Nicaragua's Bolanos Dismisses Impeachment Bid as Dirty Politics

[Judi Lynn]

July 10, 2005

Nicaragua's Bolanos Dismisses Impeachment Bid as Dirty Politics
Onetime rivals unite in an attempt to prosecute the president, who has refused to pardon his predecessor, convicted of corruption in 2003.

By Chris Kraul, Times Staff Writer


MANAGUA, Nicaragua — The opposition-led congress initiated impeachment proceedings this week against President Enrique Bolanos, intensifying a political crisis in this impoverished country.

An alliance of two former rivals — the Sandinista National Liberation Front and the Constitutionalist Liberal Party, or PLC — is demanding that Bolanos appear before a congressional committee as part of an effort to strip him of presidential immunity and prosecute him for "electoral crimes."

Bolanos sent his attorney to the hearing while he addressed the nation to say that the proposed impeachment was merely dirty politics, an assertion several political analysts supported.

The president accused Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega of pushing for his impeachment to repay a debt to former President Arnoldo Aleman, who was convicted on corruption charges in 2003 and whose pardon is being sought by the alliance.

Bolanos has refused to consider pardoning Aleman, who is the PLC leader and his former patron. Sandinista leaders were not available for comment but have said Bolanos was implicated in the misuse of $100 million for which Aleman was convicted.
(snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-alliance10jul10,1,7976142.story?coll=la-headlines-world
(Free registration required)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are photos on this page which I can't get to, showing Bolanos with both _{Elder Bush} and _{Jeb Bush.} They are also friendly with the impeached former President of Argentina, Carlos Menem, and the impeached (for corruption) former President of Venezuela, Carlos Andres Perez.

http://images.google.com/images?q=Bolanos+%2B+Bush&hl=en

Check THIS outrageous hogwash operating behind our backs!

BELOW YOU WILL FIRST FIND GOVERNOR BUSH'S LETTER AND THEN DOROTHY'S RESPONSE. Please feel free to write to Gov. Bush to denounce his blatant intervention in the Nicaraguan electoral process and to ask his senator, Bill Nelson, to reprimand him. Their contact information is at the bottom of this message.

For fair elections for all,

Jill Winegardner and Dorothy Granada

The ad from Gov. Bush is laid out thus:

In small letters above the headline:
The Brother of the President of the United States (in blue)
Massive Headline: GEORGE W. BUSH
SUPPORTS ENRIQUE BOLANOS (blaring red)

This is all on white background, and the whole page is bordered in red, white and blue. The effect is of course that, at first - and even second -glance it looks as though the ad was inserted by the U.S. President himself. The main text is in black type, but with emphatic paragraphs in blue;

Translating the critical parts:

"This November, Nicaragua will choose a new president. This decision rests where it should, in the hands of the Nicaraguan voting public. At the same time, we in Florida want the people of Nicaragua to know that they are not alone in making this decision.
(snip/...)

http://www.peacehost.net/Dorothy/media-4.html

[Robbien]

1. It appears everyone in Nicaragua wants Bolanos out

Everyone. He has no supporters in his country. The only thing keeping him in his position is BushCo. It is sad that a country such as Nicaragua is so totally controlled by BushCo.

[arcos]

3. But he is being impeached unfairly...

He has been a lousy President, but Arnoldo Alemán and Daniel Ortega are just looking for political revenge. Bolaños hasn't allowed them to continue dismantling the democratic institutions for their own gain, as they have done for the past decade.

[Robbien]

4. Not sure what you mean by Ortega dismantling democratic institutions

What institutions has he dismantled other than those which benefited global corporatists?

[arcos]

6. Alemán and Ortega have conspired to dismantle EVERY single one of them...

In the last ten years, both Alemán and Ortega have manipulated their own parties for personal gain. They are both equally corrupt and guilty of the state Nicaragua is currently in... They have total control over the major parties' decision making process, and allow no one to oppose them.

They agreed to reform electoral law to make it virtually impossible for new parties to participate in elections, for example. They have recently been discussing minimizing the powers of the President, so that the bipartisan and corrupt majority in Congress (that they have total control of) is effectively in charge who is actually elected President. Ortega and his friends profited from "the piñata", instead of giving land to the poor people and making the revolution worthwhile for the people.

Believe me, Ortega is no Chávez, and for that reason he has nowhere near the popular support Chávez has... in fact, he's one of the most unpopular politicians in Nicaragua, along with Alemán, and both even more than Bolaños.

Ortega is so unpopular, that the Sandinista leadership had to name him candidate without a primary election because he would have lost to Herty Lewites in a landslide. Instead, Lewites was kicked out from the party, even though he's the most popular politician. Stupid strategy.



On edit:

In fact, I found recent poll numbers, released today.
Name Positive opinion / Negative opinion
Herty Lewites 75.2% / 17.3%
Eduardo Montealegre 64.8% / 19.4%
Enrique Bolaños 45.3% / 49.1%
Arnoldo Alemán 20.2% / 75.3%
Daniel Ortega 15.1% / 80%

[arcos]

2. Bolaños sucks, but Alemán and Ortega are far, far worse...

Let's hope he's not impeached.

[mom cat]

5. Reccomended. Thanks for the info about the Jeb connection!