From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: NY Nica News Update #115, 4/12/92
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 03:18:38 GMT

/** reg.nicaragua: 81.0 **/
** Topic: NY Nica News Update #115, 4/12/92 **
** Written  9:07 am  Apr 13, 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 #115, APRIL 12, 1992
 
In This Issue:
 
     1. Volcano Erupts Near Leon and Other Nicaragua News
     2. Nicaraguan Army & Police Arrest Rebels Who Stole Arms
     3. Peruvian President, Army and Police Seize Control in Lima
     4. International Community Reacts to Peruvian "Fujicoup"
     5. Protests and Crackdowns Continue in Venezuela
     6. Noriega is Convicted, Bush Claims "Major Victory"
     7. Guatemala: Police/Army Kill Student, Nun Tells of Rape
     8. Labor in Mexico, Bolivia, Puerto Rico and El Salvador
     9. Macabre Police Museum Celebrates Dirty War in Argentina
    10. In Other News: Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Panama, Chile...
    11. Upcoming Events in the New York City Area
   
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 through 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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1. VOLCANO ERUPTS NEAR LEON AND OTHER NICARAGUA NEWS
The Cerro Negro volcano, 30 miles east of Leon in western
Nicaragua, erupted Apr. 10 and covered the entire area in ash and
dust. Nearly 3,500 people were evacuated from the immediate area;
no deaths and only one injury were reported. [El Diario-La Prensa
(NY) 4/12/92 from AP]... The official number of cholera cases in
Nicaragua is up to 22, and the Health Ministry declared a state
of national emergency for Easter week, fearing that the
concentration of people on the beaches during the Easter week
vacations will provide a ripe breeding ground for the spread of
the disease. [Central American Historical Institute Memo #224,
4/2-8/92]... Health Minister Ernesto Salmeron has traveled to
Cuba to seek renewal of the Cuban government's medical assistance
to Nicaragua. The agreement up for renewal was originally signed
under the Sandinista government; this is the first step taken by
the Chamorro administration to build closer ties with Cuba. [ED-
LP 4/10/92 from AFP]... Nicaraguan President Violeta Chamorro
spent Easter week on an unofficial visit to the US with her
grandson, who is receiving medical treatment here. She also
planned to meet with the foreign relations committees of both
houses of Congress and to attend the annual meeting of the
American Society of Newspaper Editors. [ED-LP 4/8/92 from AP]...
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has finalized a total
of $47 million in loans to the Nicaraguan government earmarked
for upgrade and expansion of water treatment and sewage services.
The public services program will benefit 220,000 people in 20
locales. The IDB also signed a $2.5 million contract for
restructuring Nicaragua's General Tax Administration (DGI).
[Latin America Database 4/9/92 from EFE]... National Assembly
president Alfredo Cesar blocked the election of FSLN deputy
Rogelio Ramirez to the position of second secretary of the
Assembly. The post was vacated by Edmundo Jarquin, who has
accepted a job with the Interamerican Development Bank in
Washington. According to the internal rules of the parliament,
the position of second secretary has to go to a Sandinista, since
the FSLN is the major opposition party. [CAHI Memo #224]
 
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2. NICARAGUAN ARMY & POLICE ARREST REBELS WHO STOLE FROM ARSENAL
In a joint operation in Wiscolyol, Rivas dept., army and police
forces captured 22 Nicaraguans linked to the Mar. 31 armed
robbery of a unspecified quantity of weapons from a military
arsenal in Ticuantepe, just east of Managua. Authorities
recovered 14 new and 13 used AK-47 rifles, three sub-machineguns,
four new RPG-7 missile launchers, a grenade, four boxes of
ammunition, a radio transmitter, an automobile and other military
supplies. A military source who asked not to be identified named
two of those arrested for the crime: active duty Second Lt. 
Fernando Barrera Flores and Francisco Jose Cardoza Garcia, member
of a Sandinista-affiliated union of sugar cane workers. [ED-LP
4/9/92 & 4/12/92 from AP] Those responsible for the theft are
apparently part of a group of "recompas" [CAHI #224 from
Barricada]--rearmed former Sandinista soldiers. 
 
