by Carlos Arenas
2006 will be marked in Nicaragua by the November presidential and parliamentary election and the possibility that a Sandinista candidate could take power. As of February 2006, there are three main presidential candidates with possibilities of becoming the next Nicaraguan President. The current favorite is Herty Lewites, a Sandinista politician and the former Mayor of Managua who was expelled from the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) for trying to run as its presidential candidate. Lewites will now run under the umbrella of the FSLN’s main dissident group, the Movimiento de Renovación Sandinista (MRS), and a coalition of other minor parties. Another candidate with the potential chance to be elected is Eduardo Montealegre, an independent candidate who belongs to the Liberal Party. Montealegre is a former banker and a former Minister of Finances. However, the official candidate of the Liberal Party has not been selected and there are even rumors that Arnoldo Alemán might try to be that candidate even though he is still under house arrest as a result of the charges of corruption during his presidency. Finally, of course is Daniel Ortega, the perpetual candidate of the FSLN.
The possibility that Nicaragua could have a leftist president has not being ignored by the U.S. mainstream media, and in many ways it is a very sensitive issue in U.S. politics. Most of the analyses from U.S. media have been focusing on the fact that the U.S. Government is losing political allies in Latin America, and that the situation is so bad for the U.S. interests in the region that even Daniel Ortega might be elected again as the Nicaraguan president. However, those analyses are intentionally ignoring the fact that Lewites has been leading the polls during the last several months. In short, the options are two independent candidates running as dissidents from the two major parties, or their historical caudillos (or strongmen). It seems like it is time to change course in Nicaragua, and that the country deserves someone better that Daniel Ortega and Arnoldo Alemán.
In this edition of Nicaraguan Developments we have included two articles written by members of the Richland Center-Santa Teresa Sister City Project. Historically this group has been one of WCCN’s closest sister city groups, in part because of their proximity to Madison. Jane Furchgott, a member of this sister city group, wrote an article on the sea turtles in Nicaragua and the campaign to protect them. For many years Jane has been one of the most active advocates in the U.S. for the protection of sea turtles in Nicaragua and the communities surrounding the areas of the wildlife refugees of “Chococente” and “La Flor”, where the turtles go every year to nest. Derrick Gee, another member of this sister city group and member of WCCN’s oversight committe, wrote an article about some of the reflections our study tour participants had during our January trip to Nicaragua. Included is also an article by Frances Smith, another participant in our latest study tour to Nicaragua. Frances provides us with several written snapshots of our tour. Additionally, Richard Barajas, an intern at WCCN, wrote an informative article about the possible effects of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) on Nicaragua. As always, we have included our regular sections of a borrower profile and information about the NICA Fund portfolio as of January 31, 2006. Enjoy our newsletter and we appreciate your feedback.
