Nicaraguans Protest Ortega's Government

Thousands of Nicaraguans marched today through the streets of Managua to protest against Daniel Ortega's government policies, against hunger, the high cost of living and "institutional dictatorship.

Organizers estimated about 20 thousand attendees, but the spokesperson for the Police, Vilma Reyes, said that the police estimated about half that number. Regardless, this is a significant call for democracy that transcended political fault-lines.

Dora Maria Tellez, the Sandinista Renewal Movement leader who “ignited” the fight with her recent hunger strike for democracy, against the pact and the high cost of living, said that the people have taken to the streets to bury the pact between Daniel Ortega and Arnoldo Alemán.

The Alliance Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC Alliance) mayoral ticket for Managua, Eduardo Montealegre and Enrique Quiñónez, also participated in the march and spoke on stage despite warnings from their own party, which opposed their participation.

This mass popular movement speaks loudly. It says that Nicaraguans are tired of the deleterious effects that the Ortega-Alemán Pact has had on Nicaragua, which has bled the country’s valuable financial resources. Besides the millions looted from the national coffers, Nicaragua has lost precious time by creating a deadlocked government for at least a decade. This is another lost decade that could have been used for the economic and social development of Nicaragua.

Donor Community Warns Ortega, not just EU

Ambassador of Canada, Neil Reeder, who serves as President pro tempore of the Cooperation Bureau, clarified that the concern about possible closure of democratic spaces in Nicaragua was of the whole group and not only of the Budgetary Support Group (PAG) nor the European Union (EU).

"The Bureau of Cooperating is the primary mechanism for coordination and harmonization between cooperation in Nicaragua. Its members are ambassadors and representatives at the highest level of each embassy, Agency for Cooperation and multilateral agencies, including international financial institutions," according to the press release issued by Ambassador Reeder.

In the pronouncement, member countries of the Bureau of Cooperating expressed their concern over the cancellation of the legal status of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) and the Conservative Party (PC), which could entail the closure of democratic spaces.

Since in my previous entry I only offered a partial list of the members of this Bureau, below you may find the full list. The officers are representatives from Germany, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands.

It also integrates representatives from the Austrian Cooperation, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI, initials in Spanish), the United States of America, the Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the European Commission Delegation and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Programme (ECHO).

Other officers are the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI, initials in Spanish) System of the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI, initials in Spanish).

I will only add that in the eighties, the majority of the above-named entities sympathized with the FSLN Revolution and its promises.

Ortega: EU "Flies on Filth"

President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega rejected the "concern" expressed by the International Cooperating Bureau on Friday regarding the "reduction of democratic spaces" in Nicaragua, following the decision of the electoral authorities to annul the legal status of two opposition parties (of the left and the right). In that communique, the International Cooperating Bureau warned that democracy "is crucial to the success and future of our cooperation."

At an inaugural event for a new power plant over weekend in Masaya, Ortega compared the donors to "flies that land on filth." This is a clear reference ambassador Francesca Mosca (fly in Spanish), head of the European Commission Delegation. (If she is the fly, what is the filth? Is this another off-the-cuff comment or did someone sit down to think about this?)

The International Cooperating Bureau is composed of representatives from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Norway, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, the European Union, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Critics of foreign aid claim that these resources have a negligible effect on the welfare of developing countries; therefore, aid is a waste of their taxes. On the other hand, Ortega and like-minded proponents claim that foreign aid is an obligation to developing countries for past colonial atrocities. The truth may lie between these two radical positions.

The International Cooperating Bureau provides for one-third of the Nicaraguan National Budget. In the short to medium term, decisions about aid to Nicaragua and other least developed countries correspond to legislators in the parliaments and congresses of the respective above-mentioned countries. The EU has its own formula for assigning foreign aid, but aid must be approved at the national levels.

Citizens that those legislators represent do not acquiesce to foreign aid for a sense of guilt or desire to make amends for injustices committed by past generations--some of these countries were not even involved in Nicaragua's colonial past. A large portion of that public may not know how much their countries allocate in foreign aid. Those that do may want to help alleviate poverty around the world, may believe on the interconnectedness of the modern world and/or may want to diminish immigration incentives into their own countries. In some instances, companies and individuals that are in the business of foreign aid press their legislators for continued assistance to developing countries.

Aid to Nicaragua in particular may also be glazed with a romantic notion that a band of revolutionaries prevailed in the Cold War against the rule of the Somoza dynasty and the United States. However, I urge citizens of the above-mentioned countries and their respective legislators to read up on Nicaragua’s current situation. You may find out that this is no longer a situation of Left Vs. Right. It may be a situation where representatives of both camps are colluding to stifle democracy and transparency for their own economic and political gain.

