VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #0418/01 0541428
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231428Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5358
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 3315
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS MANAGUA 000418 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, WHA/PPC, 
WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB NU
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA 2006 ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
SUBMISSION 
 
REF: A. STATE 3836 
     ¶B. 04 MANAGUA 629 
     ¶C. 05 MANAGUA 44 
     ¶D. 05 MANAGUA 335 
     ¶E. 05 MANAGUA 397 
     ¶F. 05 MANAGUA 750 
     ¶G. 05 MANAGUA 1242 
     ¶H. 05 MANAGUA 1243 
     ¶I. 05 MANAGUA 1660 
     ¶J. 05 MANAGUA 2009 
     ¶K. 05 MANAGUA 2142 
     ¶L. 05 MANAGUA 2212 
     ¶M. 05 MANAGUA 2399 
     ¶N. 05 MANAGUA 2621 
     ¶O. 05 MANAGUA 2852 
     ¶P. 05 MANAGUA 2853 
     ¶Q. 05 DEPT OF JUSTICE 262005 
     ¶R. MANAGUA 177 
 
¶1. (SBU) During the 2005-2006 reporting period, Nicaraguan 
government has made important progress in all areas of its 
fight against Trafficking in Persons (TIP), including 
prevention and detection, victim assistance, and prosecution 
of traffickers.  Nicaraguan police dismantled two major 
trafficking rings during 2005, and prosecutors secured four 
convictions in the country's first international TIP court 
case.  The Foreign Ministry has grown increasingly skilled at 
handling the repatriation of Nicaraguan TIP victims found in 
neighboring countries and the Ministry of the Family is 
working with NGOs to increase the country's ability to 
provide support to victims and reintegrate them into society. 
 A package of TIP-related legal reforms that would bring 
Nicaragua into full compliance with international TIP 
standards is pending before the National Assembly and appears 
to enjoy bipartisan support.  Embassy Managua believes that 
these and other positive developments warrant Nicaragua's 
return to Tier 2 when the Department makes its annual Tier 
rankings in the coming months.  Responses below are keyed to 
Department's questions in paragraphs 21-24 of reftel A. 
 
