Nicaragua News Service Sept. 17 - 23, 1995 Vol. 3, No. 39 Major news stories for the week: 1. Church leads march against violence. 2. Health Minister leaves post. 3. TELCOR workers threaten strike. 4. UCA student death underscores police problems. 5. Price hikes leave population reeling. 6. Car bomb targets PLC leader. 7. Supreme Court re-organizes. 8. Aleman campaign costs revealed. 1. Church Leads March Against Violence Thousands of people marched from the Cathedral to the Ministry of Government's central offices Sunday, September 17, to repudiate the wave of bombings and vandalism against Catholic churches throughout the country. The march was led by Cardinal Miguel Obando and received top billing in nearly all the local media--both print and electronic. Two more churches were slightly damaged by small bombs on Monday evening in Leon. La Prensa this week printed claims that a new "super radical" fringe of the FSLN is responsible for the bombings. As has been charged before in the right wing press, the reports said that Carlos Fonseca Teran is in charge of this new group, which is supposedly close to Daniel Ortega. National Assembly President Luis Humberto Guzman says that the Assembly will take up the bombings in closed session with Minister of Government Sergio Narvaez, Police Chief Fernando Caldera and Army Intelligence head Hugo Torres. Meanwhile, charges that Tomas Borge is involved in a plot against Obando continue to be the focus of front page reports in La Prensa, while Barricada has devoted a considerable amount of its space each day this week to attacks against Emilio Espinales, a Nicaraguan living in Honduras who claims he met with Tomas Borge and former state security head (and current high-level army officer) Lenin Cerna in Managua on August 23 to seal the plot against Obando. Army chief Joaquin Cuadra says Cerna denied all participation, calling the charges against him "absurd." The bombings have created a climate of insecurity and instability. Precisely at the moment that Nicaragua is heading into its electoral campaign and should be emphasizing alliance building and dialogue, the bombings and consequent accusations and threats are only serving to further divide the population. It would seem that the only groups "benefiting" in way from the climate of insecurity and uncertainty are the Catholic hierarchy and the country's ultra right forces, as support and sympathy has been manifested for the Church from all quarters; and the fear and instability leads to a situation where a "caudillo" style politician (like PLC candidate Aleman) could be seen as a strong and decisive alternative to a weak and ineffectual government. 2. Health Minister leaves post. Minister of Health Martha Palacio, who has announced her candidacy for Mayor of Managua, officially left her post this week. She will be replaced by Dr. Federico Mu$oz, who has served as one of the Ministry's deputy ministers for some time now. Mu$oz takes on the chief post within the Ministry under difficult circumstances. Malaria and dengue fever continue to be epidemic, and cholera is also taking an increasing toll. Illegal garbage dumps are common and rapidly proliferating throughout Managua and many other cities, further threatening general public health. Yet, the Ministry's budget continues to be woefully insufficient and there is no sign that will change in the near future. 3. TELCOR workers threaten strike. Speaking early in the week, the head of the National Federation of TELCOR Workers, Mario Malespin, threatened a massive strike once the National Assembly begins formal debate of the controversial legislation that will privatize TELCOR. Responding to Malespin, Central Bank President Jose Evenor Taboada said that TELCOR must be privatized if the $90 million that Nicaragua is expecting in foreign aid is going to come through. Taboada said he expects legislation approving TELCOR's privatization to pass within the next couple of weeks. Malespin's union notes that in other countries where the communications utility has undergone privatization, massive layoffs have followed, leaving thousands of workers unemployed. 