year to go before the elections or if the apathy is 
due to a generalized discouragement about the election process itself 
and the current economic and political situation of the country. (El 
Nuevo Diario, July 24)
 
5.  Bread Prices to Rise: Nicaragua Food Situation Critical.
 
The price of a 100 pound bag of flour rose sharply last week, from 
$19.30 to $24.60.  This will have an almost immediate effect on the 
price of bread and wheat based products and will also make the price of 
food in general rise.  The local price hike of 28% is due to the rise 
in the price of wheat on the international market.
 
Several studies done recently by local and international non-
governmental organizations have shown that the food situation, or 
rather the lack of food for the majority of the population of 
Nicaragua, is reaching such proportions that some are calling it the 
beginning of the "Africanization of Nicaragua," referring to the 

continuing problem of famine on the African continent.
 
Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo expressed his concern over the price 
rise by stating that "There will be less bread for the people, some 
will buy less and some now won't be able to buy at all." (Barricada  
July 25, 26)
 
6.  Report details corruption in government.
 
Recently the Comptroller General's office released a report on the 
findings of its investigation of corruption in government.  Although 
the report states that, because of the lack of human, financial and 
technical resources, the office could not cover all the areas mandated 
to it by the Constitution, it still found at least 77 major problems 
in a total of 118 audits done in an equal number of government 
offices.  Each of the 77 abnormalities found could result in a 
criminal court case against those responsible in each of the 
corresponding offices.
 
The total amount of money lost to the government because of corrupt 
officials is approximately $106,000 dollars (in cordobas) and $78,000 
dollars (in dollars).  Many of the officials involved are still in 
office. (Barricada July 23, 26)
 
7.  MRS: no deals with FSLN.
 
Sergio Ramirez, former vice-president and now leader of the Sandinista 
Renovation Movement last week spoke of the need to establish a 
"Electoral Ethics Tribune" which would be formed with the consent of 
all political parties and which would "watch over the campaigns and 
make sure that they are on the level of the democracy that is being 
built in Nicaragua," helping to prevent dirty campaign politics and 
violence.
 
Ramirez discounted the possibility of making an electoral alliance 
with the FSLN for the 1996 elections.  He also stated that it will be 
almost impossible for anyone to win in the first round and that the 
real competition will be between the MRS and the PLC.  He stated that 
the MRS will probably establish a political alliance with those 
political parties that supported the constitutional amendments, but 
emphasized that the Christian Democrats (UDC), the Alliance of 
Conservative Parties (APC) and the Nicaraguan Democratic Movement 
(MDN) still have no formalized alliance, but talks have begun.
 
Ramirez also stated that: "I do not consider myself a dissident of a 
political party; for me the history of the FSLN is a closed chapter.  
My interest as a leader of the MRS is to consolidate it and work 
towards the elections of 1996.  The tactical concerns of the FSLN in 
calling for unity in 1996 do not interest me."
 
8.  Mercedes Soza and Elton John to perform in Nicaragua.
 
Two superstars with very different music have scheduled concerts in 
Managua in the next few days. Mercedes Soza arrived last week for a 
concert in the Ruben Dario theater and Elton John will give two 
benefit concerts for children who have been burn victims.