From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: NY Nica News Update #139, 9/27/92
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 00:32:04 GMT

/** reg.nicaragua: 186.0 **/
** Topic: Weekly News Update #139, 9/27/92 **
** Written  5:31 am  Sep 28, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

     NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK            
   339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499          
              WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE #129, 9/27/92 
 
In This Issue: (articles are posted as responses to this message)
 
1. US Congressperson Visits Nicaragua
2. Nicaraguan Government Considers Suspension of Debt Payments 
3. Nicaraguan President Speaks at UN General Assembly 
4. Four Sandinistas Refuse to Face Ethics Commission
5. "Credibility Canyon": Contragate in Bush-Clinton Race... 
6. ... While Convicted Contragate Liars Lie Again
7. Haiti One Year After Coup: Military Still in Charge
8. US Treated Haitian Refugees Like Prisoners of War
9. Police Kill Two Protesters in Dominican Republic
10. Looting and Strikes Against Economic Policy in Ecuador 
11. Ecuador Begins Free Trade with Colombia Oct. 1
12. Mexico: Civil Resistance Heats Up in Michoacan
13. Execution of Mexican Prisoner Postponed Indefinitely
14. US Congress Approves New Restrictions on Cuba 
15. Cuba Dismisses Top Party Leader
16. Cuba Agrees on Russian Brigade Pullout
17. Cuba Repays 20-Year-Old Debt with Chile
18. Chilean Arms Dealer Urges Investment in Cuba
19. General Alert in Panama After Explosions
20. Singer Ruben Blades To Give Up Salsa for Politics
21. Honduran Ex-Rebel Kidnaps Costa Rican Government Official 
22. Brazil: Collor Impeachment Vote Set
23. Paraguay Sets Election Date
24. Upcoming Events in the New York City Area (and Delegations)
 
These updates are published weekly. A one-year subscription is
$25. Back issues and source materials are available on request.
(Many of our source materials are available on Peacenet.) Feel
free to reproduce these updates or reprint any information from
them, but please credit us. We welcome your comments and ideas:
send them via Peacenet to <nicanetny>.
 
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** Written  5:32 am  Sep 28, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

1. US CONGRESSPERSON VISITS NICARAGUA 
US Rep. Bill Alexander (D-AR), a friend and close associate of
Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton, visited Managua
on Sept. 8 and 9. During his short visit, Alexander met with a
number of people, including President Chamorro and FSLN Secretary
General Daniel Ortega. His fact-finding mission was ostensibly to
investigate charges against the Chamorro government in a report
issued by the office of rightwing Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC); it
will also end up contributing to a House Appropriations Committee
brief on Nicaragua.
 
Both privately and in public, Alexander's tone was very positive.
He expressed strong support for aid to Nicaragua and praised the
efforts of the Chamorro administration to bring "reconciliation,
democratic reform and economic development" to Nicaragua. Though
reluctant to comment on particular allegations in the Helms
report before making a further evaluation, Alexander noted that
"some items are fact, some are fiction."  [Central American
Historical Institute Memo #244, 9/10-17/92]
 
It was Rep. Alexander who introduced an amendment to cut funding
for the US anti-Castro TV Marti broadcasts to Cuba, calling them
"a residue of the cold war"; the amendment passed the House on
July 30 but was effectively defeated by a second amendment pushed
through by conservatives. (See Update #131)
 
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2. NICARAGUAN GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS SUSPENSION OF DEBT PAYMENTS
The Nicaraguan government is considering suspending payment of
interests on its foreign debt, if the $116 million in US aid
frozen by the State Dept. is not released by Sept. 30, explained
Foreign Cooperation Minister Erwin Kruger on Sept. 19. Kruger
said this will be one of several measures the government will
take to deal with the aid delays through negotiations with
creditor countries and organizations. Kruger added that "there
are good signs that the aid from the US will be disbursed" before
Sept. 30. [La Jornada (Mexico) from EFE and Prensa Latina] 
 