OVERVIEW (Paragraph 21 A-D) 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2. (SBU) Paragraph A:  Post has no evidence that Nicaragua is 
a significant country of transit or destination for 
internationally trafficked men, women, or children.  However, 
there is growing evidence that Nicaragua is a country of 
origin for international trafficking in  persons (TIP) and 
that internal trafficking takes place in the country.  While 
there is widespread consensus that the underlying poverty and 
unemployment that are pre-conditions for TIP exist in 
Nicaragua, the country is only beginning to develop a 
database of TIP statistics.  Working with the Nicaraguan 
Government (GON), post was able to confirm twelve distinct 
TIP cases, many involving multiple victims (for a total of 40 
victims in all twelve cases) during the period January 2005 
through February 2006.  By all accounts, those most at risk 
of being trafficked in Nicaragua were women and girls 
trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation.  The type of 
internal trafficking activity that is believed to be the most 
prevalent in Nicaragua is internal underage prostitution. 
However, reports of young men being trafficked, particularly 
from the area around the town of San Carlos, to Costa Rica 
for purposes of labor exploitation have also begun to 
surface.  No numbers are available at this time on the extent 
of this newly-reported labor exploitation. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Paragraph B: Almost all verified cases of TIP in 
Nicaragua were of women and girls trafficked for purposes 
of sexual exploitation.  Most cases of international 
trafficking were women and girls recruited (nominally for 
work as domestics, nannies, and waitresses in neighboring 
countries) from poor neighborhoods in such cities as 
Chinandega, Esteli, Managua, and Granada going to El 
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras or Mexico, where they were 
forced to work as prostitutes.  According to all of post's 
government and NGO contacts, Guatemala City is overwhelmingly 
the primary destination for Nicaraguans trafficked for 
purposes of sexual exploitation.  Internal cases of TIP 
usually involved poor rural women and girls being drawn to 
major urban centers to work as prostitutes, although the 
adult prostitutes found working in nightclubs and massage 
parlors are from both urban and rural areas.  According to 
the police, the types of businesses where prostitution is 
most common are casinos, night clubs, discos, beauty salons, 
and massage parlors.  Young men reportedly being trafficked 
to Costa Rica for purposes of labor exploitation are believed 
to be primarily from rural areas in the southern parts of the 
country. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Paragraph B continued:  Although reliable 
information to confirm the extent of TIP in Nicaragua remains 
limited, there is no indication of major changes in its 
incidence over the past year, except for the anecdotal 
reports of increasing trafficking to Costa Rica for purposes 
of labor exploitation.  Although some media reports have 
suggested that the problem has grown in scope, there are no 
reliable statistics to confirm this impression.  TIP has 
received growing public, media, and government attention, and 
this awareness may account for the growing number of TIP 
reports.  It is not clear whether the trafficking of young 
men to Costa Rica is something new, or is something that has 
been ongoing for some time and is only now receiving 
attention. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Paragraph B continued:  Implementation of the first 
reliable TIP survey began in October 2004 and is still 
ongoing.  The survey instrument was designed by Johns Hopkins 
University, supported by post, and has been distributed to 
the 24 women's police stations operated nationwide by the 
Nicaraguan National Police (NNP).  The study is designed to 
establish a uniform monitoring system and case evaluation to 
identify and prevent human trafficking.  The NNP gathers 
information and sends it to the Ministry of Government for 
analysis.  The study instrument has also been distributed to 
NGOs involved in anti-TIP efforts so that they too can 
contribute verifiable information on TIP cases.  This 
accumulation of certified case data is unprecedented in 
Nicaragua and should provide both the first reliable 
statistics on the extent of the TIP problem in the country 
and serve as a check on other sources of information.  The 
Johns Hopkins survey is intended to provide the GON with 
constant updates on the nature and extent of the TIP problem, 
including patterns of recruitment, transportation, routes, 
and destinations, in order to allow it to adjust its anti-TIP 
strategies and its allocation of resources to confront the 
TIP challenge as effectively as possible.  Numerous other TIP 
studies have been done, but none have addressed the problem 
systematically.  Many previous surveys have confused distinct 
issues such as migrant smuggling and TIP by mixing them 
together or have combined reports on TIP with other issues 
such as adult prostitution, sexual abuse, and disappearances 
that do not meet the definition of TIP.  Many reports, 
particularly in the media, have also used anecdotal evidence 
of limited statistical validity to draw broad conclusions. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Paragraph B continued:  Based on the nature of 
trafficking, NGOs, the NNP, and post believe that young women 
from poor areas of Managua and from border towns are at 
greatest risk for both internal and external trafficking. 
Some women and girls from poor rural areas have also been 
trafficked.  According to the National Police and media 
reports, the victims of external trafficking are typically 
approached by someone they know and tempted with lucrative 
job  offers in neighboring countries.  There are also reports 
that traffickers have approached women working in factories 
in some of the country's free trade zones (FTZs) and 
attempted to lure them into forced prostitution by offering 
better paid and easier employment abroad.  Usually victims 
are smuggled across Nicaragua's porous northern border, 
sometimes in the back of trucks and sometimes on foot along 
well-traveled smugglers' routes.  This year there were media 
reports that some victims were also smuggled by boat across 
the Gulf of Fonseca to Honduras and El Salvador en route to 
Guatemala and Mexico.  According to the NNP, most Nicaraguan 
TIP victims are girls and women under 25 years of age with a 
low level of education and few economic opportunities.  Young 
men in rural areas of southern Nicaragua are reportedly 
approached by traffickers, who offer them paid agricultural 
work on farms in Costa Rica.  However, according to the 
reports, after the men, who cross the border undocumented, 
have worked for several months, their employers have them 
deported back to Nicaragua rather than pay them for their 
labor. 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Paragraph C:  The GON has demonstrated political 
will at the highest levels to combat trafficking in persons 
and is making serious and sustained efforts to prevent 
trafficking.  CONAPINA, an inter-agency coordinating council 
headed by First Lady Lila T. Abaunza de Bolanos, coordinates 
GON policy on children's affairs, including trafficking 
issues, with participation from every key government 
ministry, the NGO community, and international donors.  The 
GON's anti-TIP action plan was described in detail in reftel 
B and remains in effect.  No government officials have been 
linked to TIP, and post has every reason to believe that the 
GON would take action against officials linked to 
trafficking.  Although government resources are limited, the 
GON is doing what it can to prevent TIP, protect victims, and 
prosecute traffickers.  Among other efforts, during 2005 it 
carried out a variety of campaigns to raise awareness of the 
dangers of TIP, pressed the National Assembly to pass a 
package of legal reforms that would greatly strengthen 
anti-TIP legislation, and helped to repatriate Nicaraguan 
victims from neighboring countries.  The anti-TIP office in 
the Ministry of Government has become an increasingly 
effective coordinator of the anti-TIP efforts of both the 
government and the national anti-TIP coalition.  The GON has 
remained cooperative with post on TIP issues and has welcomed 
embassy involvement and support.  The Vice Minister of 
Government leads GON law enforcement efforts against TIP and 
chairs the national anti-trafficking coalition. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Paragraph C continued:  There is no evidence that 
government authorities or individual members of government 
forces facilitate, condone, or are otherwise complicit in 
trafficking.  Nicaragua's borders are sufficiently porous for 
smuggling of all types that there is little need for 
traffickers to attempt to make government officials complicit 
in their crimes. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Paragraph C continued:  Nicaragua is the second 
poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the GON suffers 
from severe resource shortages.  The GON simply cannot 
allocate all the resources it would like to TIP issues. 
Although the NNP is regarded as a relatively non-corrupt 
institution and there is no evidence that police or 
government officials are involved in TIP in Nicaragua, the 
court system is very corrupt and subject to political 
influence.  Although there have been no cases of judicial 
corruption allowing human traffickers to go free, drug 
traffickers have escaped justice as a result of judicial 
malfeasance and it is possible that the same could happen in 
TIP cases.  Some traffickers in persons have escaped justice 
because of the impact of resource constraints on prosecutors, 
police, and other institutions that support them (reftel O). 
The GON has few resources to aid victims. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Paragraph C continued:  The police have arrested 
traffickers and are committed to continuing to do so.  In 
cases where sufficient evidence existed, traffickers have 
been prosecuted.  Prosecution of some cases has been 
complicated by the fact that the police stopped the 
traffickers at the border, thus preventing TIP, making it 
hard for prosecutors to prove that trafficking had actually 
occurred.  Because Nicaragua is a country of origin, 
prosecution is hampered in other ways by the cross-border 
nature of the crime.  It is difficult for police in Managua 
to investigate allegations in Guatemala City, for example, or 
for a Nicaraguan court to compile enough evidence to convict 
based on activities in another country.  Recognizing the 
regional nature of the TIP problem, the GON has worked to 
improve cooperation with other governments in Central America 
via Interpol, the Central American Commission on Migration, 
and other regional and international organizations.  Police 
and prosecutors have often been hampered by uncooperative 
victims and their families, whose help is needed to locate 
external traffickers.  During the year, all of the GON bodies 
involved in fighting TIP developed a protocol detailing the 
specific procedures to be followed in TIP cases, and the 
individual responsibilities of each ministry or agency.  The 
protocol covers all aspects of a case, from the time it is 
first reported and investigated, through the repatriation and 
protection of the victim(s), and the prosecution of the 
traffickers.  The protocol is slated to be implemented during 
¶2006. 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) Paragraph D:  The GON has designated CONAPINA as 
the key agency for monitoring internal anti-trafficking 
efforts.  The National Action Plan on Commercial Sexual 
Exploitation of Minors establishes an evaluation of its 
progress against trafficking, with reports mandated every six 
months.  The reports are specifically designed to give an 
account of how the plan is implemented, including which 
objectives are achieved, using specific indicators to 
measure results.  All reports must detail the situation of 
youth and adolescents at risk of sexual commercial 
exploitation through an account of achievements and 
obstacles, and must contain statistics.  The Ministry of 
Government, which oversees both the Directorate of Migration 
and the National Police, monitors external anti-trafficking 
efforts.  The Ministry of Government is also involved in 
monitoring internal anti-trafficking efforts when they 
involve law enforcement, such as the investigation and 
prosecution of brothel owners with underage prostitutes. 
CONAPINA and Ministry of Government officials have regularly 
held public meetings and seminars to report on both the 
progress of anti-TIP efforts and refinements to the national 
anti-TIP strategy. 
 
