There is cause for concern in Nicaragua

The political situation will have consequences for Danish development assistance, says Danish development minister Ulla Tørnæs during her visit to Nicaragua.

By Eva Rasmussen and Erika Brenner

26. September 2005

“There will be no Danish budget support for Nicaragua before next year’s presidential elections”, said Ulla Tørnæs, the Danish Development Minister during her visit to this Central American country. The reason can be surmised from another assertion: “There is cause for concern regarding the political situation.”

Elections are to be held in the autonomous regions of the Atlantic Coast in March of 2006, followed in November by presidential and parliamentary elections. Just a few days ago the most popular candidate for the presidency, former Managua mayor Herty Lewites, speaking in an interview with the Danish newspaper Politiken, “implored” the international community to “observe developments closely and intervene in case there is fraud.” Lewites was expelled from the FSLN when he attempted to wrest the party’s candidacy away from Daniel Ortega, who once again insisted on reserving it for himself. 

“We share Mr. Lewites’ concern, and I mentioned this in a meeting with the president of the National Assembly (parliament), the sandinista René Nuñez”, Ulla Tørnæs told us. “But his reaction was to shrug it off: ‘That’s what all weak candidates say’. Our position is that whether weak or strong, all candidates must have space to compete, to run for the presidency and gain access to the media.” 

During a four-day stopover in Nicaragua between two meetings in the United States, Ulla Tørnæs met with representatives of the government and the National Assembly. However, she refused to see either of Nicaragua’s two “potentates”, Daniel Ortega and former liberal president Arnoldo Alemán, who during the Minister’s visit was under house arrest on corruption charges. 

“I cannot meet with someone who is under house arrest,” said Ulla Tørnæs, “nor can I meet with Daniel Ortega, who has not been elected to any relevant post. If he becomes president once again, we will assess the situation. If his government complies with our conditions, among which is the partnership approch, I don’t foresee any difficulty.” 

Ortega and Alemán have reached a political power-sharing agreement according to which sandinistas and liberals now control the legislative and judicial branches of government as well as the Supreme Electoral Council. 

“We support electoral observation, but also observe the democratic processes that take place before elections”, concluded Ms. Tørnæs. “If there are irregularities, this will have consequences for our co-operation with Nicaragua. What would those be? That is something to be determined once there is a concrete situation. In any case, such a decision would be reached jointly with other European Union countries.”