From: nicanet@nyxfer.UUCP
Newsgroups: soc.culture.latin-america
Date: 24 Jan 93 22:19 PST
Subject: NicaNet NY Weekly Update 156 1/24/9
Nf-ID: #N:Li3wXB2w165w@nyxfer.uucp:-555037970:000:34838
Nf-From: nyxfer.uucp!nicanet    Jan 24 22:19:00 1993


Subject: NicaNet NY Weekly Update 156 1/24/93
From: nyxfer!nicanet (NicaNet NY)


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

         NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
       339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK NY 10012 (212) 674-9499
                NEWS UPDATE #156, JANUARY 24, 1993

In This Issue:

     1. Nicaraguan Recontras Increase Attacks
     2. Nicaragua: UNO Seeks Dialogue With FSLN
     3. Health Workers Strike Ends in Nicaragua
     4. Nicaraguans Try to Find Work In Costa Rica
     5. Chamorro Confident That US Aid Will Soon Flow
     6. FMLN Weak Response to Salvadoran Army Purges Criticized
     7. Guatemalans Exiled in Mexico Return to Their Country
     8. Guatemalan President Caught in NYC Topless Restuarant
     9. Guatemalan President Proposes Peace Plan
    10. Charges Against Puerto Rican "Machetero" Dropped 
    11. Clinton's New Haiti Policy: "Floating Berlin Wall"
    12. Cuban-American Nomination Nixed in Clinton Cabinet
    13. Mayoral Candidate in Peru Withdraws, Another Killed
    14. Ecuadoran Doctors' Strike Continues
    15. Uruguayans Protest Presence of IMF Envoy
    16. Other News: Mexico, Puerto Rico, Arg., Colombia & Peru
    17. Upcoming Events in the New York City Area

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1. NICARAGUAN RECONTRAS INCREASE ATTACKS

Nicaraguan military sources announced on Jan. 19 that re-armed
ex-contras are no longer confined to northern and central
Nicaragua but are now operating in northern Leon department,
carrying out frequent attacks against civilians in rural towns
including El Jicaral, Santa Rosa del Penon, Achuapa and El Sauce.
Attacks are also continuing in northern Nicaragua, where there
are estimated to be some 450 recontras operating: on Jan. 19,
nine people, including a community leader, died in confrontations
between recontras and troops of the Sandinista Popular Army
(EPS); as of Jan. 19, a total of some 50 people had been killed
so far this year in clashes. According to police and army
sources, the armed groups have been stopping buses and robbing
passengers, as well as raiding small villages and burning rural
agricultural cooperatives and government offices. EPS sources say
there have been 34 attacks against civilian vehicles, 13 murders
and 8 civilian kidnappings in the north since the beginning of
the year. The former contras say they are renewing their attacks
to force President Violeta Chamorro to fulfill the promises she
made, guaranteeing them personal security, land, financing and
social services, in order to get them to disarm in June of 1990.
[Inter Press Service 1/19/93; Diario La Americas (Miami) 1/22/93
from EFE; La Jornada (Mexico) 1/17/93 from AFP & DPA]   

EPS spokesperson Lt. Col. Ricardo Wheelock said the ex-contras
are known to have Red-Eye missiles given to them by the US during
the contra war.  According to Wheelock, the missiles remained in
Honduran territory or were buried in the mountains when the
contras allegedly disarmed in June of 1990. La Prensa, the daily
newspaper owned by President Violeta Chamorro's family, published
in its Jan. 20 edition photos of rearmed ex-contras showing one
of the missiles, and said they had a least a dozen of them. [El
Diario-La Prensa (NY) 1/21/93 from AP] 

On Jan. 23, Nicaraguan army troops battled recontras for two and
a half hours near El Zungaro, a town along the Honduran border,
leaving 40 dead and 30 wounded. The battle was confirmed by an
official of the International Support and Verification Commission
(CIAV) of the Organization of American States (OAS), who
described it as "very serious," having taken place two days
before talks between the insurgents and the government were to be
renewed. Talks were interrupted on Dec. 9 when the government
refused to extend areas designated as "security zones" for the
former contras to three provinces in the northern part of the
country. El Zungaro is in a security zone near the Honduran
border, where ex-contras have been gathering in anticipation of
the renewed talks. [ED-LP 1/24/93 from AP]

