• Public Prosecutor accuses 39 implicated in high profile CENIs case
• Central Bank and BANCENTRO renegotiate terms of payment on CENIs
• CENIs accusations put deputies' loyalty to the test
• State of emergency declared in RAAS
• Ortega warns opposition not to provoke the people
• Government to double pensions for war victims
• MIFIC freezes price of generic medicines 
• Cardenal Obando y Bravo speaks out in support of government

On July 7 the Special Prosecutor Armando Juarez, who has led the investigation into the multi-million dollar fraud known as the "CENIs" (Negotiable Investment Certificates) scandal, made formal accusations against 39 individuals as co-authors, accomplices and necessary collaborators in the fraud which created an internal debt of approximately US$600 million  for the state.

The majority of those accused are former public officials from Arnoldo Aleman's and Enrique Bolaños' administrations (1996 - 2001 and 2001 - 2006 respectively) and individuals with great influence within the national financial sector. Eduardo Montealegre, leader of the political party "We're with Eduardo" Movement (MVE) and former public finance minister Eduardo Montealegre figures among the accused, as do former Central Bank president Noel Ramirez, former public finance minister Esteban Duquestrada, former national bank supervisor Noel Sacasa, former national bank deputy supervisor Alfonso Llanes, former Central Bank manager Mario Flores along with numerous other former Central Bank and Public Finance Ministry officials. Jaime Chamorro Cardenal, Director of the La Prensa daily newspaper and shareholder in the Bank of Central America (BANCENTRO), one of the banks which benefited most as a result of the CENIs operation, was also accused along with a number of his colleagues at BANCENTRO and representatives of the other banks which benefited from the fraud. Juarez requested that the judge order for the accused to be kept under house arrest and to have their passports confiscated. 

Some journalists questioned the absence from the indictment of former presidents Aleman and Bolaños and of current Foreign Minister Samuel Santos [former member of the liquidation board for the collapsed bank Interbank] on the list of those accused on July 7.

Both Juarez and Assistant Prosecutor Ana Julio Guido were categorical in their confirmation that the investigation team has more than sufficient evidence to prove how the men and women accused participated in what is considered the biggest fraud in Nicaraguan history. 

In the text of his accusation Juarez explains how, "technically speaking Nicaragua was bankrupted" as a result of this fraudulent financial operation given that the total value of the CENIs bonds issued during the Aleman administration was greater than the value of the country's international reserves. "This is an historic case for Nicaragua, this scandal put the country's financial situation at risk, these men and women [the accused] created a situation whereby any deliberation made on these bonds [the CENIs] affects [the country's] finances."

Juarez went on to explain why the Public Prosecutor had recently permitted the seizure on the CENIs bonds held by the Production Bank (BANPRO) to be lifted at the request of President of the Central Bank Antenor Rosales. "It is well known that the Public Prosecutor has been consistent in its attempt to seize these bonds in order to impede [the government making] payments [on them]. But ... [it became clear] that the high risks of the government not honouring these debts would cause greater damage [than continuing to pay them], which means that there is no alternative than to honour them, which is not the same as ratifying an illicit [act] or converting an illegal act into a legal act. The Public Prosecutor maintains the position of persecuting those responsible [for the fraud] and bringing them before a judge so that they are declared guilty and sanctioned."

A number of those accused have already left Nicaragua to live abroad and are therefore unlikely to be brought to justice in the Nicaraguan courts. Among those who no longer live in Nicaragua are two of the three men who Prosecutor Juarez described as the "brains" of the financial operation, Noel Sacasa and Esteban Duquestrada. Sacasa currently lives in the US with his family where he works for an International Financial Institution while Duquestrada, who was sentenced to twenty years in jail in 2003 along with Aleman for massive fraud, fled to Panama five years ago where he currently resides as a fugitive of the Nicaraguan justice system.

Noel Ramirez, the third "brain" of the operation is currently a deputy before the Central American Parliament. In order for a judge to open legal action against Ramirez, the Nicaraguan National Assembly would have to vote to take away his immunity. Similarly, a vote to take away MVE deputy Eduardo Montealegre's immunity would have to take place in the National Assembly should the judge decide to proceed with the case.   

