Attending a military celebration, Gen. Javier Carrion said Nicaragua's security commission has determined that at least two threats against nearby El Salvador are "real."

He said the threats appeared on the Internet.

"There is a direct and particular threat against El Salvador," he said.

Across Central America security has been tightened at airports and embassies in a bid to avert any possible attack.

Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez said Sunday his country declared a national alert after receiving information that al-Qaida was trying to recruit Hondurans to attack embassies of the United States, Britain, Spain and El Salvador.

The purported al-Qaida plot was directly linked to the war in Iraq, which is why it targeted the United States, Britain and El Salvador, Alvarez said. All three countries are still involved in Iraq.

However, it was unclear why Spain was targeted since Madrid pulled its troops out of Iraq earlier this year. Honduras withdrew its 370 soldiers in April.

In July, Alvarez said a Saudi-born terror suspect sought by U.S. officials was spotted earlier this year at an Internet cafe in the Honduran capital before fleeing the country.

The man, Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, once lived in south Florida and is the subject of an FBI alert issued in 2003. The agency has asked law enforcement agencies and the public to be on the lookout for Shukrijumah on the grounds he may be plotting terrorist attacks against the United States or its interests abroad.

Shukrijumah, 29, apparently entered Honduras illegally from Nicaragua or Panama.
 

Artifacts cast doubt on Nicaraguan history
Simple fragments of ceramics and eerie burial grounds are among the artifacts unearthed in Nicaragua by Canadian researchers who say their findings could change the long-held history of the Central American country.

For generations, Nicaraguan children have been taught that their ancestors came from central Mexico as migrants around 1000 AD, and that in 1300, a second wave made the trek. Both were believed to have brought their Aztec or Nahua culture and language with them. At least, those were the lessons passed on from the Spanish conquistadors who arrived in Nicaragua in 1529.

But Geoff McCafferty, an archeologist at the University of Calgary, said his team of researchers has recovered 400,000 artifacts from what is believed to be the country's ancient capital of Quauhcapolca, yet they haven't detected Nahua roots.

"There's a whole series of lines of evidence now that don't match the expectations of the Nahua community," Dr. McCafferty said yesterday as he unveiled some of the artifacts the Nicaraguan government allowed him to remove. "This is going to have serious repercussions, I think, when we start rewriting the history of people in Nicaragua because the group from which all the history is derived is wrong."

In terms of Canadians, he said, it would be like finding out England didn't colonize Canada.

The findings are meeting some resistance, but as the evidence mounts, the researchers say, Nicaraguan experts are warming to the idea of changing their history.

Dr. McCafferty and students and experts from Canada, Nicaragua, Mexico, Colombia and the United States have spent the past two months excavating a 700-year-old site at the ancient capital, near what is now Santa Isabel and under a banana plantation. Santa Isabel is between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean.

They spent two previous seasons doing field studies there, research financed by the federal Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, but to date they have found little that resembles Nahua culture.

They have excavated house mounds as well as what they believe is a portion of the palace of Chief Nicaragua, leader of the indigenous people who lived at Quauhcapolca around the time the Spanish arrived, for whom the country is named, but nothing in them looks Aztec.

They expected to find long-handled pots, which the Aztecs used to burn incense to communicate with their gods, but so far have found none. They expected to find comals, broad griddles the Nahua used to cook tortillas, an Aztec staple. They turned up 100,000 pieces of pottery, but no comals. They have yet to find evidence of maize, popular with the Nahua both for food and drink. Instead, they have found carbonized cacao beans, from which chocolate is derived.

They found unusual mortuary practices involving burial urns and bodies placed on their sides, facing west, while the Nahua people were known to bury their dead seated and facing north.

The researchers have some theories about how history may have got muddled.

The people were indigenous, but the area was also multi-ethnic and included some Aztecs who travelled there for trade. When the conquistadors arrived with Aztec interpreters, Dr. McCafferty suggests, they may have spoken only with local Aztecs and in turn heard (and retold) a one-sided story.