2. NICARAGUA: UNO SEEKS DIALOGUE WITH FSLN

The National Opposition Union (UNO), now the official Nicaraguan
opposition, is seeking dialogue with the Sandinista National
Liberation Front (FSLN). Christian Democratic deputy Luis
Humberto Guzman said on Jan. 20 that since the UNO has officially
become the opposition, it has dismissed the possibility of having
a dialogue with Chamorro's government. However, they do want to
dialogue with the FSLN, which they consider to be a permanent
political force. 

Guzman claims that Chamorro is becoming less and less interested
in finding a way out of the country's crisis because, according
to him, she is about to leave, although her term does not end
until 1996. The 11 remaining parties of the UNO coalition
[originally there were 14], which carried Chamorro to the
presidency, are now promoting a plebiscite to ask the Nicaraguan
people whether Chamorro should leave office immediately or stay
for her full term. However, a plebiscite is unlikely, since it
would require the approval of two-thirds of the parliament, and
the UNO no longer has a majority in that body. Guzman warned that
the conflictive situation in Nicaragua and the people's growing
economic deterioration cannot continue indefinitely. He said that
after three years in power, Chamorro's government has already had
its chance. [ED-LP 1/21/93 from Notimex]  

3. HEALTH WORKERS STRIKE ENDS IN NICARAGUA

The two-month long doctors' strike in Nicaragua ended on Jan. 16
after the Health Workers Union (FETSALUD) agreed to accept a
government offer that met most of the demands put forth by the
striking workers. The agreement, which came after a week of tense
negotiations with new health minister Martha Palacios, provides
for a monthly bonus equivalent to about $21 on top of the regular
salary. The government guaranteed job stability for 20,000 health
sector employees and committed to respecting the collective
bargaining agreement. FETSALUD leader Gustavo Porras said the
salary bonus will translate into raises of 20-60% for health
workers. The union had demanded an across-the-board 100% raise.
[Latin America Data Base 1/22/93 from AFP; LJ 1/17/93 from AFP &
DPA]

4. NICARAGUANS TRY TO FIND WORK IN COSTA RICA

An accord signed between Costa Rica and Nicaragua will allow
about 5,000 Nicaraguan agricultural workers to enter Costa Rica
as temporary contract laborers on coffee, banana and sugar cane
plantations. The workers will receive four-month contracts and
will be entitled to all the public and workplace benefits
provided by Costa Rican law. In the past an estimated 20,000
Nicaraguans have been illegally employed during the peak season
in Costa Rica, receiving less than minimum wage, few or no
benefits, and subject to arbitrary firing and deportation. 

After the agreement was signed, some 4,000 unemployed workers
immediately flocked to the Labor Ministry offices in Managua to
apply for admission to the program. By Jan. 21, some 10,000
unemployed Nicaraguans had signed up, though Costa Rica says it
can only hire a total of 6,000 temporary agricultural workers.
The Labor Ministry says about 1,800 people come into the office
daily to apply; the applicants include not only experienced farm
workers but also unemployed professionals and highly skilled
technicians. Conservative estimates put the unemployment rate in
Nicaragua at 50% of its workforce of 1.4 million. [LADB 1/15/93
from AFP; Cubanews from Radio Havana Cuba 1/21/93]

5. CHAMORRO CONFIDENT THAT US AID WILL SOON FLOW

On Jan. 18 President Violeta Chamorro expressed her confidence
that new US president Bill Clinton would release the $50 million
in Nicaragua aid promised for 1992 which still remains frozen.
The statement was made during a press conference held for the
presentation of 20 new boats to fisherpeople whose property was
destroyed in the September seaquake and resulting tidal wave.
Chamorro said she would request a meeting with Clinton after he
takes office. [ED-LP 1/19/93 from AFP] 

