Newsbriefs
DOMINICAN STAND-OFF SANTO DOMINGO, JUNE 16, 1994 A month after the May 16 presidential elections in the Dominican Republic, there is still no officially declared winner. Opposition candidate...
...Overall the newly elected Directorate represented a clear victory for Ortega's "democratic left" tendency...
...This business allows illegal operators to earn thousands of dollars in one simple "operation...
...National Directorate member Henry Ruiz offered himself as a rallying point for those members of the FSLN who did not wish to support either of these two tendencies...
...The report attributed the rise to the growing number of PNC agents deployed throughout the country, and to the notable drop in PNC cooperation with ONUSAL...
...While long-time pro-revolutionary groups and center-left ones were well-represented, so too were center-right groups and, indirectly, some of the far Right...
...These complaints have been directed against agents of the new National Civilian Police (PNC...
...The peace talks got back on track in January, after almost a year-long derailment, when the two sides signed a new agenda for talks and a skeletal human rights accord...
...Among the most polemic issues debated at the PT's May 1 national convention were demands by the radical wing-known as "shiites" -to include the promise of an immediate debt moratorium in the campaign platform, plus the complete legalization of abortion and authorization for public funds to be used to finance abortions for poor women...
...The event was marked by sharp political debate which underscored the turmoil within the FSLN as it still reels from the 1990 electoral defeat and struggles to define its role as Nicaragua's primary opposition party...
...Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, one of the most prominent opponents of the Castro government to endorse the dialogue, sent his daughter and several members of his Miamibased Cambio Cubano group as observers to the conference...
...Moscoso was the pro-government candidate of a conservative alliance comprised of current President Guillermo Endara's Arnulfista Party (PA), and two smaller parties...
...Continued on page 52 PEACE TALKS STAGGER ALONG GUATEMALA CITY, JUNE 20, 1994 On June 12, the Guatemalan government began negotiations with the rebel Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) in Oslo, Norway, over the creation of a "truth commission" to investigate human rights violations, and to discuss terms for the repatriation of thousands of Guatemalans uprooted during the country's 34-year-old civil war...
...A former army captain and ex-chief of the Anti-Narcotics Unit (UEA), Pefia Duran successfully placed many ex-UEA agents throughout the ranks of the PNC, in violation of an agreement by the government that personnel from the UEA would be limited to the PNC's anti-narcotics division...
...and a special office of the foreign ministry will be set up to deal specifically with emigre issues...
...Lula also promises to enforce strict adherence to internationally accepted labor standards by the private sector, and to dramatically increase state spending on education each year so that it is at least equivalent to 10% of GDP...
...Moscoso, who had been running in fourth or fifth place in most pre-election polls, came in second in the elections, receiving about 45,000 votes less than P6rez...
...Lula has adamantly pushed his party to adopt a moderate campaign platform in order to pave the way for electoral alliances with "centrist" political groups, appeal to "middleof-the-road" voters, and buffer opposition to his candidacy among the business community and the military...
...Among other things, Lula says his government will launch the most tenacious attempt in Brazilian history to force the economic elite to pay their taxes...
...The Sandinista Assembly has been delegated the task of refining the party program in the wake of long discussions and multiple amendments during the Congressional proceedings...
...visiting emigres may stay in the homes of family members instead of having to buy package-tours which include hotels...
...In May Guatemalan Defense Minister Gen...
...To obtain a tourist visa, for example, the newspaper reports that a Cuban would have to pay about $10,000, a Colombian, Peruvian or Ecuadorian $5,000, an English-speaking West Indian $4,000, and a Central American about $1,000...
...Intense interest was focused on this Congress because three political tendencies emerged in the pre-Congress discussions, each grouped around a different member of the National Directorate...
...And, rather than advocate a return to "protectionist" tariffs and other trade barriers, Lula will seek to include safeguards and special assistance funds to help small domestic businesses better compete...
...Ramfrez was the only member of the old Directorate who was defeated in his reelection bid...
