Domingo Bolaños, the President's brother, Patrick Bolaños, his nephew, Mary Bolaños, his niece, and Eduardo Soto, his cousin, each benefited from Alemán's 'tax largesse', Jerez told a Managua court. As many as 25 luxury cars, which entered the country tax-free under Alemán's tenure, have been recovered by the state and distributed to institutions such as the supreme court of justice, the attorney-general's office and the police.
The news that Bolaños's relatives have been smeared by corruption allegations will not play well to an increasingly disenchanted populace. The President's approval rating sank to 19.1% in a nationwide poll carried out this month by the Nicaraguan company M & R Consultores. This is 5.6 percentage points below a February poll and 34.8 percentage points below a poll taken last October.
The Spanish bank Banco Santander and the French BNP Paribas are competing to be named as the 'investment bank' charged with selling the last 40% of the shares of the state-owned telecoms company Enitel.
The government sold 49% of the shares in Enitel to Megatel, a partnership between TeliaSwedel and a little-known Honduran company, Emce, in November 2002.
The government wants to complete the privatisation in order to pay off some of its domestic debt and to comply with IMF demands. One percent of the shares will be given to Enitel workers, and workers will be given first refusal on the remaining 10%.
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