Caribbean & Central America - August 2008 (ISSN 1741-4458)
NICARAGUA: Ortega provokes Colombia
A recent offer by President Daniel Ortega to hold talks with left-wing guerrilla group, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) led to a revival of problems between Nicaragua and Colombia. Tensions have been simmering since March, when Ortega briefly broke off ties with the Andean country in light of its armed incursion into Ecuador on 1 March. Nevertheless Ortega's anti-Colombia - and by extension, anti-US - rhetoric conceals efforts to cosy up to other instruments of US “imperialism", namely the IMF and World Bank.
On 17 July Ortega responded in the affirmative to a letter from the Farc secretariat in which they requested talks to contribute to the peace process in Colombia. The letter also thanked him for granting asylum to two guerrilla fighters who survived the controversial raid by the Colombian military on a Farc camp inside Ecuador on 1 March. Ortega publicly replied to his Farc 'brothers' that he was willing to talk and enter dialogue “to contribute to peace" in Colombia - a country which, he said, was “the principal factor of instability in Latin America".
The offer of help from Nicaragua's president was met with horror by the Colombian government: foreign minister Jamie Bermúdez sent a protest note to Managua strenuously objecting to Ortega's interference in Colombia's domestic affairs. He added that Colombia would present a complaint before the Organization of American States (OAS) against Ortega, in particular his use of the epithet “my Farc brothers", which he said violated the spirit and letter of the Inter-American Convention against Terrorism.
Tensions intensified after Nicaraguan national (anti-government) newspaper La Prensa reported on 23 July that six senior Farc members had arrived in Managua on 17 July in a Cessna aircraft owned by Venezuela's state energy company, Pdvsa. The article claimed that the guerrillas met Ortega and then stayed for the celebrations on 19 July to mark the 29th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution. The story was denied both by Venezuela's vice-president, Ramón Carrizales, and by Ortega, who accused the publication of “treason".
Ortega then went on to attack the editors of La Prensa for “serving the interests of the Colombian oligarchy" by fabricating information that the Colombian authorities would “immediately take as true", pointing out that Colombia has used the story to report Nicaragua to Interpol and the OAS. The president expressed fears that the story would influence the maritime dispute between the two countries, which is currently before the International Court of Justice at The Hague (see sidebar).
Colombian officials did not wait for confirmation of the story before launching a blistering attack on Ortega, still aggrieved by his recent show of support for the Farc. Colombia's ambassador to the OAS, Camilo Ospina, made a verbal protest before the permanent council on 24 July, accusing Ortega of harbouring a “hostile attitude" towards Colombia through his “direct support" of the “terrorist group".
Urging Ortega to “help bury the Farc, not be buried with the Farc", Ospina accused him of “violating international laws" in order to deflect attention away from his government's domestic problems - accusations echoed by opposition politicians in Nicaragua. Dissident Sandinista Víctor Hugo Tinoco added that Ortega was seeking a spat with Colombia “in a narcissistic effort to be the centre of attention in international politics."
With Colombia-Nicaragua relations remaining difficult, Ortega's overtures towards the Farc will have been frowned upon by the Bush administration, which has close ties to the Andean country. Indeed, Ortega's provocative anti-Colombian rhetoric was echoed in more traditional railing against the US during the 19 July ceremony. Meanwhile, Nicaragua's recent efforts to shore up ties with Iran (see sidebar) are similarly likely to be viewed with concern by the US.
Nevertheless, there are signs that US-Nicaragua relations are not as bad as Ortega would like to make out. According to the government, relations with the IMF (another much-touted enemy and instrument of “US imperialism") have been “normalised" after “years of tension". This prompted independent economist Adolfo Acevedo to ironically dub IMF representative in Managua, Humberto Arbulú, as “unofficial spokesman" for the Ortega administration.
In a similar vein, a deal was struck with the World Bank to provide US$40m in loans to improve rural water supply and support small and medium sized businesses in Nicaragua, as well as US$20m in budgetary support. The latter will include US$17m for social programmes, and US$2.5m for forestry projects in the Región Autónoma Atlántico Norte.
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Trivelli's
departure Having attracted widespread criticism for his meddling in the build-up to the 2006 election [RC-06-04], Trivelli toned down his act after Ortega took office. Nevertheless, he proved less restrained in his farewell address. Speaking before the Nicaraguan-American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), he issued a clear warning about the threat of “populist government policies" and, without naming names, expressed concern over the attitude of some “members of the political class" who act as if they are above criticism and dismiss anyone who questions them as lacking in “moral authority." Whether Trivelli's departure will result in an improvement in US-Nicaragua relations remains to be seen, however - especially given that he is to be replaced by Robert Callahan. Callahan was former assistant to John Negroponte, who was instrumental in coordinating the Contras during Nicaragua's civil war in the 1980s. The announcement of Callahan's appointment in early February was met with widespread consternation [RC-08-02]. |
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague ruled in December that San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina - three islands Nicaragua claimed as its own - were Colombian under a 1928 treaty. Colombia trumpeted this as a victory. However, according to the ICJ verdict, the maritime boundary set by that treaty (the 82nd meridian) referred only to the archipelago and was not, as claimed by Colombia, an overall maritime boundary. The court also announced that it would continue to study the case, in order to eventually determine a future boundary.
- Iran
Nicaragua's foreign ministry recently announced that Iran has agreed to provide US$2m to fund a hospital, the latest sign of strengthening ties between the two countries. In 2007 bilateral agreements were signed for the construction of several health centres in Nicaragua; four hydroelectric power stations; and two piers in the eastern port of Corinto. More recently, in March 2008, Iran agreed to provide a US$231m loan to construct a dam and hydroelectric generating plant. A three-day meeting is scheduled to take place in Managua in October, to be attended by delegations from both countries.