NICARAGUA: NOMINATION FOR THE SECRETARY'S AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001316 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR G/IWI AND WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KWMN KDEM PGOV PHUM NU SUBJECT: NICARAGUA: NOMINATION FOR THE SECRETARY'S AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE REF: A. STATE 99729 ¶B. MANAGUA 1308 ¶C. MANAGUA 1195 ¶D. MANAGUA 1102 ¶1. (U) Embassy Managua is pleased to nominate Sofia Montenegro for the Secretary's Award for International Women of Courage, per ref A. ¶2. (U) Full Name of Nominee: Sofia Isabel Montenegro Alarcon ¶3. (U) Job Title and Institution: Executive Director, Center for Media Research (Centro de Investigacion de la Communicacion, CINCO) and leading founder of the Women's Autonomous Movement (MAM). ¶4. (SBU) Date of Birth: February 15, 1954 ¶5. (U) Country of Birth: Nicaragua ¶6. (U) Citizenship: Nicaragua ¶7. (SBU) Contact Information: 505-887-6363, ma mujeresnic@yahoo.es ¶8. (U) Justification: "The more autonomy civil society has before political society, the stronger it will be." This sentiment has guided Sofia Montenegro through nearly four decades of battling for democracy, gender equality and human rights. From her origins as a militant of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) before it came to power in 1979, through her public break with the pro-Ortega faction of the FSLN in the early 1990s, to her current role as director of two of Nicaragua's key NGOs, Montenegro has consistently led Nicaragua's movement for human rights and equality. She remains politically active today -- a vocal critic of President Daniel Ortega and First Lady Rosario Murillo, regularly commenting on their authoritarian tendencies. ¶9. (U) Montenegro is currently Executive Director of the Center for Media Research (Centro de Investigacion de la Communicacion, CINCO) and a leader of the Women's Autonomous Movement (Movimiento Autonomo de Mujeres, MAM),of which she was a founder. CINCO is an NGO guided by three principles - freedom of association, freedom of expression, and a person's right to information. With these guiding principles, Montenegro and CINCO have focused primarily on the development of an ethical and independent media and on the role of youth and women in a democracy. As a founder of MAM, Montenegro has established a civic organization to address the contradiction that women comprise half of the population, but are in a position of political, economic, and social subordination. MAM and Montenegro seek to raise the profile of women in society, so that they can be viewed with equality, enjoy the same measure of personal freedom as men, and actively participate in the political, economic, and social environment. Montenegro has summarized MAM's work this way, "The Movement is about personal transformation as much as it is about fighting to transform public policies." ¶10. (SBU) Montenegro believes sexual violence leads to severe political and social repercussions, and is symbolic of the dominant male and subordinate female roles in Nicaraguan society. In this context, the goal of MAM and the women's movement in Nicaragua is to, as Montenegro said in a 1997 interview, "expressly declare their objectives to fight against subordination (of women) and for the transformation of values and conditions for women." Similarly, she views the case of President Daniel Ortega's alleged sexual abuse of his stepdaughter, Zoilamerica Narvaez, as illustrative of Ortega's "patriarchal and anti-democratic" style of governance. Based in part on Zoilamerica's case, Montenegro and MAM declared Ortega a "coward" with no moral authority to govern and called on women around the world to come together in the fight for justice and solidarity. Montenegro and MAM have led the charge in denouncing Ortega both domestically and internationally, leading Paraguay's incoming Minister of Women to declare Ortega "persona non grata" for the inauguration of President Lugo. In response to Montenegro's leadership, women's groups around the region have mounted protests against Ortega's visits to their countries, including Paraguay, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica (ref D). ¶11. (U) Because of Montenegro's outspoken criticism of the Ortega administration's undemocratic tendencies and the subsequent women's protests around the region which she has inspired, the Ortega government has sought to discredit and silence Montenegro (ref B). In an attempt to marginalize Montenegro, the Ortega administration has attacked the organizations she leads. It has accused MAM and CINCO of not being in administrative compliance with appropriate regulations and of possible "money laundering." The state prosecutor also summoned the leadership of both CINCO and MAM, including Montenegro, for questioning. The government has seized computers and documents from both organizations, and Nicaraguan courts have given the government access to the bank accounts of Montenegro and of the groups she leads. ¶12. (U) The government's effort to discredit Montenegro through administrative procedures has been conducted in tandem with an attack campaign by goverment-affiliated media. In the days following protests against Ortega in Honduras and Paraguay, government-aligned media outlets repeatedly dismissed and mocked the protesters as "minuscule groups" of "so-called feminists" financed by the USG. They attacked Ms. Montenegro for orchestrating "tiny protests" of women in these countries as part of a "well-articulated plan" to isolate Ortega from the international scene at a moment when Ortega was instrumental in expanding the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). In a particularly despicable episode, the government-affiliated media employed guilt by association tactics and used Montenegro's relationship with her deceased brother (a high-ranking member of the Somoza National Guard) as evidence of her "treason." ¶13. (U) Despite the government's unrelenting attacks, Montenegro has continued to champion women's issues, gender equality, and democracy in Nicaragua. She is an iconic figure with the ability to mobilize democracy supporters, influencing not only the country's political dialogue, but also people's actions. As the government was beginning its harassment of her civil society organizations, Ms. Montenegro was instrumental in mobilizing women for a march in support of democracy in Leon, an FSLN stronghold north of Managua. Unfortunately, Ortega's supporters prohibited the march from taking place, resorting to extreme physical violence in the process (ref C). Montenegro continues to speak out against Ortega and his increasingly undemocratic government and has urged Nicaraguans to vote in the upcoming municipal elections to "stop and contain the authoritarian tendencies" of the second Ortega administration. She continues to demonstrate her commitment and resolve to protect democracy and women's' rights in the face of government persecution. Her unwavering attitude is reflected in her October 19 interview with "La Prensa," Nicaragua's largest circulation daily. She said, "We have decided that they will not make us yield; let them take us to jail in this state of defenselessness, powerlessness, where crushing power is wielded in the most grotesque, authoritarian and abusive manner." ¶14. (U) Embassy Managua's POC for women's issues is PolOff Michael Garcia, tel. 505-252-7405, and e-mail is garciam4@state.gov. CALLAHAN