Correction: In Update #155 we said the cordoba was devalued from
5.25 to the dollar to 5.35. In fact, the cordoba was devalued by
20% to 6 cordobas per $1. Monthly mini-devaluations will be
implemented to keep the exchange rate adjusted for inflation, but
these devaluations are not supposed to exceed 5% over the course
of the present year, according to central bank president Evenor
Taboada.  [LADB 1/22/93 from EFE & AFP]

6. FMLN WEAK RESPONSE TO SALVADORAN ARMY PURGES CRITICIZED

With Salvadoran president Alfredo Cristiani still delaying major
purges in the military high command, the Farabundo Marti National
Liberation Front (FMLN) issued a communique on Jan. 12 announcing
support for UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's demand
that Cristiani comply with the purges of the military leadership.
The purges were to be completed by Dec 31, 1992. Cristiani
requested a delay until 1994. The FMLN is now requesting that the
purges be completed "as soon as possible."

The same day, the University of Central America (UCA) ran a two
page paid ad criticizing the FMLN for its lack of conviction
regarding the purges which, it said, aligned the FMLN "closer to
the position of ARENA and senior military officers than to the
rest of the social and political forces."  The UCA charged that
two member groups of the FMLN "are willing to accept...the
Cristiani proposal in exchange for highly productive lands, state
protection for its leaders, a considerable increase in funds for
the re-insertion of its members into civilian life and access to
broadcast stations." The UCA noted that the bilateral
negotiations between the FMLN and the government "are not
faithful to the peace accords" and open the door to the worst
political vices--bribery, corruption and manipulation behind the
people's backs." Popular organizations, including the National
Union of Salvadoran Workers (UNTS) and opposition political
parties also marched to demand the immediate implementation of
the army purge recommendations of the Ad Hoc Commission. The FMLN
did not participate. 

FMLN General Coordinator Shafick Handal admitted that there was
conflict over how to handle the purges. FMLN leaders Joaquin
Villalobos and Ferman Cienfuegos accepted Cristiani's demand for
more time to comply with the purges. Villalobos said a sector of
the FMLN is willing to discuss the exoneration of some officers
cited by the Ad-Hoc Commission with the UN and the government.  
Villalobos admitted that he has held discussions with US Embassy
officials, but only in relation to reinsertion programs for ex-
combatants.

Handal, Leonel Gonzalez and Francisco Jovel insist on strict
compliance with the peace accord timetable. Handal insisted that
the FMLN will not discuss the "preferential treatment" of any
military officers cited by the Ad-Hoc Commission's report. The
FMLN cannot accept the exoneration of officers just because "they
are threatening the peace process." However, the FMLN would be
willing to allow a "small group of officers... between five and
seven" to stay for a short period of time, "no more than five
months."

Handal also noted that the officers not discharged might appear
in the Truth Commission report, which will be presented to the UN
Secretary General, the FMLN and the Salvadoran government on Feb.
11 in New York. "President Cristiani is running this risk", said
Handal, "It would be better to resolve this process
beforehand."[El Rescate Human Rights Department Weekly Report
from El Salvador 1/16/93]

7. GUATEMALANS EXILED IN MEXICO RETURN TO THEIR COUNTRY

On Jan. 20 some 2,500 Guatemalan refugees who had been living in
exile in Mexico for over 10 years returned to their homeland.
After much negotiation with Mexican and Guatemalan authorities
and international organizations, they crossed the Mexico-
Guatemala border along the Pan American Highway at the town of La
Mesilla. Although they were accompanied by about 240 volunteers
from non-governmental organizations and members of the Red Cross,
the Guatemalan military did not allow their buses to stop for
celebrations which had been prepared along the route to
Huehuetenango. 

They have been housed in what some say looks like a concentration
camp set up by the Guatemalan government's Special Commission for
Attention to the Repatriates (CEAR) in Huehuetenango. Only a wall
separates the camp from a military base, and the refugees have
not been allowed to leave the camp to visit family members
waiting outside. They spent their first night with insufficient
food, blankets and tents, said their representative, Miguel
Ordonez. He also said the government had allowed soldiers into
the camp. The government representative, Alvaro Colom, denied
that the refugees' movements were restricted or that soldiers had
entered the camp. The conditions in the refugee camps had been
criticized as a violation of human rights by the non-governmental
Permanent Commission for Attention to Refugees (CCPP), which has
asked the Mediation Group to intervene. The Mediation Group for
the refugees, which determined the conditions for their return,
is made up of Bishop Jorge Mario Avila, Human Rights Ombudsman
Ramiro de Leon Carpio, a human rights attorney, the leader of the
UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) mission, and Michel
Gabaudan and Antonia Reyes, from the non-governmental Guatemalan
Human Rights Commission. 

