VZCZCXRO1510
PP RUEHLMC
DE RUEHMU #0745/01 0801550
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 211550Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9532
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1016
RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAGUA 000745 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM NU PREL
SUBJECT: ORTEGA ACCORDS ALEMAN VIRTUALLY FREE REIGN 
 
REF: A. MANAGUA 0617 
 
     ¶B. 2005 MANAGUA 22154 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Paul A. Trivelli.  Reasons 1.4 (B,D). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: In an effort likely aimed to keep 
Nicaragua's liberals divided and ensure 'buy-in" from the 
Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC) on the appointment of 
regime-friendly Supreme Court justices and other government 
positions, the Ortega government issued instructions on March 
16 allowing convicted felon and former President Arnoldo 
Aleman to move freely throughout the country.  The price for 
Aleman's freedom probably also includes PLC support for 
constitutional reforms allowing consecutive presidential 
re-election.  Ebullient and emboldened by the news, Aleman 
promised to use his newfound freedom to campaign for liberal 
unity and lost no time in visiting allies, including Bishop 
Bosco Vivas of Leon.  Opposition leaders blamed President 
Ortega for the decision, while Ortega snidely remarked that 
perhaps daily La Prensa had lobbied for Aleman's newly found 
freedom.  End Summary. 
 
Ortega-Aleman Pact Continues to Dominate Political Arena 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2.  (U) On March 16, Carlos Sobalvarro, the director of 
Nicaragua's national penitentiary system, notified convicted 
felon/former President/PLC leader Arnoldo Aleman that his 
conditions of medical parole previously restricted to Managua 
had been expanded to allow him free movement throughout the 
country.  Ebullient and emboldened by the news, Aleman 
publicly vowed to use his newfound freedom to campaign for 
liberal unity.  Losing no time, Aleman set off on a weekend 
tour to visit "friends" in several nearby towns and cities, 
including Bishop Bosco Vivas of Leon.  (Vivas is also a 
staunch supporter of Cardinal Obando y Bravo, President 
Ortega's newly minted director of the Sandinista government's 
Peace and Reconciliation Council.) 
 
Sandinistas Attempt to Dodge Responsibility 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3.  (U) When possible, the Sandinista government dodged press 
inquiries on its decision.  When pressed, President Ortega 
snidely remarked that perhaps (right-leaning) daily La Prensa 
was behind the decision.  Nonetheless, independent media 
clearly pointed the finger at Ortega. 
 
ALN Calls a Spade a Spade 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶4.  (U) Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) leader/former 
presidential candidate Eduardo Montealegre gave no quarter to 
the Sandinista government, placing the blame squarely on 
President Ortega's shoulders.  The ALN leader asserted that 
this latest manifestation of the Ortega-Aleman pact is proof 
that Aleman's recent visit to ALN headquarters was but a 
media ploy crafted to press Ortega to cede to Aleman's 
request for unlimited freedom of movement, or face the threat 
of imminent liberal unity.  Montealegre called on the Court 
of Appeals to determine once and for Aleman's guilt or 
innocence.  He publicly characterized PLC lawmakers as craven 
enough to vote for constitutional reforms that would allow 
for Ortega's consecutive presidential election and to support 
the FSLN's bid for a constitutional assembly engineered to 
grant Ortega powers similar to those of Venezuela's Chavez. 
ALN Assembly caucus leader Maria Eugenia Sequeira shared her 
conviction that Aleman is no longer a liberal democrat and 
instead, is helping Ortega turn Nicaragua into a 
communist-socialist regime. 
 
MRS Pulls no Punches 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5.  (U) For Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) National 
Assembly lawmaker Monica Boltadano, the Ortega government's 
"shameful release of Aleman makes a mockery of justice in 
Nicaragua."  Sergio Ramirez, who served as Ortega's vice 
president in the 1980s and is now affiliated with the 
Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), joined the clamor 
against the Ortega government's decision to expand Aleman's 
medical parole.  He warned that the action is a prelude to 
Aleman's pardon before the 2008 municipal elections. 
 
Comment 
- - - - 
 
¶6.  (C) We believe that the Ortega government's decision to 
grant Aleman free reign of the country is part of its 
longstanding strategy to keep Nicaragua's liberals divided 
and off balance, and demonstrates that the Ortega-Aleman pact 
continues to dominate the country's political stage.  In 
essence, Aleman's free reign of the country is a de facto 
pardon, perhaps a prelude to a formal pardon through a broad 
amnesty/national reconciliation initiative that would be 
sponsored by Obando y Bravo -- after a compliant Attorney 
General files dozens of doubtful cases against ex-President 
Bolanos, former Bolanos government officials, Eduardo 
Montealegre, and anyone else who has dared cross the pact. 
TRIVELLI