"I am not your son!" says Ortega

Like a fireman who puts out fires started by serial arsonists, the Vice President of Nicaragua, Jaime Morales Carazo cleans up the mess that his government creates, including his boss President Daniel Ortega.

The latest example came this week after the head of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (arbitrations in Spanish, INSS) vehemently criticized the representative to Nicaragua of the International Monetary Fund. In less polite terms, the executive director of INSS, Roberto López, said that the IMF representative, Humberto Arbulú-Neyra, denied access to INSS prosecutors who wanted to verify the payment of Social Security contributions of local IMF employees.

Shortly after, Morales came to the rescue. “We ask (Arbulú) from the government and the President of the Republic, Daniel Ortega, with whom he discussed this issue, to dismiss the crass words from the head of the INSS; they are words that the wind takes and do not represent the sentiments of the government of Nicaragua,” said Vice President of Nicaragua to the head of the IMF.

At the same time, Morales also excused the government of Nicaragua for the manner that the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Manuel Coronel Kautz, insulted the donor community by threatening the members of the diplomatic corps (see below for related article and END).

Morales said that "Nicaraguans speak with a language perhaps typical of San Juan River, where Jose Coronel Urtecho lived, father of Manuel." With this statement, Morales references the Vice Minister’s father, the 20th Century Nicaraguan poet who has been called the most influential Nicaraguan thinker of the twentieth century. (END)

However, Morales brushes off these comments as part of the Nicaraguan idiosyncrasy. In effect, Morales implies that the common Nicaraguan is devoid of culture and refinement. In most countries, high-level officials and diplomats represent their people in the most refined and dignified manner; however, some Nicaraguan officials may confuse populism with glorifying the lowest common denominator.

This takes me to a related article published in this week's The New Yorker entitled: Fidel’s Heir, The influence of Hugo Chávez. The author, Jon Lee Anderson, joined the Venezuelan delegation to the Rio Group Summit earlier this year held in the Dominican Republic, amidst the standoff between Venezuela and Colombia after the latter attacked a FARC camp in Ecuadorian territory. This is how Anderson describes Daniel Ortega's diplomatic activities at the Summit:

“…Ortega wore a suede jacket and jeans; all the other leaders, including Chávez, wore suits…[At one point after the President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe took the floor to give an intervention] Daniel Ortega got up, walked behind [the President of Ecuador, Rafael] Correa, and stared hard at Uribe, looking like a man spoiling for a fight. When Uribe suggested that he [Orgega] sit down, Ortega said, ‘I am not your son! Who do you think you are?’” (June 23, 2003, P. 55-56)

Do these remarks and behavior exalt the Nicaraguan people or culture? Let’s not underestimate Nicaraguans. (As for Ortega's choice of wardrove, while hardly appropriate for a summit of heads of state, a suede jacket is even less appropriate for the humid tropical weather in either Nicaragua or the Dominican Republic.)

Nicaragua Threatens EU Critics

Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, Manuel Coronel Kautz, preempted a European Union statement condemning Nicaragua’s move to cancel the legal status of two opposition political parties. The official said today that Europe should not get involved in internal political situations in the country and threatened to declare foreign diplomats who did so personae non gratae.

The European Community is expected to express its concern about the crisis of governance in the Nicaragua. The foreign representatives are to voice the view that the cancellation of the legal status of two parties restricts democratic and pluralistic space in the nation. An official statement from the European Community is due soon.

Earlier this week, the ambassador Francesca Mosca, head of the European Commission Delegation to Central America and Panama, expressed concern about the situation of the parties, the Sandinista Renovation Movement (initials in Spanish MRS) and the Conservative Party (initials in Spanish PC).

The Nicaraguan officials have become embolden with alternative sources of foreign cooperation, in particular with aid from Venezuela. As a result, the term that is often used to caricature Daniel Ortega’s administration is: “beggar with a stick.”

There is a degree of truth that foreign diplomats should not get involved in internal politics, and some diplomats have been more activists than others in Nicaragua; however, foreign aid and good governance are part of the agreement of financing for development with the donor community. You can’t have one without the other; its part of the agreement with donor countries. This is why we speak of international cooperation.

Ortega and Aleman Pact to Rig Elections, Again

The Supreme Electoral Council of Nicaragua (or CSE in Spanish) cancelled the legal status of two opposition political parties today: Sandinista Renovation Movement (Movimiento Renovador Sandinista or MRS in Spanish) and Conservative Party (Partido Conservado or PC in Spanish). Consequently, the MRS and the PC will be barred from participating in the upcoming November municipal elections.