CONFIRMED TIP CASES (January 2005-February 2006) 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶12. (SBU) In late January 2005, Managua police broke up a 
trafficking ring seeking to lure adolescent girls from the 
capital to Guatemala for purposes of prostitution (reftel D). 
 Police arrested five suspected traffickers (four Nicaraguans 
and a Guatemalan), who had deceived and imprisoned six girls 
and who were in the process of preparing fake documentation 
to smuggle them across international borders.  The six girls, 
all of whom were from poor Managua neighborhoods, informed 
police and prosecutors that they had been deceived by offers 
of lucrative domestic employment in Guatemala.  According to 
initial reports, the four suspected Nicaraguan traffickers 
were using a fake travel agency as a front for their 
activities.  The fifth suspected trafficker arrested was the 
Guatemalan owner of the nightclub for which the six TIP 
victims were reportedly destined.  After the traffickers were 
arrested and the girls returned to their families, a Managua 
judge ordered the suspected traffickers held for trial, which 
took place in April.  During the trial, evidence emerged that 
the traffickers had been funneling Nicaraguan minors to 
Guatemalan nightclubs for the purpose of prostitution at 
least since 2002.  The GON made the TIP case a major priority 
and a wide range of state institutions and non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) worked together to assist the victims 
and ensure effective prosecution.  Strong physical and 
witness evidence, including testimony by three TIP victims, 
overcame efforts by the defense to bribe and intimidate 
victims and smear them in court.  In the end, four out of the 
five traffickers were convicted.  Three received eight year 
sentences, and the fourth received a four year sentence. 
Although Nicaraguan courts had previously convicted internal 
traffickers of minors, this case was the country's first 
successful prosecution of international traffickers (reftel 
G). 
 
