Nicaragua News Service January 14 - 20, 1996 Vol. 4, No. 3 Major news stories for the week: 1. William Ramirez resigns from MRS. 2. FSLN women are on the offensive. 3. Police detain bombing suspects after raid. 4. Everything is ready for Pope's visit. 5. Human rights groups attribute majority of violations to police. 6. Sales tax to remain at 15%. 7. 20,000 students demand 6% now. 8. Ministries of Education and Agriculture lay off workers. _______________________________________________________________________ 1. William Ramirez resigns from MRS. William Ramirez, formerly of the FSLN and more recently of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), resigned from the MRS last week because of that party's unwillingness to dialogue about possible electoral alliances with the FSLN. In a recent letter to former Vice President and head of the MRS Sergio Ramirez, Daniel Ortega had offered to sit down with the MRS to discuss points of mutual interest. The offer was rejected, with Sergio Ramirez later explaining that of the national MRS executive committee and local departmental leadership, only William Ramirez was in favor of dialogue. Daniel Ortega later reiterated his invitation for any other MRS members to come back into the fold. Sergio Ramirez regretted William Ramirez's leaving but stated that the MRS door was open to enter or to leave. (Barricada, Jan. 20, El Nuevo Diario, Jan. 20) 2. FSLN women are on the offensive. Last week was the final week for any potential office holder to sign up to run in the coming FSLN primary elections where the candidates who will represent the FSLN in the October elections will be chosen. Over 2,000 people signed up during the week for posts which range from local town council membership to the presidency of the Republic. At the end of the week, a meeting, organized by FSLN women led by National Directorate member Dorotea Wilson, was held at the Olaf Palme Convention Center in Managua to officially introduce women primary candidates. The primary will be held on February 18th. Over 1,000 women are registered as candidates in the election process. The theme of the meeting was: "For equality in power, vote for a woman." In the words of Monica Baltodano, member of the National Directorate and candidate for the National Assembly, "After today, nothing will be the same for the women of Nicaragua. From today on, changes will have to be made in the FSLN and in our country. And the changes are inevitable." Baltodano went on to explain the process of opening up the party to women, a process that began in 1984 when the FSLN Women's Commission began to organize party women to fight machismo within the party. The best known of the women candidates is Dr. Vilma Nunez, president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) who is running in the FSLN primary to be the party's presidential candidate. Nunez had announced days earlier that she will be taking an unpaid leave of absence from CENIDH in order not to confuse her two roles. Nunez explained her motivation for choosing to run for the top slot: first, to assume the responsibility for assisting in the strengthening of democracy within the party; and, second, to work to put more women into high positions of power in the government. Nunez presented the Women's Agenda to Daniel Ortega, General Secretary of the FSLN, who stated that the agenda will be important, not only for the democratization of the party but also of the country. (Barricada, Jan. 17, 21) 3. Police detain bombing suspects after raid. Early last week police officials made house to house raids on the homes of FSLN activists and the offices of FSLN affiliated organizations, looking for suspects in the recent church bombings in the city of Leon. At least 16 people are being held at present, some of whom are candidates for city council in the FSLN primaries. No charges have been filed as yet and preliminary hearings will be held this week. There is much doubt, however, about the integrity of the investigation process itself. The newspaper Barricada reported several cases where those detained said they were offered bribes if they would admit guilt and incriminate others. (Barricada, Jan. 17) 4. Everything is ready for the Pope's visit. The Directorate of Defense Information (DID) has finalized its complicated protection plan for the coming papal visit which will guarantee that every inch of the papal route will be protected by specialists including underwater explosives experts. The Pope will arrive on February 7th for only 10 hours but, already, the areas near Lake Managua are under military control in coordination with Vatican security. In view of the social tensions within the country due to the economic crisis provoked by the government's structural adjustment policies, former president Daniel Ortega last week proposed that government and student leaders, farmers, peasants and workers agree in principal to a truce in order to guarantee a climate of peace before and during the visit of the Pope. Ortega condemned the terrorist actions against Catholic churches and requested the collaboration of international anti-crime organizations, including the FBI, in order to speed up the investigation process. Ortega's suggestion was received very positively by Cardinal Obando y Bravo. Ortega also gave Obando a letter to be delivered to the Pope. In the letter, Ortega write that the Pope, in his second visit will find a people who have been marked by the profound signs of moral and material deterioration caused by savage capitalism. Ortega also told the Pope that he lamented the events in 1983 during the Pop's first visit, "when the war and the blockade imposed on us polarized and bled our whole nation." (Barricada, Jan. 17) 5. Human rights groups attribute majority of violations to police. According to the annual human