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3. NICARAGUAN PRESIDENT SPEAKS AT UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
At opening day of UN General Assembly's 47th session, Nicaraguan
President Violeta Chamorro spoke of her administration's
achievements over the past two years, saying that the world "has
not taken full consciousness of what is at stake" where "liberty
is yet terribly fragile." She urged nations to support new
democracies, especially financially. [New York Times 9/22/92]  
 
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4. FOUR SANDINISTAS REFUSE TO FACE ETHICS COMMISSION
Four Sandinistas have renounced their militancy in the FSLN and
are refusing to appear before the party's Commission of Ethics
and Honor. The Commission considered it "pertinent" to make
public in a communique the case of the four former militants, who
have refused to respond to charges against them. The four are
deputy Alejandro Guevara, Wascar Lanzas (a former official of
government food distribution agency ENABAS), Guillermo Arce
(brother of FSLN National Directorate member Bayardo Arce) and
Paul Atha. [El Diario-La Prensa (NY) 9/24/92 from AP] Atha owned
the now-bankrupt Plaza Espana bakery, whose workers claimed he
let the business fail by pumping its profits into his other
failing enterprises. When workers took over the bakery, Atha
called in the police to forcibly remove them. (See Update #104,
1/26/92)
 
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5. "CREDIBILITY CANYON": CONTRAGATE IN BUSH-CLINTON RACE... Six
years after public revelations of the Iran-contra affair, the
scandal has become an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. On
Sept. 3 Democratic vice presidential candidate Al Gore said Bush
had a "credibility canyon" in his claim that he was "out of the
loop" in the arms deals. [New York Times 9/4/92] Four days later
the Democrats' presidential candidate Bill Clinton complained to
reporters that while they repeatedly questioned his draft record,
"you all don't even ask" Bush about "his support for illegal
conduct" in Iran-contra. [NYT 9/8/92] Several major articles
followed pointing to public information on Bush's role in the
affair. [NYT 9/19/92, 9/25/92, 9/26/92; Washington Post 9/24/92,
9/25/92] The week before the articles appeared, a USA
Today/CNN/Gallup poll reported that 55% of respondents were
dissatisfied with Bush's "explanation of his involvement in the
Iran-contra deal when he was vice-president." [WP 9/24/92]  
Despite the renewed publicity, special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh
announced on Sept. 17 that his office's Iran-contra investigation
would end with no further indictments. [NYT 9/18/92; WP 9/18/92
from Reuter] Meanwhile, Congress seems to be in no hurry to
extend the 1978 special prosecutor law which made the
investigation possible; Congress must act by early October or the
law will lapse. [NYT 9/15/92] At this point, no one seems
interested in following up on suggestions appearing in the
Village Voice last spring that Clinton too had a connection with
contragate. [See Update #130.]
 
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6. ... WHILE CONVICTED CONTRAGATE LIARS LIE AGAIN
Even as the presidential campaign focused on Bush's Iran-contra
role, other well-known contragate figures continued to turn up in
Washington as "experts" on various subjects. On Sept. 13 the
Washington Post ran a letter from Alan Fiers registering his
"dismay and sadness" that the Post had "turn[ed] its back on the
murder of former contra leaders" (allegedly by Sandinistas).
Fiers was identified as "former chief of the CIA's Central
American Task Force"; the Post failed to mention his conviction
in July of last year on two misdemeanour charges connected with
the Iran-contra affair. [See Update #76]
 
On Sept. 22 the Post printed an op-ed piece by former contra
spokesperson Bosco Matamoros, who called Nicaraguan President
Chamorro a dictator, charged "Sandinista security forces" with
murdering "more than 100" ex-contras "with impunity," and called
for US aid to be held off unless it is "channeled through an
independent body such as the Catholic Church." [WP 9/22/92] On
Sept. 16, 1985, Matamoros told investigators that he was "not
engaged in any lobbying activities, and that his salary and
expenses are paid from private funds." Eight days later Matamoros
registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as a
lobbyist who had "received aid from the US government" since
1981. [Holly Sklar, Washington's Secret War on Nicaragua, 1988,
p. 244] 
 
And on Sept. 24 the Senate Select Committee on POW-MIA Affairs
took testimony from Richard Secord, identified as the author of
"a position paper on the Laos prisoner issue addressed to the
[Nixon administation's] Defense Secretary [Mevin Laird] as well
as [a] memo to Mr. [Henry] Kissinger." Secord was a major
supplier of arms to the contras; in 1989 he pleaded guilty to one
felony count of making misleading statements to Congress. [NYT
9/25/92]
 
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7. HAITI ONE YEAR AFTER COUP: MILITARY STILL IN CHARGE
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is to address the UN
General Assembly on Sept. 29, exactly one year after a military
coup ended his 7-month tenure as Haiti's first freely elected
president. His government continues to negotiate with various
sectors in Haiti, and the OAS (Organization of American States)
has started to assemble the first 18 of a projected 500
observers, but prospects for a peaceful resolution seem dim. US
officials in particular have made it clear that their government
has little interest in supporting the left-leaning Aristide. [NYT
9/27/92] "We can't count on the international institutions
anymore," says Samuel Madistin, a pro-Aristide Deputy from the
Artibonite region. "We have to count on our own forces. For me
there's no other way." [Haitian Information Bureau Bulletin
9/14/92]
 
Meanwhile, inside Haiti, even supporters of the coup like Senator
Bernard Sansaricq are starting to express disgust with the level
of corruption in the de facto government. "The coup has made 20
new millionaires," a member of Haiti's upper middle class has
remarked. "I've heard people say, 'If this coup just lasts one
more month, I'll be able to finish my house.'" [Haitian
Information Bureau Bulletin 9/14/92]
 
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8. US TREATED HAITIAN REFUGEES LIKE PRISONERS OF WAR
Now that only 300 HIV-positive Haitian refugees are being held at
the US military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, reports are beginning
to appear about the treatment given the 12,000 who passed through
the camp in the last year. Among reported incidents: tanks and
patrol dogs were used to put down a demonstration, a soldier was
given a dishonorable discharge for refusing to pick up his M-16
during a melee between refugees and the military, and a guard was
disciplined for sharing his meal with a sick, pregnant woman
forced to sleep on the ground. In one incident the chaplain and
his assistants ended up fighting guards to protect refugees.
"These were not prisoners of war and they were treated as
prisoners of war," an officer said. "It's just not right, as far
as I'm concerned." Last spring 86 refugees who qualified for
asylum were forcibly returned to Haiti because of a clerical
error; there have apparently also been many errors in the
designation of refugees as HIV-positive. [WP 9/19/92]
 
Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard has so far this year rescued 1,850
Cubans fleeing their country. These refugees receive food and
medical attention and are turned over to church leaders in Key
West and Miami, who take responsibility for their welfare. [ED-LP
9/23/92 from AP]
 
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9. POLICE KILL TWO PROTESTERS IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
On Sept. 20, a peaceful march in Santo Domingo against the
Dominican government's planned celebrations of the 500th
anniversary of Christopher Columbus' "discovery" of the Americas
turned violent when police began shooting at demonstrators,
killing 27-year old lawyer Rafael Efrain Ortiz, who headed the
Dominican Committee of Human Rights. Union leaders Flavio Sanchez
Viola and Pedro Juan Reynoso were wounded by police bullets.   
National Police Chief Gen. Rafael Guerrero Peralta responded by
announcing that 10 members of a secret service unit had been
arrested in connection with the shooting. But protests continued
against the killing of Ortiz and against the Columbus
celebrations. On Sept. 22, a thousand people marched through the
streets of Azua, 100 km. east of the capital, in a funeral
procession for Ortiz, while in Santiago, demonstrators knocked
down a statue of Columbus and set it on fire. The police violence
also continued: on Sept. 23, another young demonstrator, Ramon
Mendez, was shot to death by police in Azua, which is one of the
country's poorest cities. On Sept. 26, the government blocked the
broadcasting of news by two Azua radio stations, Radio Azua and
Radio Caracol. [ED-LP 9/23/92, 9/27/92 from ED-LP correspondent,
AFP & AP; NYT 9/22/92 from AP]
 
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10. LOOTING AND STRIKES AGAINST ECONOMIC POLICY IN ECUADOR A
series of lootings began Sept. 14 in and around Guayaquil,
Ecuador's second-largest city, prompted by price hikes instituted
as part of the new government's economic plan. On Sept. 3,
President Sixto Duran-Ballen had announced increases of 124% in
the price of gasoline, 191% in domestic natural gas rates, and up
to 90% in electricity rates. On Sept. 16 in Quito, a public
service worker died asphyxiated by police tear gas near the
National Congress, where protesters overturned and burned
vehicles and broke windows. The lootings and protests led the
government to announce on Sept. 18 that it was modifying the
price hikes on natural gas and considering a revision of the new
electricity rates. [ED-LP 9/18/92 from AFP, 9/21/92 from AP]  
On Sept. 23, the United Workers Front (FUT), Ecuador's major
union coalition, held a 24-hour national general strike to demand
the reduction or cancelling of the price hikes. While the unions
called the strike a success, the press and the government said
participation in the action was limited. Tires burned in the
streets and there were isolated violent incidents during the
strike; army troops patrolled the streets of several cities,
including the capital. On Sept. 24, a charge of dynamite exploded
in the main doorway of the Health Ministry in Quito, breaking
windows but causing no injuries; the press linked the event to
the strike. Duran-Ballen defended the price hikes, saying they
were necessary to cover the country's $800 million fiscal
deficit, but agreed to meet with union leaders on Sept. 28 to
consider their requests. [ED-LP 9/23/92 from AFP, 9/24/92 and
9/25/92 from AP]
 
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11. ECUADOR BEGINS FREE TRADE WITH COLOMBIA OCT. 1
Beginning Oct. 1, Ecuador will increase by two or three times its
exports to Colombia, its neighbor to the north, as part of a new
bilateral free trade pact between the countries. Ecuador's
undersecretary of foreign trade Jose Penaherrera explained that
the 20% tariff Colombia applied to imports had hardly protected
it from Ecuadoran products, which arrived as contraband in great
quantities. "Informally, there is already a free trade zone with
Colombia," said Penaherrera. Ecuadoran President Duran-Ballen,
speaking during an official visit to New York, announced that he
will meet Colombian President Cesar Gaviria on the border Oct. 7
for an event inaugurating the free trade zone. [ED-LP 9/14/92
from AFP, 9/27/92] Government and business representatives of
Ecuador are also meeting with their counterparts in Peru to
discuss the expansion of trade between the two countries. [ED-LP
9/15/92 from AFP, 9/27/92] 
 
Meanwhile, President Duran-Ballen announced on Sept. 17 that
Ecuador would withdraw from OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries, "as soon as our contractual obligations
permit it," because of the cartel's $2 million yearly membership
fee and its refusal to raise Ecuador's production quota from the
current 320,000 barrels a day. Only one OPEC member nation--
Gabon--produces less oil than Ecuador. Ecuador will be the first
nation to withdraw from the 13-member oil cartel since OPEC was
founded 32 years ago. [NYT 9/18/92 from AP, 9/19/92]
 
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12. MEXICO: CIVIL RESISTANCE HEATS UP IN MICHOACAN
On the night of Sept. 18 supporters of the center-left Democratic
Revolution Party (PRD) in Michoacan's capital of Morelia blocked
the offices of newly inaugurated state Governor Eduardo
Villasenor Pena, who was forced to cancel several official
ceremonies. The action was part of the PRD's campaign of "civil
resistance" against what the party considers Villasenor's
fraudulent victory in Michoacan's July 12 elections; Villasenor
was the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI),
which controls Mexico's federal government and most local
governments. [La Jornada (Mexico) 9/20/92]
 
PRD militants have occupied several key state government
buildings since the middle of August, along with city halls in 13
municipalities. (PRD members form the local governments in 53 of
the state's 113 municipalities, while the PRI governs in 56.) The
PRD forces say they won't leave until Villasenor resigns. [ED-LP
9/24/92 from AFP] General Mario Ayon Rodriguez, commander of
Mexico's XXI Military Zone, with headquarters in Morelia,
announced that the army "will not intervene for anything." "This
firecracker isn't ours," Rayon said, "because it's a political
situation, the responsibility of the government and civilian
authorities." [ED-LP 9/21/92 from AFP]
 
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13. EXECUTION OF MEXICAN PRISONER POSTPONED INDEFINITELY
On Sept. 22, the Texas Court of Appeals indefinitely postponed
the execution of Mexican citizen Ricardo Aldape Guerra, who was
scheduled to die by lethal injection on Sept. 24 for the 1982
murder of a US police officer. [Cubanews from Radio Havana Cuba
9/22/92] Death penalty opponents charge irregularities in the
trial that led to Aldape's conviction. The Mexican government and
opposition parties had appealed to Texas for postponement, and on
Sept. 19 human rights activists from Mexico and the US opposed
the planned execution by blocking part of the bridge from Ciudad
Juarez into Texas. [LJ 9/20/92]
 
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14. US CONGRESS APPROVES NEW RESTRICTIONS ON CUBA 
The "Cuban Democracy Act of 1992"--also known as the Torricelli
bill for its principal author, Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ)--
passed the House of Representatives on Sept. 24 by a vote of 276
to 135. Virtually identical legislation passed the Senate by
voice vote (24 to 61) on Sept. 18. The legislation, described by
its supporters as "a mixture of carrots and sticks," strengthens
the 30-year old US trade embargo against Cuba by asking that the
President encourage foreign countries to restrict trade with
Cuba, and by effectively preventing US companies from trading
with the island through their foreign subsidiaries. The bill also
promises aid for dissidents inside Cuba who are working to oppose
the Castro government. The bill is almost assured of becoming
law, since it is supported by both President George Bush and
Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton; Rep. Charles
Rangel (D-NY) said the bill "is not being concerned so much about
the future of people living in Cuba as it is an appeal to the
Cuban Americans in Dade County [Florida]." Florida, according to
the Washington Post, is one of the keys to the November election.
 
The bill in the House was supported and even co-written by the
far-right Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation, headed
by Jorge Mas Canosa. [WP 9/25/92] But not all Cuban dissidents
approve of tightening the embargo; dissidents Elizardo Sanchez
and Gustavo Arcos, who still live on the island, asked that the
embargo not be reinforced, saying that it would lead inevitably
to a worsening of repression in Cuba. [ED-LP 9/25/92] And four
dissident groups inside Cuba sent a joint message to the Congress
and US government on Sept. 24, advising against approval of the
bill. "The policy of strengthening the embargo removes the
possibility of a peaceful solution of the bilateral disagreement
and of the grave domestic crisis that we Cubans are suffering,"
the message said. It was difficult to believe, added the message,
that "the policy of economic strangulation is inspired in the
desire to better the situation of human rights in Cuba."
 
"The most just, wise and urgent thing is to open all the channels
of collaboration with Cuba that are possible with the end of
normalizing and stabilizing the domestic and foreign situation of
our country," continued the dissidents' message. [ED-LP 9/25/92
from AFP]
 
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15. CUBA DISMISSES TOP PARTY LEADER
Carlos Aldana, considered to be the third in command of the Cuban
Communist Party (PCC), has been removed from his posts as head of
Ideology and International Relations, though he will remain a
member of the Politburo. Roberto Robaina, a Politburo member in
charge of youth affairs, told reporters in Mexico on Sept. 25
that the dismissal was prompted by "serious errors of a personal
character," including an extravagant style of living. Aldana was
an admitted admirer of perestroika in the Soviet Union. [NYT
9/27/92]
 
According to the British Guardian, Robaina too is rumored to be
in disgrace. [9/25/92] Robaina denied that he was personally
affected by Aldana's firing, though he has close ties to the
dismissed leader; he said there are other people close to Aldana
who will also leave their posts, but that he himself will not.
Replacing Aldana as head of Ideology and Foreign Relations is
Jose Ramiro Balaguer, former ambassador to Russia and member of
the PCC central committee. Taking over Aldana's other
responsibilities as head of Education, Science and Culture is
Maria de los Angeles Garcia, Political Bureau member and former
Second Secretary of the party in Santiago province. [ED-LP
9/27/92 from AFP] 
 
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16. CUBA AGREES ON RUSSIAN BRIGADE PULLOUT
A military brigade of the former Soviet Union, stationed in Cuba
since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, will leave the island under
the terms of an agreement signed Sept. 16 by Russian and Cuban
negotiators. The Russian soldiers will leave in stages; all will
be gone by mid-1993. The agreement was reached after the Cuban
government abandoned all demands that US troops be simultaneously
removed from the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba. "Now that the
Soviet Union has disappeared," explained the Cuban government,
"our realistic opinion is that the existence of this military
unit on our national territory now no longer makes sense." [WP
9/17/92 from Reuter; ED-LP 9/17/92 from Notimex]
 
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17. CUBA REPAYS 20-YEAR-OLD DEBT WITH CHILE
On Sept. 21, the Chilean Central Bank confirmed that the National
Bank of Cuba had deposited $46 million, equivalent to the
principal plus interest on a loan outstanding since 1972. After
the 1973 military coup in Chile, the Pinochet regime had demanded
that Cuba repay its loan. Cuban President Fidel Castro, who had
broken diplomatic relations with Chile, refused to pay unless the
democratic government was restored, and froze Chilean assets in
his country. In 1990 a Swiss court ruled in favor of Chile, and
ordered Cuba to repay the original loan plus interest. [Chile
Information Project "CHIP" News 9/22/92; Cubanews from Radio
Havana Cuba 9/23/92]
 
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18. CHILEAN ARMS DEALER URGES INVESTMENT IN CUBA
A Sept. 23 Radio Havana Cuba news story mentioned that Chilean
businessman Carlos Cardoen was urging fellow investors to invest
in Cuba despite foreign pressures. Cardoen, whose remarks were
apparently published in Chilean daily El Mercurio, said he's
exploring joint ventures in Cuba's tourism industry, an
arrangement which can "help the island find a workable solution
to its current economic crisis." [Cubanews from RHC 9/23/92]  
What the story didn't mention is that Carlos Cardoen owns Cardoen
Industries, Chile's leading arms firm. In late 1991, Cardoen was
named in indictments against US arms dealer James Guerin and the
South African state-owned enterprise ARMSCOR (Armaments
Corporation) for smuggling arms to Iraq after Baghdad's Aug. 2,
1990 invasion of Kuwait. Guerin and Cardoen reportedly worked
closely together during the 1980s and were deeply involved in
helping South Africa, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries
obtain US military technology denied to them by Washington.
[Inter Press Service 11/20/91 (See Update #96)] Cardoen
Industries is also backed by the Chilean military [IPS 11/1/91
(See Update #93)], and it has helped South Africa dodge the
international arms embargo by marketing South African weapons on
Pretoria's behalf. [IPS 5/30/91] 
 
Cardoen's South Africa connection was also mentioned in a
document presented by the International Association Against
Torture to the Third Committee of the 44th General Assembly of
the United Nations in November of 1989. The report pointed out
Cardoen's past purchases of arms components from private South
African companies and from South African arms manufacturer
ARMSCOR, noting that in 1989, Cardoen Industries was assembling
the G.5 gun with technology and ammunition provided by ARMSCOR.
[Chilenet (Chile Information Network), February 1990]
 
