Caribbean & Central America - February 2008 (ISSN 1741-4458)

The liberals have recently been lobbying for a broad amnesty "decree" in an attempt to end the power exerted by President Daniel Ortega over unofficial leader of the Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC), Arnoldo Alemán, and Alianza Liberal Nicaragüense (ALN) leader, Eduardo Montealegre. While the move has provoked outrage from civil society and other politicians alike, the fate of the decree is far from certain, given both the legal questions involved and recent divisions between the liberal parties.

On 7 February, the liberals announced an initiative to approve a broad amnesty as a legislative decree - which cannot be vetoed by Ortega - rather than a law. The move promises more legal wrangling ahead, as neither the constitution nor the law establishing the national assembly specify whether amnesties should be laws (subject to a presidential veto) or decrees.

The amnesty would pardon all public officials and ex-public officials from the last three governments (1990 - 2006) who have been convicted of, or suspected of involvement in, acts of corruption. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the move is favoured by the PLC because it would free Alemán - currently "serving" a 20-year jail sentence for money laundering - from Ortega's control. Ortega has traded Alemán's freedom for PLC support in congress, and if Alemán is, effectively, pardoned, his supporters in the PLC will no longer have to support Ortega's policies.

The amnesty would also benefit Montealegre, who is under constant threat of prosecution for his role in the collapse of four banks between August 2000 and 2001 when he was Alemán's finance minister.

Civil society and other politicians alike were quick to condemn the initiative, with human rights organisations warning that it would strike a considerable blow to the country's already "weak democracy" and encourage impunity.

Nevertheless, the decree's passage is by no means certain, given recent divisions between the PLC and ALN. This lack of a united front emerged most recently during the approval of the budget on 12 February, in which the PLC joined forces with the ruling Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional to vote in favour of the measure, while the ALN voted against it. The budget vote led the local press to pronounce the 'Bloque Contra la Dictadura' - formed by opposition members at the end of last year [RC-07-12] - effectively dead.

• New ambassador named

Following the news that US ambassador to Nicaragua Paul Trivelli will be leaving his post in July, Robert Callahan was named as his replacement by US President George W Bush. The news was met with surprise and consternation among some sectors in Nicaragua, due not least to Callahan's active support for the Contras during the country's civil war in the 1980s. At the time, Callahan worked as spokesperson and speechwriter for John Negroponte, who was US ambassador to Honduras when the US embassy there was instrumental in co-ordinating the Contra war in Nicaragua.