The group is to move on the week-end of Jan. 23 toward the
capital city. The first group of some 1,200 will settle in
Polygon 14, in Ixcan, a zone of conflict between the Guatemalan
government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union (UNRG)
in Quiche province. The remaining 1,300 will be going to Nenton,
Huehuetenango, when land has been prepared for them. The
Guatemalan government signed an agreement on Oct. 8 which
guaranteed the refugees land, including returning to them the
land they lived on before they fled. However, much of that land
is now privately owned, and it is yet to be seen if the
government will be able to fulfill its promise. [ED-LP 1/21/93
from AFP; 1/22/93 from EFE; Cerigua Radio Bulletin 1/21/93; New
York Times 1/22/93 from Reuters]

8. GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT CAUGHT IN NEW YORK TOPLESS RESTUARANT

While the refugees were struggling with their return from over
ten years in exile, Guatemalan President Jorge Serrano was
struggling to get out of the embarrassing situation of having
been caught by the press coming out of a topless restaurant in
New York City. It appears that after an arduous session at the UN
and other diplomatic tasks on Jan. 21, Serrano found
Stringfellow's Pure Platinum, a restuarant which specializes in
topless entertainment, to be the only place in town open where he
could find some onion soup. He was surprised upon leaving by
members of the press corps and his departure from Stringfellow's
was broadcast on the national Spanish-language television network
"Univision." Serrano's reaction: "This is no way to win a war,"
laying the blame for the scandal directly on the Guatemalan rebel
group URNG. He did not offer any details. [ED-LP 1/22/93 from
AFP]
  
9. GUATEMALAN PRESIDENT PROPOSES PEACE PLAN

President Serrano said on Jan. 19 that his government was willing
to sign a peace accord with the Guatemalan National Revolutionary
Union (UNRG), and asked the UN to observe the demobilization of
the rebel group if they accept the peace agreement. "This is the
biggest opening ever shown," he said in a speech before the UN
General Assembly. Previous peace talks, initiated in January of
1991, came to a halt in August of that year over the issue of
human rights violations. Some 120,000 people have been killed and
some 100,000 have fled Guatemala since the beginning of the civil
war 30 years ago.

Serrano said his government was willing to immediately sign a
human rights agreement and cooperate with the repatriation of
45,000 exiles. He did not offer any concessions to the UNRG, nor
did he enumerate what the conditions would be for a ceasefire,
but said his government was willing to call a truce even if the
rebels hadn't signed an agreement within a 90-day period.[ED-LP
1/20/93 from AP]

The president of the non-governmental Guatemalan Human Rights
Commission, Osvaldo Rodriguez, called the government's peace plan
announcement part of a publicity campaign to undercut accusations
of human rights violations in that country. [ED-LP 1/19/93 from
Notimex] A statement issued on Jan. 23 by the UNRG from their
offices in Mexico said they accepted the peace plan as "partial,
contradictory and incomplete." Although they felt the offer was
"a positive gesture," they consider it incomplete because "an
ultimatum is not a constructive proposal." Spokesperson Miguel
Angel Sandoval said the proposal was one which the UNRG felt
"could be discussed." [ED-LP 1/24/93 from AP]

