VZCZCXRO8059
PP RUEHLMC
DE RUEHMU #1220/01 2771516
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 031516Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3223
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAGUA 001220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN AND DRL 
STATE PASS USAID FOR LAC 
NSC FOR FISK/GARCIA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2018 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM NU
SUBJECT: NICARAGUAN ELECTIONS -- SO TRANSPARENT YOU CAN SEE 
RIGHT THROUGH THEM 
 
REF: MANAGUA 1195 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Robert J. Callahan, reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
¶1. (C)  Summary.  On September 25, German Ambassador Betina 
Kern convened a meeting of the Elections Group (an informal 
group to monitor election-related issues chaired by the 
German Ambassador and comprising EU member states plus Japan, 
Canada and the U.S.) with Roberto Rivas, President of the 
Supreme Electoral Council (CSE), to express joint concern on 
a range of elections-related issues, including the 
elimination of political parties, mounting violence, and a 
lack of transparency.  Ambassador Kern emphasized that the 
international community expected Nicaragua to hold free, fair 
and transparent elections observed by independent and 
credible observers.  Rivas responded that Nicaragua had the 
"most transparent elections" in Latin America and therefore 
there is no need for international observation of the 
municipal elections.  Further, he reported that domestic 
observers would be accredited "if they complied with the 
requirements" but refused to indicate when accreditation 
would be given.  Rivas also asserted that the few problems 
with the electoral system were the result of the failure of 
the international community to provide financial assistance. 
Finally, Rivas asserted that the CSE needed to ensure that 
the electoral law was fully implemented and was evasive when 
questioned whether civil society and opposition parties would 
have full freedom to hold rallies and demonstrations during 
the electoral period.  Participants in the event privately 
expressed dismay at Rivas' attitude and expected the CSE's 
behavior to worsen as the elections approach.  End Summary. 
 
ELECTIONS GROUP EXPRESSES CONCERN 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) In response to the GON's continued failure to restore 
the legal status of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) 
and Conservative Party (PC), recent incidents of 
elections-related violence, and mounting reports of 
Nicaraguans being denied voter cards (cedulas) or being 
stricken from voters lists in closely contested 
municipalities, the Elections Group convened a meeting with 
CSE President Roberto Rivas.  Rivas was accompanied by CSE 
Vice President and Ortega loyalist Emmet Lang and chief of 
staff Roberto Barreto.  In attendance from the Elections 
Group were Ambassadors or representatives from Germany, the 
European Commission, France, Norway, Switzerland, Canada, 
Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Finland, and the U.S. (represented by 
the Ambassador and polcouns). 
 
¶3. (C) Ambassador Kern, speaking on behalf of all the members 
of the Elections Group, expressed the international 
community's continued concern regarding the elimination of 
the MRS and PC and the negative impact it and other CSE 
actions had on the ability of Nicaraguans to express 
themselves through elections.  Kern expressed the hope that 
the CSE would hold free, fair and transparent elections 
observed by independent and credible observers, placing 
particular emphasis on the need to accredit the two main 
independent domestic observers, IPADE and Etica y 
Transparencia.  Kern also questioned Rivas about impediments 
to voter participation, including the persistent lack of 
voter cards (cedulas) and the absence of a CSE campaign to 
inform voters on where and how to vote.  Kern and others also 
pressed Rivas on his recent claims that, with the official 
start of the election season on September 25, only the CSE 
could authorize public marches and demonstrations and what 
steps the CSE planned to take to avoid violent confrontations 
such as those recently seen in Leon (reftel). 
 
OBSERVATION NOT NEEDED 
---------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Rivas restated his standard talking points that 
accrediting international observers depended upon receiving a 
request from international groups, the issuance of an 
official request from the CSE to the Executive branch, and 
then the Executive branch issuing an official invitation. 
Rivas recalled that Nicaragua has had international observers 
for all the elections in the past 15 years and that in all 
these instances, only a few minor cases of concern were 
discovered.  International observers would not improve the 
 
MANAGUA 00001220  002 OF 003 
 
 
electoral process and therefore there is no need to invite 
them. 
 
¶5. (C) The political parties, Rivas asserted, will be able to 
fully monitor the electoral process and defend their votes. 
Representatives of political parties make up the president, 
and first and second members of the electoral commissions at 
the local voting center (JRV), the municipal electoral 
commissions (CEM and departmental electoral commissions 
(CED).  The president and first member seats go to the first 
and second place parties from the 2006 national elections - 
the FSLN and the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) 
respectively.  Rivas declared the ALN is comprised of members 
of the Liberal party, despite whatever differences they had 
with Eduardo Montealegre and his Liberal movement. (Note: 
earlier this year, the CSE stripped the presidency of the ALN 
from Eduardo Montealegre, forcing him to forge an alliance 
with the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) and turning the 
party over to Eliseo Nunez, who is widely reported to be 
receiving political direction from President Daniel Ortega. 
End Note) 
 
¶6. (C) Contrary to his previous statements that international 
observation was unnecessary, Rivas confirmed that the Latin 
American Council of Election Experts (CEELA) had been 
approved to observe the elections.  Rivas dismissed 
assertions that CEELA is a "Chavez-backed" organization or 
"comprised only of the left."  CEELA was a "professional" and 
respected association of magistrates from across Latin 
America and their observation of the municipal elections was 
fully welcomed by the CSE.  (Note: CEELA officials have been 
making regular monthly visits to Nicaragua, have endorsed the 
CSE decision to ban the MRS and PC, and are receiving a 
stipend, administrative support, and offices from the CSE. 
End Note.) 
 
