CENTRAL AMERICA

 

U.S. Warns Nicaragua Over Disputed Elections
By Tim Rogers, The Miami Herald

MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan is warning Nicaragua's Sandinista government that it has ''no more than 90 days'' to resolve lingering controversy over November's municipal elections if it hopes to unfreeze $62 million in U.S. development aid.

''For us, the fundamental thing, the most important thing, is that Nicaraguans resolve the problem of the elections of last November,'' Callahan said this week.

Business leaders worry that if Washington decides to permanently cut its aid under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), other European countries and international lending institutions would follow, spelling disaster for the hemisphere's second-poorest nation behind Haiti.

''The government is playing with fire,'' said Roger Arteaga, president of the Nicaraguan-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM).

The Daniel Ortega administration has consistently refused to discuss allegations of election fraud and, instead, is pushing a plan to convert Nicaragua into a quasi-parliamentary system that would allow Ortega to seek reelection indefinitely.

The MCC's board of directors, which originally announced the aid freeze in December, upheld its decision this week.

''The government of Nicaragua has failed to reaffirm its commitment to democratic principles and practices since its suspension in December,'' Acting MCC Chief Executive Officer Rodney Bent said in a March 11 statement.

The main issue of concern for the U.S. government is the Sandinista government's ''manipulation of municipal elections'' last November, in which the ruling party claimed ''an overwhelming victory'' in an election fraught with allegations of fraud.

Callahan said this week that Washington considers there was ''sufficient doubt and credible irregularities'' in last year's electoral process, ''before, during and after'' the vote.

Electoral watchdog group Ethics and Transparency claims the election was riddled with ''systemic fraud'' and that 10 articles of Nicaragua's Electoral Code were violated to assure a Sandinista victory.

Callahan said if the Nicaraguan government continues to ignore these national and international concerns and doesn't address the issues before the MCC board meets again in 90 days, ``it will be very difficult to renew the project.''

The MCC, which has already contracted more than $90 million of the original $175 million compact awarded to Nicaragua in 2005, will meet in June to make its final decision on the remaining $62 million yet to be allocated for infrastructure and landtitling programs.

Sandinista officials insist that last year's elections are not subject to discussion -- ''not even with historians,'' according to presidential economic advisor Bayardo Arce.

Ortega has repeatedly urged Nicaraguans and the foreign community to ''forget'' about the elections and focus on pulling together to resolve the country's economic crisis.

Ortega has attempted to initiate a so-called ''national dialogue'' with opposition and business leaders, but Sandinista authorities have made it clear that the electoral fraud will not be discussed because it would only ``contaminate the national dialogue.''

The opposition, however, says Nicaragua's political and economic crises cannot be separated and that one is feeding the other.

Ortega, meanwhile, is more focused with pushing his plans to change Nicaragua's system of government and remain in power.

In his first news media interview since returning to the presidency more than two years ago, Ortega recently told British journalist David Frost that his government aims to ''put an end to the presidential system and establish a parliamentary system'' in which ``there is no inhibition for authorities to get reelected.''