The Sandinistas and Liberals intend to eliminate the MRS and the PC from the municipal election next November so that Nicaraguans have only these two options to choose from in the polls. Clearly this is part of the pact between Daniel Ortega and Arnoldo Aleman. And no one is to stop them.

The CSE resolution received the unanimous vote from the seven electoral judges: four judges belonging to the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and three to the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC in Spanish).

The president of CSE, Roberto Rivas, said that the legal status of the MRS was canceled because it failed to comply with the registration of their party structures in the 153 municipalities in the country. The status of the PC was cancelled because it did not submit candidates for the polls in 80 percent of municipalities, as required by election law.

The MRS is the fourth political force in the general elections composed of dissident Sandinistas and opponents of the government of Daniel Ortega. The PC is just collateral damage. The MRS is the party that worries Daniel Ortega and he will do anything to stop them.

Ex-Sandinista Tellez Strikes Against Ortega

Dora María Téllez, one of the dissidents of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) began a hunger strike six days ago after the Supreme Electoral Council (SEC) threatened to remove the Conservative Party and the Sandinista Renovation Movement (Movimiento de Renovación Sandinista or MRS, in Spanish) as official political parties. This would inhibit these parties from running in the upcoming municipal (mayoral) elections in November.

Daniel Ortega and his avid followers have little tolerance for dissenters. Hooded individuals arrived at dawn to the place where the former Sandinista guerrilla Téllez conducted a hunger strike. These individuals insulted and threatened to inflict personal harm. They then removed the banners of solidarity that had been hung outside her tent at a busy intersection in Managua, the capital city.

Téllez was a revolutionary commander that led a brigade that occupied the Nicaraguan national palace and took the city of Leon in June 1979. She later served as minister of health in the first Sandinista administration. In 1995, she founded the MRS after leaving the FSLN.

As Ortega's former Sandinista comrades begin to speak up against his administration and governing becomes more difficult with declining approval ratings and a worsening economy, one can only expect Daniel Ortega to tighten his grip through the political institutions that he controls—the executive branch of government, the judicial branch, the elections authority (Consejo Electoral Supremo), and the national police.

A large segment of the population fears that Ortega positions his chess pieces to achieve his long-term goal--to rule indefinitely. And the writing is on the wall: “No to dictatorship” is a common slogan graffitied in busy intersections in Managua.

On a related note: I direct you to an article published by The Economist this week on Nicaragua entitled: "Inglorious: Daniel Ortega's lackluster return."

D'Escoto Heralds Democracy at UN

I have written several articles regarding Miguel D’Escoto’s nomination by the government of Nicaragua to preside the General Assembly of the United Nations. This week, Father D’Escoto cemented those aspirations by acclamation of the 192 member states of the United Nations. While no one government felt strongly enough to object to D’Escoto’s Presidency, many either anticipate with bemusement the anti-American show that D’Escoto may offer or suffer from the bureaucratic risk-adverse culture where challenging Nicaragua’s candidature would have resulted in Venezuela’s antagonism.

Insiders know that the Presidency of the UN General Assembly is mostly showmanship: he or she presides over meetings and arbitrates over rules of procedures in GA meetings. In the past few years, GA Presidents have orchestrated efforts to reform this world body; unfortunately, these efforts have led to few, if any, results.

Certain camps in Nicaragua believe that this election vindicates their efforts and places Nicaragua in the Post-Cold War map. Others believe that regardless of their political views, D’Escoto’s election denotes a degree of respect in the world community. But, there exists a large number of Nicaraguans that brace for the type of light that D’Escoto will cast on their country.

Internationalists who maintain a degree of high regard for the UN concede that the democratic nature of the General Assembly has spoken—this is the will of world leaders in a multi-polar paradigm. Others view D’Escoto’s election as an example of how low United State’s power to influence others have fallen in such a paradigm. Skeptics of the United Nations and its role in the world regard this election, which coincided with Myanmar’s ascension to the vice presidency of the same world body, as one more example of the UN’s dysfunction.

D’Escoto may enter this office with hopes of democratizing the United Nations, as his protégé, Daniel Ortega erodes its democratic institutions and flaunts his disregard for the rule of law. As a Sandinista dissenter and head of a Sandinista splinter party, the Movement for the Sandinista Renovation, Victor Hugo Tinoco stated upon D’Escoto’s election that this will not bring one more bowl of beans to Nicaraguans.

