VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #1370/01 3171716
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121716Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3360
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001370 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, EB/IFD/OIA, AND L/CID 
STATE ALSO FOR WHA/EPSC 
STATE PASS TO USTR 
TREASURY FOR INL AND OWH 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV ECON USTR KIDE NU
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA: GON FOCUSED ON MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS INSTEAD OF 
RESOLVING PROPERTY CLAIMS 
 
REF: A) 02 MANAGUA 877, B) MANAGUA 564, C) MANAGUA 1186, 
D) MANAGUA 1244 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 

¶1. (SBU) During the October 30 Property Working Group meeting, Ruth 
Zapata, head of the Office of Assessment and Indemnification (OCI), 
said that she and her colleagues were focused on issuing local 
property titles rather than resolving claims.  Zapata stated that 
some U.S. citizen claims require approval by President Ortega 
because of the amount of compensation and their complexity.  Zapata 
expressed her willingness to provide regular updates on the status 
of U.S. claims in the administrative process, but did not agree to 
provide clear explanations on how the GON determined settlement 
offers.  The GON's focus on issuing property titles to political 
supporters in the run up to the municipal elections is delaying the 
resolution of U.S. claims.  End Summary. 
 
ISSUING PROPERTY TITLES FOR FSLN POLITICAL GAIN 
--------------------------------------------- -- 

¶2. (SBU) On October 30, Econoff met with Ruth Zapata, head of the 
Office of Assessment and Indemnification (OCI), and Magally Bravo, 
an official from the Office of the Property Superintendent, to hold 
the October Property Working Group meeting.  Zapata said they were 
not fully prepared to discuss the list of 53 claims that the Embassy 
Property Office sent to Attorney General Hernan Estrada on October 
21 for this meeting.  She explained that her work and that of her 
colleagues had recently focused on issuing property titles to locals 
rather than resolving claims "to fulfill commitments with the World 
Bank and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)."  Zapata 
asserted that the Attorney General's Office and the Property 
Superintendent's Office had to prioritize issuing titles because of 
time constraints to implement the assistance from both institutions. 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Note: Our MCC staff reports that the only time constraint 
they are aware of was to complete the pilot title restitution 
program in Nagarote municipality, by August 2008.  MCC funded the 
pilot project which included additional staff support and support 
offices in the city of Leon for the Office of the Property 
Superintendent.  MCC continues to provide legal, logistical, 
technical, and staff support to implement the program.  MCC is 
currently awaiting comments from the GON on an 18-month plan to 
implement the program in the departments of Leon and Chinandega by 
¶2010.  We believe that the Attorney General's Office and Property 
Superintendent's Office are spending their time issuing titles to 
help FSLN candidates in the November 9 municipal elections.  On 
October 25, local media reported that Property Superintendent Yara 
Perez issued property titles while members of the Citizens Power 
Councils (CPCs) asked the beneficiaries to the vote for FSLN 
candidates.  Perez defended the actions of the CPCs at an official 
government event, stating, "One should not hide who he/she is.  The 
truth is that they (the media) can criticize what happened, but we 
cannot hide who we are.  We are the Sandinista government and we 
should not hide it or hide ourselves." End Note. 
 
ORTEGA DECIDES RESOLUTION OF SOME U.S. CLAIMS 
--------------------------------------------- 

¶4. (SBU) Zapata acknowledged that some U.S. claims require approval 
by President Ortega because of the amount of compensation needed and 
their complexity.  As examples, she cited the Las Serranias case, 
involving 29 properties confiscated from the Barreto family (Ref A), 
and the case of Uri Kollnesher, involving the confiscation of the 
property of his company (ICADESA). 
 
MORE UPDATES OF CLAIMS IN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS... 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 

¶5. (SBU) Zapata expressed her willingness to provide the Embassy 
Property Office with regular updates on the status of U.S. claims 
subject to the administrative process.  She added that these updates 
would be useful in keeping U.S. citizen claimants informed about 
their cases. 
 
...BUT UNWILLING TO OFFER TRANSPARENT APPRAISALS 
--------------------------------------------- --- 

¶6. (SBU) Econoff urged Zapata to explain to U.S. claimants how the 
government determines settlement offers.  Specifically, how OCI 
determines values, or in some instances, why OCI reduces settlement 
offers that previous governments proposed higher compensation (Ref 
B).  Zapata was noncommittal, asserting that property values are 
public information and that claimants can request from the National 
Cadastral Registry Office or its regional offices. 
 
COMMENT: 
-------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The GON's current focus on issuing property titles is 
delaying the resolution of U.S. claims.  During the August 28 (Ref 
C) and October 2 (Ref D) property working group sessions, GON 
officials were not prepared to discuss most of the claims that we 
provided via letters from the Ambassador to Estrada, a convoluted 
procedure upon which Estrada, himself, insists.  The political 
dimensions of this recent push to deliver titles to supporters is 
another example of the GON using all available resources at its 
disposal to help FSLN candidates win municipal elections. 
 
 
CALLAHAN