Nicaragua Network Hotline Reports:
On Apr. 22, during an appearance on the Cuban television program "Round Table," Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said that functionaries of the United States Embassy in Managua are conspiring against his government and that Nicaraguan officials have "all the information" about the conspiracy which they have not yet wanted to make public. "They class us as a dictatorship," he said adding that Embassy officials have been meeting with opposition figures and offering opposition groups funding to unite against his government, even while they maintain respectful relations with the government.
Ortega said that no one had been expelled because he is taking US President Barack Obama at his word when Obama said that he would not permit interventionist policies. "Let's see if the attitude of all the personnel of the yanqui embassy in Nicaragua, who are always conspiring, is going to change," he added. Ortega reminded viewers that Ambassador Robert Callahan was the right hand man of John Negroponte [in Honduras] during the US-funded contra war against his first administration in the 1980s.
For his part, Ambassador Callahan denied that he was involved in a conspiracy against the government. He said that all his activities were in accord with the Vienna Convention [a treaty regulating diplomatic relations between countries] which, he said, considers meeting with all sectors of society "a completely natural and acceptable thing." Callahan said that "It is true that we meet with all sectors of society in all parts of Nicaragua and this includes not only political leaders, but also from the churches, businesspeople and, in my case, baseball players. It is the way in which diplomats can understand the society in which they are working." The Geneva Convention does not give one country the right to fund the political opposition in another country which is standard operating procedure by the US through the National Endowment for Democracy and the US Agency for International Development.
Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), said he was disappointed that Ortega continues to send "negative messages" which will have an effect on foreign investment in the country. "His speeches go in a different direction from showing understanding that the [economic] crisis is a reality from which we cannot escape. For investors, this represents instability and they will be fearful of putting capital into a country in which they have little confidence," Aguerri said.
FSLN National Assembly Deputy Alba Palacios said that US conspiracy, particularly against the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), has been constant in Nicaraguan life for many years. She remembered the war financed by the United States in the 1980s and then, during the 17 years the Sandinistas were out of office, at the time of each election, the US ambassador would openly support the candidate of the right. She also remembered the time several years ago when US Ambassador Barbara Moore met with the leaders of the parties of the right in the National Assembly to decide on the makeup of the leadership of the Assembly. She said that this type of conspiracy takes place also in El Salvador, Venezuela and Bolivia.
From the Nicaragua Network Hotline - http://www.nicanet.org/