...NotiSur UN DENOUNCES HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY NEW POLICE FORCE EL SALVADOR, JUNE 10, 1994 iego Garcfa Sayan, director of the human rights division of the UN Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL), told reporters there has been a "significant increase" in complaints of human rights violations during the past three months...
...Garcia Sayan lamented the fact that the PNC is being charged with human rights abuses similar to those committed by the repressive government security forces it is replacing...
...Until recently, Guatemalan military leaders had adamantly resisted the creation of a truth commission, originally proposed by the URNG in 1991...
...Some analysts attributed this drop to the influence of PNC deputy director Oscar Pefia Duran, who resigned in early May...
...They found new fuel for their attacks when Spanish-language TV stations in Miami began broadcasting a videotape made of a reception with Fidel Castro at the end of the conference which portrayed men shaking his hand and women kissing his cheek...
...Cuban foreign minister Roberto Robaino used the conference to announce some easing of regulations: Cubans who left the island legally no longer have to wait five years before returning for a visit...
...Other points in the platform also reflect Lula's moderate line...
...Karen Wald LULA MODERATES CAMPAIGN PLATFORM SAO PAULO, MAY 27, 1994 L uiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva-presidential candidate for the Workers Party (PT) in Brazil's upcoming general elections-continues to lead in public-opinion "polls, with a two-to-one lead over his closest opponents...
...Key leaders of the losing tendency retained important party positions, but the acrimony of the debate and some harsh rhetoric from the victors after the Congress have led to the possibility of splits within the organization...
...An immigrant coming from China, India or the Middle East could end up paying as much as $20,000 for a full set of naturalization papers, while the market rates for immigrants from other countries seem to vary on a sliding scale...
...The most sought-after business consists of immigrants who are brought in in groups, like Chinese citizens who come to work in Venezuelan restaurants...
...Since Moscoso and Caries together received over 45% of the votes, the election outcome suggests that had the pro-government parties succeeded in backing a single candidate, they might well have achieved their objective of averting a PRD victory...
...Ortega's reelection was not a surprise since this was not a newly elected Congress but simply a reconvening of the 1991 body that had previously elected him...
...According to Pefia G6mez, in some precincts the number of ballots cast was higher than the number of registered voters...
...The expected increase in tax revenue would then be used to fund massive public works to create employment opportunities...
...The main surprise in the election of the National Directorate, in which 15 were elected for three-year terms from a field of 30, was the dropping of Sergio Ramfrez...
...In turn, Moscoso received nearly as many votes as the combined total of the two candidates who were expected to come out ahead of her, the left-leaning salsa singer Rub6n Blades and the other progovernment candidate, Rub6n Dario Carles...
...The disenfranchisement, given its magnitude and distribution, could affect the outcome of the election," Solarz told reporters...
...According to a March report by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), which cited ONUSAL figures, complaints of abuse attributed to the PNC rose from an average of two per month between March and August 1993, to 20 during the month of October, 1993...
...Rumors in Santo Domingo have it that U.S...
...The agreement also calls for the creation of a commission-made up of representatives of the government, the displaced, and international donors-to oversee resettlement projects...
...The Congress approved a quota system for women's representation in party leadership, allotting 30% of all leadership positions to women...
...Right-wing Cuban exile groups not participating in the dialogue justified their opposition by claiming only friends of the Castro regime had been invited...
...The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) delegation, led by former Congressional representative Stephen Solarz, also confirmed irregularities in computer vote tabulations and widespread denial of ballots to validly registered voters, mainly to those affiliated with opposition parties...
...The transformation of this document into a transient or resident visa would cost the applicant between $1,200 and $1,500, with an extra charge for "security" (the guarantee of not being deported) and "mobility" (safe movement from the border to the immigrant's destination...
...Then, Washington had remained silent...
...Opposition candidate Jos6 Francisco Pefia G6mez, of the socialdemocratic Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), charged that President Joaquin Balaguer, who represents the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC), was trying to pull off an electoral coup, putting the nation's political stability at risk...