During a press conference on the evening of July 7 Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) leader Arnoldo Aleman reconfirmed his promise that the party will offer unconditional support to both Montealegre and Noel Ramirez in any potential vote in the the National Assembly. "Be fully convinced that there will be no division within the liberal family," said Aleman. Anonymous sources described as individuals close to Aleman were quoted in a number of media outlets, however, as saying that it is still uncertain whether or not the PLC deputies will vote to save Montealegre, the PLC alliance candidate for Mayor of Managua in the upcoming local elections, from legal prosecution. 

Montealegre reacted to the accusation again saying the whole case is a "political farce ... [and] part of the [Sandinista government's] scheme to install a political dictatorship" in the country. Montealegre's claim that the accusation against him constitutes political persecution is echoed by representatives of all the main opposition forces including the PLC, the MVE, the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), and a number of NGOs for example the Movimiento Por Nicaragua and the two main newspapers El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa. Even National Director of the NGO umbrella group Civil Coordinator, Georgina Muñoz, suggested she sympathized with this take on the way the case was being taken forward. "This case should be investigated in depth with the greatest responsibility possible and without tendencies towards political persecution," said Muñoz during a press conference on July 4.

On July 4 President of the Central Bank Antenor Rosales and Executive Director of the Bank of Central American Credit Bank (BANCENTRO) Julio Cardenas announced that they had signed a renegotiation agreement of the terms of payment on the CENIs (Negotiable Certificates of Investment) in possesion of BANCENTRO which are valued at US$33.1million. The new payment conditions are identical to those established in the Central Bank recent agreement with the Production Bank (BANPRO) on CENIs payment conditions: The government now has twenty years to pay back the bonds at an annual interest rate of 5% for the first fifteen years and 15% for the last five years.

As a result of the renegotiation the government will only pay US$967,000 to service its debt with BANCENTRO as opposed to the US$7.3 million it had expected to pay to the private bank.

During the press conference at which the renegotiation was announced Rosales called on the Public Prosecutor to lift the seizure currently in place on BANCENTRO's CENIs bonds.

Cardenas said the course of recent events (the lifting of the ban on other CENIs holder BANPRO's CENIs bonds) help to "restore confidence in the State's [financial] products."

CENIs accusations put deputy's loyalty to the test
The recently announced indictment of 39 individuals by Special Prosecutor Armando Juarez is causing a mighty stir within the National Assembly where the deputies will have to vote on whether to take away Eduardo Montealegre's and Noel Ramirez' parliamentary immunity so they can face trial. Noel Ramirez, a deputy in the Central American Parliament, and National Assembly deputy, Eduardo Montealegre, are among the list of the 39 accused (see story no. 1), but if the Nicaraguan National Assembly deputies vote to maintain their immunity they will not have to go to court - at least not until they leave public office.

Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) leaders have confirmed the unconditional support of the party's 24 deputies for Ramirez and Montealegre, while the 38 Sandinista (FSLN) deputies will presumably vote to strip the two men of their immunity. Last week leader of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) Eliseo Nuñez Hernandez did not discard the possibility of voting to take away the men's immunity. The ALN now has six deputies after two deputies, Alejandro Ruiz Jiron and Francisco Jarquin Urbina, left the "We're with Eduardo" Movement (MVE, Montealegre's own party) to join the ALN. As long as Montealegre can avoid any further splits in the MVE the remaining 19 MVE deputies will presumably vote in his favor. In effect what all this means is that the final decision as to whether or not Montealegre and Ramirez are forced to respond to the accusation against them in a court of law is down to the three Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) deputies and the three independent deputies who have yet to declare their voting intentions and whose political loyalties are far from clear. 

State of emergency declared in RAAS
On July 5 the Regional Council of the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) declared a state of emergency in the municipalities La Desembocadora, La Cruz de Rio Grande and Laguna de Perlas. These areas have been severely flooded as a result of the torrential rains caused by the tropical depressions 9, 10 and 11. The Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER) predicts more rain for the region during coming days due to tropical depressions 12 and 13 which are expected to affect Nicaragua this week.

According to the head of the Civil Defence Mario Perrezcassar the flooding has affected over 3,000 people and caused devastating losses of vital crops like rice and beans. Over 400 people who were forced to evacuate their homes by the flooding are currently being refuged in churches and schools. On top of this dozens of wells have been contaminated and latrines flooded representing a serious threat to public health. Local health authorities have increased their presence in the region in an attempt to avoid outbreaks of malaria, dengue, diarrea and other diseases caused by lack of sanitation. The Civil Defense is working with other public institutions and NGOs like the Red Cross to provide water, food, clothes, blankets and medical care to those affected.

