LADBAC@UNMB.BITNET (Dr. Barbara A. Kohl) (10/28/89)
October 25, 1989
CENTRAL AMERICA UPDATE
Copyright 1989
(Latin America Data Base, Latin American Institute, University
of New Mexico. Project Director: Dr. Nelson Valdes. Managing
Editor: Dr. Barbara A. Kohl)
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GENERAL
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WORST AIR DISASTER IN CENTRAL AMERICAN HISTORY: SUMMARY
At about 7:45 a.m., a Honduran TAN-SAHSA jetliner
carrying 138 passengers and eight crew members broke apart
in the air and crashed into a peak called Cerro Hules in the
Las Tablitas mountain region, about 30 km. south of the
capital. The Boeing 727-200 was preparing to land at
Tegucigalpa's Tocontin airport.
The plane was on a regular run from San Jose-Managua-
Tegucigalpa. According to AFP, the plane's next stop after
Tegucigalpa was to be Houston, Texas. Notimex reported the
plane's stop in the US was New Orleans.
Control tower employees at Tocontin cited by AP said
unusually strong winds were blowing at the time of the
crash.
--Nicaraguan civil aeronautics chief Maj. Alejandro
Arguello said, "Apparently part of the fuselage, the roof of
the plane, tore off" shortly before the crash. He said he
had received his information from the Central American
Corporation of Aerial Navigation Services, an organization
that provides regional control for commercial aircraft.
Arguello said he was told it appeared that the plane
attempted an emergency landing in a soccer field at the base
of Cerro Hula.
--Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega decreed three days
of national mourning for the dozens of Nicaraguans who died
in the crash.
--AP pointed out that in the last two years, numerous
incidents have occurred involving Boeing jets losing wheels,
engines, or fuselage portions. Most of the incidents were
blamed on metal fatigue which can affect older jetliners.
AP cited Boeing as saying that the jet was 21 years old.
--Late Saturday, TAN-SAHSA general manager Raul Bonilla
confirmed that 15 people had survived the crash, and 131 had
been killed. Bonilla said, "After exhaustively analyzing
the situation, we can be sure that a total of 146 people
were aboard the plane."
Earlier, the airline had said 164 people were aboard.
Nicaraguan officials said at least 65 Nicaraguans were
aboard the plane.
--TAN-SAHSA officials said the dead included Honduran
Labor Minister Armando Blanco Paniagua; Jose Ricardo
Fasquell, chairperson of the country's College of Forestry
Engineers; and Fanny Sanchez, a daughter of Defense Minister
Col. Wilfredo Sanchez.
Mario Rodriguez Cubero, an aide to Costa Rican
president Oscar Arias, was among the dead.
Pilot Raul Argueta was one of the survivors.
--AP cited US Embassy spokesperson Terry Kneebone as
saying there were 15 US citizens aboard, and that three had
survived.
--It was the worst air crash in Central American history.
Oct. 22: AFP cited flight supervisor Alfonso Valladares
as saying that the pilot tried to make an emergency landing.
Witnesses cited by AFP said the plane developed engine
problems, forcing the pilot to attempt an emergency landing.
The plane broke apart and caught fire on impact, witnesses
said.
--Bonilla dismissed reports of the roof of the aircraft
having torn loose as "speculation." He did not offer an
alternative explanation for the crash.
--As of Sunday, the "black box" cockpit voice recorder
had been recovered and sent to the US for examination.
--AFP cited an unidentified TAN-SAHSA official as
saying the airplane was leased 25 years ago from Continental
Airlines.
--The passenger list included 62 Nicaraguans, 45
Hondurans, 11 US citizens and another 20 from Latin America,
Europe and Australia.
Oct. 23: TAN-SAHSA manager Cesar Zelaya confirmed in
statements to Notimex that the airline will pay life
insurance to the relatives of the 131 persons who died in
the crash.
--On Monday, a commission comprised of representatives
of the Honduran government, the airline, Boeing, the US
National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal
Aviation Agency began detailed investigations of the causes
of the accident.
--A Nicaraguan air force plane arrived in Tegucigalpa
with 45 coffins aboard to collect bodies of Nicaraguans who
died in the accident.