¶13. (SBU) On February 24, 2005, police in El Salvador 
informed the Nicaraguan consulate in that country that they 
had rescued two Nicaraguan minors, Olga Maria Ruiz Tercero 
(age 16) and Carmen Montiel Cruz (age 17), from situations of 
sexual exploitation during a raid on the "Night Club Tequila 
Bar."  The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the appropriate 
GON efforts to return Cruz to her family and placed Tercero 
in the care of the Ministry of the Family; both minors 
returned to Nicaragua on March 14.  The consulate 
subsequently assisted Salvadoran authorities with 
documentation needed for the prosecuting of the traffickers. 
 
¶14. (SBU) On June 28, Salvadoran police informed the 
Nicaraguan consulate that they had rescued Reyna Isabel 
Valverde Rivera (age 17) from a situation of sexual 
exploitation during a raid on the "Night Club Retorno del 
Tren de la Noche."  The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the 
GON efforts to repatriate the minor and she was returned to 
her family on August 12. 
 
¶15. (SBU) On July 13, Salvadoran authorities informed the 
Nicaraguan consulate that Reyna Mercedes Gutierrez (age 17) 
was in their custody and was a victim of sexual exploitation. 
 The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the GON efforts to 
repatriate the minor and she was returned to her family on 
August 12. 
 
¶16. (SBU) In late July, Managua police uncovered another 
trafficking ring that was recruiting young girls for purposes 
of sexual exploitation.  In this internal TIP case, the girls 
were being both recruited and exploited in the capital. 
Police found a total of six minor victims, including three of 
the traffickers' own children (reftel L).  The traffickers 
used a variety of methods to recruit and control their 
victims, including kidnapping and drugs.  Unfortunately, 
systemic weaknesses of Nicaraguan government institutions led 
to not guilty verdicts in the October jury trial of three 
traffickers (reftel O).  Defense lawyers took advantage of 
the inability of police to provide sufficient evidence and of 
the Ministry of the Family's inability to shelter the minor 
victims from threats and bribes.  The defense used threats, 
bribes, and false testimony, and removed all potential female 
jurors before the trial started.  The attorneys took 
advantage of what prosecutors describe as a "culture of 
machismo", portraying child prostitution as a "normal" 
characteristic of Nicaragua's poverty.  Nicaraguan government 
institutions have grown more adept at working together to 
fight TIP and have demonstrated a growing commitment to doing 
so, but inherent weaknesses remain an obstacle to successful 
TIP prosecutions.  Because of these weaknesses, every TIP 
prosecution in Nicaragua is a major challenge, with success 
or failure coming down to the ability of police to provide 
evidence and the determination of witnesses to testify 
against their traffickers.  Though Post and prosecutors are 
disappointed by the outcome in this case, we will use it as 
an object lesson to strengthen future prosecutions as much as 
possible. In late November, in response to an appeal from the 
Fiscalia, a Managua judge declared the jury's verdict in this 
case null and void because one juror had concealed that he 
was deaf and another had covered up his criminal record.  A 
new jury trial was scheduled for December, but the three 
traffickers disappeared, and are presently fugitives from 
justice.  GON authorities do not know whether the three 
traffickers remain in Nicaragua. 
 
