Nicaraguan News Service Published by the Nicaraguan Network Education Fund Vol. 4, No. 26 June 30-July 6, 1996 by Dee Mitchell Major news stories for the week: 1. Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) disqualifies three presidential candidates. 2. Transportation cooperatives threaten national strike. 3. Electoral news briefs. 4. Postal service scandal over fraudulent stamps. 5. News briefs. 6. Health/Environmental news. _________________________________________________________________________ 1. Supreme Electoral Council disqualifies three presidential candidates. After a week of enormous speculation among the Nicaraguan populace and considerable tension within various political parties, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) announced its decision late Friday evening concerning the fate of several presidential candidates. In response to numerous challenges made against several contenders for political office, the CSE voted "unanimously" to disqualify presidential candidates Antonio Lacayo, Alvaro Robelo, and Eden Pastora. The CSE based its disqualification of Antonio Lacayo, presidential candidate for the National Project (PRONAL), on Article 147 of the Nicaraguan Constitution which prohibits relatives of current presidents from running for office. Alvaro Robelo, presidential candidate for the Nicaraguan Alliance (AN), was disqualified because the CSE determined he had surrendered his Nicaraguan nationality when he obtained Italian citizenship upon marrying an Italian. Eden Pastora, candidate for the Democratic Action Party (PAD), was prohibited from continuing in the presidential campaign due to the voluntary surrender of his Nicaraguan nationality during the 1980s contra war when he assumed Costa Rican citizenship. The CSE announcements were made late Friday evening in the Olaf Palme Convention Center in Managua after a five hour delay, during which time various challenged candidates waited with nervous impatience. Both Lacayo and Robelo were reported to have been "drinking liquor to calm the nerves" before their arrival at the Convention hall. In a press conference immediately following the announcements, Lacayo responded that he "respects the decision of the CSE because it is the maximum authority on electoral law in Nicaragua," but he "would still like to meet with them to discuss the interpretation of the Constitution." Eden Pastora, former Sandinista "Commander Zero," and later contra leader, claimed that his renouncing of Nicaraguan citizenship during the contra war "was the fault of the former Sandinista government" and not his own personal choice. Looking pale and shaken, Pastora called the CSE's decision "stupid" and a "slur against a hero of the people who had fought against Somoza, the Sandinistas, and the current Chamorro government." Pastora also said he "forgave" the CSE for their decision. Alvaro Robelo, the most visibly upset of the three disqualified candidates, maintained that he was and always had been a Nicaraguan citizen and that he "may take his case to the International Court of Human Rights in the Hague." Robelo claims that he never gave up his Nicaraguan citizenship upon marrying an Italian. El Nuevo Diario, however, published a copy of a letter dated July 6, 1993 from a Dr. Guillermo Areas Cabrera to Cesar Delgadillo, head of immigration at the time, requesting residency for two Italian citizens: Alvaro Robelo and his wife Lucia Raffone. Robelo said that the "decision of the CSE is unfair because the President (Rosa Marina Zelaya) is married to Jorge Samper, a leader of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) party, and thus can't be impartial." He stated that it was "a political sentence." The CSE gave each of the disqualified candidates three days to submit a list of possible substitutes for their respective parties' candidates for President. In response to challenges against other presidential candidates, the CSE affirmed and upheld the qualifications of Daniel Ortega (FSLN), Sergio Ramirez (Sandinista Renovation Movement-MRS), Harold Montealegre (United Liberal Party-PUL), Virgilio Godoy (Independent Liberal Party-PLI), Francisco Mayorga (Bread and Force '96 - P & F '96), and many others. As for the reaction of the Nicaraguan people to the announcements, the vast majority supported the CSE's decision. One observer in the Olof Palme Center shouted "Long live democracy!" immediately after the CSE's announcements. In random public opinion polls taken by various newspapers, a majority of Nicaraguans stated that the law must be upheld. Rina Cardenal, United National Opposition (UNO-96) candidate for deputy stated that it "was a historic day for Nicaragua...because the CSE had applied the law of the Constitution." FSLN member, Tomas Borge, said he was "sincerely sorry for those disqualified...but the decision of the CSE was the healthiest for the electoral process and for the stability of the country." CSE president Rosa Marina Zelaya stated that "the law is hard, but it's the law." (La Prensa, 4 July, 5 July; El Nuevo Diario, La Tribuna, Barricada, La Prensa, 6 July.) 2. Transportation cooperatives threaten national strike. Hundreds of members of various national transportation cooperatives marched on the National Assembly this week to protest possible increases in taxes and tariffs. The "General Law of Cooperatives" is currently under debate in the Assembly. Aristides Ortega, head of the Federation of Transportation Collectives of Nicaragua (FETRACOLNIC) and members of eleven other organizations representing some 30,000 national transportation workers demanded that the government help them by not raising taxes any higher than they already were. Luis Molina, head of the Nicaraguan Federation of Taxi Cooperatives (FENICOTAXI) reminded the Assembly of the disastrous September 1994 national transportation strike which paralyzed the nation for two weeks. Both Ortega and Molina said the cooperatives were "one hundred percent" against any increase and would strike if necessary. According to FSLN deputy Nathan Sevilla, the FSLN supports changes in the law which would be beneficial to both the passenger and cargo transportation sectors. (Barricada, 2, 4, 5 July; Nuevo Diario, 4, 5 July; La Tribuna, 5 July.) 3. Electoral news briefs. Arnoldo Aleman, presidential candidate for the Liberal Alliance (AL) is in trouble again this week with the CSE for more alleged campaign violations. Aleman, who was accused last week of accepting illegal campaign donations from Taiwan is now being accused of receiving illegal campaign contributions from the "Nicaraguan Foundation for Democracy and Development" (NFDD) which operates