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3. PERUVIAN PRESIDENT, ARMY AND POLICE SEIZE CONTROL IN LIMA
Surprised by international disapproval of his Apr. 5 self-
orchestrated military coup, in which he dissolved the legislature
and suspended the constitution, Peruvian President Alberto
Fujimori has moved to reduce the restrictions on the press he
imposed but is sticking to his plan to restructure the country
with the support of the police and armed forces. Though polls
show the "Fujicoup" has wide popular support, and Fujimori has
used this support to justify his takeover, most political parties
and labor unions--whose leaders have been the primary targets of
crackdown arrests by the military--have condemned the action in
strong terms, as have national and international human rights
groups. [ED-LP 4/8/92]
 
Peru's Human Rights Association (APRODEH) charges that when
soldiers entered the headquarters of the Apra party, the
country's major opposition force, they killed two guards and beat
21 Apra militants after forcing them to undress. [APRODEH 4/9/92]
Police are trying to find Apra party leader and former president
Alan Garcia, who has escaped arrest and is in hiding. [Washington
Post 4/9/92] The dismantled legislature, meanwhile, met in secret
to impeach Fujimori, naming as provisional president Fujimori's
second Vice President Carlos Garcia Garcia, who took asylum in
the Argentine embassy immediately after being voted in. [WP
4/11/92] 
 
Though Fujimori claims one of the reasons for his takeover of
power is to quell the rising insurgency of the maoist Sendero
Luminoso rebels, most observers believe the coup is likely to
strengthen the rebels' position, not weaken it. In their first
action since the coup, Sendero Luminoso blew up a police station
on Apr. 9 in Lima shantytown Villa El Salvador with a bus
containing an estimated 220 pounds of dynamite--their largest to
date--killing three and wounding 22. [WP & New York Times
4/10/92] On Apr. 11, unknown gunmen killed legislator Roberto Lui
Wu of Fujimori's Cambio 90 party in a Lima restaurant; police
could not determine a motive for the shooting. [NYT 4/12/92]
 
Fujimori's coup puts Lima under the same military rule that most
of the country has been under for years, by decree of a state of
emergency in the fight against rebels in the countryside. But
Sendero Luminoso has more recently been stepping up its actions
in the shantytowns surrounding Lima, and the government has not
been supportive of leftist and populist groups opposing the
rebels. When on Mar. 20, some 15,000 women from Lima's
shantytowns marched through downtown streets to the government
palace to protest "hunger and terror," first Vice President
Maximo San Roman refused to meet with their leaders, and police
dispersed the protesters with water hoses and tear gas. [NYT
4/6/92] 
 
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4. INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY REACTS TO PERUVIAN "FUJICOUP"
The Organization of American States will hold a meeting of
foreign ministers on Apr. 13 to decide whether to impose
sanctions on Peru. A high-ranking official of the Inter-American
Development Bank warned that the bank might freeze $200 million
in credits to Peru if the OAS opts for sanctions. [Inter Press
Service 4/7/92] The Bush Administration says it will consider
sanctions but is awaiting the outcome of the OAS meeting; in the
meantime it is suspending or reviewing all non-humanitarian aid
to Peru. US Secretary of State Bernard Aronson, who was in Lima
for an official visit when the coup happened, cancelled his
meeting with Fujimori and left the following day. US diplomats
stress that they had no prior knowledge of the coup. [NYT
4/11/92] Meanwhile, US Ambassador Anthony Quainton has denied
that the US is promoting an economic blockade against Peru and
said his attendance at a business event during which Fujimori
spoke was not to support the regime, but rather a gesture of
friendship to the event's organizer, the Exporters Association.
[El Peruano 4/9/92, posted by Informatica y Centro de
Documentacion Alternativa] 
 
Many observers worry about the example the coup sets to other
nations. "If I were a Latin leader, I'd be very, very worried,"
said Susan Stokes, associate professor of Latin American Studies
at the University of Chicago. "First Haiti, then Venezuela, now
Peru. What kind of message does this give the Brazilian
military?" [IPS 4/6/92]

But Peruvian and former United Nations Secretary General Javier
Perez de Cuellar--though strongly condemning Fujimori's actions--
urged the international community to refrain from applying
sanctions. "It is the people who suffer" the effects of sanctions
rather than authoritarian regimes," said Perez de Cuellar. He
added that "the effectiveness of sanctions has proven to be
relative," citing the example of Haiti, where an OAS embargo
against the military regime has failed to restore President Jean-
Bertrand Aristide to power since he was deposed six months ago.
[Inter Press Service 4/7/92] [That embargo has been barely
enforced, though most Haitians support strong sanctions as the
only way to restore Aristide to power.]
 
