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DE RUEHMU #2053/01 2612212
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FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7606
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 002053 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SOCI NU
SUBJECT: NORTHERNERS BEMOAN MANAGUA NEGLECT TO AMBASSADOR 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Paul Trivelli for reasons 1.4 (b and d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:   The pressing needs of local leaders, NGO's 
and election campaigns were clearly presented during the 
Ambassador's recent trip to the rural northern departments of 
Madriz, Nuevo Segovia, and Esteli.  The Ambassador garnered 
considerable support for his anti Aleman-Ortega pact message 
and was courteously received by all leaders, including 
members of the Sandinista Front (FSLN).  The Ambassador 
inaugurated various USAID development sites and lunched with 
local Peace Corps volunteers.  Distinct from the atmosphere 
of Managua, the politics of this rural area are wrapped up in 
the needs of the people.  ALN and MRS campaign leaders feel 
neglected by leadership in Managua and current FSLN and PLC 
mayors face problems and challenges for which they lack 
support.  Election fraud is another area of concern in these 
northern departments and democracy NGO's face specific 
challenges such as educating the voter over a large area 
where transportation is difficult.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) (SBU) Ambassador and poloffs traveled to the Northern 
Departments of Madriz, Esteli, and Nuevo Segovia on August 
29-30 as part of the Ambassadors continuing pre-election 
tour.  He met with the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) and 
the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) campaign committees 
of each department, as well as with local mayors of different 
parties.  He also met with the Movement for Nicaragua (MpN) 
and Ethics and Transparency (EyT) representatives from the 
three regions, as well as the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) 
regional representatives.  In addition, he spoke to members 
of the private sector and economic associations from the 
three regions.  The Ambassador took the opportunity to visit 
two USAID project sites, the pediatric wing of a local 
hospital, and a rural nutrition fair where he was very well 
received and lunched with local Peace Corps volunteers.  At 
the end of the trip he was interviewed by Radio ABC, a 
politically centrist station with a large listening audience. 
 His visit drew considerable attention and coverage by the 
local and national press. 
 
LOCAL LEADERS EXPRESS SERIOUS NEEDS AND CONCERNS, FEEL 
NEGLECTED BY MANAGUA LEADERSHIP 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3. (C) All three ALN committees expressed a strong need for 
more attention and dedication from their party's campaign 
leadership in Managua, noting they feel neglected and lack 
campaign materials and funds.  (Note:  This disconnect was 
also the main flaw of the ALN campaign on the Atlantic Coast. 
 While the party leadership is aware of the problem, it still 
persists.  END NOTE.)  Domination by the FSLN and PLC of the 
primary means of communication in the area also hinders local 
ALN campaign efforts.  Raul Herrera, National Assembly deputy 
candidate for Esteli was confident that with well trained 
party poll watchers (fiscales) and support from central 
leadership, they can win one of the Assembly seats in the 
department, but doubted that Montealegre will carry 
FSLN-dominated Esteli.  He believed that an alliance with the 
MRS is potentially a more viable option than one with the 
PLC, which may still be necessary to prevent FSLN candidate 
Daniel Ortega from winning on the first round. 
 
¶4. (C) MRS Committee members noted that since the July death 
of leader Herty Lewites, campaign funds have dried up. 
Nevertheless, they were very enthusiastic about their party's 
efforts and asserted that the polls are improving and 
presidential candidate Edmundo Jarquin is popular with 
educated youth.  First Assembly deputy candidate in Esteli, 
Amado Briones, enthusiastically declared that the 2006 
election is the greatest chance in Nicaraguan history to 
establish a true democracy and the first election that 
involves more than two major parties.  They reiterated that 
most MRS members used to be members of the FSLN, their 
parents were FSLN, but Ortega has betrayed them and the 
revolution.  They accused the FSLN of changing their 
long-standing position on therapeutic abortion to appease the 
Catholic church and said that the FSLN is using intimidation 
tactics (such as threatening people that they will lose their 
jobs if they don't vote for Ortega) to secure the vote in 
these rural departments.  Nuevo Segovia and Madriz MRS 
members assured the Ambassador that in the event of a second 
round, they would support Eduardo Montealegre and they would 
cooperate with the ALN after the election.  However, MRS 
members in Esteli held firm that if any party other than the 
MRS wins, it will equate to an FSLN victory, given the nature 
of the Aleman-Ortega pact and Eduardo Montealegre's continued 
problems with the CENI scandal.  All involved are very 
concerned about Nicaragua's options if the FSLN steals the 
election as well as being wary of close ties with the United 
States, at the risk of negative public perception. 
 