...The January agreements also established a Civil Sector Assembly (ASC), a special forum for organizations representing Guatemalan civil society to give their input in the peace negotiations...
...Presidential candidate Ernesto "Toro" P6rez Balladares, from the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD)-the party of Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega-achieved a slim victory, securing one-third of the valid votes cast...
...Ten of the 15 candidates supported by Ortega were elected...
...The showing by Blades was particularly disappointing, since the 17% of the vote he received on election day was far below projections made by pollsters based on a surge in his popularity during the last two weeks before the elections...
...The guerrillas' insistence, plus growing domestic and international pressures to form the commission, have forced the military leadership to moderate its stance...
...His defeat also calls into serious question his chances of being nominated as the party's presidential candidate in the 1996 elections...
...Significant political differences remain, but the clear political desire of the rank-andfile delegates was for unity within the party around a political platform true to the historic principles of the FSLN and in clear opposition to the current government...
...After 12 hours of grueling debate, the radicals and Lula's moderates-known as "lights"reached a compromise on both issues...
...In addition, the U.S...
...The biggest surprise in the electoral results was not the victory by P6rez, who had topped all public opinion polls conducted since early this year, but the unexpectedly strong showing by Mireya Moscoso, widow of three-time president Arnulfo Arias...
...Some 10,000 individuals-mostly immigration employees-are involved in this business which, at border crossings with Colombia and Brazil, and at international airports, nets about $60,000 a day...
...The platform now calls for "renegotiation" of the foreign debt to seek more favorable repayment terms for Brazil, and only authorizes Lula to declare a moratorium if foreign creditors remain intransigent in negotiations...
...State Department is mediating delicate negotiations under which Balaguer could retain the presidency, while ceding the parliamentary presidency and control of certain key cities to the PRD...
...Mario Enrfquez declared that the army is "prepared" to accept such a commission, although he made clear the military expects the eventual investigation to include war atrocities committed by both sides during the conflict...
...sons and daughters of emigres may study at Cuban universities, although they can't partake of the free education available to Cuban citizens...
...Moreover, 50% of the expanded 135-member Sandinista Assembly is now elected proportionally from the regions by the entire Congress...
...NotiSur CUBAN EXILES DIALOGUE HAVANA, MAY 12, 1994 Sver 200 Cuban emigres from 27 countries gathered in Havana, from April 22 to April 25, to engage in a dialogue with the Cuban government and each other in a conference called "The Nation and Emigration...
...The demand for federally funded abortion services, meanwhile, was completely dropped from the platform in order not to rile the Catholic Church...
...NotiSur and InterPress Service POLITICAL INFIGHTING AT SANDINISTA SPECIAL CONGRESS MANAGUA, JUNE 6, 1994 Sn May 20-23 the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) conducted its longawaited Special Congress...
...The process of democratization which began in 1990 continued...
...The two sides signed a plan in Oslo to resettle refugees who had fled to Mexico as well as internally displaced persons...
...He has been promoted by many as the party's logical standard bearer, and polls have consistently shown him to be the most popular Sandinista political figure...
...InterPress Service ELECTIONS IN PANAMA PANAMA CITY, MAY 15, 1994 Despite a tense atmosphere leading up to the general elections in Panama, the May 8 voting transpired for the most part without violence or fraud, and with a relatively low rate of voter abstention...
...The government would also create a special line of credit to help landless peasants obtain land and give small farmers more access to credit...
...The audio part of the tape picked up expressions of admiration and respect expressed for Fidel-"proof' to groups like Alpha 66 and the Cuban American National Foundation that all the participants were secret "Fidelistas...
...NotiSur and InterPress Service DOCUMENT TRAFFICKING CARACAS, JUNE, 1994 The sale of identity documents to foreigners is a lucrative business in Venezuela, according to a recent report in the daily newspaper, El Universal...
...In response, Garcia Sayan announced that ONUSAL plans to offer human rights courses for PNC officials and staff...
