Nicaragua Widens Controls on Political Meetings

The Sandinista government said Thursday that all political parties must obtain permits to hold indoor meetings that are open to the public.

Hugo Mejia, president of the National Council of Political Parties, said on government radio that such permits are required under an Oct. 15 state of emergency law but that the requirement had not previously been enforced. Until now, the government has required permits only for outdoor rallies, although applications for these were often denied to opposition parties and organizations.

The move appeared to be another step in a government crackdown on opposition activities in the wake of approval by the U.S. House of Representatives of $100 million in military and other aid to the Washington-backed contras battling the Sandinistas in the countryside.

“The government has been flexible with the state of emergency,” Mejia said in a telephone interview. “But what happens is that with the $100 million, things have changed. . . . This does not mean they (the permits) won’t be authorized.”

News Conferences Exempt

Mejia said the permit rule applies to meetings to which the public is invited but not to membership-only meetings at party or union headquarters. He said permits would not be required for opposition press conferences.

After the House vote on contras aid, which President Daniel Ortega described as an open “declaration of war” by the United States, authorities closed the opposition newspaper La Prensa, saying that it supported U.S. interests. It refused to let Msgr. Bismark Carballo, the Roman Catholic Church’s local spokesman, return home to Nicaragua after he made a trip overseas. Officials said Carballo, a harsh critic of the Sandinista regime, will not be let back in the country because he “carried out a strong and open campaign in favor of the $100 million.”

Since that action, the government has taken no further steps to expel its critics, but a climate of uncertainty prevails among the political opposition.

In a front-page article and editorial Thursday, the Sandinista newspaper Barricada accused Bishop Pablo Antonio Vega of “defending U.S. imperialism,” an indication that he might be a future candidate for enforced exile.

‘Right of the People’

Vega had told foreign journalists Wednesday that “armed insurrection is the right of the people” and that any U.S. invasion would be the fault “of those who support only one bloc.” He was refering to Sandinista ties to the Soviet Bloc.

Barricada said Vega’s comments were an open challenge to the state of emergency law and a defense of “U.S. imperialism.”

The Sandinistas have accused Vega and Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo of campaigning for aid to the contras during trips to the United States.

Bayardo Arce, one of the nine directors of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, told reporters last week that the government had no plans to bar any other citizen from returning home. He said the opposition could continue to criticize the Sandinistas but could not voice support for the contras or for U.S. policy.

Still, some opposition businessmen and politicians have said they feel it is “prudent” not to leave the country for a time, until they can be assured they will be allowed back. Vega, however, has indicated that he expects to leave the country soon for a conference.