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19. GENERAL ALERT IN PANAMA AFTER EXPLOSIONS
Panamanian President Guillermo Endara decreed a general alert of 
the state security apparatus after three bombs exploded on the
night of Sept. 18 in different areas of the capital city. The
bombs were thrown at the Foreign Relations Ministry, the
Electoral Tribunal, and the international airport of Tocumen,
causing material damage but no victims, according to police. A
fourth explosive was deactivated at the airport. Attorney General
Rogelio Cruz said he believed the attacks could be "a message for
the future electoral events," referring to a planned Nov. 15
referendum which will decide the abolition of the army. While no
organization claimed responsibility for the bombings, the
December 20 Movement (M-20, named for the date of the US invasion
of Panama) issued a communique announcing the start of operation
"Patriotic Hurricane," without explaining what it consisted of.
The police have increased vigilance in the areas of the
explosions, while the Directorate of Neutralization and Control
has begun a dragnet operation.
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 186.20 **/
** Written  5:33 am  Sep 28, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

20. SINGER RUBEN BLADES TO GIVE UP SALSA FOR POLITICS
Panamanian salsa singer Ruben Blades will perform what he says
will be his last his last concert on Oct. 9 in Chile's National
Stadium. Blades says he is giving up salsa to devote himself to
running for president in Panama's 1994 elections and to the party
he has formed there, called Papa Egoro (Mother Earth in the
language of Panama's indigenous people). Blades, who graduated
from Harvard University, is a self-declared sympathizer of
Nicaragua's FSLN and El Salvador's FMLN leftist political
parties. [ED-LP 9/27/92]
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 186.21 **/
** Written  5:33 am  Sep 28, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

21. HONDURAN EX-REBEL KIDNAPS COSTA RICAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL  On
Sept. 23 in San Jose, Costa Rica, Honduran Orlando Ordonez
Betancourt kidnapped at gunpoint Costa Rica's Minister of Public
Security, Luis Fishman, along with Honduran bishop Msgr. Luis
Alfonso Santos and Honduran secret police chief Col. Manuel Luna
Gutierrez. Ordonez then kidnapped a plane and flew his captives
to Tegucigalpa, where he released them and continued on to Mexico
after being assured of safe passage there; on his arrival in the
Mexico City airport he was promptly arrested. Ordonez is thought
to be a member or ex-member of the Honduran Cinchoneros rebel
movement. He was seeking a pardon for rape charges he faces in
Costa Rica. [ED-LP 9/24/92 from AFP, 9/25/92 from AP; NYT 9/24/92
from AP; WP 9/25/92] 
 
Fishman said in a press conference that Ordonez had told him that
Costa Rican Saul Gondinez and Honduran Manfredo Velasquez were
not dead, but were living in Colombia, protected by guerrillas of
that country. The Honduran government was forced to pay
reparations of over $500,000 to the families of the two men in
1991, after being sanctioned by the Interamerican Court of
Justice, a body of the Organization of American States (OAS)
headquartered in San Jose. [9/25/92 from AP]
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 186.22 **/
** Written  5:33 am  Sep 28, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

22. BRAZIL: COLLOR IMPEACHMENT VOTE SET
In a week when more than a half million people attended rallies
in various cities demanding Brazilian President Fernando Collor
de Mello's impeachment on corruption charges, the Supreme Court
on Sept. 23 denied two key requests from Collor--for a
postponement of the Congressional impeachment vote and for the
vote to be by secret ballot. Congress is set to act on Sept. 29,
and Collor's cabinet plans to resign if the vote goes, as is
expected, against the president. If he is impeached, he will be
replaced by Vice President Itamar Franco during the trial that
would follow the impeachment decision. [NYT 9/25/92; ED-LP
9/25/92 from EFE and AP]
 
