From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: NICANET HOTLINE -- 09/14/92
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 22:54:23 GMT

/** reg.nicaragua: 166.0 **/
** Topic: NICANET HOTLINE -- 09/14/92 **
** Written 12:24 pm  Sep 14, 1992 by nicanet in cdp:reg.nicaragua **
             NICARAGUA NETWORK HOTLINE ** 202-544-9360
 
                         September 14, 1992
 
You have reached the Nicaragua Network Hotline recorded Monday, 
September 14, 1992.   To reach our office, call: 202-544-9355.
 
Topics covered in this hotline include: State Department 
delegation causes nationalistic backlash; Assessment of tidal 
wave destruction continues to rise; new mechanisms created to 
settle property disputes; Supreme Court strikes down 
parliamentary maneuver, Atlantic Coast controversy continues; and 
Senate may pass foreign aid bill this week.
 
While Nicaragua was trying to contend with the tidal wave 
catastrophe, government officials had to take time away from 
relief efforts to deal with a State Department mission lead by 
Under-Secretary of State John Maisto.  Maisto came peddling 
positions from Jesse Helm's vicious report which essentially 
would require Nicaragua to give up its sovereignty in exchange 
for a release of US aid.  One of the conditions Maisto and the 
Helms Report would require would be the establishment of a 
commission headed by Cardinal Obando y Bravo and including former 
contras who would rule on property returns, appoint replacements 
for Sandinistas in the army and police, courts, etc., and 
essentially take over the powers of the Presidency.  Nicaraguans 
were outraged by the State Department demands and the net effect 
was to stimulate some patriotic fervor even among UNO members of 
the National Assembly who owe their election to US support.  
Chamorro refused to "set up an alien group that is not sworn in 
under the national flag."  Armando Zambrana, National Assembly 
delegate from the Christian Democratic Party called the US 
proposal a "political miscalculation."  A deputy of Vice-
President Godoy's Independent Liberal Party said there was no 
need for the commission which would amount to co-government. And, 
Nicaraguan Socialist Party delegate Gustavo Tablada said, "it's 
unacceptable that a junta of advisors should say 'yes' or 'no' to 
proposals to resolve the country's problems."  He added that 
democracy cannot flourish on the basis of an advisory junta, but 
can only develop by respecting the results of the February 1990 
elections. (Inter Press Service, 09/12/92)  Maisto also met with 
FSLN National Directorate Member Henry Ruiz.  Ruiz told him that 
any national plans must take the FSLN into consideration because 
the FSLN is a political reality.  The FSLN is by far the largest 
single political party in Nicaragua.  Ruiz told Maisto that the 
FSLN has the will to resolve conflicts through dialogue and that 
they want constructive relations with all nations.  Ruiz also 
gave Maisto an open letter from Daniel Ortega to George Bush 
which decried the efforts to promote "a witchhunt against those 
citizens who uphold their adherence to Sandinista thinking."  The 
Nicaragua Monitor will print an extensive rebuttal of the Helms 
Report in its issue which will be out in a week or 10 days.  If 
you do not have a subscription, send $1 for a complimentary copy.  
If your committee needs the rebuttal quickly we can mail or fax 

it to you. Call the Nicaragua Network at (202) 544-9355.
 
The Civil Defense Department of the army released new figures on 
tidal wave casualties.  The army lists known dead at 118, with 63 
still missing, 89 injured, and 13,633 people left homeless.  In 
addition, thousands of endangered sea turtle eggs and hatchlings 
were destroyed by the wave and mangrove trees that are breeding 
grounds for shrimp and other commercial fish.
 
In yet another effort to satisfy Helms and others demands on 
return of property confiscated under the Sandinista Government, 
President Chamorro announced the formation of the office of 
Property Ombudsman.  Minister of the Presidency Antonio Lacayo 
also announced the creation of an Office of Quantification of 
Compensation which will also deal with claims for return of 
property.  Lacayo made the announcement in Waslala at a ceremony 
granting 342 property titles which will benefit 1400 families of 
former contras, former members of the army, and repatriated 
peasants.  The new policy will be to return confiscated 
properties if possible and to compensate the previous owner if 
the property is presently occupied.  The Chamorro Government 
emphasized that those who were confiscated for having close ties 
to Somoza and those who were already compensated by the 
Sandinista Government, will not be eligible -- a reasonable 
position that is sure to draw Jesse Helms ire.
 
The Sandinista Bench of the National Assembly and seven UNO 
deputies won a Supreme Court challenge to a parliamentary 
maneuver by Assembly President Alfredo Cesar.  The day after the 
tidal wave Cesar refused an FSLN motion to adjourn the Assembly 
so that Delegates could deal with the crisis.  When the 
Sandinista Bench and some UNO delegates walked out, Cesar, who 
was left without a quorum, filled two vacant positions in the 
Assembly leadership that have been the source of much political 
maneuvering.  The Supreme Court decision leaves the position 
vacant.
 
In another case of political maneuvering, some South Atlantic 
Autonomous Region councilmembers who support ousted Governor 
Alvin Guthrie accused Sandinista member Ray Hooker of bribing 
some UNO councilmembers to attend the meeting which ousted 
Guthrie and elected Hooker. Councilmember Johnny Hodgson said the 
UNO members wrote themselves checks with council money and later 
said they got it from Hooker.  Hooker was elected with a clear 
majority of FSLN and YATAMA members as well as three UNO 
delegates.  YATAMA was an armed indiginous group which was allied 
with the contras.  Its members support for Hooker demonstrates 
both the widely held perception of Guthrie's corruption and the 
extent to which reconciliation is happening on the Atlantic 
Coast.
 
And finally, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and possibly 
the full Senate is likely to consider the 1993 foreign aid bill 
this week.  Committee Chair Patrick Leahy has pledged to try to 

report out a bill that does not include political conditions for 
the release of aid to Nicaragua, but he has warned that there 
will likely be motions on the Senate floor to attach conditions.  
The bill includes $170 million for Nicaragua.  The House of 
Representatives has already passed its foreign aid bill without 
conditions.  We urge you to contact your Senators immediately 
with the following demands: Pass the FY93 foreign aid bill 
without conditioning the release of aid to Nicaragua; Do not 
include aid to El Salvador's military in the bill; and, pressure 
the State Department to release the $104 million in FY92 money it 
is holding up at Jesse Helms' request.
 
To become a supporter and receive our publications and mailings, 
please contact us.  The Nicaragua Network's address is: 1247 E 
St., SE, Washington, DC  20003; our phone: 202-544-9355.
** End of text from cdp:reg.nicaragua **
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