VZCZCXRO4682
PP RUEHLMC
DE RUEHMU #1357/01 3111432
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 061432Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3348
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL//J2/J3/J5// PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAGUA 001357 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR KRAAIMORE 
STATE PASS TO USAID 
USAID FOR LACK-CARDENAS 
LABOR FOR KCHINNOCK, CHOLMES 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2018 
TAGS: PGOV ELAB PHUM PREL PINR LAB NU
SUBJECT: DOL CHILD LABOR ERADICATION PROGRAM LAUNCH HIJACKED 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Robert J. Callahan for reasons 1(b) & (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On November 4, 2008, Ambassador Callahan met 
with representatives from five ministries at Nicaragua,s 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) to present award letters 
from the US Department of Labor,s (DOL) three-year, US $5 
million project to eradicate child labor in Nicaragua 
entitled "Combating the worst forms of child labor through 
education in Nicaragua - ENTERATE."  While Nicaragua,s 
Sandinista-led (FSLN) government welcomed the opportunity to 
work with the US Government to combat child labor, 
representatives from President Ortega,s office, who also 
attended and dominated the meeting, clearly wanted to 
exercise more direct control over this foreign assistance 
program and manipulated the subsequent press coverage of the 
event for this political purpose. END SUMMARY. 
 
Child Labor Round Table without the Labor Minister 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2. (C)  On November 4, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and 
Secretary of Foreign Cooperation Valdrack Jaentschke hosted 
U.S. Embassy officials for a minister-level meeting at MINREX 
where the Ambassador delivered award letters for a 
three-year, $5 million project to eradicate child labor 
funded by DOL.  Attendees included: Minister of Education 
Miguel de Catilla; Minister of Health Guillermo Gonzalez; 
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ariel Bucardo; Minister 
of Family Maria Isabel Munoz; Salvador Vanegas and Marcia 
Ramirez from the office of the President; and MINREX America 
Desk Officer Rene Morales.  The Minister of Labor Jeannette 
Chavez was absent from the meeting; however, Labor Commission 
Secretary Jose Arguello represented the Ministry.  (NOTE: We 
had tried four separate times during October to schedule a 
meeting with Chavez to discuss this project.  Each time she 
cancelled the meeting.  This most recent meeting came about 
only after we sent a formal diplomatic note seeking an 
audience.  We note that despite multiple assurances that 
Chavez was confirmed for the meeting, she did not attend. 
END NOTE) 
 
Routing all programs through the Presidency 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3. (C) During brief welcoming remarks from Vice Minister 
Jaentschke, he apologized for the Ministry of Labor canceling 
four previous meetings with Embassy officials and underscored 
the importance of working together to eliminate child labor 
in Nicaragua.  Presidential Secretariat representative 
Vanegas described First Lady Rosario Murillo,s "Programa 
Amor" (Program of Love) and the priority that President 
Ortega places on this new child welfare program.  Vanegas 
stressed the need for better coordination between ministries 
to prevent child labor, explaining that Marcia Ramirez of the 
Presidential Secretariat would be the main point of contact 
for coordinating all high-level ministerial meetings between 
the GON officials and the Embassy or DOL contractors.  The 
Ambassador explained that the DOL program would focus on 
establishing schools in coffee plantations in the departments 
of Madriz and Jinotega, and also on an aggressive public 
awareness campaign run from Managua.  The Ambassador added 
that the issue of combating child labor was apolitical and 
this project demonstrated that the nature of U.S. 
humanitarian aid and the relationship between Nicaragua and 
the U.S. is much larger than politics.  Jaentschke ended the 
meeting by emphasizing that the Presidency would coordinate 
this new DOL project. 
 
¶4. (C) In a subsequent side meeting between Embassy Labor 
Attache, DOL contractors from the American Institutes for 
Research (AIR) and Ministry of Labor officials, Vanegas 
repeated the call for better coordination through the 
Presidential Secretariat to combat child labor.  Vanegas 
stated that President Ortega wants to coordinate all social 
welfare programs through the secretariat to improve their 
efficiency and eliminate unnecessary, redundant 
administration costs and any competition or overlaps between 
ministries.  Vanegas remarked that the GON shares the 
enthusiasm for the new DOL child labor eradication program, 
but said that any program that only focuses on one aspect of 
the problem will not be successful.  As an example, Vanegas 
said that "if a child is hungry, he won't pay attention in 
school."  Vanegas reminded the Labor Attache and AIR 
representatives to contact Marcia Ramirez, in the 
Presidential Secretariat, when scheduling any meetings with 
representatives from other ministries.  The Labor Attache 
asked Vanegas whether this new requirement to coordinate all 
minister-level meetings through the Presidential Secretariat 
applied to other DOL-funded programs with the Ministry of 
Labor, and the response was "yes."  (COMMENT: During his 
remarks in both meetings Vanegas never overtly said that the 
$5 million grant would be directly transferred to the 
Presidency, however, it was clearly implied by his comments 
about managing the money and the need for close coordination 
of the program by the Presidential Secretariat. END COMMENT) 
 
Media Message Hijacked by FSLN 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5. (C) On November 5, the two major independent newspapers La 
Prensa and El Nuevo Diario carried stories entitled "Program 
Love receives support from the U.S." and "US$ 5 Million from 
U.S. for Program Love," regarding the Ambassador,s 
roundtable meeting and press conference.  Both reports 
highlighted Murillo,s "Programa Amor" and that the U.S. 
continues to support the FSLN government by giving money 
directly to it.  (NOTE: Finland,s Embassy announced on 
November 2, 2008 that it would withdraw two million Euros 
(US$2.5 million) of continuing budget support to Nicaragua. 
END NOTE)  Vanegas was quoted in the La Prensa article 
saying, "this money (US$5 million) will be managed by the 
National Social Welfare System, where it will be distributed 
to all ministries that work in the social arena."  The U.S. 
Embassy press release, given to reporters at the event, did 
not include any reference to "Programa Amor" nor did it state 
that funds would be transferred directly to the GON 
presidency to run this program. 
 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
 
¶5. (C) The ministerial roundtable came about only after we 
sent a formal diplomatic note to the MINREX when four 
previous attempts to meet with the Labor Minister failed. 
The Ambassador,s MINREX roundtable was designed to formally 
announce the program and deliver award letters to the five 
GON ministries.  However, it was overtly manipulated by the 
FSLN government.  The primary objective of the formal 
announcement was to facilitate a meeting between the Embassy 
and the Minister of Labor as well as establish the ground 
rules for going forward on the new DOL child labor 
initiative.  The press reporting of the event was clearly 
hijacked by the FSLN as our embassy-cleared press release 
language did not appear in either news story, nor did the 
Ambassador,s talking points.  We suspect that the 
government,s focus on the false statement that this DOL 
program would support "Programa Amor" was designed in large 
part to deflect attention away from prior day,s announcement 
by Finland regarding aid cuts.  We remain concerned by the 
government,s insistence that all aid be centrally controlled 
and distributed.  The government has alluded to this plan in 
its recent attacks on NGOs, but this event was the first time 
we had seen the GON attempting to implement it.  While we 
welcome GON,s request to centrally schedule all 
cabinet-level meetings, we fear the long-term negative 
ramifications for U.S. and other donor assistance if GON 
forces the issue of GON-controlled development funds. 
CALLAHAN