Leftists Win With Familiar Tactic

Barely 100 days into his right-wing administration, President Arnoldo Aleman has been forced to do exactly what he criticized his moderate predecessor for doing: cede privileges to the far left.

All week, about 5,000 demonstrators heeded the call of the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front, the largest opposition political party, to block highways across the country in protest of Aleman’s free-market economic policies.

All week they closed down the Pan American Highway--the hemisphere’s main overland route--and slowed down deliveries throughout this nation, the second poorest in the Americas.

And in the end, they arm-wrestled Aleman into negotiating with Sandinista leaders--to the exclusion of other political parties.

“All this is a test of strength between the government and the front,” political analyst Carlos Fernando Chamorro said. “This does not require massive participation; it can be done with small groups. . . . I do not know whether this is all the strength the front has, or whether they are holding back for another onslaught.”

Aleman’s Liberal Alliance defeated the Sandinistas decisively in October--winning the presidency and the largest bloc of congressional seats. But leftists never formally recognized his victory and have lambasted his initiatives for tax reform and for solving property conflicts stemming from the agricultural reform implemented during the 1979-1990 Sandinista administration.

Then they resorted to barricades, a protest tactic closely identified with the Sandinista Front. After they lost the 1990 elections, the leftists disrupted this country with barricades and strikes, forcing the government to share power.

The same tactic pushed Aleman to meet all day Thursday and Friday with Sandinista leaders until they forged a seven-point agreement. The accord includes a three-month suspension of evictions on disputed land and property put up as collateral for loans that have gone sour.

The agreement alienated smaller parties, many of whom are normally Aleman’s allies.

“They completely disregarded the possibility that other parties could have served as friendly mediators,” fumed National Conservative Party Congressman Adolfo Calero, who led the U.S.-backed guerrillas who fought the Sandinistas a decade ago. “This was the confrontation of one party with another without taking the rest of the country into account.”

Analysts said the Sandinistas had cornered Aleman by forcing him to choose between violently removing the protesters or giving a privileged negotiating status to their leaders.

Wednesday night, Aleman appeared ready to take a hard line, warning demonstrators that riot police would be sent to tear down barricades impeding traffic. Instead, he negotiated to remove the roadblocks, which had begun to approach a ludicrous situation by the end of the week.

In Managua, the capital, police and protesters were locked in a cat-and-mouse game. Each night, demonstrators would tear up cobblestone streets, using the stones as bases for barricades. Before dawn, municipal workers with police escorts would dismantle the barricades to let morning traffic pass.

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In Masaya, about 20 miles from Managua, farmers from the nearby Triunfo de Sandino Cooperative blocked traffic all week. Their neighbors supplied them with pineapples and bananas, normally the cash crops they send to local markets.

“We are worried about how we will be affected by taxes, and the government says that our land titles are not valid,” said Mario Lopez, 39, who helped found the cooperative. “This is the only alternative we have. The government does not listen to us.”