TUESDAY, JULY 07, 2009

Nicaragua Network Hotline (July 7, 2009)

1. Alexis Argüello suicide unleashes memories and mourning
2. Zelaya tries to return to Honduras with D'Escoto but is forced to land in Managua; coup government detains 100 Nicaraguans
3. National Assembly approves changes to budget
4. Nicaragua coffee wins highest price

Topic 1: Alexis Argüello suicide unleashes memories and mourning

Alexis Argüello died on July 1 of a bullet wound to the heart in what examiners ruled was a suicide. He had, over the years, suffered from severe depression. Argüello, who was serving as mayor of Managua, was the greatest athlete in Nicaragua's history, having won world boxing championships in three weight categories. He was known as the “Gentleman of the Ring” and as the “Explosive Skinny Man.” Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo officiated at his funeral mass in the Plaza of the Revolution. Afterward his body lay in state in the Palace of Culture (former National Palace) in old Managua until he was buried on July 3 with a massive funeral procession that filled Managua streets. A caravan of cars and people on foot carried him to the Department of Masaya where he was buried in Ticuantepe.

Argüello held the World Featherweight title from 1974 to 1977; the World Junior Lightweight title from 1978 to 1980; and the World Lightweight title from 1981-1983. His lifetime win-loss record was 82-8, with 65 knockouts to his credit. In 1992 he was voted into the Boxing Hall of Fame.

At the time of his death Argüello was serving as mayor of Managua for the Sandinista Party. Ironically, his property in Nicaragua had been confiscated by the Sandinista Revolution in the early 1980s because Anastasio Somoza, after his victories in the ring, had made him an honorary lieutenant in his infamous National Guard and used photographs of him in political campaigns. During the 1990s, Argüello began returning to Nicaragua and some of his properties were returned to him. Daniel Ortega personally asked for Argüello's forgiveness for “excesses” in the 1980s and Argüello joined the Sandinista-led Convergence political grouping. He was elected vice-mayor of Managua in 2004. His best known program as vice-mayor was one that provided electric wheel chairs to the handicapped and to seniors.

In Nov. 2008, Argüello was elected mayor of Managua on the Sandinista ticket in elections that were challenged as fraudulent in several cities, including Managua, by opposition political parties and some civil society groups. After news of his suicide broke, the opposition accused the Sandinistas of putting Argüello under too much stress. They said that he must have been affected by not having won fairly and by having some of his duties taken over by the vice-mayor and other officials leading him to believe he wasn't up to the job. Sandinistas said that the right wing media had attacked him mercilessly for not being up to the job, for travelling to other countries as a good will ambassador for Managua, and falsely accusing him of fraud in a business deal when he was vice-mayor while never ceasing the drum beat of accusations of fraud in the vote that elected him.

Save the Children said, “During the time Alexis Argüello was vice-mayor and then as mayor, he was interested in and worked toward making the rights of the child a reality in the municipality.” Los Pipitos, an organization that works with handicapped children, said, “He was present with his strong support for the activities of our organization, especially the Special Olympics.” U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan said that Argüello was well known in the United States and around the world as an athlete who was respectful of everyone, inside and outside the ring.

Topic 2: Zelaya tries to return to Honduras with D'Escoto but is forced to land in Managua; coup government detains 100 Nicaraguans

On Sunday, July 5, President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras and his Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas flew with U.N. General Assembly President and former Nicaraguan foreign minister Fr. Miguel D'Escoto to Tegucigalpa and attempted to land. However, the military, which had overthrown him in a coup on June 28, blockaded the runway with military vehicles and the plane was unable to land, flying instead to Managua. There, Zelaya was met by President Daniel Ortega with whom he had a brief conversation while his plane refueled before taking off for San Salvador. Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), and the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador and El Salvador had flown there directly from an OAS meeting on the situation in Honduras in Washington, DC.

Meanwhile, all was quiet on Nicaragua's northern border after Roberto Micheletti, whom the military installed as president after forcibly removing Zelaya, accused the Nicaraguans of massing troops on that country's border with Honduras. “We have been notified that in Nicaragua they are moving troops toward the border,” Micheletti said in a radio and TV broadcast. Ortega responded by saying, “Nicaragua is not moving troops to Honduran territory. Nicaragua is keeping its troops in their normal positions where they have always been to guard the sovereignty of our country.”

Reporters for El Nuevo Diario said that under drizzling rain, three soldiers kept watch at the El Guasaule Bridge at the border. Notably, at the border station at Las Manos, communication had slowed between officers of the Nicaraguan and Honduran armies, who usually are in regular contact over issues of organized crime and drug trafficking. But no soldiers from the Second Army Battalion stationed in Ocotal had been seen moving toward the border.

