A Crusader Looks to the U.S.

Last week, Otto J. Reich, the controversial assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, visited my country, Nicaragua. Although Reich stayed only about 24 hours, Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos had anxiously awaited the visit. Since his inauguration in January, Bolanos has been engaged in a head-to-head clash with his predecessor and current president of the National Assembly, Arnoldo Aleman. Bolanos wanted Reich to deliver an urgent message back home: If Bolanos is to succeed in his battle against corruption, he needs more than words of support from Washington.

Bolanos’ plight could be the subject of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel. An honest 74-year-old entrepreneur, he served as vice president to the man who has become his nemesis. During his campaign for the presidency, Bolanos promised the Nicaraguan people he would not perpetuate the corruption that had plagued the Aleman administration and vowed to prosecute those who had enriched themselves by plundering the state’s coffers. His message resonated with voters. Bolanos received 56% of the vote, a record 92% of the voting population went to the polls and his Liberal Party won a majority in the 92-member National Assembly.

In the mid-1990s, Aleman, a middle-class lawyer who was mayor of Managua, revived a defunct splinter of Anastasio Somoza’s Liberal Party and successfully ran for president in 1996. Aleman won the people’s favor with the motto, “Deeds, Not Words,” denouncing Sandinista rhetoric. Unfortunately, his deeds were mostly self-serving. No sooner had he become president than he began to amass a huge fortune for himself and his cronies.

When I was in Nicaragua this summer, crowds filled a well-known restaurant-bar to watch Nicaraguan stand-up comedian Luis Enrique Calderon. In his show, Calderon wrapped a number of pillows around his waist, pulled a fiery red T-shirt over them and donned a red baseball cap, transforming himself into Aleman, who is said to weigh at least 300 pounds. “American Express-ident” is the name of Calderon’s show, an allusion to the unrestricted use that Aleman and his crony bureaucrats made of credit cards to pay for official government business. For example, the lavish engagement party he threw for himself at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami in 1999 was reportedly paid for with public funds.

The crowds loved Calderon’s riff on “Gordoman,” the nickname most Nicaraguans use to refer to Aleman. But the laughter underscored the widespread feelings of dismay and outrage that people still harbor toward the former president. Thanks to a constitutional reform he worked out with the Sandinistas during his administration, Aleman will enjoy parliamentary immunity as long as he remains a member of the National Assembly. But that’s only the beginning of Bolanos’ problems. Over Bolanos’ objections, the Liberal Party members of the National Assembly chose Aleman president of the legislative body, which gives him the power to block all of Bolanos’ legislative initiatives.

Early last month, a frustrated Bolanos made an unprecedented move to expose the gravity of the situation to the Nicaraguan people and the international community. He took the case against Aleman to the public at the National Assembly. Acting Atty. Gen. Francisco Fiallos laid out the details and offered partial proof of how Aleman, his family and closest allies allegedly diverted $100 million of public funds to banks in Panama owned by Aleman, his daughter--a substitute deputy in the National Assembly--and his principal henchman, Byron Jerez, who was minister of internal revenue.

In a speech following the attorney general’s presentation that was broadcast on radio and national TV, Bolanos addressed Aleman: “Arnoldo, I never dreamed you would betray your people like this. You took the pensions from the retirees, medicine from the sick, salaries from the teachers. You stole the people’s trust.” The president also appealed to his fellow party members in the National Assembly to strip Aleman of his immunity. Along with thousands of Nicaraguans, he signed a petition to the legislative body demanding it put national interests above personal or partisan loyalties.

In a Latin America plagued with corruption scandals, the valiant quest of the Nicaraguan president to bring his corrupt predecessor to justice should rally unequivocal support. Especially for the United States, with its long history of involvement in Nicaragua, it presents an ideal opportunity to encourage and reward a government’s commitment to ethical behavior. Yet Bolanos is hearing few words of encouragement.

Meanwhile, Nicaragua’s finances are so bad that his government cannot hope to launch any of its promised programs to relieve poverty. The International Monetary Fund is withholding urgently needed funds because the National Assembly didn’t pass the tax reform it requested. While in Nicaragua, Reich offered verbal support, but Washington has not used its leverage at the IMF--the U.S. is the fund’s most important shareholder--to break the impasse, nor has the U.S. government agreed to a bridge loan in the meantime.

Since his speech, Bolanos has gathered the 47 votes, among them Sandinistas, he needs to strip Aleman of his immunity. But the leadership of the National Assembly, which remains loyal to the former president, is blocking a vote in the hope of forcing Bolanos to negotiate with Aleman. A recent poll showed that 77% of Nicaraguans approve of Bolanos’ crusade. But his support may begin to diminish if the current standoff impairs his government’s ability to improve the lot of the Nicaraguan people--unless Washington finally rewards the good guy with more than words.