¶17. (SBU) On September 20, Salvadoran authorities informed 
the Nicaraguan consulate that they had taken custody of 
Andrea Francisca Cuadra Zapata (age 15) when she was found 
without travel documents attempting to cross into Guatemala 
in the company of an unknown adult male.  The Salvadoran 
authorities reportedly informed the consulate that they had 
reason to believe that the girl had been destined for sexual 
exploitation in Guatemala.  The consulate coordinated the GON 
efforts to repatriate the minor and she was returned to her 
family on October 28. 
 
¶18. (SBU) On October 9, authorities in Guatemala informed the 
Nicaraguan consulate in that country that they had rescued 
three young Nicaraguans, Alba Johana Ocampos Martinez, 
Veronica del Carmen Baquedano, and Maria Gabriela Estrada 
Moreno (all age 20) from a situation of trafficking in 
persons.  The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the GON 
efforts to repatriate the young women and they returned to 
Nicaragua on October 12. 
 
¶19. (SBU) On October 13 authorities in Guatemala informed the 
Nicaraguan consulate in that country that they had rescued 
three more young Nicaraguans, Lucidalia Torres (age 15), 
Martha Petrona Garcia Zapata (age 22) and Maribeli Urania 
Acevedo Peralta (age 17) from a situation of trafficking in 
persons. The Nicaraguan consulate coordinated the GON efforts 
to repatriate the three Nicaraguans, but the Foreign Ministry 
has not provided the date on which they returned to Nicaragua. 
 
¶20. (SBU) On November 7, Salvadoran authorities informed the 
Nicaraguan consulate that they had found Joselin Liseth 
Romero Ortega (age 17) in a situation where she risked 
becoming a victim of trafficking in persons.  The Nicaraguan 
consulate coordinated the GON efforts to repatriate the minor 
and she was returned to Nicaragua on November 23. 
 
¶21. (SBU) In November the Nicaraguan media reported that 
Costa Rican authorities had arrested Indiana Salguera 
(Nicaraguan) and Pedro Cespedes (Costa Rican) in May and put 
them on trial in November for smuggling Nicaraguan minors 
from Chichigalpa (in Nicaragua's northwestern Department of 
Chinandega) to Costa Rica for purposes of sexual 
exploitation.  According to media accounts, Salguera and 
Cespdedes illegally transported at least two teenage girls to 
Costa Rica in March, where they were victims of commercial 
sexual exploitation.  The Costa Rican authorities charged the 
traffickers with rape, corruption of minors, pimping, 
trafficking in persons, and distribution of pornography, 
among other charges.  During the investigation and trial the 
Nicaraguan authorities provided assistance to their Costa 
Rican counterparts, and worked to repatriate the victims and 
reintegrate them into their families and society.  Media 
accounts of the trial suggested that the case might indicate 
a larger network of traffickers smuggling young women and 
girls from Managua and other cities to Penas Blancas and then 
across the border into Costa Rica.  According to media 
reports, the trial was scheduled to take place in February 
2006, and the two minor victims would receive shelter in 
Costa Rica until the trial concluded.  Thereafter, they would 
immediately be repatriated to Nicaragua and assisted in 
reintegrating into their families and community. 
 
¶22. (SBU) In January 2006, Border police at the Guasaule 
crossing point on the Nicaragua-Honduras border found five 
Nicaraguan minors hidden in the back of a truck.  Upon 
investigation, police learned that traffickers Alicia Maria 
Perez Flores, Jacqueline Liseth Velasquez Perez, Damaris del 
Carmen Osorio, Luis Abraham Perez Rodriguez and another 
individual were operating a trafficking ring in the northern 
department of Chinandega and had recruited the five girls 
with offers of employment as cooks and nannies in El 
Salvador.  In reality, the traffickers intended the victims 
to work as prostitutes in El Salvador.  The five traffickers 
arrested remain in custody awaiting trial while police and 
prosecutors complete their investigation. 
 
¶23. (SBU) In February 2006, the Ministry of Government 
reported that the GON had repatriated nine Nicaraguan minors 
(all girls) between 13 and 17 years old from El Salvador, 
where they had been lured, prostituted, and advertised on the 
internet by Salvadoran traffickers Oscar Ernesto Rodriguez 
Perez, Jose Armando Sorto Rodriguez, and Jose Miguel Clara 
Iriarte.  The GON worked with the IOM to repatriate the nine 
girls and return them to their families and schools. 
Nicaraguan officials expressed frustration that a Salvadoran 
judge freed the three traffickers on the spurious argument 
that no trafficking occurred because the Nicaraguan minors 
traveled to El Salvador and prostituted themselves 
voluntarily.  The Ministry of Government emphasized that the 
minors were not old enough to make such decisions on their 
own.  According to media accounts, Salvadoran prosecutors 
made similar arguments with the judge, but to no avail. 
 
