It’s unheard of, but then again this is Nicaragua where the anvil floats and the cork sinks. Where else would the legislature actually be discussing a proposal for a sweeping amnesty to let off anyone who was a public servant from March 14, 1990 to January 7, 2007 who has been charged or mentioned in relation to cases of corruption, embezzlement, or any misdeed? The measure would also end any processes against spouses and blood or family relatives of public officials. One way to hide ill-gotten gains or the properties purchased with them is to stash them away in bank accounts or title deeds under someone else’s name.
It’s a get-out-of-jail-free card for the people who ran the country for 17 years and benefited from various lootings of the State that occurred over that period. It would create a credibility gap between legislators and the population so large as to make the Grand Canyon look like a bean field furrow in comparison.
The legislators pushing the amnesty say it is essential to clear the slate so that the politicians can get down to the business of running the country and stop focusing so much on who took how much when. It is a tacit admission that there was quite a bit of thievery that went unpunished. Quite conveniently, it would also set a precedent so that any future larceny by public officials could be excused by another amnesty.
It all started with the conviction of former president Arnoldo Alemán on charges related to some of what he scooped out the country’s coffers while in office. The issue of how he serves his time has been used by Daniel Ortega and the FSLN to wring concessions from Alemán’s Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) while in opposition and now while in government.
Alemán started doing time in a remodeled 2-room private suite in the Tipitapa Penitentiary with air-conditioning and cable TV. He was soon moved to a private hospital room where he spent several months because of supposed health problems. Then the convalescent convict was put under house arrest. His “house” later grew to include the whole Department of Managua, thereby allowing him to attend party meetings. He was being cooperative, having his party work out political deals with the Sandinistas.
Some Liberals opposed this open cooperation between Alemán and the FSLN and they broke ranks, forming a new party, the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance. Subsequently, Alemán’s “house” covered the whole of Nicaragua so he could move about the country and rally his PLC against the ALN. That kept Liberals divided and allowed the Sandinistas to walk away with a victory in the November 2006 presidential elections.
Towards the end of 2007, President Daniel Ortega wanted to push a bill through the National Assembly for the creation of Citizen Power Councils or CPCs that would receive government funding in order to organize the grassroots of the country so that they can participate in governing. The entire opposition, including Alemán’s PLC, united against this proposal since the CPCs are essentially another wing of the FSLN.
Punishment was swift. The Managua Appeals Court voted two-to-one (2 Sandinista magistrate, one from the PLC) to shrink his house down to its original size. They also changed the original sentencing, making the times for five separate counts against him run consecutively, rather than concurrently. A change was made recently to the criminal code (which still has to be ratified) that reduces the sentence for money laundering to five years, which would mean Alemán would be let out once the code reforms enter into effect because he has already served the maximum sentence for that crime. But now he still has to serve two more five-year sentences, one four-year, and a one-year sentence for the other crimes he was convicted of.
More screws were put to Alemán when he was finally served the papers in relation to a warrant for him, his wife, his father-in-law, and former finance minister Byron Jerez to appear in Panama to face charges of money laundering involving $58.2 million.
At the same time, the PLC and ALN Liberals were getting ready to sign a unification agreement leading into next November’s municipal elections. So, just like a yo-yo, he was given the run of the country again so that he could attend that meeting in hopes that his presence would torpedo that coming together. It didn’t, at least for the time being.
It’s as obvious as the waistline on the former president, that he is allowing himself to be used as a tool by the Sandinistas who control the courts overseeing his situation in exchange for quasi-freedom. Diehard Alemán supporters gripe that he is a “political prisoner” being held “hostage” by the FSLN and so an amnesty is necessary. Commenting on this, US Ambassador Paul Trivelli said laughingly, “If Arnoldo Alemán is a hostage, he has the most serious case of Stockholm Syndrome in the history of the world.”
The all-encompassing amnesty proposal is designed to cover up the possible freeing of Alemán. Proponents of the bill argue that it benefits many people, including ALN leader Eduardo Montealegre and Liberal candidate for Mayor of Managua who is being investigated for possible wrongdoings related to the renegotiation of a series of government bonds issued during the Alemán administration. Another would-be beneficiary is former president Enrique Bolaños who faces trumped up charges about irregularities in granting Nicaraguan passports.
The courts, the State oversight institution, and the Prosecutor’s Office are being artfully used to keep Alemán in line and go after Montealegre and Bolaños so that they and their followers are more amenable to making deals favorable to the governing Sandinistas.
The FSLN is taking the moral high ground and opposes the amnesty proposal. So the question is whether the legal system will continue to be used to exact political cooperation from opposition Liberals or whether people who are guilty of defrauding the State while in public office will get off scot free.