rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (06/14/91)
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499
WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE #70, JUNE 2, 1991
In This Issue:
1. Tensions Rise Over Return of Confiscated Property
2. Teachers Go Back to Work in Nicaragua
3. Nicaragua Hires Lawyers to Settle Salvadoran Conflict
4. US, Embarrassed, Tries to Close Iran-Contra Case
5. Constituent Assembly Shakes Things Up in Colombia
6. Honduran "Cinchonero" Rebels Step Up Attacks...
7. ...While Another Honduran Rebel Group Demands Amnesty
8. Surinamese Vote For Ties With Holland, Not Military Role
9. Labor Leader Elected Mayor of Paraguayan Capital
10. Argentina Says "Condors No, Condoms Si"
11. Nuclear Power: Unsafe in Any Country? (Cuba)
12. House Appropriations Subcommittee Votes Down TV Marti
13. Last Cubans Leave Angola as Civil War Ends
14. Upcoming Events in the New York City Area
1. TENSIONS RISE OVER RETURN OF CONFISCATED PROPERTY
A new confrontation has been developing in Nicaragua over
property confiscated after the 1979 revolution and given out in
grants by the Sandinista government. Since April, National
Assemby deputies from the National Conservative Party (PNC) have
been pushing to nullify Laws 85 and 86 (Barricada Internacional
Update from Managua #31, 5/17/91), which distributed state
properties to thousands of Nicaraguans, many of them Sandinistas.
The laws, passed in the period between the February 1990
elections and the inauguration of the government of Violeta
Barrios de Chamorro on Apr. 25, turned over what some journalists
say was property worth $700 million; people call this transfer
"la pinata." (El Diario-La Prensa (NY) 5/24/91, 6/2/91) Assembly
President Alfredo Cesar says the Assembly's commission on
property, which he heads, will make recommendations at the
beginning of this month for a law "to correct abuses" by the
previous government. (ED-LP 6/2/91)
Also at issue has been Decree 11-90 of May 1990, known as the
Confiscation Review Law, with which the Chamorro government set
up a commission to review applications for the return of
conficscated property (about 5,000 applications to date). On May
17 the Nicaraguan Supreme Court unanimously voted to invalidate
two key articles of the decree, saying that they gave the
president's commission powers the Constitution had reserved to
the court system. (ED-LP 5/23/91; CEPAD Nicaragua Newsbrief
5/31/91) Chamorro's attorney general, Duilio Baltodano, and the
government's legal adviser Tomas Delaney say that they will
comply with the ruling, but claim that it doesn't apply to the
700 cases of property already returned to the original owners.
(BI Update #33, 5/23/91)
Apparently not all the pressure on the property issues comes from
within Nicaragua. Conservative Vice President Virgilio Godoy said
in Miami that US economic aid would be in danger until the
Chamorro government took measures to return confiscated
properties. (ED-LP 6/2/91) And Mexican Ambassador to Nicaragua
Ricardo Galan has been pressing for the return of a home
confiscated from Mexican citizen Amparo Vazques de Morales, whose
husband Jaime Morales Carazo was accused of being a Somocista.
The house in question happens to be the one granted to former
president Daniel Ortega last year. (Latin America Database
5/29/91, from ACAN-EFE, AFP)
Ortega says that if he and his family vacate their house, they
would be sending a message to the government to evict the
thousands of Nicaraguans who got property under Laws 85 and 86.
Meanwhile, Chamorro has tried to calm the situation. On May 25
she released a statement saying that "agricultural workers who
benefited from agrarian reform will receive title to their land,
and those whose property was unjustly confiscated will be
compensated." She said she would accept the Supreme Court
decision on Decree 11-90; she'll reassign the review commission's
functions and determine which institutions of government should
handle the returns of property. (LADB 5/29/91 from ACAN-EFE, AFP)
2. TEACHERS GO BACK TO WORK IN NICARAGUA
After a bitter 42-day strike, Nicaraguan teachers reached an
agreement with the government on May 27 and returned to work the
next day. The teachers accepted a 25% raise, and agreed to make
up for lost school days by working Saturdays, holidays and
through the normal July vacation period. The government promised
to implement a new wage scale in 1992, with salary increases
based on job seniority and special training. (CEPAD 5/31/91; LADB
5/29/91, from ACAN-EFE)
3. NICARAGUA HIRES "LEFTIST LAWYERS" FOR SALVADORAN CONFLICT
In her May 27 column in the Washington Post, Jeane Kirkpatrick
revealed that the Nicaraguan government has hired the law firm of
Reichler and Soble at $7,000 a month for six months to "advise
and assist" the government of Nicaragua in securing "a negotiated
settlement of the civil conflict in El Salvador..." The Reichler
firm, Kirkpatrick points out, "was for a long time extremely
close to Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista government in efforts
to secure a guerrilla victory in El Salvador." "Why,"
Kirkpatrick wonders, "did the government of Nicaragua go outside
official channels to hire leftist lawyers who sat with
Sandinistas in Central American negotiations when the government
of Nicaragua has excellent relations in Washington and
elsewhere?" Kirkpatrick blames the army: "It is said that
[Presidency Minister Antonio] Lacayo agreed to hire Reichler
after [Army Chief] Humberto Ortega threatened to do so himself."