10. CHARGES AGAINST PUERTO RICAN "MACHETERO" DROPPED 

The US government has dropped its principal charges against Luis
Colon Osorio, self-proclaimed leader of the Puerto Rican pro-
independence organization the "Macheteros," accused in connection
with the 1983 robbery of $7.1 million from Wells Fargo in
Connecticut. Federal prosecutor in Connecticut Albert Dabrowski
dropped the charge of conspiracy to distribute toys supposedly
bought with the stolen money. "Discretion of the prosecution in
limiting the complexity and duration of trials" was a reason
given by the government to explain the dismissal of the charges.
Osorio was found guilty of violating bail, and his sentencing was
postponed from Jan. 22 to Jan. 29.  [Osorio was originally
arrested in 1985 along with another Macheteros leader, Filiberto
Ojeda Rios. The two escaped FBI surveillance and jumped bail in
September 1990. Osorio was rearrested on Mar. 17, 1992; Ojeda
Rios, who remains a fugitive, was convicted in absentia of
masterminding the theft and sentenced to 55 years in prison and a
$600,000 fine.]

Linda Backiel, Osorio's lawyer, said the prosecution has asked
for a sentence of 14 months in prison for Osorio; he has already
served 10 months in the federal prison at Otisville. She said the
decision to drop the conspiracy charge represented a change in
policy toward Puerto Rican independence activists. "I believe the
government has seen that it cannot continue punishing the
independence struggle, that that line no longer has a place in
today's world, that now under a new administration there will be
a change in the way they fight with Puerto Rican independence
activists." [ED-LP 1/24/93]

11. CLINTON'S NEW HAITI POLICY: "FLOATING BERLIN WALL"

On Jan. 15 Coast Guard Adm. J. William Kime announced that a
fleet of at least 22 US ships and patrol boats was moving to
surround Haiti to keep Haitian refugees from fleeing their
country by boat. The naval action--which Kime insisted was "not a
blockade"--was to be in place in time for Bill Clinton's
inauguration on Jan. 20; outgoing Bush administration officials
were said to be "in close contact" with the new Clinton team
around the plan. [Washington Post 1/16/93] The Coast Guard
justified the naval maneuver by alluding to the possibility of a
mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of boat people. But people
who know the shipping industry in Haiti say that up to half the
boats being built currently are for normal commercial purposes
and that the number of boat people probably wouldn't exceed
40,000. [WP 1/1/93]

Clinton "has put up a white picket fence, a floating Berlin Wall,
around those seeking freedom," said Rev. Antoine Adrien, a
representative of deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide. [WP 1/21/93] Others noted that while capturing little
sailboats filled with refugees, the Coast Guard was doing nothing
to stop huge oil tankers that routinely break the international
economic embargo imposed on Haiti after a military coup in 1991.
"The new team has already lost a lot of credit here," according
to a wealthy Haitian business person. "[P]eople will not be
listening to what they say so much as watching what they do." A
young Haitian worker simply called Clinton "a macoute just like
the rest of our tormentors." [New York Times 1/17/93] (The
Tontons Macoute were the paramilitary force employed by the
brutal Duvalier family dictatorship.)

Meanwhile, former Argentine foreign minister Dante Caputo, now a
special envoy to Haiti from the UN and the OAS (Organization of
American States) reports further progress in negotiations aimed
at restoring democratic rule to the country. He says the military
has accepted the UN's demand to put in place a force of 400 human
rights observers, possibly by the end of this month. [NYT
1/18/93, 1/22/93; WP 1/22/93] But there is still some question
whether the US government actually intends to return Haiti's
elected president to office. The State Department's 1992
international human rights report, released Jan. 19, cited a
claim by a Haitian military commander that Aristide had ordered
him to kill a political opponent. There was reportedly
disagreement in the State Department over whether to include the
story, which is unsubstantiated and refers to an incident from
1991, but the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs insisted on
printing the allegation. [NYT 1/20/93] Nixon's secretary of
state, Henry Kissinger, was less ambiguous. In a television
interview with John McLaughlin, Kissinger called Aristide a
"murderer" and "confirmed psychopath." "I understand that what's
wanted is to bring him in as a symbolic figure but the power will
be in other people's hands... In any case, it's very hard for me
to shed a single tear for Aristide." [El Diario-La Prensa 1/19/93
from AP; quotations retranslated from Spanish]