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5. PROTESTS AND CRACKDOWNS CONTINUE IN VENEZUELA
Police in Caracas, Venezuela used tear gas and water trucks to
try to disperse a demonstration on Apr. 7, the eve of a planned
one-day protest strike. There were no reports of injuries, though
at least 10 people were arrested in one of the worst disturbances
since the Feb. 4 failed coup. [ED-LP 4/8/92 from AP] On Apr. 9,
the Venezuelan government restored the last of the constitutional
rights it suspended after the coup attempt. [ED-LP 4/10/92 from
AFP] But at the same time authorities sanctioned the most
listened-to radio station in Caracas, YVKE Mundial, with a week
of shutdown for broadcasting interviews with leftist leaders and
relatives of the rebel officers. [ED-LP 4/7/92 from AFP]
 
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6. NORIEGA IS CONVICTED, BUSH CLAIMS "MAJOR VICTORY"
A federal jury in Miami returned guilty verdicts on Apr. 9 in
eight out of 10 drug conspiracy charges against Panamanian Gen.
Manuel Antonio Noriega.  US President George Bush called the
conviction "a major victory against the drug lords," while
Noriega's chief defense counsel warned that the US government
"will now trample across the entire world, imposing its will upon
so-called independent, sovereign nations.  Unless the foreign
governments are willing to kneel once a day and face Washington
and give grace to George Bush, they too may be in the same
posture as Gen. Noriega."  [Washington Post 4/10/92]  This is the
first time in US history that a jury has convicted a foreign head
of state of criminal charges. [New York Times 4/10/92] 
Sentencing is to take place July 10; lawyers familiar with the
case expect the general to get between 10 and 20 years. [WP
4/11/92] 
 
The conviction didn't come easily, despite a prosecution case
that experts feel cost the government between $10 and $20
million. [NY Newsday 4/10/92]  While the jury quickly dismissed
two charges of cocaine trafficking, one juror reportedly held out
for acquittal on the remaining charges, and when a second juror
began voting against conviction, a mistrial seemed imminent. [NYT
4/11/92]  Warned of this on Apr. 8, president Judge William
Hoeveler told the jury to resume deliberations: "Let me assure
you, you are not going home today. You can be sure that I am not
going to give up easily." [NYT 4/9/92]  There was "concern" in
the White House "when we heard the news about that one juror was
holding out," an administration insider reported. [NY Newsday
4/10/92]
 
The prosecution's case was riddled with irregularities, from the
original invasion through federal wiretapping of Noriega's
conversations with his lawyers. [NYT 4/10/92]  Legal experts
expect prolonged appeals.  "Everybody who has witnessed this case
has been shocked at the government's behavior," according to
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers president
Jeffrey Weiner, and a House Judiciary subcommittee issued a
report Apr. 9 questioning the prosecution's reliance on convicted
drug dealers who received payments and sentence reductions to
testify against the general. [WP 4/10/92]  Judge Hoeveler,
appointed to the bench by Jimmy Carter in 1977 [NYT 4/10/92],
excluded all "political" evidence, such as Noriega's work for the
CIA. "This was not a drug case," Rubino told the press. "This was
a political case. It always was, it always will be.  We only wish
we'd been allowed to present the evidence to address this case."
[WP 4/10/92]
 
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7. Guatemala: Army/Police Kill Student, US Nun Testifies on Rape
Guatemalan Governance Minister Fernando Hurtado has ordered the
arrest of 32 members of a combined police and army unit that
fired on a student demonstration on Apr. 10, killing one student
and injuring at least ten. The students were preparing to carry
out an annual student parade satirizing the government--a 94-year
old tradition--when they were shot at by troops. [ED-LP 4/12/92
from AFP] 
 
Meanwhile, US nun Dianna Ortiz has returned to Guatemala to
testify before a judge that she was kidnapped, tortured and raped
by Guatemalan security forces in November 1989. The military
continues to deny the charges. [Washington Post 4/8/92]
 
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8. LABOR BRIEFS: MEXICO, BOLIVIA, PUERTO RICO AND EL SALVADOR
Four days on strike ended Apr. 6 for 4,500 workers at Nissan auto
company in Cuernavaca, Mexico, who returned to work after
reaching an agreement with the company for a 21% raise. The union
is still discussing other pending contract issues with the
company. [ED-LP 4/7/92 from AFP]... After 17 days on strike,
60,000 Bolivian teachers reached an agreement with the government
and went back to work Apr. 8 with a 20% raise retroactive to
January. [ED-LP 4/9/92 from AFP]... With public employees'
demands for better salaries still unmet by the government, unions
in Puerto Rico are considering joining a general strike on May 1
called by the Teachers Federation. [ED-LP 4/6/92]... Some 27,000
teachers in El Salvador ended their five-day strike on Apr. 3
without winning any of their demands; on Apr. 2, Education chief
Cecilia Gallardo said she would talk with the teachers only when
the strike ended. [SALPRESS Weekly Summary 3/30/92-4/5/92]
Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani accused the teachers'
strike, as well as other strikes and protests--such as an Apr. 7
march in San Salvador by 3,000 campesinos demanding land and
credit [ED-LP 4/8/92 from AFP]--of being orchestrated by the
Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN). FMLN leader
Joaquin Villalobos responded: "Strikes aren't the product of
malignant minds... They are the result of hunger, and we aren't
responsible for that." [El Rescate Human Rights Report 3/30/92-
4/6/92] 
 