4. US, EMBARRASSED, TRIES TO CLOSE IRAN-CONTRA CASE
On May 28 the US Supreme Court refused to review last year's
ruling by a lower court requiring a "line by line" re-examination
of witnesses' statements in Oliver North's trial. The Court's
refusal could lead to the overturning of North's conviction for
obstruction of Congress--for which North was sentenced to
community service and a fine. (New York Times 5/29/91) Within two
days of the Court's refusal, Senate minority leader Sen. Robert
Dole (R-KS), seconded by 15 House Republicans, had called on the
Justice Department to drop the Iran-Contra investigation on the
grounds that the case had already cost the taxpayers $25 million.
(NYT 5/30/91, 5/31/91) Lawrence Walsh, who heads the Iran-Contra
prosecution team, answered that the investigation, which has been
"very intensive" in the last few months, was almost finished.
(ED-LP 6/2/91, from AP)
This summer will bring confirmation hearings for Robert Gates,
Bush's choice for Director of Central Intelligence. Evidence is
accumulating that Gates lied in earlier testimony about how much
and how soon he knew of the Iran-Contra arms operations. (NYT
5/28/91) What is starting to be known as "Gatesgate" includes
allegations that right up to June of 1990 Gates was instrumental
in exempting Iraq from regulations that might stop the flow of
credits and arms to the Iraqi military. (Village Voice 6/4/91)
Also scheduled for the summer is the trial of deposed Panamanian
general Manuel Antonio Noriega. In a partly censored 31-page
document from the prosecution released May 30, the US government
admitted that "Noriega was a paid asset of the Army and held a
paid relationship with the CIA" (NYT 5/31/91) and that Noriega
spied for the US during the 1977 negotiations for the Panama
Canal treaty. But the US has rejected Noriega's request for
detailed information on alleged US-run exchanges of drugs for
arms in the contra resupply operation. The defense is implying
that the drug trafficking for Noriega is standing trial was
connected with the contra operation. (ED-LP 5/31/91, from AP)
And Washington has yet to make its decision on Costa Rica's
request for the extradition of Contragate figure John Hull,
indicted in connection with contra drug running and with the 1984
bombing of former contra leader Eden Pastora's headquarters in La
Penca, Nicaragua. Washington Post columnists Jack Anderson and
Dale Van Atta report that "there are still many who doubt
Washington will extradite Hull for fear of the potential
embarrassment his trial could cause." But others think Bush may
turn Hull over to Costa Rican justice. One source who worked in
Hull's network told the columnists that Hull is "an old tool of
theirs, not a sharp tool anymore. He'll eventually end up in
Costa Rica, and if he talks too much, some feel he could find
himself in harm's way." (Washington Post 5/26/91)
5. CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY SHAKES THINGS UP IN COLOMBIA
Colombia's National Constituent Assembly, which was elected last
year to reform the country's outdated constitution, will complete
its functions on July 5. The Assembly has introduced an
initiative to hold new elections immediately for a reduced
legislative body, stripped of privileges and with new functions.
The senators and representatives--whose term is not set to expire
until 1994--are naturally quite upset about this, and some are
even threatening to put Colombia's President, Cesar Gaviria
Trujillo, on trial for not keeping the Assembly's powers in
check. Gaviria, who wants changes in the present Congress
postponed until the scheduled 1994 elections, is desperately
trying to find a political agreement that will calm the crisis.
But Alvaro Gomez Hurtado of the conservative National Salvation
Movement--which co-introduced the initiative with the leftist M-
19 Democratic Alliance--fears that the new constitution "would be
devoured by the present members of Congress, the majority of whom
are enemies of it."