--AP cited Honduran Economy Minister Reginaldo Panting
as saying that TAN-SAHSA had rented the plane for $180,000 a
month about a year ago from Continental Airlines. He said
it was valued at $30 million. (Basic data from AP, Notimex,
10/21-23/89; AFP, 10/22/89)
GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT WILL NOT JOIN AMERICAN HEADS
OF STATE AT COSTA RICAN CELEBRATION
On Oct. 23, President Vinicio Cerezo confirmed that he
would not join heads of state from throughout the hemisphere
in San Jose, Costa Rica, this weekend. He said, "The
meeting in San Jose has a grand objective--to celebrate 100
years of Costa Rican democracy--, which we all admire and
recognize. However, it is a protocol affair. There will be
no statements, political decisions, presentations."
Cerezo said that his agenda was quite full this
weekend, and since no serious discussion or decision-making
was scheduled for the San Jose event, he had decided to stay
in Guatemala City.
A report by Notimex suggested that the Guatemalan
leader was chagrined by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias'
ability to upstage his own diplomatic initiatives. In March
this year at an Organization of American States meeting,
Cerezo called for a hemispheric summit to discuss several
regional concerns, including the foreign debt, anti-drug
trafficking efforts, Central America, and a series of
problems under the general headings of Latin America's
deteriorating economic and social welfare conditions. The
tentative date for the summit meeting was set for January
1990.
Since then, President Arias decided to celebrate his
country's "democracy centennial" by inviting his
hemispheric counterparts to the event--with the exceptions
of the presidents of Cuba, Panama and Chile.
An unidentified top Guatemalan official told Notimex
that it would be "very difficult" to arrange another
hemispheric encounter in January, so soon after the Costa
Rican affair. However, he said, his government would
continue with plans to host such a summit.
Some Guatemalan officials and newspaper editors point
out that Cerezo was the principal force behind the first
Central American summit in 1986. Then, in August 1987, the
Esquipulas II peace accords were signed at a summit in
Guatemala City. One of the 1987 accord provisions, the
establishment of a Central American Parliament, was pushed
by Cerezo as an essential forum for regional governments to
organize cooperative programs and to forestall and reduce
conflicts in the interest of long-term peace. The Costa
Rican legislature has not yet approved membership and
participation in the regional parliament. It was Oscar
Arias, however, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his
leadership in advancing the Central American peace process.
Notimex cited unidentified Guatemalan officials who
blame the Foreign Ministry's "erratic" follow-up to the
president's initiatives. Since Cerezo took office, three
foreign ministers have come and gone. The fourth was
installed last week. (Basic data from Notimex, 10/23/89)
STATE DEPARTMENT COMPLAINS ABOUT LACK OF NEUTRALITY BY U.N.
COMMISSION CHARGED WITH OVERSEEING CONTRA DISMANTLEMENT
On Oct. 12, members of the International Commission on
Verification and Support (CIAV), created at the behest of
the Tela summit agreement to oversee the dismantlement of
the contra army, met face-to-face for the first time with
2,500 contra fighters at their camp in Yamales, Honduras.
The commission, comprised of United Nations and Organization
of American States officials, urged the contras to
repatriate to Nicaragua.
A UN official, Francesc Vendrell, addressed the 2,500
armed contras standing in formation. In an extemporaneous
speech, he said, "You are Nicaraguans, patriots and people
of Nicaragua. Don't let yourselves become the subject of a
policy that perhaps has already become an anachronism, and
don't stay here to be abandoned by a country that once
helped you."
Some of the contras were reportedly surprised by
Vendrell's statement. Observers in Nicaragua and elsewhere
were bemused by the contras' reactions, since the very high
probability of no more US aid for the contra war is
well-known, and taken for granted by Nicaraguan opposition
parties, and Central American governments.
State Department officials quickly asserted that the UN
was not maintaining a neutral position in carrying out its
task. Secretary of State James Baker sent a letter to UN
Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar expressing "deep
concern" that the commission had violated its pledge to
remain neutral. US officials reiterated the charge that the
contras had reason to fear for their safety if they returned
to Nicaragua at this time.
By Oct. 19, a spokesperson for Perez de Cuellar
expressed regret that the remarks by commission members in
Honduras led to misunderstandings. [Basic data from
10/20/89 report by Nicaragua Network (Washington, DC); New
York Times, 10/21/89]
*********************
EL SALVADOR
*********************
EL SALVADOR: MILITARY HIGH COMMAND
DISMISSES REBEL PEACE PROPOSALS
At a press conference in San Salvador on Oct. 20,
Defense Minister Gen. Humberto Larios described peace
agreement proposals submitted by the Farabundo Marti
National Liberation Front (FMLN) earlier in the week in San
Jose, Costa Rica, as "absurd, ridiculous and impossible."
