NICARAGUAN ELECTIONS REGIONAL REPORTING: MASAYA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAGUA 000633 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2016 TAGS: KDEM NU PGOV SOCI SUBJECT: NICARAGUAN ELECTIONS REGIONAL REPORTING: MASAYA Classified By: Ambassador Paul A. Trivelli. Reasons 1.4 (B,D). ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Meetings with political and business leaders in the department of Masaya suggest that the presidential race remains wide open. While most Liberals leader agree that Eduardo Montealegre is the likely Liberal candidate, support for him among the small business owners, who form the backbone of the Masayan economy, is tepid at best. Local leaders from the various Liberal parties urged the Embassy to do something to unite their various factions. Liberal leaders also predicted that if they were unable to get behind a single Liberal candidate, the door remains open for a Sandinista victory in the department. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Over several weeks in February conoff and consular FSN traveled to the department of Masaya, which borders Managua. Given Masaya's size, geographically the smallest department in Nicaragua, and location, bordering Managua, our interlocutors were well informed about events in the Capital and several presidential candidates had already visited the Department. Among those we spoke with were representatives from the Catholic Church, the Convergencia Mayor of Managua, representatives of Vamos con Eduardo, the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC),the Masaya Chamber of Commerce, Alliance for the Republic (APRE),Movimiento Herty 2006 and "Businessmen for Eduardo." Our interlocutors largely agreed that the campaigns had not yet begun in earnest and that things would likely begin moving after the jockeying on the Liberal side was completed and a single standard-bearer had emerged. LOCAL PRIESTS OPENLY ANTI-SANDINISTA -------------- ¶3. (C) Conoff met with Monsignor Cesar Castillo, Pastor of Masaya's cathedral and a pair of parish priests. Priests were troubled by support among their parishioners for the FSLN, and linked that support to the poverty, lack of opportunities and inability of the central government to improve their lives. Priests lamented that the Sandinista provision of the occasional bag of food or cement continued to gain them influence and likely votes among the poor. In no uncertain terms however, Castillo noted that "the Catholic Church does not want the Sandinistas to win," and that priests would be "raising awareness" in their sermons and in meetings at their churches. Castillo demurred when asked if this was the policy throughout the country, only stating the Church recognizes that a Sandinista return would be disastrous for the country and the Church. ¶4. (C) Masaya Mayor Orlando Noguera of the FSLN/Convergencia Party refused to give conoff a prediction on what would happen, but did say he believed a second round was a very real possibility given the division amongst the Liberals. (COMMENT: Noguera was elected on the FSLN/Convergencia ticket, but he is well known as a Sandinista among the groups we spoke with. He, however, declined to be labeled as such. He is widely seen by other interlocutors as a competent technocrat rather then an ideologue, the FSLN flag and AK-47 displayed in the first floor museum at the town hall notwithstanding. END COMMENT). Noguera noted that Lewites could have a strong showing in the Department given the predominance of small businesses and farms in Masaya and that Montealegre would have to fight the perception that he is the candidate of the wealthy. He jokingly asked when the Embassy would be announcing "our candidate." Noguera declined to make a prediction on the outcome, but said that the elections would depend on whether or not the Liberals could unite. SMALL BUSINESSMAN SPLIT ON MONTEALEGRE -------------- ¶5. (U) Bernardo Silva, the Masaya coordinator for Vamos con Eduardo, described the well-developed campaign apparatus in Masaya and the overwhelming preference of Liberal voters for Montealegre in Masaya. When asked about support for other Liberal candidates, Silva was dismissive and stated that he believed that the Liberals would unite behind Montealegre. Silva noted that Montealegre had visited the Masaya area several times and that his campaign was raising good money from the local business elite. Silva described Lewites as a threat to take votes from the Sandinistas but that he would not have much support from liberals. ¶6. (U) Francisco Valdivia, leader of a group of businessmen who have thrown their support behind Montealegre, stated his enthusiastic support for the candidate. Valdivia, a wealthy cattle rancher, said he was coordinating efforts for Montealegre because he thought he was the best candidate for the job, and he does not want to see the Sandinistas return to power. He said he has dozens of people contributing to MANAGUA 00000633 002 OF 003 Montealegre's campaign and he has no doubt that Montealegre