Nicaragua's main opposition party suspends drive for removing immunity of

[arcos]

Nicaragua's main opposition party suspends drive for removing immunity of president

Members of the opposition Sandinista Front of National Liberation (FSLN) will not continue with their drive to remove the immunity for criminal prosecution of Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos at the National Assembly, ex-President and FSLN leader Daniel Ortega said on Monday.

The process for the removal of immunity is unilaterally suspended by the leftist FSLN to create conditions for a national dialogue suspended on April 13.

Ortega said he had informed National Assembly President Rene Nunez of the decision. The National Assembly is under the control of the FSLN and the right-wing Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC).

FSLN offers a "clear sign for the creation of conditions to bring calm in the political climate in Nicaragua, so as to overcome contradictions between State powers," he added.

<snip>

http://english.people.com.cn/200509/13/eng20050913_208270.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. The same story from the Miami Herald, but with a hard right (((spin!)))

First, for sanity's sake, the story you posted, as handled by the Billings Gazette:

September 13, 2005

Last modified September 13, 2005 - 12:39 am

Ortega drops efforts to oust president

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega said Monday he is telling his party's lawmakers to drop efforts to have President Enrique Bolanos impeached - a move that apparently heads off an immediate political crisis.

Ortega said the action was meant to re-establish dialogue in the Central American country, whose political standoffs have drawn warnings from the United States, the Organization of American States and neighboring governments.

It also means that the conservative president's traditional, left-wing foe has saved him from a possible ouster engineered by leaders of his own Constitutionalist Liberal Party.
(snip/)

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/09/13/build/world/98-ortega.inc

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

Now, as it is interpreted for the South Florida Cuban-American readership by the Miami Herald!

Posted on Mon, Sep. 12, 2005
NICARAGUA

Political troubles mounting

BY CARLOS A. ROSALES
[e-mail]

MANAGUA -- Nicaragua is in the midst of its worst political crisis in years. Two disgraced former presidents have joined forces to severely weaken the sitting head of state. In the process, they have managed to sketch a very difficult political map in advance of next year's presidential election and unsettle their Central American neighbors.

Nicaragua has a troubled political history. A bloody revolution in 1979 ended forty years of violent dictatorship by the Somoza dynasty. But what ensued was a brutal decade of authoritarian rule under Daniel Ortega of the Marxist-inspired Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).

As if to ensure that its chaotic history continue, Nicaragua's main political actors have engaged in a type of political cannibalism that threatens its democracy, its future and the stability of the region.

Upon taking office in 2002, president Enrique Bolaños launched a legal offensive against his predecessor, Arnoldo Alemán, on charges of massive corruption. Alemán was later convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Bolaños -- who served as Alemán's vice president (1997-2002) -- wanted to make his former boss a symbol of his government's anti-corruption crusade. But the decision to go after him split the ruling Liberal Party (PLC) between a majority that supports Alemán and a tiny minority loyal to Bolaños.

While imprisoned, Alemán was able to fight back. He forged an alliance with Ortega. Strong legislative representation by their followers allowed them to achieve control of key state institutions.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/12625389.htm
(Free registration required)

Notes on author:Carlos A. Rosales is special secretary to the president of El Salvador and former Central America program director at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.


Carlos A. Rosales

http://www.presidencia.gob.ni/Presidencia/Files_index/Galeria%20de%20Fotos/2003/noviembre/houston/Bush%20Bolanos_condecoracion,%2006nov.jpg
Jeb & George & George W. _Bush with Bolanos.