Ortega warns opposition not to provoke the people
On June 29 the Sandinista Front for National Liberation (FSLN) together with thousands of sympathizers celebrated the 29th anniversary of the withdrawal of Sandinista rebels and thousands of civilians to Masaya after weeks of combat against Anastasio Somoza's National Guard in the barrios of Managua. "Today we render homage to all the heroes and martyrs," who took part in the withdrawal "El Repliegue," said President Daniel Ortega during his speech to the crowd. "And we say to them that we will never betray their ideals and principles! That we are Sandinistas, anti-imperialists, revolutionaries, socialists! And that we will continue defending our ideals and our principles in all the different fields of our struggle."

In response to recent calls from opposition parties and movements to rebel against his government Ortega warned against "provoking the people." "We are peace lovers," he said, "but we are also willing to take to arms if they try to topple the power of the people, citizen power, what they now call 'the dictatorship,' ... we want reconciliation but not at the cost ... of the poor, not while the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, not while land is stolen from campesinos and the right to healthcare and education is taken away."

Ortega went on to mention the liberation of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt held hostage for seven years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). "We have celebrated the liberation of Ingrid Betancourt and the fact that it took place without firing a single shot ... this demonstrates that it is possible to achieve peace through negotiation." Ortega called for all the hostages held by the FARC and by the Colombian authorities to be released and for his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe to sit down and negotiate with the FARC. Like the Venezuelan and Ecuadoran governments, said Ortega, "we are willing to collaborate in every way we can to achieve peace in Colombia." 

Government to double pensions for war victims
On July 5, President Daniel Ortega announced plans to double the monthly pensions received by war victims (mothers whose children were killed, widows/widowers, orphans, and those disabled during the war). The measure applies to war victims from both sides of those fighting the war. In 2006 mothers who lost a child during the war received a monthly pension of 442 cordobas (US$23), this was increased in 810 cordobas (US$45) in November 2007 and has now been increased to 1,488 cordobas (US$77). Widows or  widowers who received between 200 and 442 cordobas (US$11 - 23) in 2006 and 672 and 709 cordobas (US$35 - 37) in 2007 will now receive 1,240 cordobas (US$64). Orphans who received an average of 221 cordobas in 2006 (US$11.4) will now receive 620 cordobas (US$32). The fully disabled, those who are unable to work as a result of the injuries they sustained during the war, who received on average 884 cordobas (US$46) in 2006 will now recieve 1,488 cordobas (US$75). Those partially disabled who used to receive 508 cordobas (US$26) in 2006 will now receive 1,129 cordobas (US$59).   

MIFIC freezes price of generic medicines
On July 1 the Minister of Trade and Commerce Orlando Solorzano announced that the price of generic medicines sold in Nicaragua had been frozen until March 31 2009 as part of an agreement between his ministry and the Nicaraguan Association of Importers and Distributors of Pharmaceutical Products (ANDIPROFA). Solorzano said that this measure is part of the government's attempt to reduce the impact of rising prices affecting hospitals, health centers and patients across the country. He also announced that a 3.7% increase had been authorized on the price of imported medicines for the same time period.

Cardenal Obando y Bravo speaks out in support of government
Cardenal Miguel Obando y Bravo, the leader of the Catholic church in Nicaragua, spoke out in defense of the government this week in statements that contradict the sort of messages Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua, has given recently. Obando said he disagreed with the opposition forces' definition of President Daniel Ortega's government as a dictatorship; "that does not reflect the truth," he said. He went on to say that the Nicaraguan people "should be grateful to the President of Venezuela [Hugo Chavez] ... [without his cooperation] we would be subjected to power cuts all day long."

Recently Archbishop Brenes criticized President Ortega's harsh reaction to the recent European donor countries' statement of "concern" about the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) resolution to cancel the legal status of two small political parties. Brenes suggested that because Nicaragua is "a poor country we always need international help, it is important to maintain good relations with the countries that help us, ... in the end the ones who suffer are the population."

This summary is based on publicly available Nicaraguan news and information media and original research.