At the extraordinary meeting of the OAS on July 4, Nicaragua's ambassador to the organization, Denis Moncada, said that “the coup makers are preparing macabre plans in the direction of making the governments of Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela appear to be responsible for armed aggression against Honduras out of Nicaragua.” He went on to say, “Nicaragua denounces this plan that they are putting together to accuse the government of Nicaragua of supplying arms and equipment to sympathizers of President Manuel Zelaya with which the police and military forces of Micheletti would be attacked.” He went on to say, “Nicaragua wants to say that it is false that our country, Cuba, and Venezuela could be providing or trying to provide arms to any irregular force or to any group of any kind.”

In related news, Foreign Minister Samuel Santos said Nicaragua was making every effort to achieve the freedom of around 100 Nicaraguans who have been detained by the Honduran police for participating in the demonstrations supporting Zelaya. A spokesperson for the Honduran police said that there were 70 Nicaraguans who had been arrested in the Department of Choluteca and the rest had been arrested in other regions including ten in Tegucigalpa who the spokesperson said were encouraging residents of poor neighborhoods to participate in the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, National Assembly deputies of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) on July 1 introduced in the Assembly a resolution that condemned Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his intervention in Central America “with the intention of installing totalitarian regimes that deny democratic freedoms and practices among our peoples.” The resolution denounced “the ambitions to continue in office that ‘Chavism' promotes in his [Chavez'] disciples who try to change the constitutions of the region in violation of democratic principles.” It did not appear that the resolution was going to garner wider support.

After closing for a number of hours on June 29, the borders between Central American countries and Honduras were reopened after a legal analysis concluded that a blockade of commerce was in violation of the Central American Integration Accord. A 48 hour closing of their borders with Honduras by Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua had been declared at a meeting in Managua of the System for Central American Integration (SICA).

Topic 3: National Assembly approves changes to budget

On July 2, the National Assembly approved modifications to Nicaragua's 2009 budget to bring it in line with the reduced revenues (in the amount of US$130 million) caused by the international economic crisis. The new budget reduces expenditures by US$40.8 million and counts on revenues of US$1.21 billion and allocates US$1.58 billion for expenditures. The deficit will be financed, according to Sandinista Deputy Jose Figueroa, by US$22 million in foreign financing and US$67 million in funding obtained from the issuing of bonds and from lowering existing foreign currency reserves.

Constitutional Liberal Party Deputy Francisco Aguirre said that it was “a barbarity” that, while the country was receiving money from Venezuela, it was going further into debt and reducing its reserves. La Prensa reported that the budget includes reductions of US$10 million for education and health. Minister of Education Miguel de Castilla said that the cuts would not affect teacher's salaries. City mayors of parties in opposition to the government gathered at the Assembly to demand that the deputies reconsider the cuts in money for municipalities. Jairo Mendoza, mayor of Terrabona, said that the problem is that the money is already programmed and now the mayors will have to explain to the citizens why projects in such areas as potable water will have to be cancelled.

Deputy Enrique Saenz, of the Sandinista Renovation Movement, rejected the argument that the country's crisis was related to the international economic situation. He attributed it rather to the “irresponsibility of the government for having caused the withdrawal of foreign cooperation” because of the Nov. 2008 municipal elections which the opposition alleged were fraudulent. The Assembly approved the law governing the ALBA Bank which could extend an initial line of credit of US$50 million for the nation's agriculture.

Topic 4: Nicaragua coffee wins highest price

A Nicaraguan specialty coffee won a high bid of US$31 per pound on July 3 during an internet auction in New York called the Cup of Excellence 2009. Importers and roasting companies in Japan, the US, Europe, and Australia participated in the auction of 26 lots of “café oro,” the top grade of coffee. The price obtained by the Nicaraguan coffee was superior to that received by any coffee from El Salvador, Colombia, Honduras or Costa Rica at the Cup of Excellence auctions of their coffees.

The winning coffee came from small producer Maria Amparo Castellanos Paguaga, from Dipilto, Nueva Segovia, who said that the price exceeded her expectation given the global economic crisis. Her farm is on the border with Honduras at 1,300 meters (4,264 feet) above sea level. José Bárcenas, president of the Nicaraguan Association of Special Coffees, said that the flavor and the aroma of jasmine and tropical fruits were key to the excellent quality of the drink.

This hotline is prepared from the Nicaragua News Service and other sources. To receive a more extensive weekly summary of the news from Nicaragua by e-mail or postal service, send a check for $60.00 to Nicaragua Network, 1247 E St., SE, Washington, DC 20003. We can be reached by phone at 202-544-9355. Our web site is: www.nicanet.org. To subscribe to the Hotline, send an e-mail to nicanet@afgj.org
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