The general asserted that the FMLN's armed struggle was
illegitimate, since sufficient political space exists in El
Salvador for citizens to discuss their concerns.
Larios was surrounded by his deputy defense ministers,
the armed forces chief of staff, and 30 commanders of
assorted brigades, battalions and security forces. He said
the objective of the presence of the military high command
at the press conference was "to give a categorical, solid
and clear response of the unity of the armed forces."
Larios denied that divisions existed among the ranks of
the armed forces. The military, he said, is a solid,
professional institution, and transparent to the Salvadoran
people, "because we know" that our role is an extremely
important one. He added, "We are the depositories of the
arms that our people have given us to defend them.
The minister stated that FMLN hopes to "generate
conflict and schisms within the armed forces."
In San Jose, the FMLN proposed that all officers in
charge of the war be retired as a crucial step in a
generalized restructuring of the military. The
restructuring is aimed at instilling respect for human
rights and the "dismantlement of repressive forces." (Basic
data from Notimex, 10/20/89)
EL SALVADOR: RUBEN ZAMORA'S HOME PARTIALLY DESTROYED
At dawn on Oct. 19, in a bomb attack the home of
opposition leader Ruben Zamora was partially destroyed.
Zamora is a leader of the Popular Social Christian Movement
(MPSC). (Basic data from Notimex, 10/20/89)
SALVADORAN GOVERNMENT CHARGED WITH DELAYING REPATRIATION
OF 1,300 REFUGEES SUFFERING ILLNESS & EXPOSURE
On Oct. 23, the National Resettlement Coordinator and
members of a US church delegation accused the government of
holding up the return of 1,300 refugees from a Honduran camp
who are suffering illness and exposure because of the delay.
They called on the government to remove all obstacles to the
repatriation.
Government officials assert that the refugees must be
documented in Honduras by Salvadoran officials before
returning to the country. The Resettlement Coordinator
accused the government "of prolonging the documentation
process" to delay the refugees' repatriation.
The Mesa Grande camp residents had planned to return
Oct. 17. The repatriation was to have been coordinated by
the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR said
it could not provide transportation and other logistics for
the repatriation effort without government approval.
A delegation of 30 US churchpeople traveled to Honduras
and El Salvador early this month to accompany the
repatriated Salvadorans. The Rev. Marilyn Chilcote, a
Presbyterian pastor from Oakland, Calif., said three people
have died in Mesa Grande from exposure since the refugees
dismantled their shacks last week to prepare for the
departure. She added that an epidemic of dengue fever has
afflicted many refugees.
About 300 refugees accompanied by Salvadoran and US
churchworkers left Mesa Grande on foot last week for the
border. The refugee advocates said the Salvadorans reached
San Marcos Ocotepeque, where they remain in precarious
conditions in a church. They are waiting for the Salvadoran
government to complete its documentation process.
Since 1987, about 7,000 refugees have returned to El
Salvador to resettle in the northern region of the country.
The government claims the repatriates and the refugees in
Honduras are sympathizers and collaborators of the Farabundo
Marti National Liberation Front. (Basic data from AP,
10/23/89)
ON SALVADORAN PRESIDENT CRISTIANI'S ECONOMIC POLICIES
When President Alfredo Cristiani took power on June 1,
the budget deficit totaled $460 million, foreign currency
reserves were virtually exhausted, and the government had
accumulated $165 million in payment arrears on a $1.9
billion foreign debt. Next, 40% of all loans in the
nation's banking system were non-performing.
Since June, Cristiani has eliminated the fixed exchange
rate, announced that price controls on utilities and about
230 consumer goods would be eradicated, slashed government
spending, permitted interest rate hikes, and pledged to cut
tariffs.
In March 1980, a joint military-civilian junta
introduced an agrarian reform program, nationalized the
banks and brought marketing of major exports under the
control of government agencies. Most of provisions
contained in the agrarian reform program were not approved
by the National Assembly, or, if legislated, sabotaged.