will win. He assured conoff that the support for Montealegre is deep in Masaya and that none of the other Liberal candidates has any chance of winning the election. He repeatedly told conoff he hopes the Embassy will get behind Montealegre and pressure the other Liberal candidates out. ¶7. (C) In contrast to Valdivia, Masaya Chamber of Commerce President Donald Porras said that support for Montealegre among his members is tepid at best. While Porras himself is a Montealegre supporter, he described his members (mostly small businessman) as not caring very much for Montealegre. Porras stated clearly that his members believed that Montealegre is the candidate of the bankers and the wealthy and would do nothing to help the "little guy". Porras expressed frustration that he was unable to get his members fully behind Montealegre. He also said that a recent fundraiser for Jose Alvarado was attended by a number of his members, but he did not believe Alvarado had deep support as anything other than an alternative to Montealegre. (COMMENT: The perception of Montealegre as the candidate of the wealthy was also voiced by the Lewites and APRE camps. This is an important issue in Masaya as the department lacks large employers/farms. The strength of the Masayan economy is based on small scale artisans and businessmen who generally lament their lack of access to credit and blame the banks, and by association, Montealegre. END COMMENT.) LIBERALS WANT UNITY, BUT HOW? -------------- ¶8. (U) Conoff also met with Masaya APRE leader Mariano Vega. Their campaign headquarters is a rundown shack that was furnished with 3 chairs and a table and nothing else. Vega said that Alvarado was not getting much traction in Masaya, and that was mainly due to lack of funds. Vega was unable to provide much in the way of an Alvarado platform other than to say that the only way the Liberals could win was through a joining of forces of Montealegre and Alvarado. He was more interested in discussing his run for the National Assembly on the APRE ticket. Vega made a plea for US-sponsored election training and for the USG to help resolve the Liberal divisions. ¶9. (U) The meeting with PLC department head Noel Saenz was not productive as it turned into a rally attended by a dozen Aleman supporters. Saenz assured Conoff that the PLC was looking forward to the elections and that a Liberal candidate will win. Saenz was coy on which candidate and said that he would be fine with a primary, but only under the PLC banner. All attendees reiterated their belief that Aleman was innocent and begged the Embassy to "take the shackles off" their leader. ¶10. (U) A meeting with Fernando Brenes, who coordinates the Herty campaign in Masaya, revealed an effort at grass roots development and an interesting take on the importance of the National Assembly elections. Brenes told conoff that he would be thrilled if together Lewites and Montealegre could gain sufficient seats in the Assembly to do away with the old order. Brenes stated that he believed that irrespective of the winner, the two can work together in the National Assembly to reform Nicaragua's political system. (COMMENT: This Scenario is frequently mentioned by Herty supporters and Lewites himself. END COMMENT). Brenes also sketched out his current efforts with grass roots campaigning, noting that Lewites' supporters had in fact been visiting towns throughout the department and their efforts are gaining strength. Brenes stated confidently that Lewites would garner 30-40 percent of the vote in Masaya, including a large share of the non locked-in Sandinista vote and a fair number of votes from those fed up with the Liberals. ALL AGREE CSE IS ACTIVELY IMPEDING VOTER REGISTRATIONS -------------- -------------- 11.(C) While the FSLN-controlled Departmental offices of the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) canceled several scheduled meetings, all parties/groups (aside from the Mayor) matter-of-factly stated that the Sandinista-controlled CSE was registering its supporters and making it difficult for others to register. One CSE scheme, as alleged by the Lewites camp, was that the CSE was withholding cedulas (the Nicaraguan voter document) from those wishing to work in one of the garment assembly plants unless they were Sandinista supporters, essentially denying them the ability to work. Others made similar allegations. There is clearly no confidence among the non-Sandinistas that the CSE will play by the rules. COMMENT: LIBERAL DIVISION LEAVES DOOR OPEN FOR SANDINISTAS -------------- -------------- MANAGUA 00000633 003 OF 003 ¶12. (C) As the meetings in Masaya make clear, Liberal division leaves the door wide open for a Sandinista victory in the department. Most Liberals in Masaya believe that only the USG can broker a solution that would unify the Liberal camp. The wild card will be how well Lewites does in Masaya, which is considered to be one of his strongholds. Given the demographics in the department, if he can not do well in Masaya he will not be a factor in the race. TRIVELLI