Otto Reich carries anti-corruption message to Nicaragua

MANAGUA - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Otto J. Reich delivered a strong anti-corruption message to the government Tuesday as pressure intensified to prosecute former President Arnoldo Alemán on charges of raiding the national treasury. As he announced a one-year, $1.8 million aid package from the U.S. Agency for International Development that he said was designed to strengthen the country's fledgling democracy and eliminate corruption, Reich threw the weight of the U.S. government behind President Enrique Bolaños' attempt to prosecute Alemán.

''Nicaragua is at a crossroads,'' Reich said in a prepared statement. ``It is for this reason that it is an honor to be here today and meet with President Bolaños and to assure him that we are convinced that he is doing things correctly and in a historically precise moment.''....

Referring to the anti-corruption effort, Reich said, ``This is the most important battle that Nicaragua faces today, in which it has the total support of the government of the United States.'' He added that President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell see corruption as a primary obstacle to economic development. ``If we can help countries with less resources and where resources are being robbed by people with power who abuse that power, then we will do all we can to help.''

Reich also met with other members of the Nicaraguan government, including acting Attorney General Francisco Fiallos, who has been leading the corruption investigations. According to Roberto Courtney, who directs Ethics and Transparency, a Managua-based corruption watchdog group, Reich's visit was a clear message that the Nicaraguan public will understand. ''It is a symbolic act,'' he added, ``but it has an effect beyond symbolism with the public. It tells them the government of the United States is with Bolaños and that Alemán has no future, because there is no future when you are on the outs with the U.S. government.''

August 2001 - Communist candidates leading in presidential races in Brazil, Nicaragua***In November of last year, da Silva attended a massive celebration in Cuba with a cadre of more than 200 other Worker's Party officials, many of whom were fresh off of a series of victories in local races throughout Brazil. The presidential candidate asserted that, while "Fidel Castro is an icon of ethics," Brazil should not apply the Cuban model, but rather find its own model for development.

At the same time last year, Venezuelan ex-presidential candidate Alejandro Peña Esclusa was sounding the alarm regarding Foro de Sao Paulo and its intentions regarding its neighbor Colombia. He alleged that "Foro de Sao Paulo pretends, first, to create a Colombian-Venezuelan conflict, and second, to begin a coup d'etat in Ecuador, all of which would ruin Plan Colombia."

Whether Foro is truly behind recent events is uncertain, but this spring, another coup attempt was made in Ecuador. Last month, Venezuela's Chávez announced that imports from Colombia would be reduced by 20 percent, in violation of the Andean Pact trade agreement of which Venezuela is part. Last week, with the collapse of ELN-Colombian government talks in Caracas, a series of ELN cross-border attacks from Venezuela began, and the presence of Cuban military and Venezuelan ex-military officials in the FARC distension zone was made public.

The question at hand is: are U.S. interests truly being threatened by the factions making up Foro de Sao Paulo? Venezuela and Cuba by themselves are not a formidable force to contend with, but their influence would appear to be growing. With an electoral victory by their ally da Silva in Brazil, all bets would be off. While his threat to domestic Brazilian industry is still questionable, and while he has foresworn defaulting on the debt, something he had threatened to do in both of his earlier presidential elections, Lula has made clear that internationally, his sympathies do not lie with the United States.***

November 2001 - Ortega concedes defeat*** MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega conceded defeat Monday to the governing party presidential candidate, Enrique Bolanos, who had once been imprisoned by a past Ortega government. ***

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.