Cristiani's government has pledged to dismantle land
reform efforts that have proven to be "inefficient," end the
government monopoly of coffee and other agro-export sales,
and privatize several state-run companies and the banking
system.
US aid last year totaled $314 million in direct
assistance, and $145 million in credits. The Salvadoran
economy is also dependent on money sent by Salvadorans
working abroad.
Discussions toward reaching agreements with the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are
underway. Unidentified diplomats and economists in San
Salvador cited by the New York Times said they expect
the first disbursement of a $45 million package to begin
early next year. (Basic data from New York Times, 10/23/89)
*********************
NICARAGUA
*********************
18 NICARAGUAN TROOPS KILLED IN CONTRA AMBUSH
On the evening of Oct. 21, near the village of Cerro
del Mono, Matagalpa department, contras ambushed two trucks
carrying reserve troops. A Defense Ministry report released
Oct. 22 said 18 soldiers were killed, and eight wounded.
The report stated that the troops were taken by surprise and
could not return fire. A news release said the soldiers
were en route to their homes in order to register to vote in
the February 1990 elections.
The Ministry said the attack was part of a contra
campaign to "disrupt the electoral process."
On Oct. 23, following a meeting with Elliot Richardson,
UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar's personal
representative in the UN electoral process monitoring
project, President Daniel Ortega told reporters, "We must
demand that the US government clarify, once and for all, if
it favors elections or war."
Ortega asserted that the US is busy creating obstacles
to the electoral process. "They continue opposing
demobilization of the contras in Honduran territory, they
continue promoting a policy of strangulation against
Nicaragua and maintain financing of the contra armed
mercenaries and now have approved financing of the disarmed
mercenaries," he said.
In February 1988, Congress cut off military aid to the
contras, and continued non-lethal support, including $49
million approved earlier this year. The most recent aid
bill contains a clause that would permit an aid cutoff if
the contras launch attacks within Nicaraguan territory. The
Nicaraguan government, some news agencies, and human rights
groups have documented ongoing contra attacks.
Richardson told reporters, "Regrettably, the electoral
process is still marred in some places by the continuing
armed actions of some groups."
Supreme Electoral Council president Mariano Fiallos
said at least 60 registration sites had not opened during
the registration period because of actual or threatened
contra attacks. Voter registration took place on the first
four Sundays of October. (Basic data from AP, AFP,
10/22/89, 10/23/89)
NICARAGUA: EDEN PASTORA & YATAMA ENDORSE SOCIAL CHRISTIAN &
POPULAR SOCIAL CHRISTIAN PARTIES IN ELECTORAL ALLIANCE
Former contra commander Eden Pastora will return to
Nicaragua on Dec. 3 to actively support the presidential
campaign of Erick Ramirez, president of the Social Christian
Party (PSC). The date of his return was decided on Oct. 19
in San Jose, Costa Rica, where Pastora signed an accord
stating his endorsement of Ramirez.
Ramirez released the accord to the media on Oct. 20.
The document said, "In view of the fact that Dec. 4 is the
official date for the beginning of the electoral campaign,
we announce Dec. 3 as the definitive date of Comandante
Pastora's return."
Pastora, who describes himself as a defender of the
original principles of the Sandinista revolution, said his
intent is to "initiate a new phase of struggle...which
responds to the people's aspirations..."
Pastora, a former FSLN commander (known as Comandante
Cero), served as deputy defense minister until 1981 when he
announced his decision to join the contras. In April 1982,
he announced in Costa Rica the formation of a new contra
faction, the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE).
Pastora has been in "retirement" as a contra commander for
more than two years.
Comandante Cero's announcement follows the endorsements
of the PSC by indigenous leaders Brooklyn Rivera and
Steadman Fagoth. Yatama, an indigenous organization of the
North Atlantic coast, has also endorsed the PSC. In late
September, the Popular Social Christian Party (PPSC)
withdrew from UNO, and formed an alliance with the PSC.
[Basic data from 10/20/89 report by Nicaragua Network
(Washington, DC); Notimex, 10/20/89]
NOTES ON LAST DAY OF NICARAGUAN VOTER REGISTRATION
Last week, the Supreme Electoral Council reported that
1,336,342 Nicaraguans--of an estimated 1,970,486 eligible to
vote--, had registered to vote on the first three Sundays of
the registration drive. Government officials said that with
the fourth and last Sunday to register, Oct. 22, they
expected the total to reach over 90% of the electorate.
