VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #1214/01 3271619
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231618Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0175
INFO WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUCQSAB/USSOCOM INTEL MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001214 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV ECON KIDE PREL PGOV OVIP
SUBJECT: Nicaragua: Attorney General Estrada Aspires To Be Ambassador 
To The United States 
 
REF: 08 MANAGUA 1084; STATE 79312; 08 MANAGUA 1414 
 
SUMMARY 
 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Attorney General Hernan Estrada would like to be 
Nicaraguan 
 
ambassador to the United States.  He has told U.S. citizens that he 
was unhappy that President Daniel Ortega named Arturo Cruz as 
ambassador in 2007 and believes that he can do a better job than 
Cruz did.  We also believe that Estrada no longer wants to be 
Attorney General because of the stress of the job.  During a recent 
meeting with the Ambassador, Estrada attempted to demonstrate his 
knowledge of bilateral issues and his command of English.  As a 
former ambassador to East Germany and Austria in the 1980s, Estrada 
has the experience to lead a diplomatic mission, but he remains a 
loyal Sandinista hardliner who will follow the orders of Ortega and 
First Lady Rosario Murillo.  During his trip to Washington in 
December, Estrada will want to show and ultimately convince Ortega 
that he is capable of managing the U.S.-Nicaragua relationship as 
an ambassador. 
 
 
 
ESTRADA ASPIRES TO BE NICA AMBASSADOR TO U.S. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.      (SBU) Since 2008, rumors have circulated that Attorney 
General Hernan Estrada would be named Foreign Minister or 
Nicaraguan ambassador to the United States.  During a November 12 
conversation with U.S. citizen property claimant Norman Senfeld 
(Ref A), Estrada told him that he wanted President Ortega to 
nominate him as ambassador.  Estrada said that he has coveted this 
position for some time and expressed his disappointment when 
President Ortega nominated Arturo Cruz as ambassador in 2007. 
 
CONFIDENCE IN "HANDLING THE AMERICANS" 
 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Jorge Estrada (no relation), president of a real 
 
estate development company, told Econoff that Attorney General 
Estrada had expressed his aspiration of becoming ambassador to him. 
Attorney General Estrada boasted to him that "he could handle the 
Americans."  Several U.S. claimants have also told us that Attorney 
General Estrada has bragged that his trip to Washington in July to 
meet with USG officials and members of the U.S. Congress was the 
reason why Nicaragua was granted a Section 527 waiver for 2009-2010 
(Ref B). 
 
 
 
ROLE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL TAKING ITS TOLL 
 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) We also believe that Estrada would like to become 
ambassador 
 
because of the stress of his current job.  After we delivered the 
Secretary's Section 527 waiver decision for the 2009-2010 period to 
him on July 30, he told our local staff that "this job is making me 
old." Raul Calvet, president of a tourism and real estate services 
company, said Estrada is under pressure from Ortega and First Lady 
Rosario Murillo to deliver on promises of land to Sandinista 
National Liberation Front (FSLN) supporters and their business 
cronies. 
 
 
 
CHARM OFFENSIVE 
 
--------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) During a November 10 meeting with the Ambassador, Estrada 
 
attempted to demonstrate his knowledge on issues related to 
 
 
security, counternarcotics, economic development, and tourism. 
Estrada emphasized that the Government of Nicaragua (GON) was 
committed to cooperating with the USG in these areas, and both 
countries should strive to improve the bilateral relationship. 
Estrada also spoke some English to show his command of the 
language.  At the beginning of the meeting, Estrada greeted the 
Ambassador by saying, "the Ambassador of the U.S. Empire."  The 
Ambassador looked at him coldly, shook his hand forcefully, and 
said "enough already."  Estrada explained that he also used the 
word "empire" when he greeted Mexican officials in reference to the 
Aztec Empire.  Estrada asserted that "empire" was a nod to the 
greatness of a nation.  Throughout the meeting, Estrada worked 
diligently to smooth things over and even asked the Ambassador for 
his opinion on which country had the greatest empire. 
 
 
 
 
EXPERIENCE AS AN AMBASSADOR... 
 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) During the first Sandinista government in the 1980s, Estrada 
worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  He served as 
ambassador to East Germany and Austria from 1986-1990.  He speaks 
Spanish, English and German.  As Attorney General, Estrada has 
acted as the GON's representative in international fora on human 
rights, money laundering, and counternarcotics cooperation. 
 
 
 
...BUT UNABASHED FSLN LOYALIST 
 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Although Estrada prides himself to be one of the 
intellectual elite of the Sandinista party, he is an unabashed FSLN 
foot soldier who is trusted to implement and defend Ortega's 
policies.  Estrada also serves as one of the GON's unofficial 
spokesmen and partisan hatchet men for the FSLN party (Ref C). 
Estrada can be an arrogant, difficult, and evasive person one 
minute and smiling, effusive, and charming the next. 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The purpose of Estrada's trip to Washington in December is 
to show Ortega that he is capable of managing the U.S.-Nicaragua 
relationship as an ambassador.  In fact, he has been pushing his 
staff to resolve as many U.S. citizen property claims as possible 
before the trip.  Estrada believes that if he can hold USG 
officials at bay regarding our concerns about Nicaragua's property 
claims resolution process in December -- as he thought that he did 
in July -- he will be able to convince Ortega that he should be 
nominated as ambassador. 
CALLAHAN