Nicaragua News Service Published by the Nicaragua Network Education Fund February 18 - 24, 1996 Vol. 4, No., 8 Major News Stories for the Week: 1. FSLN still counting primary election ballots. 2. Cattle ranchers request compensation for cattle lost in war. 3. Two and one quarter million citizens eligible to vote in October. 4. Aleman says at Miami fundraiser that he will break with Cuba. 5. More tuberculosis cases in Managua area. 6. Violence on the increase in the north. 7. Four former MRS members join Eden Pastora. 8. One million students left without schooling. 9. Sixty-two million dollars still needed for agricultural credit. _____________________________________________________________________ 1. FSLN still counting primary election ballots. It is expected that this week most of the results of the FSLN primary, which took the form of a massive popular vote in which both party members and non-members participated, will be released. Meanwhile, some winners have been announced. For example, in Esteli, the number one candidate for member of the National Assembly was the former priest Ernesto Bravo, followed by the mayor of Esteli, Dr. Ulises Gonzalez. Ruben Lopez won the candidacy for Mayor of Bluefields while Henry Vado Amador won the nomination for the same position for the city of Granada. Carlos Guadamuz, the controversial head of Radio Ya also won the primary elections to be FSLN candidate for mayor of Managua, defeating Emmet Lang, FSLN coordinator for Managua. The exact number of people who voted has not yet been announced, but the number surpassed original expectations, illustrated by the fact that almost all of the voting centers ran out of ballots before the end of the day. (Barricada, Feb. 19, 21, 23) 2. Cattle ranchers request compensation for cattle lost in war. A newly formed Association of Expropriated Cattleranchers of Nicaragua (ASOGADENIC) will initiate legal proceedings this week at the National Commission of Revisions of the Ministry of Finance in order to be able to receive compensation for the over 314,000 head of cattle that, according to the Association, were lost in the war during the 80's. ASOGADENIC has 3,615 members with farms in Zelaya Central, Boaco, Chontales, Rio San Juan, Jinotega and Matagalpa. The members also belong to the Union of Farmers and Ranchers (UNAG) and the Union of Agricultural Producers of Nicaragua (UPANIC). (La Prensa, Feb. 24) 3. Two and one quarter million citizens eligible to vote in October. According to the most recent Nicaraguan census which was held last year, a total of 2,250,000 people will be of voting age (16 or over) in time for the October 1996 elections. Of that number, the Supreme Electoral Council hopes that 1,100,000 will have obtained their official voter identification card. Another 750,000 will have a provisional document, according to Maria Teresa Aleman, national director of the identification card process. (La Prensa, Feb. 24) 4. Aleman says at Miami fundraiser that he will break with Cuba. Arnoldo Aleman, candidate of the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) for president, promised at a $1,000 a plate campaign fund raising dinner in Miami, that once elected he would break diplomatic relations with Cuba. Meanwhile, also in Miami, his campaign chief, Enrique Bolanos, declared that the Aleman government would not break with Cuba but that instead "would name a Nicaraguan ambassador who would assist the people of Cuba in their struggle for liberation." (Barricada, Feb. 24) 5. More tuberculosis cases in Managua area. Doctors in the health center of Ticuantepe, just outside of Managua, are alarmed at what seems to be a sharp increase in the number of cases of tuberculosis reported in the last few weeks. Dr. Sandra Nurindra, head of epidemiology at the medical center stated that crowded living conditions, lack of food, extreme poverty and malnutrition are the principal factors which are causing the increase in TB in the zone. There has also been a shortage of water in the region for the past several weeks. The doctor also protested the lack of enough laboratory equipment to process the tests being performed on the population. (Barricada, Feb. 24) 6. Violence on the increase in the north. The Bishop of Esteli, Abelardo Mata, warned President Chamorro last week that the situation of "ungovernability" in certain zones of the north of Nicaragua is "generating the basis for a new civil war." He added "The people that are armed are very young, with an average age of 18 and the children who are in the mountains are receiving only one message: 'eliminate your enemy.'" Northern Nicaragua has been the scene of much violence in recent weeks. Last week a jeep clearly marked with the letters of the European Union (EU) was attacked and three peasant farmers, who were participants in an integrated rural development project of the EU, were killed. The attack took place in the area of Cua-Bocay. the Commission of the EU in Brussels condemned the attack and stated that it will initiate an investigation along with Nicaraguan authorities. In another incident, 85 families from the rural communities of Waslala abandoned their homes and small farms because of the military operations of the irregular forces of "El Charro." Six peasants of the area had been murdered the week before, provoking the mass exodus. Meanwhile, a farmer and member of the National Assembly, Juan Radon Argon, demanded that the army maintain a permanent offensive in the north in order to protect the lives of the population and guarantee the harvest of the zone. (La Prensa, Feb. 21, 22; Barricada, Feb. 24) 7. Four former MRS members join Eden Pastora. Four members of the "Reflection Group" of the National Assembly who left the FSLN to join Sergio Ramirez' Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), have now left the MRS and joined the Party of Democratic Action, the party of Eden Pastora. Pastora was the famous Sandinista Commander Zero who later became a contra leader based in Costa Rica. The new allies of Pastora are Julio Marenco, Fernando Silva, Juan Galan and Raul Venerio Granera. Former Army Col. Jose Valdivia, who left the country with Pastora in 1981 supposedly to continue to make the world revolution has also endorsed Pastora's presidential bid. Valdivia branded Pastora a "traitor" a few days after their 1981 departure when it became clear that Pastora was joining the contras. Now Valdivia states that that was "another moment in history" and that "now we are together because before it was like an argument that you would have with your girlfriend or wife, and then you reconcile. The important thing now is that we are together again to save Nicaragua." (Barricada, Feb. 21) 8. One million students left without schooling. More than 1,000,000 students between preschoolers, primary, and secondary students began classes last week, the official opening of the 1996 school year. However, at least that many more young people could not enter school this year due to lack of resources, according to Dr. Juan Bautista Arrien, representative of UNESCO in Nicaragua. Humberto Belli, Minister of Education, had stated earlier in the week that over 600,000 children would not be able to study this year in the public schools because of budget shortages. Belli stated that another $6.25 million are needed just to provide classrooms and teachers for another 160,000 primary age children. President Chamorro criticized the comments of the Minister stating that more budget had been made available for education this year. The Catholic Church also expressed concern last week for the number of children that were left without studies for this school year. (La Prensa, Feb. 19, 21; Barricada, Feb. 22) 9. Sixty-two million dollars still needed for agricultural credit. Leaders of agricultural organizations such as UNAG, UPANIC, and APENN met all last week with representatives of private and state banks and with representatives of multilateral funding organizations to analyze the serious lack of financing available for the coming agricultural season, a situation made even more delicate by the large number of farmers who still owe the bank and are therefore not eligible for more credit. According to some outside sources, the government only has approximately 50% of the liquid financial resources needed to meet this year's demand for credit. That translates to more than $US60 million deficit in credit for this year. The agricultural organizations have been studying the cases of the 1,384 large farmers and ranchers who owe a total of $90.5 million to the bank, a figure which represents 86% of the bad debts held by the state banks. These large producers represent only 10% of all those behind in their payments. Another 12,045 small and medium-sized farmers owe another $14.75 million to the state banks. The economic cabinet of the Chamorro government had threatened to foreclose on these farmers, but due to pressure exerted, recently decided to renegotiate and restructure debts of those farmers who owe less than about $US6,000. (La Prensa, Feb. 22)