PLC and Sandinista Pact Resumes

Old hands have revived the pact or “pacto” between the Constitutional Liberal Party (in Spanish, PLC) and the Sandinista Party (in Spanish, FSLN). This pact liberated from jail the PLC leader, Arnoldo Alemán, who serves a sentence for corruption and money laundering within the confines of the Capital City of Managua. The pact also brought back to power the FSLN leader, Daniel Ortega in 2006.

If anyone had any questions about the extent of Nicaragua's lack of transparency, just analyze the repercussions of this pact in the future juridical system of Nicaragua. As part of the pact, neither the PLC nor FSLN will veto each other’s candidates for the highest court of justice in the National Assembly. In essence, the choice of judges will not undergo legislative scrutiny: the PLC and FSLN will be guaranteed their choice of four judges each.

The PLC wants Judge Manuel Martinez reelected and that the deputy Gabriel Rivera becomes part of the Judiciary. Also, this arrangement will perpetuate the Nicaraguan-brand nepotism: Arnoldo Alemán already said that the other two seats are for his brother, Antonio German, and his lawyer, Mauricio Martinez; unofficial versions indicate that PLC Congressman Wilfredo Navarro promotes his brother-in-law, Arturo Eli Tablada, as alternate magistrate. By contrast, the Sandinistas are keeping their cards close to their vest.

The Sandinistas and Liberals contemplate the possibility of choosing the eight judges in a single vote, even though the period for five positions expires in June and another five in September.

Nicaraguan Leader Travels for Iran's Dowry

President Daniel Ortega will go to Iran early June after participating in the Conference on World Food Security to be held in Rome, according to someone close to the matter in the President's office. (La Prensa)

It is believed that Ortega will pay a "surprise" visit to his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and raise the issue of forgiveness of debt that Nicaragua owes to that country, as well as the financial support offered in 2007 through a "memorandum of understanding."

The Nicaraguan Port Authority confirmed the construction of the Port of Monkey Point that has been promoted with different institutions and countries, including Iran, but it was stressed that so far nothing has been cemented. It is estimated that the project will cost US$250 million. The Nicaraguan Port Authority also noted that "there will be money for the expansion of the Port of Corinto" provided by private entrepreneurs from Iran and that the investment for the project would be US$36 million.

The relevant U.S. government authorities have taken a “wait and see” approach, but monitor closely Iran’s influence in Latin America for national security reasons. If these Iranian strategic infrastructure projects materialize to more than empty promises, one can be sure that the U.S. will exert its influence.

Perhaps Ortega’s administration banks on the return of a Democratic U.S. President to the White House and that whoever comes to power will be too bogged down with Iraq to pay much attention to Latin America. Indeed, if the Republican candidate John McCain wins the Presidency, with Otto Reich at his side, the U.S. will be more attuned to the region.

Barack Obama, the likely Democratic candidate, is already sharpening his arguments with regards to Latin America. Addressing a group of supporters in Miami today, Obama accused President Bush of diplomatic neglect and allowing a vacuum to develop into which anti-American Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came to power. (AP) One thing is certain, when it comes to foreign affairs and national security, both parties share many similarities.

While Ortega may have been trying to warm up to Obama by calling his presidential bid a "revolutionary" phenomenon in the United States, Ortega should not be emboldened. (IHT) Here is a link that compiles Obama's references and views on Latin America, although the site's author probably differs with the opinions expressed herein.

D'Escoto to Head UN General Assembly

Miguel D’Escoto’s presidency to the U.N. General Assembly invites many a cocktail conversation in diplomatic circles. For many months, there was speculation that Chile, Paraguay or Guatemala would challenge Nicaragua’s aspiration to the post. These countries have legitimate reasons in their own right, including never before having a national of these countries head this world, quasi-parliamentarian body. Unless the elections are forestalled by a procedural tactic involving an institutional reform and including an overhaul of the office of President of the General Assembly, Nicaragua will preside the General Assembly.

One can quickly conjure up a list of countries and regions that would not want today’s Nicaragua in the presidency of this international organ. While on a personal level some diplomats may be amused by the prospects of Nicaragua unwittingly playing the buffoon in the world stage, the region braces itself for the less-than-favorable image that a senile ex-minister of a by-gone Cold War era may cast on the region.

However, with recent events that have revealed growing tensions in the region between Colombia and a group of countries that include Venezuela and Nicaragua, most other countries in the region do not want to cast their names in the ring for fear of tarnishing their national reputation. Many have learned the lesson from UN regional elections in the past 5 years where Venezuelan diplomats quickly unleashed ad hominine and unwarranted attacks to their detractors—such as calling them “stooges of the imperialists.”