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9. MACABRE POLICE MUSEUM CELEBRATES DIRTY WAR IN ARGENTINA
The existence of a police museum in Argentina that exhibits
hearts, brains, a foot and unborn fetuses taken more than a
decade ago from alleged terrorists was brought to public
attention by the newspaper El Cronista Commercial in an article
on Apr. 9. The museum is in the northwest province of Tucuman,
where in the 1970's, the army battled and defeated leftist
subversive groups like the Peoples Revolutionary Army that were
trying to overthrow the government. At least 8,960--possibly as
many as 30,000--alleged leftists were arrested and disappeared in
the 1976-83 military junta's nationwide crackdown that Argentines
call the "dirty war". The newspaper said the exhibits--open to
the public and visited by schoolchildren--contain tags such as:
"ulcerated foot belonging to subversive detainee," and "fetus
belonging to a subversive detainee". They also contained
"subversive texts captured in operations including photocopies of
Pablo Neruda's poems." [Chile Information Project News 4/9/92]
                                 
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10. IN OTHER NEWS...
Indigenous Ecuadorans are planning a 15-day march from the Amazon
region of Puyo to the presidential palace in Quito, to demand the
government give them legal title to land and recognize Ecuador as
a multinational state. [Cubanews from Radio Havana 4/9/92] (See
upcoming events)... Some 7,600 Panamanians who work for US banana
transnational Chiriqui Land Company (Chiquita's Panama
subsidiary) are on strike, demanding that the government attend
to the social and economic demands of the town of Puerto
Armuelles, on the Pacific coast near the Costa Rican border. The
workers say they will only end the strike when President
Guillermo Endara firmly and personally commits himself with plans
to solve the region's problems. Banana exports are one of
Panama's major sources of hard currency. [ED-LP 4/10/92 from
EFE]... The Brazilian aircraft company Embraer is planning to
sell 40 "Toucan" military training planes to South Africa,
despite international and national sanctions, according to
Brazilian daily Gazeta Mercantil. The Air Force Ministry, which
controls Embraer, has tried unsuccessfully to end 1985 legal
sanctions which prohibit the export of any item with military
potential. Embraer used the excuse of its economic crisis--a $600
million debt--to convince the foreign ministry to authorize the
sale. [IPS 4/1/92]... Colombia is experiencing the worst energy
crisis of its history and rationing has left much of the country
without electricity. Meanwhile, rebels of the Simon Bolivar
Guerrilla Coordinator are engaged in peace talks with the
government, but they refuse to stop attacks against energy
supplies and other economic targets until some of their key
points are addressed. [ED-LP 4/10/02 from AP]... Argentina's
foreign bank lenders agreed on Apr. 7 to forgive about $8 billion
of the nation's $23 billion debt. Argentina will now repay its
past-due interest and begin repaying its remaining debt. [NYT
4/8/92]... The Brazilian Women's Confederation says a US
population control institute distributed a sterilization drug to
low-income women in the city of Pernambuco without explaining its
purpose. The women reportedly took the drug and even gave it to
their children, believing it was a vitamin. [Cubanews from Radio
Havana Cuba 3/30/92]... On April 9, Chile paid the US $2,611,800
compensation for the families of Chilean diplomat Orlando
Letelier and his US aide Ronnie Moffit, both murdered by a car
bomb in Washington in 1976 set by agents of the DINA, the Chilean
secret service. The amount was agreed on in January through
discussions in the Bryan Commission. [Chile Information Project
News 4/10/92]
 
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11. 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.
 
4/15 WED - Tax Day Protests. 12-2 PM, leafleting at the IRS, 120
Church St (at Murray). 4-6:30 PM, street teach-in at the Main
Post Office, 9th Ave betw. 33rd and 34th. 7 PM, Forum on Federal
Budget Issues at Local 1199, 310 W 43rd St. Call NY SANE/Freeze
212-870-2304 or War Resisters League 212-228-0450.
 
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.
 
4/18 SAT, 7 PM - Night in solidarity with indigenous Ecuadorans
in their protest march to Quito. W/ film "Salvemos Nuestra Madre
Tierra," speakers, music. $7 donation. District 65/UAW, 13 Astor
Place, 2nd Floor. Call 718-639-8128.
 
4/22 WED, 6 PM - Remembering the 1965 Dominican revolution, an
evening of discussion hosted by Robert Knight. 191 E. 3rd St.
212-473-0071.
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