Nica News Roundup (March 13) – Alianza Cracks; Returns to Negotiations Tomorrow

March 13, 2019

Nicaragua

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The Alianza Civica and the OrMu administration issued a joint statement, announcing that negotiations would start again tomorrow. The news comes after three days in which the Alianza stayed away from the INCAE, the place chosen to host the talks.

However,  as the joint statement revealed, the Alianza and the OrMu’s envoys met privately and negotiated, even as the Alianza postured publicly, pledging to hold out until the government gave concrete signs of good faith, including the release of political prisoners.

Press release #6, as it is titled, unmasked the Alianza’s back channel negotiations, eroding the trust that many Nicaraguans had placed on an organization, in spite of all the obvious flaws and lack of inclusiveness of its principal negotiation team, and the over-representation of the business sector.

The joint statement lays out the agreements reached during these private meetings. In addition to returning to public negotiations, the two sides agreed that “on Friday, March 15, the excarcelation of an appreciable nucleus of people will take place.”

No one knows how many prisoners of conscience it would take for the “nucleus” to be “appreciable.” However, we do know now that both sides found a number they can live with, even though the European Union, the OAS, and most Nicaraguans insist that EVERYONE must be released as a pre-condition for any negotiation.

Various organizations, including the Comité Pro Liberacion de Presos Políticos, the Articulación de Movimientos Sociales, and the Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco, rejected the Alianza’s position.

Journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro also reacted to the news, via Twitter. Chamorro questioned the “transparency” of the Alianza. “They went from demanding ‘concrete signs’, to accepting that ‘an appreciable nucleus’ of people will be excarcelated. The people demand transparency.” The Alianza’s Mario Arana — a man with the most unprofessional  twitter handle I’ve ever seen for someone of that stature — responded to Chamorro’s criticism. According to Arana, “there’s more to it. We confirmed the OAS as a guarantor for the entire process, for which they will have to approve a plan to free the prisoners. We should have that in two days, and then there will be a commission to work on the release of everyone, and on the agenda.”

In other words, Arana believes that the Alianza is acting responsibly. They’ll get the prisoners released, eventually. Arana later added that “it was impossible to ignore everyone’s reaction, but we have not lost sight of the objectives or lost our minds. Freedom for prisoners, OAS as guarantors, and early elections. On these two first issues, we have agreed to make concrete progress in two days. Trust us.”

Unfortunately, the Alianza is not of one mind. The student movements in the Coalicion Universitaria broke ranks and held a press conference to express their disagreement with what the “adults” in the room had negotiated. They will not return to the negotiations on Thursday. Furthermore, the students asked the European Union to enact economic sanctions against the Ortega-Murilo dictatorship, and requested that the OAS continue the process to apply the Democratic Charter.

The Coalition argues that Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have not given any sign of seriousness or good will, starting with the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, respect for their rights while in custody, and the end of all forms of repression, kidnappings, and harassment. “Dialogue and negotiation” are necessary, says the statement, but not feasible without any preconditions.

Speaking for the Coalition Valeska Valle, who was an alternate in the Alianza’s negotiating team, expressed that negotiation is not possible without preconditions:

“There must be concrete actions that support our presence [at the negotiations]. We are the most vulnerable sector. We are sitting there with someone who murdered the Nicaraguan people, and has not demonstrated that we have any guarantees within the negotiation. They have not shown that the Nicaraguan people have any guarantees [for their safety] outside either.

From exile in the United States, Lesther Aleman sent a message supporting the University Coalition. “Students are not asking for gestures. We want actions, and our presence in the negotiations will hinge on the liberation of all political prisoners. We demand from the government commitment and honesty towards the Nicaraguan people.”

The Alianza’s fracture was made even more obvious when Azahalea Solis, the alternate for Carlos Tunnerman, tweeted her “absolute support for the student movement.” Solis said that the joint statement “does not reflect the position the Alianza took on March 10.”

Without the student movement, the Alianza’s negotiating team now includes three representatives of the business community (Mario Arana, Jose Adan Aguerri, and Juan Sebastian Chamorro), and two former diplomats (Jose Pallais and Carlos Tunnerman). There is no direct representation of the Peasant Movement, as they also withdrew, or of any organization representing victims or political prisoners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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