A recent example was in 2006 when Guatemala asserted its national right and prerogative to campaign for a non-permanent seat to the Security Council several years in advance only to be challenged by Venezuela months before the election. Despite winning 47 of the 48 ballots against Venezuela, Guatemala had to relinquish its Security Council aspirations to a third candidate. No one in the region wants a repeat of that election, the third longest contest for a seat on the Security Council in the U.N.'s history.

Some diplomats from other countries have expressed their concerns about Nicaragua’s capacity to properly take on this role. These diplomats work along side the current Nicaraguan diplomats and attest to the Nicaraguan Mission’s stark limitations. UN insiders know that this position will require a group of capable individuals who understand the ins and outs of UN procedural matters, have a vast institutional memory of the United Nations and possess the capability to cover all aspects of the more than 150 items of the UN agenda.

The UN General Assembly President’s staff will need to adroitly facilitate the UN reforms and confront new complex challenges that the world community faces. Last time a member of the region presided the General Assembly was St. Lucia, and that country relied heavily on the help from the other CARICOM members. The best that one can hope for is that Nicaragua receives enough funding and staff from its sponsors Venezuela and Cuba to discharge this position with “national dignity,” or at least appear to do so.

A related New York Times article was published on April 13, 2008.

Ortega's Slush Fund Courtesy of Hugo Chavez

In his message to the nation Wednesday night, President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega confessed that he manages a fund of $520 million at his discretion with Venezuelan origins. This incriminating confession emerged as Ortega ruled out the possibility of accepting the demands from striking transport workers to subsidize the high fuel costs with funds from ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas and the Caribbean). According to Ortega, the money was used to develop a series of social projects in Nicaragua.

The larger question about this assertion is how and why he is using foreign aid without any accountability. The use of a donation or loan without properly recording it in the national budget and without approval of the National Assembly violates a number of laws.

According to Article 112 of the Political Constitution of Nicaragua, the Law on General Budget of the Republic regulates the ordinary and extraordinary income and expenditure of the public administration. According to this law, the General Budget of the Republic contains, among other things, the internal and external breakdown of donations and loans…” (Financial Administration and Budget System Act of the Republic of Nicaragua, LAW 550; Adopted on July 28 2005, Chapter II, Section I and Annex I).

Unfortunately, Nicaragua’s institutions may not have the teeth to enforce these laws. Certainly, these are grounds for impeachment.

Nicaragua is Not a Terrorist Paradise

The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, Manuel Coronel, dismissed the criticism that the government of Daniel Ortega granted asylum to two more FARC guerrillas (La Prensa).

The two Colombians, Martha Perez, 24 years old, and Doris Bojorquez Torrez, 21 years old were found in a camp that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) held in Ecuador and which was attacked by Colombian armed forces.

Nicaragua has offered asylum for "humanitarian reasons." When questioned by the press, Vice Minister Coronel asserted that asylum is not only a universal right, but prevails as paramount for members of the current Nicaraguan administration, given their "guerrilla background.”

Perhaps the Nicaraguan official reflects a debate relegated to pure semantics: That the FARC are a belligerent force and not terrorists. While this could have been the case at its inception, as the FARC evolved into traffickers of illicit drugs and practiced common criminal acts (kidnapping and murder), the group lost its idealism along the way.

More important for Daniel Ortega and his cadres should be the fact that harboring militants of a group classified as terrorists by the United States in a post 9/11 world exposes the Nicaraguan people to an unfavorable scrutiny.

In an attempt to assert Nicaragua’s sovereign rights, the Nicaraguan government demonstrates its irresponsible leadership. While the current Nicaraguan officials may be former guerrillas (some with less than noble antecedents), the Nicaraguans on the street are just hardworking people trying to eke out a living and get on with their lives.

Ortega involved in “FARC-Gate”

In February 2007, Daniel Ortega asked President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez to pass a message to the FARC that he would "send some old slingshots (code for rifles to the guerrillas) that we have stored here, and that I know that still work," (La Prensa, May 2008).

It is stretch, though conceivable, that Ortega alluded to the SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles. The Soviet Union supplied the missiles at a time when Ortega's former leftist Sandinista government was an ally in Cold War-era struggles against the United States during the eighties. It is reported that Nicaraguan still has 400 undestroyed missiles (WP, Feb. 2007). However, it is well known that many more undocumented and unaccounted arm caches exist in Nicaragua.

Colombian authorities and the Interpol are beginning to piece the puzzle based on documents in the computer found in a raid of a FARC camp last month. The computer belonged to "Raul Reyes," second in command of the Colombian guerrillas who was killed by the Colombian armed forces last March in Ecuador.