rights reports of the three major Nicaraguan human rights groups, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), the Permanent Commission on Human Rights (CDPH), and the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (ANPDH), in 1995 the major violator of human rights in Nicaragua was the National Police. For each of the organizations, the greatest number of complaints received was about violations attributed to the police. The latest victim was a young boy who died last week at the Managua Children's Hospital, where he had been since he was shot December 23rd as he rested on the ground near the San Francisco chicken farm. The three policemen admit shooting at two persons whom they thought were local chicken robbers. The police later found that they had mortally wounded Norwin Jose Martinez who had just laid down to rest with a friend after a long hike. Gonzalo Carrion, member of the CENIDH legal team, lamented Norwin's death. "He is the first victim this year at the hands of the police. Twelve people died last year as a result of abuse from on-duty policemen acting in a non-professional manner, and not all of these police officers have been punished." The three policemen involved in the death of Norwin Martinez have since been detained, but, according to Carrion: "It is not just about punishing officers. We have to look at the bigger picture. The police are indiscriminately involving non- professionals in firearms abuse against citizens. These people are cooperating forces who are not properly trained for the missions they are assigned." Carrion also said that the National Police are often being confused with private security forces, sometimes due to moonlighting by underpaid police officers. CENIDH, in a press conference last week, stated that the cases would be taken to the United Nations. There is little love lost in the part of police leadership for Dr. Vilma Nunez, President of CENIDH. Recently, in a public press conference, Nunez was mentioned by the Vice Minister of Governance Frank Cesar, and the head of the National Police, Fernando Caldera, as a promoter of violent acts aimed at sabotaging the Pope's visit. (Barricada, Jan. 14, 17) 6. Sales tax to remain at 15% The government announced last week that the 15% sales tax will remain in effect for 1996 even though the Ministry of Finance had practically promised that in the second half of 1995 the tax would return to its normal 10%. The government, however, was obligated to retain the tax in order to make good on its obligations to the IMF. Commercial establishments are up in arms about the announcement and blame the excessive tax for the low level of monthly sales. (Barricada, Jan. 19) 7. Thousands of students demand 6% now. 10,000 members of the university community and other popular organizations joined together last week to march from the Central America University (UCA) to the National Assembly in order to pressure the government and the National Assembly to resolve the problem of the 6% before the 30th of January. [Ed. note: the Nicaraguan Constitution requires that 6% of the national budget be allocated for higher education. The controversy is over whether the 6% is of all government income including foreign aid or only tax income.] Julio Orozco, president of the National Student Union (UNEN) declared, "We want this problem solved as quickly as possible in order to avoid being accused by the government and the National Police of sabotaging the visit of the Pope. Besides, we are in agreement with the 'cease fire' proposed by Daniel Ortega, and we hope that the problem of the 6% is resolved before January 30." The students were joined in the march by members of the Christian base communities, health and teachers' union members, and farmers threatened with loss of their land. Three members of the new Executive Committee of the National Assembly met with demonstration leaders and publicly committed themselves to talk with the rest of the Assembly and convince them that the issue has to be resolved soon. "I am convinced that the protests to get 6% for the universities are just," stated the new Vice President of the Assembly, Adolfo Jarquin of the Social Democratic Party. The FSLN's representative, Nathan Sevilla, stated that the deputies who voted at the end of last year to give less than 6% violated the constitution. "The Budget Law can not violate Constitutional law and if the government does not have the money, it is their problem not ours. The National Assembly cannot be an accomplice to the injustices of this government." One farmer who participated in the march, on being asked about the government's argument that there was not enough to cover both primary school and university budgets, stated, "The most important thing is that we don't give up; we might be uneducated but we are not stupid and we know how to struggle against this government which has drunk all the milk and now is cursing the cow." Julio Orozco of the UNEN also stated that high level police officials have been called to give testimony before the courts on the events of December 13 when police killed two students. (Barricada, Jan. 17) 8. Ministries of Education and Agriculture lay off workers. 114 employees were about to be laid off last week by the Ministry of Agriculture, a measure which provoked a work slow-down at that agency. Negotiations are taking place between the union and the Agriculture Ministry which alleges that it lacks the funds. Another 35 workers were expected to be laid off by the Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, a survey recently completed by the professional association, CONAPRO, affiliated with the big business association, COSEP, indicated that there are 8,000 professionals in the country of whom 20% are unemployed and another 53% are underemployed. (Barricada, Jan. 18, 20)