A lot of progress has been made in recent years to resolve the property ownership disputes that tarnished Nicaragua’s image as a country in which to invest in the 1990s. Innovative solutions were found for many that resulted in a settlement between parties fighting to see who actually owned the land being sold to a third party looking to make an investment. Steps have been taken to modernize the system for land surveying and Property Registries throughout the country have undergone a “purging” to eliminate double entries for the same piece of land under different names.
But, as evidenced by recent events on the Pacific coast in Tola, there is still room for improvement. The developers of the Arenas Bay project there went public on a national TV program to denounce an attempt to extort money from them in order to “resolve” a legal dispute with some former members of a cooperative that had sold them the land for their project around the turn of the century.
They presented a recording of a meeting between a representative of Arenas Bay and Gerardo Miranda, the former mayor of San Juan del Sur whose name has become synonymous with shady land dealings. On TV, Miranda first acknowledged having the conversation, but when it got to the part where he comes straight out and asks for four million dollars, his face fell and his eyes began to shift. He tried to squirm his way out of the predicament by claiming that the voice was not his, that they must have hired a voice imitator.
A voice analysis test conducted later by a specialized firm in the United States confirmed that indeed, it was the voice of Gerardo, but not before he had gone on the offensive, charging the developers with slandering his “good” name. The case then went to review by a special parliamentary commission. National authorities were quick to assure investors that their investments in the country are secure. On the other hand, and not so coincidentally, environmental authorities issued a stop work order for the Arenas Bay project, alleging non-compliance with some aspects of their environmental permits.
The taped meeting with the developers was reportedly held in the offices of the Secretariat of the FSLN in Managua, the same building from which Daniel Ortega conducts his presidential affairs. It is a golden opportunity for Ortega to rid himself of someone who has figured in a number of instances of land-related corruption, including the illegal sale of municipal land when he was mayor of San Juan del Sur. That would send a clear signal that the country is still serious about eliminating property problems invented by those who seek to profit by stirring up trouble and manipulating legalities. By mid-August, the National Assembly commission had yet to make a statement on this case.
