Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MANAGUA1523
2006-07-11 15:10:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Managua
Cable title:  

A/S SHANNON -- LEWITES: LAST MEETING WITH U.S.

Tags:  EAID ECON EFIN KDEM NU PGOV PINR PREL 
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VZCZCXYZ0022
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #1523/01 1921510
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 111510Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6947
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0735
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 001523 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA A/S SHANNON, WHA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2016
TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN KDEM NU PGOV PINR PREL
SUBJECT: A/S SHANNON -- LEWITES: LAST MEETING WITH U.S.
OFFICIALS

REF: MANAGUA 01482

Classified By: Ambassador Paul A. Trivelli. Reasons 1.4 (B,D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 001523

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA A/S SHANNON, WHA/CEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2016
TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN KDEM NU PGOV PINR PREL
SUBJECT: A/S SHANNON -- LEWITES: LAST MEETING WITH U.S.
OFFICIALS

REF: MANAGUA 01482

Classified By: Ambassador Paul A. Trivelli. Reasons 1.4 (B,D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On June 27, Assistant Secretary Shannon met
with Herty Lewites, Sandinista dissident and presidential
candidate for the Sandinista Renewal Movement (MRS). Lewites
voiced concern about the election process, the lack of MRS
poll watchers and continuing problems with national/voter ID
cards, especially among the youth. Lewites said the National
Assembly elections were more important than the presidential
race and would be easier to manipulate. The MRS was focusing
attention on the deputy races, but Lewites admitted that a
lack of funding was hampering the campaign. Lewites
reiterated his support for CAFTA as well as his desire to
maintain cordial, constructive, and cooperative relations
with the United States. END SUMMARY.

APPEALING TO YOUNGER VOTERS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -


2. (SBU) MRS deputy candidate Manuel Ignacio Lacayo said a
large percentage of the Nicaraguan population is under 18
years of age and has no memory of the Sandinista era. He
claimed that the FSLN is actively pursuing the youth vote
with success. Lewites' advisor/deputy candidate Victor Hugo
Tinoco said the MRS also maintains a large group of
sympathizers among Nicaraguan youth and that most have no
party affiliation. He believed Lewites' charisma would
attract their support, but said the MRS needed to make its
message clear -- voting for the MRS was not just an
anti-Ortega vote, but a pro-Nicaragua, pro-democracy vote.
Lewites said his party was trying to gear their message to
youth and show that the MRS was a viable alternative to the
Frente. Their core message is that the MRS is a viable
alternative within Sandinismo to the Frente.


3. (SBU) Lewites and his advisors also reviewed their
concerns about the CSE -- they believe that most young people

of voting age did not have cedulas. According to Lewites'
advisor/deputy candidate Luis Carrion, 80 percent of
Nicaraguans without national identity cards are under 25. He
said the Consejo Supremo Electoral (CSE) was "just not
interested in getting them cedulas."

FOCUS ON THE DEPUTIES
- - - - - - - - - - -


4. (C) Lewites said the "real fight" in the upcoming
election would be for control of the National Assembly. A
former Peace Corps volunteer was helping MRS with the
campaign and had conducted initial polls that indicated that
Lewites could expect to garner 27 to 29 percent of the vote.
Given those results, Lewites said the party would focus on
the deputy races and on keeping Daniel Ortega from gaining in
the polls.


5. (C) Lewites told A/S Shannon that one of the challenges
in the Assembly race was that Nicaraguans traditionally voted
along party lines. Still, there were indications that this
trend could shift in this election. He said reaffirmed that
if either he or Montealegre won, they would work together to
gain a majority of deputies in the National Assembly.


6. (C) Lewites said corruption was another challenge. He
expressed concern that the vote count for the deputy races
would take much longer than the Presidential tally and that
it would be easier to manipulate the results. He speculated
that a number of challenges ("impugnaciones") could change
the results in the departments. His advisors echoed his
concerns and spoke about the need to instill an awareness in
the deputies elected that they must serve Nicaragua and their
community.

BUT NOT WITHOUT FUNDS
- - - - - - - - - - -


7. (C) Lewites' advisors and deputy candidates voiced
concern over their lack of campaign funding and the limits it
imposed on their ability to reach potential voters. Lacayo
said Nicaraguan financiers were hedging their bets between
the PLC and FSLN, leaving the MRS at a disadvantage.

RELATIONS WITH THE U.S.
- - - - - - - - - - - -



8. (C) A/S Shannon said the U.S. did not have an election
favorite, and would support democratic candidates who desire
responsible government and constructive relations with the
United States. He told Lewites that the U.S. had to act with
caution and to clearly underline its support for the
Nicaraguan people.


9. (C) Lewites asked Shannon what the U.S. planned in
Nicaragua for the run-up to the election. Shannon replied
that the U.S. wanted to encourage people to vote, and
stressed that the process and the commitment to democracy
were key, rather than a party's political ideology.


10. (C) Lewites concluded by saying that any political
visitor to Nicaragua from the United States would make news,
but cautioned that such visits did not always resonate with
the people. He urged the U.S. to maintain contact with the
MRS on strategy, reiterated his interest in maintaining good
relations with the U.S., and stressed his commitment to
continue his "all out war" against Daniel Ortega.

NOTE
- - -


11. (SBU) Lewites died suddenly of a heart attack on July 2
(Reftel). Two days following his unexpected death the MRS
proposed on July 4 that vice presidential candidate Edmundo
Jarquin ascend to the presidential slot and invited popular
revolutionary singer/songwriter Carlos Mejia Godoy to accept
the vice presidential candidacy.


12. (U) Participants:

Nicaragua:
Herty Lewites
Victor Hugo Tinoco
Luis Carrion
Manuel Ignacio Lacayo
William Tesel
Israel Lewites

U.S.:
Assistant Secretary Tom Shannon
Senior Advisor for Public Diplomacy Maria Tamburri
Ambassador Paul Trivelli
DCM Peter Brennan
Polcouns Victoria Alvarado
Poloff Nicole Chulick (notetaker)

This cable was cleared by A/S Shannon.
TRIVELLI