According to the documents found, in 2003 the FARC created an international campaign composed of clandestine cells and supported by movements of the Latin American radical left. Named the Continental Bolivarian Coordinator (CCB), this network has offices in 17 countries, including Germany and Switzerland. The ultimate goal of the CCB is to create a great revolutionary army with the support of masses to overthrow the capitalist system and install socialism, according to a report published in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

Striking Against Rising Food and Oil Prices

As Daniel Ortega played host to 14 Latin American and Caribbean heads of state and government convened under the umbrella of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), Nicaragua is paralyzed with the ominous smell of burning tires and barricades for now five days.

President Daniel Ortega, once ringleader of such mass manifestations as opposition party to pressure the government, is getting a taste of his own medicine. The Nicaraguan executive has failed to dismantle the transport strike besieging Managua from the periphery. The heart of the protests is the government’s failure to alleviate rising food and fuel prices.

In an attempt to divert attention to himself and his government’s inability to solve its domestic problems, Ortega called the food crisis an "epic problem" caused by the "tyranny of global capitalism." At the conclusion of the summit, all but two participating nations signed a joint resolution that incorporated specific language supporting ALBA. Costa Rica and El Salvador abstained from signing. (CSM, May 8).

One must wonder how such claim can be made when he is paying back his debt to Hugo Chavez by exporting foodstuff to Venezuela at more than favorable terms for Chavez. Ortega should join other developing nations that are harnessing international trade opportunities with rising commodity prices. Instead of focusing his attention in lofty rhetoric that attacks an “external boogie man,” Ortega should develop an agro industry development strategy to feed his people.

Biting the Hand that Feeds

When American officials report on the state of Nicaragua in the US Congress for confirmation of US ambassador or budgetary allocations for official development assistance (ODA), some questions are raised about Nicaragua’s relationship with Iran and Ortega’s anti-American stance. Understandably, foreign policy and engagement is meant to set its sight for the long-term and have the recipients of the aid in mind.

But few Americans, liberal or conservative, know that the US has pledged 175 million dollars for five years since 2005 with the condition that Nicaragua strides to fight corruption and strengthen its democracy: areas that the current Nicaraguan administration is running to the ground. Daniel Ortega continues his anti American and European tirades for “internal consumption” but on the margins he sends the message that he does not mean those words. But this double speak can last only so long.

Nicaraguans voted in a leader who claimed to have changed his ways. Unfortunately, albeit only 38 per cent voted Ortega into power, the remaining public will have to suffer for allowing his return. In an open democracy, the polity has the right to elect its president—and you get what you elect.

However, despite international pledges to increase ODA to 0.7 per cent of GDP without conditionality, each donor country must be accountable to its electorate to advance its national interests. For this reason, several donor countries have begun withdrawing aid to Nicaragua. Consequently, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, Samuel Santos currently tours Europe to salvage that region's declining aid to Nicaragua.

As we Americans tighten our belts to confront a staggering economy and pay taxes of nearly 33 per cent of our earned income, how long should we continue to throw our money to an administration that accuses the US government of financing a destabilization campaign in Nicaragua and calls the US imperialists Yankees?

Ortega Hostels FARC Terrorists, Santos Covers

President Daniel Ortega offered Nicaraguan citizenship to known FARC terrorist, Lucia Moreto. The 26-year-old Mexican National turned Colombian FARC member was rescued alive after the attack on Ecuadorian territory where FARC No. 2, "Raul Reyes" died. She appeared in Nicaragua with Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo.

Samuel Santos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua dismissed rumors that Moreto is hiding in one of Santos’ residences located in the prestigious subdivision in Las Nubes, in the hills of El Crucero overlooking the Capital City of Managua. Questioned further by the press, Santos defended Ortega’s unilateral prerogative to hostel Moreto and reiterated that she was resting in transit. However, Santos conceded that she has not applied for citizenship or residency in Nicaragua

Alongside Moreto, two other Colombian young women, Martha Perez, 24 years, and Doris Bojorquez Torrez, 21 are protected by Nicaragua. These two women are hauled in the Nicaraguan diplomatic residence in Quito, Ecuador shielded by diplomatic immunity from extradition to Colombia.

Ortega Suspends Elections with Blood

Gonzalo Carrion, legal director for the Caribbean coast of the Center for Human Rights, (in Spanish, Centro Nicaragüense de Derechos Humanos or Cenidh), stated to the local media that last week's violence in the Caribbean coast was calculated by the national "political mafia.” Carrion believes that the Supreme Electoral Council, (in Spanish, Consejo Supremo Electoral or CSE), and the Executive branch of government, orchestrated the violence to suspend the municipal elections in Bilwi, Prinzapolka and Waspam.

"It is an ominous precedent for the nation, because the CSE legitimized its resolution with blood. This was a political decision already taken, which waited to the outbreak of the conflict as an excuse to emerge and force a response to the constitutional violation," says Carrion.

From the old (FSLN) Sandinista play book of causing havoc to get his way: Ortega controls the CSE through the deciding vote of the CSE presiding magistrate, Roberto Rivas—the once Liberal Party magistrate who owes his position to Daniel Ortega; and the National Police, which sat on its hands as violence broke out. Please read below in previous articles about Ortega’s motives for subverting elections in three municipalities of the Caribbean coast.

Mr. Carrion’s analysis of the violent conflict that occurred in Bilwi last Friday clearly paints a bleak picture of Nicaragua’s human and political rights under Ortega. As the Caribbean incident is a testing ground for Ortega, what happened last week portents for Nicaragua a growing move to authoritarian rule and more human rights violations, at any cost.

The above declarations of Gonzalo Carrion are taken from El Nuevo Diario on-line version: Lara, Rafael. “Sangre Calculada,” April 6, 2008.

Ortega Suspends Caribbean Elections

With a divided vote of 4 to 3 magistrates, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) decided to postpone the elections for six months in Puerto Cabezas, Prinzapolka and Waspam for lack of technical conditions. (But who is at fault here for the lack of technical conditions, if not the CSE, and for lack of progress in the reconstruction of the region when all hurricane relief funds were channeled through the central government, if not the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega.)

Ortega intended to suspend municipal elections in three municipalities in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) for business and political reasons. The Nicaraguan government wants to protect timber concessions that are in the process of granting to US and Chinese companies, and Venezuelan oil fields exploration in the Tawira community, adjacent to Waspam.

While Ortega may want to give the mayors of the Yatama Party, which is aligned with the Sandinistas, more time to improve their administration to ensure their reelection, there are many who believe that Ortega wants more time to ensure that he covers his tracks of diverted donations for the victims of Hurricane Felix and the suspicious Iranian and Venezuelan activities in the Caribbean Coast.

Ortega has demonstrated once again his insensitivity to and disregard for the indigenous communities of the Caribbean Coast, including the Miskito Indians. If Ortega really cared about the victims of Hurricane Felix, he would not have omitted its mention in his address to the UN General Assembly in September 2007 shortly after the hurricane struck Nicaragua. Instead, on that occasion Ortega lambasted US "imperialists" on behalf of the "millions of victims of colonialism and neo-colonialism" around the world in a speech authored by his international affairs advisor, Miguel D’Escoto.

Ortega to Disfranchise Caribbeans

President Daniel Ortega, along with several Supreme Electoral Council magistrates, has backed the idea of suspending these elections until the region recovers from the destruction of Hurricane Felix that hit the area in the summer of 2007. Backers believe that the region is not ready to hold elections and that the resources to hold the elections should be used for socio-economic programs in that area.

Consequently, the legislative branch of government has come to a deadlock: members of the two liberal parties in the National Assembly of Nicaragua issued a joint statement yesterday that led to suspension of the discussion about the controversial Law of Responsible Use of Electric Service and warned about the threat to democracy, if any Power of the State or institution suspended elections in three municipalities in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), which were affected by Hurricane Felix.

According to a statement signed by the deputies of the Nicaraguan Democratic Coalition (BDN before ALN) and the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC), only the National Assembly is empowered to suspend any election in the country, with an amendment to the Electoral Law.

Ortega risks eroding the country’s governance and democratic institutions if he sets the precedent of unilaterally suspending elections, thereby circumventing the established legal framework and violating the division of State Powers as established by the Political Constitution of Nicaragua.

Once again, Ortega may be flying this test balloon for other elections, including any future Nicaraguan general elections that augur results to his dislike. In the process of advancing these ulterior motives, Ortega will disfranchise a whole segment of the population, which has been marginalized in the past decades, and certainly underserved. We must remember also that the Sandinistas massacred entire Miskito Indian communities in the 1980's.

Ortega Violates Human Rights in Trash Conflict

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) and the Standing Committee on Human Rights of Nicaragua (CPDH) declared that President Daniel Ortega’s order of non-intervention to the National Police in the conflict in La Chureca violated the right to security of residents of Managua, Nicaragua. These declarations are nothing new to Ortega's human rights track record, although this chalks up among the lesser human rights violations in his long political life.

We can be sure that Ortega's approval rating will plummet further from the 21 per cent reported at the end of February. Considering the fact that he was elected by 38 per cent, Ortega is clearly chipping away at his historical Sandinista base.