Other changes introduced by the Constituent Assembly allow for a
presidential runoff if no candidate wins at least 50% of the
vote, and for the election of a vice president to replace the
"Designado," an official charged with taking over the president's
duties if necessary. (ED-LP 5/29/91, 6/2/91)
6. HONDURAN "CINCHONERO" REBELS STEP UP ATTACKS...
On May 31, the "Cinchoneros" Popular Liberation Movement claimed
responsibility for shooting Roger Aludin Gutierrez, one of their
former leaders. Gutierrez is now in "delicate" condition in the
hospital; he says he was shot by "Raul," the Cinchoneros'
military commander. Gutierrez and three other former Cinchonero
leaders returned recently to Honduras from exile and renounced
the armed struggle, after President Rafael Callejas granted
amnesty to some 300 leftist exiles. There were reports that the
four rebel leaders had confessed to killing former military
Commander-in-Chief Gen. Gustavo Alvarez Martinez, who headed the
dirty war of 1981-84, during which many Hondurans were killed or
disappeared.
The Cinchoneros criticized the four in a May 18 communique for
abandoning the armed struggle, and later threatened them with
death. They also threatened to execute three other recently-
returned leftist exiles "for abandoning the comfort of Managua to
lead a privileged life in Honduras, in exchange for the
destruction of the national revolutionary movement." (ED-LP
5/29/91, 6/2/91; CSUCAPAX Weekly Summary 5/24/91; Inter Press
Service 5/28/91; Hondunet News Bulletin 5/20-29/91)
7. ...WHILE ANOTHER HONDURAN REBEL GROUP DEMANDS AMNESTY
In a May 28 communique, the "Lorenzo Zelaya" Popular
Revolutionary Forces (FPR) announced that they would end their
11-year armed struggle if the government guarantees "a broad and
unconditional amnesty." The rebels also called for greater
democratization, electoral reform, respect for human rights, and
freedom of movement and association for all Hondurans. On May 29,
President Callejas expressed willingness to meet with FPR
leaders. Callejas also said he would ask Congress to debate the
expansion of amnesty legislation approved in December 1990, which
does not allow the release of 300 campesinos imprisoned for
participation in land occupations. (LADB 5/31/91, from ACAN-EFE;
ED-LP 5/30/91)
8. SURINAMESE VOTERS SUPPORT TIES WITH HOLLAND, NOT MILITARY ROLE
On May 25, Suriname held its third parliamentary election since
independence in 1975. Voters in the former Dutch colony
delivered a strong message of support for stronger ties to the
Netherlands and an end to the enormous political power of the
military. The New Front for Democracy and Development, which won
the 1987 elections and held office until it was deposed last
December in a bloodless military coup (see Update #50), took 30
out of 51 seats, a loss of 10 seats. The military-linked
National Democratic Party took 12 seats (up from three) and the
two-month-old Democratic Alternative '91 (DA91) got the last nine
seats. The New Front suffered from its failure to deliver on its
1987 campaign pledges to reduce military dominance, cut consumer
prices, and obtain substantial Dutch economic aid, which had been
cut off in 1982 due to the human rights abuses of the 1980-87
military regime. (IPS 5/25/91, 5/27/91; NYT 5/24/91, 5/26/91)
A key issue in last weekend's vote was a recent proposal from
Holland to establish closer political and economic ties in the
form of a commonwealth. DA91 garnered significant middle class
support by campaigning for a closer relationship with Holland,
seen by many Surinamese as the only way out of long-term poverty,
underdevelopment, and military dominance. But Lt. Col. Desi
Bouterse, the military strongman who has dominated Surinamese
politics since 1980, has warned against using stronger ties with
Holland as a means of ousting him. (NYT 5/24/91, 5/26/91)
9. LABOR LEADER ELECTED MAYOR OF PARAGUAYAN CAPITAL
Paraguayans went to the polls May 26 to elect--for the first time
ever--mayors and local legislatures. In a nation where politics
have been dominated for over a century by two parties, the
Colorados and the Liberals, voters in the capital city of
Asuncion broke with tradition by electing an independent, Carlos
Filizzola, as mayor. Filizzola is the Adjunct General Secretary
of the Unitary Workers Central (CUT), one of three national labor
federations. (ED-LP 5/28/91, 6/2/91) Although the elections were
marked by irregularities like delayed openings of polling places
and missing voter rolls--which President Andres Rodriguez
attributed to Paraguay's inexperience with elections--no one has
challenged Filizzola's victory or the results in most other
municipalities. (ED-LP 5/28/91; World Perspectives, from Swiss
Radio International 5/26/91)
10. ARGENTINA SAYS "CONDORS NO, CONDOMS SI"
Buckling under US pressure, Argentina has promised that "all
elements" of its secret Condor II missile program will be
"cancelled in a complete and irreversible manner." The missile
project, developed since the mid-1980's with financial assistance
from Iraq, was a source of friction recently between the US and
Argentinian governments. Meanwhile, as the Argentinian
government was announcing its scrapping of the Condor II, Chile
unveiled its Rayo missile launching system, jointly developed
with Britain under a contract signed between British Aerospace
and the Chilean army's ordenance factory (FAMAE). Argentinians
are protesting what they see as hypocrisy on the part of the US,
which demanded the destruction of the Condor II in the interests
of regional disarmament, yet looks the other way as Chile
develops the Rayo. (NYT 5/30/91; ED-LP 6/2/91; Observer (UK)
5/19/91)
In an unrelated item, the Argentinian government will spend
$50,000 on condoms to distribute free as part of an AIDS
prevention campaign. Health and Social Action Minister Avelino
Porto told the press that the expenditure represents 2.5% of the
total expected investment in one year in the fight against AIDS.