12. CUBAN-AMERICAN NOMINATION NIXED IN CLINTON CABINET

Through an intense lobbying campaign over the weekend of Jan. 16-
17, the extreme rightwing Cuban-American National Foundation
(CANF), headed by Jorge Mas Canosa, managed to thwart Clinton's
intended nomination of a Cuban-American lawyer for a high-level
administration post. The nominee, 41-year old Mario Leon Baeza,
was born in New Jersey, where he still lives, to Cuban emigre
parents; he is a senior partner at a prestigious Manhattan law
firm and is said to be an expert on foreign trade. He was
recommended by transition chairman Vernon Jordan and new Commerce
Secretary Ron Brown. Though his crossed-out name was visible on
the list of nominees Clinton sent to Congress on Jan. 18,
transition officials insisted on Jan. 22 that a decision to
nominate Baeza had never been made. [WP 1/23/93]

CANF wanted Baeza dropped, charging that he would be too soft on
Castro's government. [WP 1/23/93] Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ),
author of a recent bill strengthening the US embargo against
Cuba, also expressed concern to Clinton aides that Baeza's views
on Cuba were too divergent from those professed by Clinton,
according to a Torricelli spokesperson. Baeza's office quickly
disputed those claims, saying through an aide that he supports
the embargo, and that he would enforce it. [The Record (NJ)
1/21/93, posted on NY Transfer] According to Baeza's law firm
associate Dr. Jimmy Morales, "the opinions that have been
expressed about Dr. Baeza are incorrect and must be corrected,
since he is openly in favor of the Torricelli Law and opposes any
reestablishment of relations with the Fidel Castro regime."
[Diario Las Americas (Miami) 1/22/93]

Last June, Baeza attended a trade conference in Havana where--
according to Inter Press Service--he shook hands with Cuban
president Fidel Castro. [IPS 1/19/93] Baeza said through an aide
that the trip lasted six hours and that its main purpose was to
visit family members who still live in Cuba. [Jersey Journal
1/21/93? from AP, posted on NY Transfer] 

The Congressional Black Caucus jumped to Baeza's support,
claiming that opposition to his nomination stemmed from racism
(Baeza is black). [WP 1/23/93] The Interreligious Foundation
(IFCO), protesting the "red-baiting" of Baeza by the CANF, urged
activists to call the Clinton transition team to express support
for Baeza and condemn the undue influence of the CANF on US
foreign policy. [IFCO Action Alert posted on NY Transfer 1/23/93]
Baeza's offices subsequently requested that any communication to
the State Department or transition team not include criticisms of
the CANF or its policy positions, as that would merely reinforce
the arguments of Baeza's detractors. ["Regarding Previous Action
Alert," posted on NY Transfer 1/23/93]

According to the Washington Post, even Cuban-Americans who do not
support the far rightwing views espoused by the CANF are opposed
to Baeza's nomination, since he is virtually unknown in the large
Cuban exile community of Florida. The Post cites unnamed sources
as saying that administration officials have proposed Baeza take
an alternative senior post, such as an assistant secretary or
general counsel at either the Commerce or Treasury departments.
[WP 1/23/93] In the meantime, Bernard Aronson will remain in the
post of assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs
until a solution to the Haitian crisis is solved and Senate
confirmation is concluded for whomever Clinton eventually
nominates to replace him. [IPS 1/19/93] 

The CANF has proposed its own candidate for the post: Dr. Simon
Ferro, a solid opponent of Castro and until very recently
president of the Democratic Party in Florida. Several other names
have been mentioned as possibilities, including former ambassador
to Barbados Sally Shelton Colby (wife of ex-CIA director William
Colby), former Miami mayor Maurice Ferre, University of Miami
professor Jaime Suchliki, and former under-secretary general of
the OAS Ronald Scheman. [DLA 1/22/93] 

Anonymous sources in Washington consulted by Spanish news agency
EFE said the nomination of Baeza had been a badly calculated
political ploy with which Clinton hoped to appease both the black
and Cuban communities. The sources said that naming someone of
Hispanic origin to the post is unwise generally, since it
provokes rivalries between countries, as they said happened in
the 70s when President Kennedy named Hispanics for Latin America-
related posts. [ED-LP 1/24/93 from EFE]