PREVENTION (Paragraph 22, A-J) 
------------------------------ 
 
¶24. (SBU) Paragraph A:  The GON acknowledges that trafficking 
in persons is a problem in the country. 
 
¶25. (SBU) Paragraph B:  The National Council on Attention and 
Integral Protection of Children and Adolescents  (CONAPINA) 
coordinates GON policy on children's affairs, including 
trafficking, with participation from every key Government 
Ministry, the NGO community, and international donors.  The 
two agencies most directly involved in anti-trafficking law 
enforcement are the Directorate of Migration and the NNP, 
both of which report to the Ministry of Government, which has 
the leading role in day-to-day anti-trafficking efforts.  The 
Vice Minister of Government, Deyanira Arguello, who has the 
primary responsibility for trafficking issues, has spoken out 
regularly on the subject and has provided strong, committed 
leadership to strengthen all of the anti-trafficking efforts 
of her ministry and of the GON more generally.  Arguello has 
also lobbied the National Assembly to approve the 
trafficking-related reforms to the criminal code described in 
paragraph 37.  When Migration officials detect fake documents 
or other evidence of trafficking upon entry or exit, they 
report it to the police, who are in charge of investigating 
and arresting suspects.  Migration and the police have 
coordinated past trafficking cases detected by Migration.

Migration also enforces restrictions on transporting minors 
out of Nicaragua. 
 
¶26. (SBU) Paragraph B continued:  The police maintain a 
network of 24 women's police stations, which investigate 
cases of abuse against women and children, including 
allegations of trafficking.  Migration, the police, and a 
number of other GON agencies participate in the 
U.S.-Nicaragua Joint Immigration Task Force (described in 
reftel B), which coordinates activities to strengthen 
migration controls and fight alien smuggling and trafficking. 
 The Office of the Human Rights Prosecutor has separate 
Special Prosecutors for Women and Children and trafficking is 
included in their portfolios.  The office of the National 
Prosecutor prosecutes trafficking cases when sufficient 
evidence exists, and has a specialized Women's and Children's 
unit dedicated to handling such cases. 
 
¶27. (SBU) Paragraph C:  The GON has a variety of successful 
trafficking awareness campaigns, including those run by the 
Women's Division of the National Police, the Ministry of 
Education, and the Ministry of Government's anti-TIP office. 
The Ministry of Government has also organized a multi-media 
(print, radio, television) awareness campaign supported by 
Save the Children and the Embassy.  This campaign has 
produced TIP manuals with a simple, clear message for 
distribution in schools, as well as anti-TIP public service 
messages that have been widely broadcast on television and 
radio.  The Ministry of Education's program is implemented in 
high schools throughout Nicaragua to warn at-risk teenagers 
about trafficking.  The Ministry of Education has another 
program aimed at teachers, which is designed to train them to 
recognize and properly handle cases of child sexual 
exploitation of any type.  The Ministry of Government has 
also held seminars on TIP for print, television and radio 
reporters, in order to enable them to report more effectively 
and accurately on the subject.  In cooperation with the 
Nicaraguan Tourism Institute (Intur), Ministry officials have 
also regularly trained representatives of the tourism 
industry on trafficking in persons and sex tourism.  The 
Ministry of Government, with financial support from the 
Embassy, is currently preparing a number of new television 
spots on the dangers of trafficking and has signed agreements 
with local television stations to air them free of cost when 
they are ready.  Police report that almost all individuals 
who come to them to report trafficking cases make reference 
to having seen one element or more of the GON's 
anti-trafficking awareness campaign. 
 
¶28. (SBU) Paragraph D:  The GON, through the Ministry of 
Health, Family, and Education, funds a variety of programs 
that have some impact on the factors of poverty and poor 
education associated with trafficking.  These programs are 
administered in schools and health clinics that address 
family needs.  Many of these programs are supported by the 
international donor community, including several innovative 
programs supported by the U.S. Department of Labor designed 
to persuade child laborers to attend school by offering 
economic incentives to their parents and promoting 
alternatives to work. 
 
¶29. (SBU) Paragraph F (There is no paragraph E