Among the foreign monitors on hand Oct. 22 was Elliot
L. Richardson, a former US Attorney General, appointed last
month as the personal representative of UN Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar in supervising the hundreds
of UN personnel who will monitor the election. [Basic data
from 10/20/89 report by Nicaragua Network (Washington, DC);
New York Times, 10/23/89)
NICARAGUA: INTERVIEW WITH MAURICIO DIAZ, POPULAR SOCIAL
CHRISTIAN PARTY PRESIDENT, ON ELECTORAL PROCESS, PROSPECTS
[The interview reproduced below took place prior to the
last week in September, when the Popular Social Christian
Party withdrew from the opposition party coalition, known as
the National Opposition Unity (UNO). The interview was
distributed by the Nicaraguan Embassy, Netherlands (The
Hague, Netherlands), via GeoNet, a commercial computer
network. One of the GeoNet systems ("GEO2"), employed by
users in the United Kingdom and members of international
non-governmental organizations, routed the interview on
10/17/89 to Peacenet, a non-profit computer network based in
San Francisco, Calif.]
Q.: What is the role of the Nicaraguan Resistance
[contra movement] after the Tela summit accords of Aug. 7?
Diaz: My party has always been critical of the contra
option and always condemned President Reagan's military
doctrine against the Sandinistas. We believe the contra
project strengthened the FSLN [Sandinista National
Liberation Front]...Reagan was both the Sandinistas' worst
enemy and their best ally because he allowed the
transformation of Nicaragua into a type of victim of Yankee
imperialism.
Therefore, we have made it clear to State Department
officials and Congresspersons that we demand a US policy
more in line with reality. There were some who told us,
"The Sandinistas are communists and one day they will kill
your ass." But those hardliners have changed their minds
after seeing the corruption of the top contra political
chiefs.
The contra army will have to submit to the Esquipulas
II Accords and ensuing agreements requesting its
demobilization. Its members should participate in the
electoral campaign hand in hand with the opposition. We
don't believe the contras are the guarantors of the
Esquipulas and Tela accords, since they represent the worst
option: terrorism. That is the official position of my
party.
Q: In your view, is UNO's position similar?
Diaz: UNO doesn't have an official position on the
matter. But it is high time that those who have supported
the contras change their ways as a new reality is emerging.
The Nicaraguan Democratic Coordinator has been weakened and
so have the hardliners within the UNO. Likewise, the COSEP
[Superior Council of Private Enterprise] does not have a
strong voice within UNO.
You will find various political tendencies within UNO
as well as a centrist line calling for a realistic and
modern program. Nicaragua has changed. There are new faces
and new names as well as a new economic and social
structure...
Q.: If the contras do not comply with the Tela accords,
how would your party react?
Diaz: Those who have said they won't comply are
speaking empty words. As an empire, the US needs to find an
honorable solution to the political and military defeat of
the contras. Let us not forget the US is an empire and
empires are in the habit of imposing their will. In all of
history, this is the first time that a country like
[Nicaragua] imposed the rules of the game and managed to
isolate, both in the region and worldwide, an aggressive US
foreign policy.
The fate of the resistance is tragic. They were
designed not to win but to apply pressure. Now that the
objectives for which they were created were not achieved,
they are abandoned by all. This is because their presence
destabilized all of Central America, but particularly
Honduras and Costa Rica, who finally grew weary of them.
After a while, what was once a business arrangement for
[Honduran] President [Jose] Azcona and some of his military
chiefs, became a loss of prestige, an army within an army.
It was difficult for the Honduran government to say the
contras exist...in fact, but did not exist in a legal sense.
All of these things have contributed to the debilitation of
the US strategy of low intensity conflict.
Q.: Was the national dialogue [between the Nicaraguan
government and opposition parties, concluded on Aug. 4]
important? In what way?
Diaz: It was important in that it demonstrated the UNO
is not the political arm of the contras, nor does it
represent the political viewpoints of the likes of Enrique
Bermudez or Adolfo Calero. The accords signed at the
conclusion of the dialogue were a death warrant for the
contras. Bermudez's reaction on the following day was one
of surprise and rage.
Within the UNO there are different political currents:
the leftovers of the Democratic Coordinator, that is the
extreme right, and parties like ours, in the center. The
Sandinista government says we are center right, but I think
---
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