Nicaragua News Service Published by the Nicaragua Network Education Fund March 3 - 9, 1996 Vol. 4, No. 10 1. Results in from FSLN primaries. 2. International Women's Day in Nicaragua. 3. Boer vs. San Fernando again. 4. Tremors test nerves. 5. Supreme Electoral Council suggests investigating sources of outside campaign funds. 6. Journalists march against police violence. 7. Charity surgical missions questioned. 8. Supreme Court settles Granada conflict. 9. Mayors ask for clarification of electoral law. _______________________________________________________________________ 1. Results in from FSLN primaries. Results of the FSLN primaries were published last Wednesday in the newspaper Barricada. The highest votegetters among the candidates for the National Assembly by region were: Managua--Monica Baltodano; Leon--Omar Cabezas; Matagalpa--Nelson Artola; Chinandega--Alberto Manturria Jarquin; Esteli--Jose Ernesto Bravo; Rivas--Jose Maria Sanchez; Masaya--Jorge Martinez. Tomas Borge was the favorite candidate for election to the Central American Parliament, followed by Victor Tirado. Top candidates for the National Assembly at the national level were: Rene Nunez Tellez, Bayardo Arce, Gladys Baez, Victor Hugo Tinoco, Francisco Rivera, Carlos Fonseca Teran, Vladimir Soto, Mario Quintano. Votes were cast in the presidential nomination race as follows: Daniel Ortega -- 239,892; Vilma Nunez -- 41,539; Alvaro Ramirez -- 5,510. With respect to the Vice Presidency, the results were: Miguel Angel Casco -- 139,190; Vilma Nunez -- 12,329; Tomas Borge -- 5,202. Carlos Guadamuz, controversial head of Radio Ya, won the primary for mayor of Managua. 2. International Women's Day commemorated in Nicaragua. Celebrations were many and varied during the commemoration of International Women's Day in Nicaragua last week. Several non- governmental agencies and women's organizations took advantage of the date to present their latest studies on the subject of violence against women, including domestic and sexual violence. In the political arena, women of several political parties agreed to form the "National Coalition of Nicaraguan Women" whose objective is to facilitate the process by which women will occupy more visible public offices within the government. The members of the coalition include over 100 women of diverse political party membership, religious organizations and women's and feminist organizations. The objective of the coalition will be to find "points of coincidence in order to struggle together in our diversity," according to Maria Lourdes Bolanos, executive director of the alternative women's national health network, IXCHEN, who was also a FSLN primary candidate for the National Assembly. The objectives of the Coalition were announced during an open celebration held at the Olaf Palme Convention Center on March 8. Over 2,000 women attended the event. The "minimum agenda" of the women's coalition with respect to the elections this October was summarized in the following platform: -- the human rights of women must be respected. -- women should have equal opportunity for the good development of the nation; the government should promote the construction of houses for women heads of households; and, more should be invested in education. -- the rule of law should be established in Nicaragua where there is coherence between the legislation passed by the legislative branch and the activities of the agencies of the executive branch which are supposed to enforce the laws. (Barricada, March 7, 9) 3. Boer vs. San Fernando again. About this time last year, one of the few stories on Nicaragua that made it into US newspapers was a short item on the sports page about the rioting that took place in Masaya during the German Pomares National Baseball Championship. The two teams in the play-offs were the Boers of Managua and San Fernando of Masaya. Violence erupted when the Boers beat San Fernando on their home field. This year Nicaraguan baseball hopes to avoid the infamy of last year's finals, but the same two teams are in the play-offs this week, in a year when the coming elections intensify all activities where political campaigning can take place. Last week the two teams and the National Baseball Federation signed an agreement which will not allow beer or liquor to be served in the stadiums, nor will the Federation allow any political messages or campaigning, and finally, no firearms can be carried by anyone except the police. The police will be in charge of protection for both teams in an attempt to avoid world-wide publicity this year. (Barricada, March 9; La Prensa, March 9) 4. Tremors test nerves. Two strong tremors and over two day's worth of intense seismic activity had many families in Nicaragua last week sleeping outside in their patios. For older residents, the intense heat of the week and the tremors brought back memories of the trauma provoked by the destruction of Managua in 1931 as a result of a major earthquake on the Tuesday after