out of the United States and has offices in 18 major cities in the U.S. and Canada. In April of this year, Aleman received some 230 packages of "creams, medicines, cosmetics, educational materials, clothes, and computers" valued at over nine million U.S. dollars. CSE head, Rosa Marina Zelaya, has asked the Attorney General to investigate the matter further. Article 109 of the Electoral Law states that political parties can only receive foreign assistance of a "technical and material" nature. If found guilty, Aleman could be forced to pay a fine equal to or double the value of the items received. Aleman claims that when he was notified (in March 1996) that the items were being sent, that he was not affiliated with the Liberal Alliance, and thus violated no campaign rules. He claims the donations "were humanitarian aid independent of campaign propaganda or technical help." The NFDD maintains a post office box in Washington, D.C., to which checks and donations can be mailed and also has a homepage on the Internet. One worker affiliated with the NFDD is Eduardo Sevilla Somoza, nephew of the late Nicaraguan dictator, Anastasio Somoza Debayle. (Nuevo Diario, 2, 3 July; La Tribuna, 4, 6, July.) In other electoral news, some 400 residents of the small village of El Naranjo in northern Nicaragua, continue their protest against the Chamorro government by blocking all traffic into and out of the region which connects Waslala, Siuna, and El Naranjo. Two weeks ago, the village announced that it would not vote in the upcoming elections en masse as a protest against the government's giving administrative control of the voter registration process to Waslala. Residents complained that they were not able to register easily due to distance and rough terrain, and that Waslala officials had harassed them over their inability to sufficiently establish eligibility through identification (such as birth certificates). Domingo Zeledon, mayor of El Naranjo, also condemned the Chamorro government for not providing better security in the highly unstable region. The Chamorro government sent a special commission represented by Sergio Narvaez Sampson to the village late this week to try and reach a compromise. At last report, protesters were still blocking traffic. (La Tribuna, 2, 4 July; La Prensa, 2 July.) 4. Postal service scandal over fraudulent stamps. An international stamp fraud scandal was made public this week after two months of investigations by the Nicaraguan National Police, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, and the international police force, INTERPOL. Allegedly, thousands of falsified stamps depicting the Pope's visit to Nicaragua were printed and sold to the public, while the originals have been auctioned off to collectors for "millions of dollars." Also copied were Nicaraguan stamps of baseball players. The new president of the mail service in Nicaragua, Jose Teran Saloman and the new general manager, Ernesto Gonzalez claim that they didn't know anything about the fraud. The investigation is ongoing. (La Prensa, 2 July; Barricada, 3 July; Nuevo Diario, 3, 4, 5, July.) 5. News briefs. Argument continues in the National Assembly over the "6% Law" which would allocate 6% of the nation's ordinary and extraordinary budgets to the national universities of Nicaragua. The Chamorro government is maintaining the position expressed in its May veto message against passage of the "6% Law," according to Dr. Emilio Pereira, Minister of Finance. Barricada reported this week that the government has made a pact with Christian Democratic Union (UDC) members in the National Assembly to prevent National Assembly override of the law. The head of the UDC is ex-National Assembly president, Luis Humberto Guzman. A special commission appointed by the National Assembly to study the impact of the law evidently is divided over whether the President's veto should be upheld or overridden. Nathan Sevilla, FSLN deputy, said that the commission voted in favor of a veto override, but that UDC forces "were impeding its promotion." The university community is "indignant" and outraged at the Chamorro government's refusal to accept the law. (Barricada, 2, 5 July; La Prensa, 2 July; Nuevo Diario, 3 July; La Tribuna, 4 July.) Coffee producers are accusing the Chamorro government of deliberately trying to destroy the coffee industry in Nicaragua by prohibiting the importation of a needed pesticide to fight a plague. David Robleto, president of the National Union of Nicaraguan Coffee Growers (UNICAFE) protested the government's refusal to allow a Norwegian donation of 380 metric tons of copper Nordox, a chemical used to fight coffee rust. Robleto said that some 30 million pounds of coffee (30% of total production) could be ruined this year if the government does not relax bureaucratic regulations and allow the importation without taxation of the donation. The recent deluge of rain has increased the coffee rust, and coffee producers have been waiting some three months now for the donated chemicals. Eduardo Rizo, president of the Association of Coffee Workers in Jinotega said that "Nicaragua is the only country in the world where a bureaucracy exists that inhibits donations." (La Tribuna, 3 July; La Prensa, 4 July) 6. Health/Environmental News. Representatives from Woodward-Clyde, a U.S. based international firm located in Colorado, arrived in Nicaragua this week to study the feasibility of an interoceanic canal. The proposed canal would originate at Monkey Point on the Atlantic Coast, pass through Lake Nicaragua and terminate on the Pacific Coast near Rivas. The study commission promised that if a canal was built, it would be done with as little negative impact on the environment as possible. Woodward- Clyde officials also stated that only "dry goods" would be shipped through the canal and all combustible, toxic, or radio-active materials would be banned. Final results of the study are not expected for a year. (La Prensa, Nuevo Diario, 30 June.) The Ministry of Health (MINSA) and the Nicaraguan Red Cross have issued alerts for the regions of Camoapa (near the Boaco region) and Malacatoya near Granada where dozens of cases of cholera are appearing daily. (La Prensa, 1 July; La Tribuna, 3, 5 July.) After several weeks of drought, the rainy season has arrived with tremendous force. Some 10,000 campesinos in the Chinandega/Corinto area were flooded out of their homes this week and several tornadoes were reported. Damage estimates to crops in the region are still being tallied, but initial reports indicate that the impact on agriculture will be significant. (La Prensa, 1, 5 July; Barricada, 5 July; La Tribuna, 6 July.)