13. MAYORAL CANDIDATE IN PERU WITHDRAWS, ANOTHER KILLED

Pablo Gutierrez, the government-backed candidate for mayor of
Lima, has dropped out of the municipal elections, scheduled to
take place on Jan. 29. Announcing his withdrawal on Jan. 21, the
candidate of President Fujimori's New Majority-Change 90 alliance
said there was not enough time to carry out his campaign to its
full extent. He added that his eventual defeat could be used for
political ends which he thought it best to avoid. Private opinion
polls showed Gutierrez's popularity dropping from 18.8% to 13% by
mid-January, while that of independent candidate Luis Caceres,
currently the mayor of Arequipa, increased from 18% to 25.4%.
Incumbent mayor Ricardo Belmont, who does not belong to any
political party and is seeking reelection, enjoyed an increase in
popularity from 16% to 22.4%. Sources close to Gutierrez said
Fujimori had been distancing himself from the candidate recently.
[ED-LP 1/22/93 from AFP; 1/24/93 from AP] 

Meanwhile, presumed members of the Sendero Luminoso killed Felix
Santiago, another mayoral candidate, and his campaign manager,
Antiaco Aquino, on Jan. 19 outside of Lima. According to family
members the two were taken from their homes to a beach where they
were tortured and their throats were cut. [ED-LP 1/22/93 from AP]

14. ECUADORAN DOCTORS' STRIKE CONTINUES

State-employed doctors in Ecuador continue their two-week old
indefinite strike and are threatening to extend it, while the
government refuses to work out the details of the Medical
Salaries Law which would permit an increase in doctors' wages.
Doctors suggest the increase in their wages (currently about $8
million per year in total) could be financed by a projected $750
million reduction in the payment of the national debt in 1993.
Some 25,000 doctors are attending only emergency cases. President
Sixto Duran Ballen refused on Jan. 6 to regulate the law, saying
the Finance Minister had acted unconstitutionally, while the
Constitutional Court determined that the law is legal and
constitutional. The government announced that military hospitals
will attend the public during the strike. The Catholic church has
asked the doctors to end their strike and the government to cede
to the doctors' wage demands. [DLA 1/16/93 from AFP, 1/22/93 from
AFP; La Jornada (Mexico) 1/10/93 from AP and AFP; 1/17/93 from
AFP; ED-LP 1/21/93 from AFP]

15. URUGUAYANS PROTEST PRESENCE OF IMF ENVOY

Uruguay's 9-member Permanent Commision of Legislative Power,
which replaces the congress during recess, declared that the
presence in Uruguay of International Monetary Fund (IMF)
representative Andrew Wolfe, a US citizen, was "inconvenient" and
accused him of interfering in Uruguayan internal policies. Wolfe
told a local newspaper that there would be problems with the
trustworthiness of the government if the president of the Central
Bank, Ramon Diaz, was removed from his post. He also said that he
had never seen a better economic team than that of president Luis
Alberto Lacalle. "One cannot accept everything a government wants
to do," he said. Diaz has encountered strong opposition from
different political sectors due to his economic positions. The
Permanent Commission issued a statement asking for Wolfe to be
replaced and saying that his continued presence threatened the
good relations between Uruguay and the IMF. [DLA 1/22/93 from
AFP; ED-LP 1/21/93 from AP]

16. In Other News...

Martin Ramon Miguel Lopez, arrested last Nov. 22 for the murder
of five gay men in Chiapas state, Mexico, has recanted his
confession, saying it was extracted under death threats. Miguel
Lopez says he had signed his confession statement--in which he
accused former deputy German Jimenez Gomez of the ruling
Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI) of being the intellectual
author and paying 10 million pesos for the crimes--because he was
subjected to torture. [La Jornada 1/17/93].

Domingo Arroyo, the first US soldier killed in the US military
intervention in Somalia, was buried with full military honors in
the Bayamon National Cemetary in his native Puerto Rico on Jan.
21. Arroyo, a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War, was sent to Somalia on
Dec. 29 and was killed Jan. 12 during a confrontation with
sharpshooters.  [ED-LP 1/19/93, 1/22/93].