Trash Talk: Ortega, Marenco and La Chureca

Managua is brimming with garbage and risks an epidemic outbreak. At the bottom is the usual divisive politics with the real victims, the most vulnerable sectors of society. The heart of the problem is the animosity between Mayor Dionisio Marenco and President Daniel Ortega. While both are members of the Sandinista Party, Mareco and Ortega's political differences have heightened lately.

Marenco threatens Ortega's hold of power and his wife's future aspiration to the Presidency. Marenco's popularity far exceeds that of Ortega (and First Lady Rosario Murillo). Marenco has been blackballed for his refusal to toe the Sandinista party line. The Workers National Front (Frente Nacional de los Trabajadores or FNT), a workers union that answers to Ortega and is not part of the dumpsite's community, entered the conflict and blockaded the entrance of municipal garbage trucks to La Chureca.

Marenco's efforts to resolve the garbage problem in Managua has been further stymied by the inability (unwillingness) of the police (also controlled by Ortega) to protect municipal workers when in La Chureca.

Political opportunism of Ortega and Murillo exacerbates misguided urban policy and neglect of the marginalized urban poor for decades. The international community should know that it is reported that over 400 children reside with their families in La Chureca.

This image of a young girl picking and sorting trash for recyclable metals at garbage dumpsite La Chureca, Managua (photo EFE).

Costa Rican Artist Inhumanness for Art's Sake

Guillermo Habacuc Vargas, a polemic artist whose work involved tying-up a dog in an art gallery and allowing it to die has been invited to represent his work at the Bienal Centroamerica Honduras 2008. The Bienal Centroamerica is a visiual art exposition that showcases works from the region, including Nicaragua.

Habacuc Vargas' work clearly evoked a visceral reaction at the sight of such animal cruelty in the name of art. The Costa Rican artist let the dog starve at the Galeria Codice in Nicaragua.

The artist claims that he wanted to demonstrate the hypocrisy in society after the Nicaraguan immigrant, Natividad Canda, was allowed to be attacked, killed and partially eaten by two Rottweiler dogs in front of bystanders, including armed Costa Rican authorities in a private property in Costa Rica on November 10, 2005.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) declared inadmissible a lawsuit by the government of Nicaragua against Costa Rica for alleged practices of discrimination against immigrants in March 2007 since this was an isolated case and not part of a systematic discrimination.

The bloggosphere is circulating a petition to boycott the artist's participation at the Bienal Centroamerica Honduras 2008.

Ortega Prefers Rio Group over OAS

Ortega remarked that the Rio Group is a better organization to deal with regional problems than the Organization for American States (OAS). He said that the Rio Group better represents the interests of Latin America and the Caribbean. Ortega commented because he is of the opinion that the United States has nothing to do with Latin America and the Rio Group does not include the United States (although it excludes many Caribbean nations).

Ortega may not recall that the Rio Group was established in 1986 at height of the Cold War to exclude Cuba. The United States (as well as the European Union) has multilateral cooperation programs and dialogues with the region through the Rio Group.

One can only suppose that Ortega has forgotten the work that the Organization of American States (OAS) Mine Action Program has done in providing prostheses and medical attention to landmine victims. It would be better to gloss over the fact that the Sandinistas buried nearly 135,000 landmines in Nicaragua during the eighties. Fortunately, through the cooperation of the OAS Mine Action Program, Nicaragua is set to eliminate all such devices by 2009.

While the OAS has a permanent secretariat for policy implementation, the Rio Group has a rotating temporary secretariat held by Member States every six months. Further, the Rio Group is not a repository of international agreements. Finally, the OAS has 35 members while the Rio Group has the 19 members of continental Latin America.

Was Ortega speaking off-the-cuff again just to deliver a cheap shot at the United States? Unfortunately, it only demonstrates his ignorance of international issues. This is the Nicaragua that is seeking the Presidency of the UN General Assembly.

Nicaragua proposes Joint Patrols with Colombia in the Caribbean

Daniel Ortega reiterates his Government’s willingness to push an agreement through the Rio Group to coordinate joint patrols with Colombia against drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea area to which both countries lay claim and is currently studied in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Ortega said that a joint patrol would give the waiting time so that the ICJ finishes delimiting the maritime boundaries between Colombia and Nicaragua.

Does Ortega expect the US to cooperate in the financing of these joint patrols as it does with Colombia through the Plan Colombia? Nicaragua’s costal patrol fleet is under funded and ill equipped to stop drug traffickers’ speedboats. Nicaragua could only stop one of those speedboats if by chance it would crash into one.