While politicians in Brazil are concerned about the possibility
of a "chaotic scenario" if the widely detested Collor somehow
remains in office [ED-LP 9/21/92 from AFP], there is also
apprehension about political turmoil after an impeachment. Two
weeks ago Roberto Marinho, the 87-year old head of the powerful
Globo media network, met for three hours with Luiz Inacio "Lula"
da Silva, popular leader of the Workers Party (PT), the country's
largest leftist organization. Marinho's TV and press outlets
strongly opposed Lula when he ran against Collor in 1989,
callling him an "aggressive terrorist," and Lula says Globo
contributed to his losing the race. Many leftists, including Rio
de Janeiro state governor Leonel Brizola, have objected to the
meeting, but Lula denied that he and Marinho discussed a national
unity project. "Nor do we [the PT] intend to participate in a
future Itamar Franco goverment," he told the press. [La Jornada
(Mexico) 9/20/92]
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 186.23 **/
** Written  5:33 am  Sep 28, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

23. PARAGUAY SETS ELECTION DATE
May 9, 1993 has been officially set as the date for Paraguay's
general presidential elections, which will see the choosing of
the country's first civilian president after 40 years of military
rule. Gen. Andres Rodriguez, who arranged the transition, has
promised to give up power on Aug. 15, 1993, to the elected
civilian. Rodriguez defeated dictator Alfredo Stroessner in a
coup on Feb. 3, 1989, after nearly 35 years of authoritarian
rule. [ED-LP 9/27/92 from AFP]
 
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

/** reg.nicaragua: 186.24 **/
** Written  5:33 am  Sep 28, 1992 by nicanetny in cdp:reg.nicaragua **

24. UPCOMING EVENTS AND DELEGATIONS: For more information, call
NSN at 212-674-9499. Events listed are not necessarily endorsed
by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network.
  
Nicaragua:
10/5 to 10/18 - Celebrate 500 years of indigenous, black and
popular resistance with the Nicaragua Network Education Fund;
tour includes attendance at Continental Congress of the 500 Years
of Resistance Campaign and trip to the Atlantic Coast. $950 plus
airfare. Call 202-544-9355.
 
11/6 to 11/12 - Attend the Sandinista Youth's 5th Assembly.
Delegation organized by FSLN representative to the US Magda
Enriquez; for more info call NSN at 212-674-9499.
 
11/7 to 11/14 - Friends Witness in Nicaragua. A Quaker perspectiv
e with emphasis on understanding current social conditions and
political issues, featuring visits to programs and projects with
which the Friends Center is involved.  $300 plus airfare to
Managua. For information in the U.S. contact Ruth Paine at (813)
821-2428.
 
Cuba:
10/2 to 10/11 - "Dateline Havana" delegation to break the
information blockade of Cuba. For application form or more info
write the Cuban Information Project, 121 W 27th St Rm. 1202A or
call 212-366-6703. $1075 includes airfare from Miami. Other
delegations 11/11 to 11/20 & 1/4 to 1/13.
 
9/29 TUE - Support Aristide at the UN. Meet at Grand Army Plaza,
Brooklyn, at 7 PM, march up Flatbush Ave., assemble at UN (42nd
and 1st Ave) at 1 PM.
 
9/29 TUE, 9 PM - Documentary film on Channel 13: Haiti--Killing
the Dream. 
 
9/30 WED, NOON - Protest US Policy on Haiti. At State Dept.
office, 50th St. & 5th Ave., followed by 5 PM mass across the
street at St. Patrick's, followed by candlelight march to the UN.
 
10/1 THU, 7 PM - Nicaragua Solidarity Network General Meeting,
where we will be determining our fall program. Center for
Constitutional Rights, 666 Broadway, 7th Floor. Call 212-674-9499
for more information.
 
10/2 FRI, 7 PM - Demonstration to stop the execution of Mumia Abu
Jamal, a former Black Panther and political prisoner on death row
in Pennsylvania. Protest hypocrisy of anti-abortion & pro-death
penalty PA governor Robert Casey at his talk "Can a Liberal be
Pro-Life?"  At Cooper Union Great Hall, 7th St. at 3rd Ave in
Manhattan. For more info call 212-740-8557.
 
10/2 FRI, 7:30 PM - Videoteca Del Sur presents videos from
Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Chile & Uruguay. $5. DCTV, 87
Lafayette St (2 blocks south of Canal). 212-334-5257.
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **

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