REPORTER INJURED IN POLITICAL SCUFFLE:

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 000989 SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CEN JUSTICE DEPT FOR INR/IAA EMERSON DEPT FOR USOAS DEPT FOR PLEASE PASS TO AID/LAC NSC FOR ALVARADO USS KEARSARGE FOR COMMODORE PONDS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2018 TAGS: PHUM KDEM PGOV ASEC NU SUBJECT: REPORTER INJURED IN POLITICAL SCUFFLE: ORCHESTRATED VIOLENCE? REF: A. MANAGUA 982 ¶B. MANAGUA 823 Classified By: Ambassador Paul A. Trivelli for reasons 1.4 (b and d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Partisan violence erupted on the afternoon of July 30, 2008 resulting in gunshots and a wound to the leg of pro-Sandinista Channel 4 News reporter, Antenor Pena Solano. Edgardo Cuarzema, the local-level Political Secretary for the Sandinista national Liberation Front (FSLN) and leader of the FSLN group at the incident, immediately blamed the three other news agencies present, although other observers claim that Cuaresma's group of Sandinista followers initiated the clash. This incident closely parallels recent beatings of Liberal supporters and candidates that took place over the weekend (REF A) and suggests diminishing FSLN tolerance for opposition electioneering. END SUMMARY DEMONSTRATION "A LA SANDINISTA" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (SBU) At 3pm on July 30, 2008 Sandinista enthusiasts -- some identified as members of the Sandinista Youth group -- armed with rocks, sticks and alcoholic beverages, guarded several of the hundreds of the billboards lining Managua's streets that display Ortega's image. They awaited a youth group, "Puente" that was scheduled to protest the excessive use of State funds for such publicity by chaining themselves to a billboard in the Rotunda "Ruben Dario" that same afternoon. Before the altercation, the leader of the group, Victor Cienfuegos (a long-time FSLN street agitator),told the press "today we are here because they said that (Puente members) are going to chain themselves to the billboards. We don't think that is appropriate . . . we will not permit it." According to the press, when Puente members saw the group of Sandinistas, they moved their protest to another location to avoid violence. Later, vehicles arrived carrying Puente supporters from the Managua suburb of Cuidad Sandino, led by missionary priest Alberto Boschi. The FSLN group "welcomed" them by hurling rocks, apparently damaging two police patrol cars in the process. When officers attempted to apprehend an individual, they were rushed by the rest of FSLN crowd and shots were fired. Press reports claim that a reporter from 
Channel 4 news -- owned by President Ortega's son -- was injured by a gunshot. However, doctors at the military hospital that treated him reported no gunpowder residue, burns or broken bones, the usual evidence of such a wound. ¶3. (C) Commissioner Palacios of the Nicaraguan National Police (NNP),dismissed any police involvement in the shooting, telling us that police covering riots use AK-47s and shotguns, not the pistol that was apparently discharged. A different contact at NNP noted an emergency call was placed to cover the protest and so police arrived without their usual riot gear. (Note: there is a picture in the paper and television footage of a police officer pointing a pistol in the air. End note). Another officer told us that the wound might actually have resulted from a stabbing. THE BLAME GAME - - - - - - - - ¶4. (C) Arriving on the scene just after the incident, Edgardo Cuarzema, local-level Political Secretary for the FSLN, accused the three other news agencies present of provoking the violence. Later, Channel 4 blamed nearly all FSLN opposition -- political opposition groups Vamos Con Eduardo (VCE) and the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS); daily newspapers La Prensa and El Nuevo Diario; the left-of-center civil society group Coordinadora Civil; Manuel Guillen, La Prensa's satirical cartoonist; and Jaime Arrellano, a local, liberal, talk show host --telling viewers that "it (the aggression) was a cowardly action taken by the Right." However, VCE representatives have told us that none of their supporters were present; they were planning on participating later that evening and insinuated that the violence, gunshots and possibly the injury were staged. Hugo Torres, spokesperson for the MRS, informed us that when Boschi's van arrived, they mistook the Sandinista group for MRS as some were wearing orange shirts (MRS colors) and waving Nicaraguan flags. They contend the FSLN group stoned their van and when the priest complained to the police, mayhem ensued. Other news sources also blame the Sandinista group -- purported members of the Citizen Power Councils (CPC's) -- for instigating the violence. COMMENT - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (C) Yesterday's scuffle typifies the rising tensions between political parties and Ortega's diminishing tolerance for opposition. The FSLN appears willing to use supporters to intimidate peaceful opposition demonstrations; and the Sandinista press, to stoke political animosity and blame the government's primary media adversaries. As elections near, Ortega's government is apparently replacing more subtle efforts to suppress the media (REF B) with verbal and legal attacks, coupled with outright physical attacks on protesters. TRIVELLI