...Ruiz and his supporters believe that Ortega is not the best person to lead the party to a more oppositional stance since he was the primary architect of the strategy of tactical alliance with the Chamorro government...
...Daniel Ortega was reelected as party general secretary with 287 votes, turning back the challenge of Henry Ruiz, who received 147 votes...
...The accord guarantees the personal safety of returnees, raises the chances of recovering abandoned homes and lands, eases bureaucratic hurdles for those without documents, and vows to protect the culture of indigenous groups...
...In addition, the PRD's representative on the PRSC-dominated Central Electoral Board charged that during the computerized ballot tally, thousands of votes were added to Balaguer's total...
...The United States has promised $60 million in aid when a final settlement is reached...
...A coherent alternative political program to the neoliberalism of the Chamorro government has yet to be hammered out...
...It is not clear whether Ramirez will retain his position as the head of the FSLN parliamentary delegation...
...The final PT platform still represents a radical departure from the neoliberal policies promoted by all the mainstream parties running in the elections...
...Jaime Wheelock, former Minister of Agrarian Reform, did not run for reelection...
...It was also decided that a quota of 10% of assembly seats would be set aside for youth beginning with the next Congress...
...But now, Balaguer's failure to respect the oil and arms embargo imposed by the United Nations in September, 1991 against neighboring Haiti has led the United States to speak up against the electoral irregularities...
...Four years earlier, Balaguer had won with a close margin over his rival, former president and writer Juan Bosch, in elections that had also been declared fraudulent...
...The "democratic left" current, led by Daniel Ortega, is identified with the belief that the FSLN needs to remain closer to its historic roots as a revolutionary party and in clearer opposition to the Chamorro government...
...According to the new schedule, a global peace agreement, including a cease-fire and bilateral demobilization, will hopefully be signed by the end of the year...
...He later commented that the conference was notable in that it brought under one roof Cuban emigres and exiles who had never spoken harmoniously to each other before, and second, that Fidel Castro received and spoke with members of the Cambio Cubano delegation-an opposition group with whom the revolutionary government had had no previous discourse...
...Much work remained unfinished at the Congress, and the continued cohesion of the FSLN is not guaranteed...
...On the losing side of the bruising political battle were FSLN leaders who had openly called for the transformation of the organization into a social-democratic party...
...Pefia G6mez asserted that about 200,000 PRD supporters, despite having voter registration cards, were not allowed to vote, since their names were mysteriously absent from the lists at the polling places...
...On May 18, the OAS observer delegation joined the growing chorus of fraud charges, reporting that they had observed serious irregularities and significant numbers of voters who were not allowed to cast their ballot...
...Since Ramirez himself was not a candidate, Ruiz apparently received support from members Vol XXVIII, No 1 JULY/AUGUST 19941 Vol XXVIII, No 1 JuLY/AUGUST 1994 1NEWSBRIEFS of the "majority" current in addition to his own supporters...
...In his initial declarations and actions following the victory, P6rez indicated that he plans to work closely with the country's other political forces in a "government of national unity...
...As a consequence, five women were elected to the National Directorate...
...The Congress represented a victory for Daniel Ortega, who was reelected as party general secretary, and for his political tendency which won a majority of the seats on the National Directorate...
...Rather than call for total opposition to the privatization of state firms, the PT says it will only prohibit the sale of "strategic" enterprises such as the state oil and telecommunications monopolies, and it will not attempt to roll back previous privatizations carried out under the Collor and Franco administrations...
...Ambassador Robert S. Pastorino has pressured President Balaguer to uphold the embargo against Haiti in return for recognition of his electoral victory...
...Continued diversity of the national leadership was assured, however, by the election of five members who were either allied with the Ramirez tendency or not clearly affiliated...
...Ruiz apparently wants the FSLN to stay close to its historic roots, but he supports greater democracy in the party...
...The "majority" current, led by Sergio Ramirez, favors the FSLN becoming a more clearly defined social-democratic party...
Vol. 28 • July 1994 • No. 1