Easter. The first tremor occurred at 8:48 am on Sunday, March 3, and measured 4 on the Richter scale with the epicenter located on the coast near Masachapa, 112 kilometers from Managua. The second occurred two hours later and measured 4.7 on the same scale. The tremors were felt in Managua, Chinandega, Leon, Carazo, Masaya and Esteli. Pacific coast beaches, usually filling up on weekends at this time of the year have been almost deserted as local papers discuss the possibility of a major earthquake or a tidal wave in the next two weeks. (Barricada, March 4) 5. Supreme Electoral Council suggests investigating sources of foreign campaign funds. One of the members of the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE), Rosa Marina Zelaya, stated in an interview last week that the CSE would meet with the other branches of government to study the legality of electoral candidates accepting money for their campaigns without reporting the donations to the Supreme Electoral Council. The electoral law states that political candidates can receive donations for technical assistance and training but not for anything else. Several political candidates, including Arnoldo Aleman of the PLC, have reported to local newspapers donations that have been received by his campaign but those donations have not been reported to the CSE. Some politicians involved in the campaign maintain that the electoral law applies only to those donations received during the official campaign season which begins 90 days before the elections are to take place at the end of October. (La Prensa, March 5) 6. Journalists march against police violence. Over 100 journalists marched last week from near the Intercontinental Hotel to the National Assembly protesting the acts of violence against journalists in the last few weeks. Jose Torrez, head of the Association of Nicaraguan Journalists (APN), stated that in the last four years, 27 journalists have been injured in different acts of violence throughout the country. Olga Moraga, head of the Union of Nicaraguan Journalists (UPN), also stated that journalists have been the object of repression on the part of police and other political groups. She did not specify which groups she was speaking of. (La Prensa, March 5) 7. Charity surgical missions questioned. The Minister of Health, Federico Munoz, ordered all plastic surgery suspended in Ministry of Health facilities while he awaits the results of an investigation into foreign surgical missions. There have been charges that foreign, mostly US, medical delegations which have come to do surgery on children with facial problems such as harelip, are actually coming to gain experience, and have left less than desirable results. These medical missions were denounced by Dr. Fidel Morales, a specialist in reconstructive surgery at the women's and children's Hospital Velez Paez, located in Managua. According to Morales, dozens of children will be disfigured because of the "malpractice" of international missions of plastic surgeons that are brought to the country by persons whose interests have "more to do with politics and business." Morales laid out his charges in a letter to the National Council of Health. He asserted that the majority of medical missions come to Nicaragua to practice their skills on Nicaraguans. (Barricada, March 6) 8. Supreme Court settles Granada conflict. The Nicaraguan Supreme Court has ordered Silvio Urbina of Granada to give up the mayorship of that city to Luis Chamorro Mora who was elected to the position by the City Council last December. Urbina refused to give up his post and and took his case to the Supreme Court in an effort to keep it. Upon hearing the ruling, Urbina put in his resignation, and Chamorro Mora began to occupy City Hall. 9. Mayors ask for clarification of Electoral Law. The Director of the Nicaraguan Institute for Municipal Development (INIFOM) stated last week that over 60 current mayors of Nicaraguan towns and cities aspire to run for positions in the National Assembly and are ready to leave their current positions in order to comply with the Electoral Law. Article 204 of the law states that, for the 1996 elections, all city council members and mayors who aspire to another political office, with the exception of the Presidency or Vice-Presidency, must resign from their present positions within 90 days of the promulgation of the Electoral Law. (Those who wished to run for President or Vice-President had to resign one year before the elections.) The problem is that there is confusion as to the date that the law actually went into effect. The law was published in the National Gazette dated January 9 but that issue was not made available to the public until January 22. The Supreme Court has been asked to rule on the matter. INIFOM is playing it safe and suggesting that mayors resign before April 14, which means that right after Easter week a high percentage of Nicaraguan towns and cities will be under new leadership. (La Prensa, March 4)