On Jan. 12 in Argentina, official sources announced the arrest of
Hector Rima, accused of being the leader of a group that stole $30
million from a regional treasury of the Central Bank on Dec. 23.
His wife Eleonora Garbagnoli was arrested as well, bringing to
seven the number of people arrested in connection with the crime.
[ED-LP 1/13/93 from AFP].

On Jan.  20, Colombian guerrilla leader Jose Humberto Lopez (also
known as Evert Ortiz, Uriel or William) was captured by the
police. Lopez is the commander of the 45th front of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He was captured due
to a tip the police recived by phone. [DLA 1/22/93 from AFP].

The Colombian Foreign Ministry is considering the extradition of
Peruvian ex-president Alan Garcia, who received political asylum
last year in Colombia. Three Peruvian government spokespeople
request the extradition in Bogota. A spokesperson for the
Colombian government said the extradition would only be granted if
it is proven that the alleged crimes Garcia committed were common
crimes and not political. [DLA 1/22/93 from AFP]

17. UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE NEW YORK CITY AREA

For more information, call NSN at 212-674-9499. Events listed and
flyers enclosed are not necessarily endorsed by the Nicaragua
Solidarity Network.

CENAC PROGRAM - ESTELI, NICARAGUA.  Spanish instruction, family
living, grassroots community experience. For information, call or
write CENAC, Frente Parque Infantil, Barrio Wilfredo Valenzuela,
Apartado 29, Esteli, Nicaragua, or Steve Levitsky, U.S.
representative, 128 Simsbury Drive, Ithaca, N.Y. 14850. (607)
257-2659.

EVERY THU, 6-8 PM - Vigil for Freedom for Puerto Rican Political
Prisoners and POWs. In front of the UN, 1st Ave. bet. 42 & 43rd.
Call 212-538-0988.

EVERY WEEK-END in Feb. - Films, Videos, Discussions on Cuba. Casa
de Las Americas. 140 W. 14th St. 3rd Fl. NYC. Call (212) 675-
2584.

1/28-2/17 - Exhibition of paintings by Corzo de Palenzuela,
commemorating 140th anniversary of Jose Marti's birth. Opening,
Jan. 28, 6:00 - 10:00 PM. Galeria Wifredo Lam, Casa de Las
Americas, 104 W. 14th St., 3rd Fl., NYC.

1/30 SAT, 9 PM - CISPES/MASPS dance to benefit February caravan
to El Salvador. 235 W. 23rd St. between 7th and 8th Avenue. $10.
Call (212) 645-5230.

2/7-2/13 SUN - SAT. - Haiti Solidarity Week. Call Clergy and
Laity Concerned (404) 377-1983 or (508) 248-5697; Americans for
Aristide (212) 346-1257 or (212) 932-2935; Coalition for
Democracy in Haiti (312) 663-4398; Haiti Communications Project
(617) 868-2900; Pax Christi USA (814) 453-4955; Quixote Center
(301) 699-0042; Washington Office on Haiti (202) 543-7095.

2/13 SAT. 7:00 - First Book Fair, Casa de Las Americas, 104 W.
14th St., New York, NY. Presentation of book of Pedro Albizu
Campos.

2/19-2/28; 3/19-3/28; 4/23-5/2 - "Dateline Havana" Trips to Cuba,
breaking the information blockade, sponsored by Cuba Information
Project, 121 West 27th Street, Room 1202A, New York, NY 10001.
Call (212) 366-6703

2/27-2/28 SAT - SUN. - Organizing for Social Change - Fighting
Racism & the Politics of Division, conference sponsored by North
Star Fund. For information call (212) 460-551 or write to 666
Broadway, New York, NY 10012.  

4/9-4/11 FRI - SUN. - Socialist Scholars Conference. Borough of
Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street (Near World
Trade Center), NYC. Pre-registration $15 students & low income,
$25 all others. At door $20 students & low income, $40 all
others. Checks to "Socialist Scholars Conference" CUNY Democratic
Socialists Club, Rm. 800, 33 W. 42nd St., NYC, NY 10036. Fax
(212) 642-2419.


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