4. UCA student death underscores police problems. A student at the Jesuit-run University of Central America (UCA), Carlos Jiron Sequeira, died late Monday night from wounds incurred when police came across him and a group of friends as they were being robbed by a gang of delinquents. Jiron and his friends were participating in ongoing research at an UCA experimental farm, La Polvosa, near Mateare, some 20 km. from Managua. As they returned to the farm Monday evening, they were stopped by a group of armed men, who forced them to lie face down on the ground. They were in the process of being robbed when police showed up on the scene and, according to survivor Ebert Orozco, opened fire without first determining what was happening. Orozco says that he and Jiron, who was bleeding heavily but still alive, were then taken by police officers to the police station at Ciudad Sandino, about halfway between Mateare and Managua. He says he pleaded with the police to get Jiron to a hospital, but they refused and by the time he made it to Managua's Lenin Fonseca Hospital, he was dead. The police initially said that both Orozco and Jiron were "completely drunk", but have since retracted that. UCA President Xabier Gorostiaga accused the police of acting "unprofessionally" and urged an investigation of the case. He also said that he could personally vouch for the fact that Jiron did not drink much. The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) has said it will take on the case. Jiron's parents said the tragedy of their son's death underscores the lack of justice and general disorder prevailing in Nicaragua today. National Police Chief Fernando Caldera has promised a thorough investigation into the incident and police behavior. 5. Price hikes leave population reeling. Both ENEL, the electricity company and INAA, the water utility, have recently announced significant hikes in their rates for basic services. INAA rates will rise from between 8% and 20%, according to La Prensa, while ENEL's rates will rise by at least 7%. INDE (Nicaraguan Development Institute) economist Mario Alegria says that the hikes will mean that the purchasing power of average citizens will be reduced by some 30%. In addition, prices for basic goods in the country's main markets have started to climb, and there is fear that even a relatively checked inflationary movement could leave most people and families even more defenseless in economic terms. In related news, UNAG leaders report that the ongoing torrential rains throughout much of the country will mean a long, disastrous dry-season next year for farmers all over Nicaragua, who have lost much of their important bean and corn crops. UNAG accuses the government of "offering no solution" to the mounting problems of farmers who are left with no cash base with which to defend themselves in the coming dry months. UNAG also warns that, in addition to the problems faced by individual farm families, consumers all over the country will be paying much higher prices for basic grains in the months to come. The rains have also left the road from Juigalpa to Rama in dismal shape. Large and small farmers, truck and bus drivers and local authorities from the region led a caravan to the offices of President Violeta Chamorro on Wednesday, demanding prompt repairs to the road and more attention to their region, which they said was a key region in both cattle and dairy production for the domestic and export markets. After a lengthy session with representatives from the caravan, acting Minister of Construction and Transportation Edmundo Zuniga promised that road repairs will begin in the coming week. 6. Car Bomb Targets PLC Leader Cesar Augusto Zambrana, PLC leader in Niquinohomo, a small town just southwest of Masaya, reports that a bomb planted in his car destroyed the vehicle on Wednesday evening. Zambrana was at home when his guard dog began barking and, when he went to check, he heard an explosion and then saw his car in flames. He said someone had poured gasoline around his house, but luckily no other damage was done. 7. Supreme Court re-organizes. The Supreme Court has organized itself into four separate courts to hear different cases, as called for by Article 163 of the reformed Constitution. The four areas are civil, criminal, administrative and constitutional. The reorganization of the court, according to the justices, will speed up backlogged cases. Petitions charging inconstitutionality will be heard by the court in full (a quorum of 9 of the 12 justices). Related to this, National Assembly deputy Reynaldo Antonio Tefel says the Court currently has a backlog of over 500 cases, 95% of which ended up in the Court since 1990. Tefel expressed deep concern about the situation, declaring that "in reality, neither state nor civil society is functioning in this country. The citizenry is defenseless." 8. Aleman's campaign costs revealed. Arnoldo Aleman, former mayor of Managua and now candidate of a Liberal Party coalition for President for president, has turned in his statement of personal finances, as required by the country's Comptroller General. Aleman, who also turned in his diplomatic passport, estimates he will need some $7 million for the upcoming election if he is to win in the first round (to do so, he will need 45% of the vote). Though Aleman's misuse of municipal funds is an open secret, he holds that his capital grew "only a little" during his years as mayor, and attributes that to investments made in the areas of coffee and cattle. ,