(ED-LP 5/27/91)
11. NUCLEAR POWER: UNSAFE IN ANY COUNTRY?
Questions are being raised in the US about the safety of a new
nuclear power plant in Cuba, and Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla) has
called on the United Nations to assemble a panel of experts to
study the facility. The controversy began when a recently-
exiled Cuban nuclear engineer told the press that the plant has
serious defects which could cause an accident. State Department
spokesperson Richard Boucher said the US hopes to visit the site,
but that "our understanding is that the design of these reactors
contain essential safety features very similar to U.S.
standards." (Washington Post 5/31/91, ED-LP 5/31/91)
As Boucher spoke, cleanup was still underway at a nuclear fuel
plant in North Carolina, several days after more than 300 pounds
of highly radioactive uranium spilled into a tank of liquid
waste. Federal inspectors who arrived at the plant on the night
of the accident said there was no danger of a nuclear explosion
and only an "unlikely" potential for spontaneous fission, which
would release radioactivity. (NYT 5/31/91)
12. HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE VOTES DOWN TV MARTI
An appropriations subcommittee of the US House of Representatives
voted on May 31 in favor of closing TV-Marti, the US government
TV station which broadcasts to Cuba. The subcommittee in charge
of the budget for the US Departments of Commerce, Justice and
State voted 6-5 to cancel $14 million in the budget for TV Marti
for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, and to cancel immediately
the expenditure of all money remaining from previous years. The
motion was introduced by Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Arkansas), whose
efforts to cut last year's funding for the station were defeated.
Alexander considers TV Marti--which was established in the hopes
of fomenting, through images of US prosperity, discontent among
the Cuban people--"simply ineffective." TV Marti's 2+ hour daily
broadcasts are intercepted by the Cuban government in the area
around Havana, though the signal is received in some parts of
Cuba. The Alexander amendment left the $19.1 million budget for
Radio Marti--the US government's anti-Castro radio station--
intact. (ED-LP 6/2/91)
13. LAST CUBAN INTERNATIONALISTS LEAVE ANGOLA AS CIVIL WAR ENDS
After 16 years of military support for Angola, the last Cuban
troops returned home on May 25. A total of 377,033 Cubans
assisted Angola in its long and bloody war against US-backed
UNITA rebels and the South African armed forces. During the same
period, some 50,000 Cuban doctors, teachers, engineers, and
others provided Angola with technical and humanitarian
assistance. While serving in Angola, 2,077 Cubans lost their
lives. In a 1988 agreement, Cuba agreed to withdraw its troops
by June 30, 1991; under the same accord, South Africa pledged to
stop aiding UNITA and granted independence to Namibia in 1990.
The Angolan civil war formally ended with a ceasefire signed June
1. (NYT 5/26/91, from AP, 6/2/91; ED-LP 5/28/91)
13. UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE NEW YORK CITY AREA
Call NSN (212-674-9499) and Peace Action Line (212-475-7159)
5/7 FRI, 4-8 PM - Rally at City Hall to Demonstrate Third World
Solidarity.
5/8 SAT - Palestine Aid Society's Third Annual Palestine
Walkathon to end Israeli occupation. Beginning at 10:30 am at
Union Square Park. Call 212-385-4233.
5/8 SAT, NOON - Radical Walking Tour. Meet at Bowling Green Park.
212-941-0332.
These updates are published weekly. A one-year subscription is
$22. Back issues and source materials are available on request.
Feel free to reproduce these updates or reprint any information
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **