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FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5112
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 000251 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2016 
TAGS: KDEM NU PGOV PINR PREL KCOR
SUBJECT: HERTY SEEKS CORDIAL, CONSTRUCTIVE, COOPERATIVE 
RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES 
 
Classified By: DCM Peter M. Brennan. Reasons 1.4 (B,D). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Sandinista (FSLN) dissident Herty Lewites 
seeks cordial, constructive, and cooperative relations with 
the United States and will request a prestigious U.S. 
delegation attend his inauguration if he wins Nicaragua's 
November presidential election.  In his recent meeting with 
Ambassador, Lewites voiced support for CAFTA and favored 
MANDPADS destruction.  Lewites asserted that he and 
Montealegre need one other to move Nicaragua beyond its 
caudillo political culture.  He warned of Supreme Electoral 
Commission (CSE) fraud, asserting that if Sandinista caudillo 
Daniel Ortega causes him to be disqualified from running for 
office, Lewites will give Ortega some of his own medicine by 
taking to the streets.  In a fair election, Lewites estimates 
that some 40 percent of Sandinista voters and a number of 
independent and Liberal voters will vote for him.  He is 
clearly fluent in the kind of "talk" that puts us at ease. 
Whether he will "walk" with us if he is elected is less ce 
rtain, but possible; he is a pragmatist and a businessman. 
End Summary. 
 
Talking the Talk 
- - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2. (C) In Ambassador's February 1 breakfast meeting with 
Sandinista dissident/presidential-hopeful Herty Lewites, a 
relaxed and confident Lewites was effusive in his desire to 
maintain cordial, constructive, and cooperative relations 
with the United States.  Lewites shared that if he is 
elected, he will request a high-level U.S. delegation to 
attend his inauguration to demonstrate that the two 
governments will be strong allies.  Lewites was unequivocal 
in his support for CAFTA, although he noted that small 
farmers must in some way be assisted.  He also favors 
MANDPADS destruction, predicting that the remaining MANPADS 
will be destroyed well before the November elections because 
they are of no good use to anybody.  Lewites predicted, 
however that a strong, convincing case is in order to pass 
much-needed IPR legislation.  Thousands of people earn their 
livelihood by selling illegal cassettes; better to go after 
the producers of these materials, not the street vendors, 
suggested Lewites. 
 
CSE Manipulations Weaken Chance for Change Candidates 
- - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3.  (C) Lewites -- who shared he will meet with Liberal 
dissident and presidential-hopeful Eduardo Montealegre later 
today to discuss their positions on Supreme Electoral Council 
(CSE) efforts to suspend Electoral Law articles 41 and 166 -- 
opined that they both face a "lose-lose" situation in the 
Atlantic Coast elections.  The two articles enable voters to 
vote at a voting station (JRV) near their place of residence 
even if they are not listed at that particular JRV.  Removing 
these articles could swing the election outcome in favor of 
the "Danielistas," who control the voter registry, warned 
Lewites.  Further, if Lewites and/or Montealegre boycott the 
March regional elections out of protest, they could be 
excluded from participation in the national elections.  If 
however, they participate, and widespread fraud occurs, they 
will be complicit with the CSE and the precedent will be set 
to exclude these articles in the November election. 
 
¶4. (C) Note: Articles 41 and 116 present advantages and 
disadvantages.  Without Articles 41 and 116, a large number 
of voters could fall victim to the "raton loco" -- running 
around on Election Day to find where they are registered, as 
occurred in the 2004 municipal elections.  In 2004, many 
Nicaraguans failed to find their JRV and could not vote. 
Unless scrutinized, the Sandinistas could move around on the 
list the voters sympathetic to Lewites or Montealegre as a 
means to limit their ability to find their proper JRV on 
Election Day, preventing many from voting, and tilting the 
election in favor of the Sandinistas.  On the other hand, 
Articles 41 and 116 could enable a person to vote more than 
once, unless strong checks are in place to prevent this. 
According to Dionisio Palacios, former director of CSE's 
cedulation (septel), in past elections some voters greased 
their fingers before voting, enabling them to wash off the 
supposed indelible ink after voting at one JRV so they could 
vote at another JRV later in the day.  End Note. 
 