Still, he acknowledges, more study is needed.

He presented some of the early findings a year ago to skeptical Nicaraguan peers. Now, he said, they are a little more accepting.

The New Nicaragua
Nicaragua, an incredibly beautiful nation of gentle, peace-loving people, has shaken away the ghosts of a civil war that ended 15 years ago, and is now beckoning to the world as a "go-to" destination of strategic importance. The past nine months have been a "tipping point" of global recognition of these changes.

In short, Nicaragua is easily accessible, safe, attractive and inexpensive, and investment opportunities are timely.

Nicaraguan officials, backed by voters, have driven these changes. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and participating nations of the Central American Free Trade Agreement have added their affirmations by making sweeping decisions strengthening Nicaragua's comeback.

What has Nicaragua done to produce such profound change?

For one, the democratic process rules the country. Since 1990, voters have turned out in record numbers to vote in three consecutive democratic presidential elections leading to peaceful transfers of power.

The police force has been professionalized and is controlled by civilians. The army has been reduced from more than 100,000 troops to about 7,000. Elected leaders have developed realistic budgets, instituted tax reforms and restructured underperforming banks and domestic debt.

Global markets and media have taken notice. The IMF and World Bank forgave a staggering $4.5 billion in Nicaraguan debt this year. Japan agreed in June to write off an additional $118 million. As well, CAFTA-- the landmark U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement reached last year -- will lower tariffs and other trade barriers. Major news outlets are singing the nation's praises.

Easy Access. Recently, the Chicago Tribune observed that Nicaragua was a "beautiful and peaceful place now courting tourism." U.S. News & World Report has trumpeted: "Nicaragua is a hot new travel destination."

In 2003, tourism generated revenues of $150 million, and foreign arrivals increased 10.9 percent from 2002. American Airlines, Continental Airlines and TACA (based in El Salvador) make 10 flights daily between Managua and Miami, Houston and Los Angeles. Major cruise lines stop at San Juan del Sur. Holiday Inn, Inter-Continental Hotels, Best Western, the Seminole Hotel and Princess have opened hotels.

Retirees are flocking to Nicaragua. The Wall Street Journal recently wrote: "As legions of baby boomers prepare to retire and relocate to warmer climates, a widening range of Central American countries are vying to be their new home. ... As a result, a new breed of intrepid retirees is branching out to countries including ... Nicaragua."

Safety. A study by INCAE, the Harvard Business School affiliate in Managua, shows that Nicaragua is the safest country, and Granada is one of the safest cities, in all of Central America. The New York Times observed this spring, "Unarmed, crisp-shirted policemen have replaced battle-weary soldiers patrolling the streets."

Stunning Beauty. Nicaragua boasts of spectacular natural and manmade beauty. Founded in 1524, Spanish colonial Granada is the oldest city in the Western Hemisphere. Freshwater Lake Nicaragua is the 10th-largest lake in the world, and large volcanoes dot the landscape. Cloud forests, howler monkeys and exotic species of flora and fauna exist just minutes from Managua.

Inexpensive Living. Property in Nicaragua is much less expensive than in the United States, and labor costs are low. The Christian Science Monitor recently noted that Nicaragua "is emerging as a U.S. retirement haven. ... Cheap land surrounds picturesque crater lakes and active volcanoes. And the cost of living is a fraction of what it is in the United States." Foreigners can become residents and acquire fee simple title to property.

Timely Opportunities. Active investment is stimulating growth. Since instituting free market reforms in 1991, Nicaragua has privatized more than 350 state enterprises and reduced inflation from 13,500 percent to single-digits.

Major corporations have established local operations, including McDonald's, Liz Claiborne, TGI Fridays, Osh Kosh B'gosh, Payless Shoes, Kodak, United Colors of Benetton, Burger King, Radio Shack, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Hertz, Budget and Alamo.

Government incentives also are stimulating growth. The Tourism Tax Incentives Law is being used by Nicaraguans to invest in certified tourism development projects as an offset of what they would have paid in ordinary income tax.