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DE RUEHMU #1069 1161457
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P 261457Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9980
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1077
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 MANAGUA 001069 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM NU
SUBJECT: FORO LIBERAL SEEKS LIBERAL UNITY VIA 
MUNICIPALITIES AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 
 
REF: MANAGUA 1036 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Paul A. Trivelli.  Reasons 1.4 (B,D). 
 
¶1.  (C) Eight Liberal Forum (Foro Liberal) members, who 
invited the Ambassador, DCM, and PolCouns to meet over 
breakfast on April 24, are seeking to foster Liberal unity at 
the municipal level and through the National Assembly's 
Nicaragua Liberal Alliance (ALN) and the Liberal 
Constitutional Party (PLC) caucuses.  While the Foro lost 
much of its wind before the 2006 elections when divisions 
arose between members favoring the ALN candidate and those 
supporting the PLC option, after what all members concur was 
a "disastrous electoral outcome," they are now attempting to 
regroup and serve as financers and facilitators of opposition 
unity efforts. 
 
¶2.  (C) Margarita Sevilla Sarmiento, who chaired the session, 
concurred with the Ambassador that Liberals are not tangibly 
further along in their efforts to unite than they were over a 
year and a half ago.  The group also agreed that as long as 
Arnoldo Aleman rules the PLC, it will not reform, and 
deserves its nickname, "Partido Zancudo" (the mosquito, or 
bloodsucker, party).  Sarmiento attributed much of the 
dilemma to Nicaraguans' growing "relativism" of their values 
and a disregard for rule of law, probably in an effort to 
adjust to adversity and uncertainty from decades of 
dictatorial regimes. 
 
¶3.  (C) Sarmiento termed the recent Foro-sponsored meeting 
between seven PLC-associated mayors who reject Aleman's pact 
and the Ambassador (Ref A.) a "modest success."  Foro members 
offered that only pressure from the party bases at the 
municipal and departmental levels will convince the PLC 
leadership that Aleman's time at the helm must end, and that 
his presence poses the main obstacle to Liberal, and broader, 
opposition unity.  They agreed that the 2008 municipal 
elections, if Ortega does not find a way to postpone them, 
present a window of opportunity to the opposition to chip 
away at the Sandinista National Revolution Front's (FSLN) 
local power base and to form a viable political front in 
preparation for the 2011 national elections. 
 
¶4.  (C) Foro leaders were receptive to the information we 
provided on a professional mediator, Mexican-Salvadoran 
Francisco Xavier Hernandez Velazquez, who could facilitate 
negotiations between the two estranged Liberal caucuses to 
create a common legislative agenda, independent from Aleman 
and his master Ortega.  They indicated that the Foro might 
cover the expenses of the mediator and the sessions, and 
agreed that U.S. technical legislative assistance would round 
out the effort. 
 
¶5.  (C) Comment:  This somewhat philosophical meeting with 
the Liberals brought to mind the old Nicaraguan saying that 
Nicaragua is a land "where cork sinks and lead floats."  The 
high tolerance for "moral relativism" and disregard for rule 
of law, especially among Nicaragua's traditional political 
elites, is a bane to the country's democratic evolution. 
Reform-minded politicians who promote transparency in 
government and refuse to play mafia politics invariably fall 
victim to fabricated charges by the FSLN-PLC pact-controlled 
judiciary sector, which attempts to drag them down to the 
lowest, corrupt denominator.  A national pastime is divisive 
Machiavellian, "zero sum" politics, in which it is preferable 
to allow a mediocre, autocratic candidate to win an election 
if doing so blocks a more capable, democratic competitor. 
TRIVELLI