Lewites Platform: Clean, Lean, Government with a Liberal VP 
- - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5.  (C) Lewites outlined his platform: lead a clean, lean, 
 
and just government (he plans on bringing in a number of 
young technocrats); with cuts in government fat, raise the 
salaries of education, health, and other low-wage workers; 
support CAFTA and attract investment; establish four 
strategic food security/production centers in Sebaco, 
Bluefields, Jalapa, and Chinandega; promote tourism; seek 
non-fossil fuel energy alternatives with the help of foreign 
investment; construct two Atlantic-Pacific coast highways 
(North Atlantic and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions); and, 
help finance construction of middle and lower income family 
homes.  To Ambassador's query over Lewites' VP choice, he 
smiled and replied that it will be a Liberal, a real 
surprise, but also reflective of the consensus government 
Lewites intends to lead.  "The left are good at giving, but 
they do not produce anything, while the right produce but 
don't share.  We need a balance of the two," explained 
Lewites.  He expects to announce his running mate by April 
(we have heard that Liberal/former INTUR president Lucia 
Salazar could be Lewites' running mate.) 
 
Montealegre and I Need Each Other 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6.  (C) Remarking that he will not be upset if Montealegre 
wins the election because he knows Montealegre will also lead 
the nation forward, Lewites argued that the two need one 
another to change Nicaragua into a serious and prosperous 
democracy.  He believes that between the two of them they can 
gain the 56 National Assembly seats required for much-needed 
constitutional reforms.  Lewites hopes to sign some sort of 
pre-election commitment with Montealegre agreeing to work 
together if either of them wins the presidency. 
 
Lewites Counts on Modest Campaign Financing 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7.  (C) According to Lewites, all of his campaign financing 
so far is foreign, primarily from three Panamanian families 
(the Mota family has contributed some USD 1.5 million).  He 
is also talking to Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Costa Rican 
business interests and has received some support from Costa 
Rican food and cooking oils magnate Nacho Gonzalez.  Lewites 
estimated he will receive a total of about USD 5 million, a 
much more modest sum than his competitors.  According to 
Lewites, Chavez is contributing generously to Ortega's 
campaign, and Ortega is using the funds to deliver foodstuffs 
to the most remote corners of Nicaragua.  He presented no 
details, however, of Chavez' contributions.  (Comment: Some 
Embassy contacts have alleged that Daniel Ortega's brother 
Humberto is the big bucks behind Lewites' campaign, but we 
have not seen evidence that supports this -- although he does 
have the Costa Rican connections. 
 
¶8.  (C) Lewites was unwavering in his response to 
Ambassador's comment that the Danielistas could attempt to 
disqualify him from running in the November election: "I will 
take to the streets if this happens."  He asserted that he 
enjoys enough support to achieve this and will take this 
route if he is left with no other recourse. 
 
Strike Hard Against Daniel, Lay Low on Sandinismo 
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶9.  (C) Lewites opined that Ambassador's statements have been 
unusually strong from a diplomat but that this tough approach 
is required to get the message out.  Nonetheless, he 
suggested that while the Ambassador and other officials 
continue to strike hard against Ortega, we should avoid 
condemning Sandinistas at large.  This would help Lewites 
draw more votes from Ortega.  He estimated that some 40 
percent of Sandinista voters plus a number of independent and 
Liberal voters will vote for him. 
 
BIO 
--- 
 
¶10.  (U) Herty LEWITES Rodriguez was born December 24, 1939 
in Jinotepe, of a Jewish immigrant father and a Nicaraguan 
mother.  He joined the struggle against the Somoza regime in 
1958 and went into exile in Brazil in 1960.  Lewites' brother 
Israel died in the Sandinista attack on the Masaya barracks 
on October 1977.  Lewites was not involved in combat, but 
handled financial matters and arms smuggling.  During the 
Sandinista regime he was a close ally of the Ortega brothers 
and served as minister of Tourism.  He was elected to the 
National Assembly in 1990 and aligned himself with Sergio 
Ramirez' Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) against Daniel 
 
Ortega's faction.  He ran on his own ticket for mayor of 
Managua in 1996 and lost (the vote split the Sandinistas and 
the liberals won).  Then in 2000, Ortega supported Lewites' 
campaign for mayor and Lewites won.  After Lewites started 
removing corrupt municipal members associated with Ortega and 
Bayardo Arce, he fell out again with Ortega.  He was expelled 
from the FSLN after he challenged Daniel Ortega to hold 
primaries to select the FSLN's presidential candidate. 
 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
 
¶11.  (C) Lewites is clearly fluent in the kind of "talk" that 
puts us at ease.  Whether he will "walk" with us if he is 
elected is less certain, but possible, nonetheless.  Lewites 
is a pragmatist and a businessman.  His close ties with 
Israel and Jewish communities in a number of countries 
suggest he certainly will not toe the not uncommon leftist 
line against Israel and its ally the United States. 
TRIVELLI