¶5. (C) Current PLC and FSLN leaders also expressed needs and 
frustrations with national leadership.  PLC mayors from 
municipalities in Nuevo Segovia report they need money for 
nutrition programs and education that they are not receiving 
from the central government.  Mayor of San Juan del Rio Coco, 
Santos Javier Castellon lamented a "political poverty" that 
accompanies the extreme poverty present in the region.  Mayor 
of San Nicolas in Esteli, Damacio Rizo (PLC) said that his 
municipality does not have a health center and is completely 
ignored by the Ministry of Health.  For this neglect, they 
both blame the Bolanos administration.  Even the FSLN mayors 
from Madriz told us they wished the central government would 
give them more attention.  They are aware that "aid money 
pours into this country" and are frustrated that "they never 
see it".  Mayor of San Juan de Limay in Esteli, Maria 
Espinoza, noted that money approved for local projects seldom 
reaches its destination.  Their most real concern is the 
development of their municipalities and providing general 
services to their citizens. 
 
¶6. (C)  The FSLN leaders also desire that an elected 
Sandinista (FSLN) government be able to work with the United 
States and are very anxious about whether or not this will 
happen.  According to FSLN mayors, this is the first meeting 
of a U.S. Ambassador with FSLN mayors in the region.  On the 
whole, they see themselves as democratically elected leaders 
who are respectful of democracy -- noting their interest in 
helping their people -- and seemed disconnected from the 
central leadership that directly hinders their efforts. 
 
 
TWO TALES OF ONE CSE 
- - - - - - - - - - -- 
 
¶7. (C) The leadership of all parties we saw, without 
exception, criticized the behavior of local CSE offices, 
claiming that they only issue national ID/voter 
identification cards (cedulas) to supporters of their own 
party.  Briones, MRS deputy candidate in Esteli called the 
CSE "16 mafiosos and 92 bums".  ALN committee leaders wanted 
to know what pressure international observers could place on 
the CSE to encourage them to be more transparent and 
accountable.  MRS leaders also related that the FSLN is 
registering its, but not other voters.  The PLC in Nuevo 
Segovia was concerned that the FSLN controls all government 
offices and have been consolidating power and control since 
¶1990.  (Note: In fact, all of the mayors in Madriz are 
members of the FSLN.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶8. (C) Democracy NGO's such as MpN and EyT are critical of 
the CSE, observing that only PLC and FSLN members hold CSE 
positions and it is a partisan organization.  A majority of 
FSLN mayors in three departments signifies that the party 
controls local government mechanisms and enjoys access to 
voter lists and ballots.  They also reported major flaws in 
the voter registration process including lack of leadership 
will, parties filling out forms for voters, the high cost of 
registration, partisan bias on the part of local mayors, and 
FSLN control of local radio stations.  MpN representative in 
Esteli Xochilt Merlo, reported that of the 650 cedulas 
solicited during the extension, not one has been returned 
from Managua.  Now, there is little they can do but pressure 
the CSE to deliver the cedulas.  Concerning voter 
abstentionism, Merlo believes that many young voters are 
disillusioned and do not want to vote because they cannot 
identify a viable option.  MpN representative in Nuevo 
Segovia, Harold Bermudez, was concerned about the status of 
Montealegre's campaign.  He opined that the campaign must 
retune its message towards anti-pacto themes and away from 
anti-FSLN themes, as the local citizens are intelligent 
voters who need information to link the PLC to corruption and 
to the FSLN. 
 
