VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #0885/01 1141442
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 241442Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6052
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 000885 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PARM KDEM NU
SUBJECT: EX-MINISTER OF DEFENSE CRITICIZES PRESIDENT AND 
ARMY OVER MANPADS, CIV/MIL RELATIONS 
 
REF: A. 05 MANAGUA 1771 
     ¶B. 05 MANAGUA 1590 
     ¶C. 04 MANAGUA 3305 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Paul Trivelli for reasons 1.4 (b and d) 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: (C) Ambassador and poloff held a wide-ranging 
discussion with Nicaraguan ex-Minister of Defense Jose Adan 
Guerra on April 19.  Guerra strongly criticized President 
Bolanos' handling of the MANPADS issue, and commented that 
the Nicaraguan Army leadership will resist MANPADS 
destruction until the next administration to try to get a 
"better deal" for the missiles. He claimed that Bolanos did 
not support his efforts to assert civilian control over the 
military and slammed the current Minister of Defense for 
"cozying up" to the Army.  Guerra also described his current 
relationship to presidential candidate Eduardo Montealegre as 
an unofficial advisor on security and foreign policy issues. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
BOLANOS FLUBBED HANDLING OF MANPADS DESTRUCTION 
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¶2. (C) During an April 19 meeting with Ambassador and poloff, 
former Minister of Defense Jose Adan Guerra described MANPADS 
as his biggest "headache" during his time as Minister.  He 
said that the MANPADS issue was badly managed by President 
Bolanos from the beginning, when the President publicly 
pledged to President Bush that he would destroy Nicaragua's 
stockpiles -- even though Guerra advised him to destroy the 
MANPADS quietly.  The FSLN, with surreptitious support from 
Sandinista elements in the Army who wish to bargain the 
MANPADS for expensive military hardware, subsequently turned 
the MANPADS into a political issue and proclaimed the 
missiles "emblems of sovereignty."  Guerra claimed that the 
Army was behind the National Assembly's passage of the small 
arms law that took away the President's authority to destroy 
the remaining missiles and transferred it to the National 
Assembly (ref C). 
 
¶3. (C) Guerra advised the Ambassador to try to make the 
MANPADS a neutral issue by promoting the UN Resolution on 
MANPADS (signed by Nicaragua) and by educating journalists 
and others that MANPADS reduction is a worldwide policy, not 
something aimed specifically at Nicaragua. 
 
PRESIDENT DID NOT SUPPORT EFFORT TO ASSERT CIVILIAN CONTROL 
OVER THE MILITARY 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
- - - - - - - - 
 
¶4. (C) Guerra told us that he spent his time as Minister 
working to modernize the Ministry of Defense and make the 
armed forces accountable to civilian authorities -- a goal 
that he said Bolanos never wholeheartedly supported.  He 
claimed to have an aide memoire from a meeting between 
Bolanos and then-armed forces commander General Carrion in 
which Carrion told Bolanos that he would die for the 
President, but that Bolanos should not try to impose Ministry 
authority over the Army and allow the generals direct access 
to the President.  This tacit agreement has ensured the 
Army's continued political and financial autonomy during 
Bolanos, tenure, Guerra asserted.  As a "reward" for 
Guerra,s efforts to promote civilian authority, the Army 
constantly worked to undermine him with Bolanos, calling him 
a "gringo sympathizer."  Current Minister of Defense Avil 
Ramirez has also criticized Guerra for being "too pro-gringo" 
during his tenure and "buried" the Defense White Paper that 
Guerra worked hard to publish in early 2005 (ref B). 
 
GUERRA: EDUARDO SHOULD MAKE A DEAL WITH THE PLC TO PREVENT 
FSLN VICTORY 
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- - - - - 
 
¶5. (C) Presidential candidate Eduardo Montealegre asked 
Guerra to be his advisor on security and foreign policy 
issues, which Guerra has agreed to do informally. 
Montealegre should make security issues a theme of his 
campaign, Guerra stated.  In fact, in his view, the 
Ambassador should push all of the candidates to declare their 
position on MANPADS destruction. 
 
¶6. (C) Regarding the elections, Guerra believes that 
Montealegre should make a deal with the PLC and accept the 
vice presidential nomination for himself and several deputy 
 
nominations for his supporters.  Guerra described PLC leader 
Arnoldo Aleman as an "open wound" for Nicaragua that is very 
difficult to heal.  Despite their disgust with Aleman,s 
corruption, Guerra claimed that many Liberals, including 
close supporters of Montealegre, will vote for the PLC to 
avoid an FSLN victory. 
 
COMMENT: CURRENT MINISTER HAS DIFFERENT PRIORITIES 
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¶7. (C) President Bolanos appointed the current Minister of 
Defense Avil Ramirez to his post in June 2005, after Guerra's 
resignation and shortly before the apex of the political 
crisis between the Bolanos administration and the PLC-FSLN 
pact, which threatened to cut Bolanos' presidency short. 
Bolanos and Ramirez' top priority during and after the crisis 
has been to cultivate good relations with the armed forces at 
the expense of all else, including MANPADS destruction and 
White Paper implementation.  Emboffs, led by Ambassador, 
continue to push for MANPADS destruction at all levels.  We 
have received encouraging statements, but no substantive 
action.  Ramirez stated publicly on April 19 that the next 
tranche of 651 MANPADS would be destroyed before Nicaragua 
hosts the Defense Ministerial conference in October, but his 
words have yet to be confirmed by a positive vote in the 
hostile National Assembly.  He also commented that the 
remaining 400 will not be destroyed because they are needed 
for Nicaragua's defense, a statement that runs counter to his 
assurances in private that the MANPADS are not needed for 
Nicaragua's defense and should be destroyed. 
TRIVELLI