¶7. (C) On domestic observers, Rivas said that "observation 
will not resolve anything."  However, he confirmed that the 
two credible domestic observer networks, Etica y 
Transparencia (EyT) and Institute for the Development of 
Democracy (IPADE), among others, had applied for 
accreditation to observe the elections.  Rivas said he could 
not promise credentialling, as he "needed to count the votes 
of all the members of the CSE" but promised that any 
organization that had complied with the "requirements" would 
be authorized to observe.  He did not elaborate on what those 
"requirements" are. 
 
DEMONSTRATIONS AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Regarding the removal of the PC and the MRS, Rivas 
emphasized the party line that all Nicaraguans must comply 
with the law, including the CSE and the political parties. 
The PC fell 100 candidates short of the minimum number 
required to compete in the elections and therefore failed to 
comply with the law.  The CSE had no choice but to remove 
their legal status as required by law.  Similarly, the MRS 
did not properly present lists forming their party at the 
national and municipal levels and therefore "auto-dissolved" 
itself.  Again, the CSE had no choice but to comply with the 
law and ban the party.  Both cases, he noted, are now with 
the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and he hoped that the 
parties would receive a "favorable" decision after the 
elections (hinting that their parties' legal status might 
later be restored). 
 
¶9. (C) Rivas complained that problems involving civic 
participation, including public awareness, incorrect voter 
lists, and access to cedulas, could have been resolved had 
the international community provided more financing.  He 
claimed that he asked for funds from the donor community. 
"But, the countries waste their money on organizations that 
are trying to destroy the institutions of the state." 
Because donor groups will not provide more funding or 
training, the CSE has had to reduce its training and public 
relations budgets.  Despite their lack of funds, Rivas 
lamented, Nicaragua has "the most transparent elections" but 
continues to be criticized for supposed shortcomings.  The 
real problems, Rivas asserted, with the electoral process are 
not issues of political interference but rather a poor civil 
registry and voter list (padron).  "We can only fix them with 
 
MANAGUA 00001220  003 OF 003 
 
 
your help." 
 
¶10. (C) Rivas confirmed that the electoral law provides the 
CSE with authority to approve all marches and public 
demonstrations during the electoral period, which started 
September 25.  The CSE also has the authority to coordinate 
with the police to ensure proper public order.  Rivas 
asserted that in this electoral period, political parties 
have the clear priority over other civil society groups in 
the right to hold public demonstrations.  "We won't put up 
obstacles," Rivas lamely claimed.  "We will let the parties 
do their marches and make sure there are no conflicts."  The 
parties will have to ask for permission, but the CSE will do 
"everything it can" to issue that permission.  "This is not a 
mechanism for repression." 
 
¶11. (C) When pressed about how the CSE would avoid conflicts 
like those that occurred previously in Leon, Lang launched 
into a partisan-laced diatribe against pro-democratic NGOs. 
"They are the same groups -- those MRS -- that attacked my 
house several months ago."  No one complained when they 
attacked him, Lang complained, but the international 
community rushes to defend "bandits" when they march in Leon, 
even though the FSLN was holding its own demonstrations in 
the city.  Lang said he "understood" why the police did not 
get involved in Leon and that the actions of the civil 
society demonstrators were "incorrect."  The CSE, he 
continued, would assert its jurisdiction now over marches and 
ensure that the laws are complied with.  When pressed by 
Danish Ambassador Vohtz about the presence of Citizen Power 
Council (CPC) members in all of Managua's rotundas on a 
seemingly permanent basis and whether these constituted 
approved marches, Rivas responded vaguely "we will have to 
see."  Rivas added the CSE needed to be cautions about 
religious events. (Note: the CPC events in the rotundas have 
billed themselves as semi-religious events under the slogan 
of "praying against hate."  End Note.) 
 
ELECTORAL GROUP MISSIONS NOT CONVINCED 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (C) Following the meeting, Electoral Group 
representatives expressed dismay at Rivas' disingenuousness, 
artificial reliance on "the law," and continued intransigence 
on the status of the political parties.  All expressed 
serious doubts about the fairness and transparency of the 
upcoming elections.  German Ambassador Kern commented that 
Rivas was not truthful and appeared to be orchestrating the 
elections to guarantee and FSLN victory.  "The votes are 
already counted."  Danish Ambassador Vohtz expressed 
continued concern about the ability of democratic political 
parties and civil society groups to be able to exercise their 
rights to assemble and march and believed that Rivas' 
comments indicated the CSE would be an even greater obstacle 
to peaceful demonstrations.  Nearly all missions remained 
concerned that the CSE would not accredit domestic observers, 
or would delay accreditation to make it irrelevant, and 
suggested that such a move would have serious negative 
repercussions for their assistance. 
 
¶13. (C) COMMENT.  Rivas' public and private comments reaffirm 
our view that the CSE is anything but an impartial 
administrator of the elections.  Rivas is correct in claiming 
that Nicaragua's elections are transparent -- their political 
goal is obvious.  While hiding behind "the law," the CSE is 
working at every level to engineer a resounding FSLN victory 
and ensure that neither opposition parties nor civil society 
are in a position to challenge the results.  We remain 
particularly concerned by the CSE's attitude towards 
demonstrations and that any effort of theirs to stifle 
opposition rallies may lead to even more political violence 
and more excuses by the GON to reign in civil society. 
 
 
 
 
 
CALLAHAN