¶9. (C) The CSE representatives from each department defended 
their work to the Ambassador.  Rommel Reyes, CSE rep for 
Nuevo Segovia and PLC member, asserted that one cannot oblige 
the people to register or to vote.  He also claimed that 
about 70 percent of the citizens who solicited their cedula 
during the application extension period would be issued 
"supplementary documents" for use on 5 November and they will 
receive their actual cedulas in the spring.  Reyes stated 
that he believes strongly in a two party system and that the 
PLC can win in his department.  Jaime Borge, CSE 
representative in Madriz, also of the PLC, believes that 
criticisms of the CSE are entirely politically motivated and 
that everyone with the desire to register in his department 
has been afforded a fair opportunity.  Serious and sharp, the 
CSE representative in Esteli Antonio Benavides, said that 
while he is a Sandinista (FSLN) as a person, in his job he 
has no political motivations, accepting that criticisms come 
with the  position.  Beyond this, he believes the CSE will 
execute a fair and transparent election 
 
THE ALEMAN-ORTEGA PACT IN ACTION 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶10. (C) Many interlocutors voiced concerns over the 
possibility of massive corruption of the vote in rural areas 
by interfering with the voter registration process and the 
vote itself.  ALN leadership reported that the PLC's claims 
to have the rural vote secured are false.  Quite the 
opposite, they believe that the PLC's rural machinery is 
crumbling and the rural vote can be fought for and won. 
However, MpN and EyT representatives from the same region 
believe that the PLC still maintains considerable sway in 
rural areas.  ALN leaders asserted that the pact is actively 
at work -- displayed through the CSE actions, manipulation of 
information, and Arnoldo Aleman's continued control of the 
PLC.  They were also very concerned that the PLC and the FSLN 
are working together to prepare serious election fraud and 
that very little can be done to prevent it, as the two 
parties control local government, giving them control of the 
telephone system and ballot transportation. 
 
¶11. (C) Additionally, ALN leaders asserted that the Christian 
Alternative party (AC) does not "exist"; rather it is simply 
a front party for the FSLN that appeals to religious voters. 
They noted that rural voters are confused because they see 
two liberal parties and are unsure for whom they should vote. 
 According to the ALN leaders, the PLC manipulates voters 
with disinformation e.g. telling voters who intend to vote 
for Eduardo to mark box #1, the PLC box.  ALN leaders 
recognized that the rural vote will be important for this 
election, with the ALN campaign leader in Madriz estimating 
that 70-75 percent of the vote in that department is rural. 
 
¶12. (C) Mayor of Jicaro, Hugo Gomez, formally of the PLC and 
a possible candidate to transfer to the ALN, came to speak 
with the Ambassador with his four-year-old son in tow.  As 
Ramoncito eagerly dug into a pint of ice cream, Gomez 
nervously expressed that his municipality suffers from 
extreme poverty, insecurity, and unemployment and that people 
lack schools and health care.  He termed the voter 
registration process corrupt, saying there was no CSE office 
in his town until three months ago and that the FSLN controls 
all CSE documents.  Gomez claimes that he was expelled from 
the party because he complained to his local party leadership 
for continuously compromising with the FSLN and granting them 
undue political space.  He confirmed that he is considering 
joining the ALN and will certainly vote for them, but remains 
afraid of the possible repercussions. 
 
UNIFICATION OF THE RIGHT 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶13. (C) Despite rising doubts about the feasibility and 
benefits of the unification of the Right, the Ambassador 
heard many appeals to this effect.  Both PLC and ALN members 
wanted to know what is being done to bring the two sides 
together.  There is a great deal of concern and anxiety that 
Daniel Ortega will win the election; thus, Liberal 
representatives see unification as the only solution.  Mayor 
of San Juan del Rio Coco asserted that if the Right does not 
come together, the country will be open to communism, "a 
cancer that eats away until Nicaragua dies."  Many expressed 
their belief that the PLC is the only party with enough 
infrastructure to defeat the FSLN.  When members of the PLC 
were asked how they view polls, they stated that no private 
poll is believable.  MpN representatives in the region shared 
this skepticism in the polls, opining that the polls are 
administered to advance the interests of one party. 
 
¶14. (C) Concerned members of the regional economic and 
commercial sector expressed a desire for the two parties of 
the right to settle their differences and come together, for 
the betterment of the country.  They saw what happened to the 
country in the 1980's when Ortega ran it and believe that 
everything should be done to prevent an FSLN victory.  They 
warned that the economy will continue to suffer because 
people are afraid to invest and have their 
property/possessions confiscated, adding that the FSLN's 
economic plan is untenable. 
TRIVELLI