ORTEGA'S JUDICIAL COUP - FSLN LIKE THEIR EGGS, BEATEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAGUA 001049 SIPDIS DEPT PASS WHA/CEN KRAAIMOORE DEPT PASS DRL MAGGIO DEPT PASS INL/IAA ARCHULETA PASS TO MILLENIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/10/26 TAGS: PHUM PGOV NU SUBJECT: ORTEGA'S JUDICIAL COUP - FSLN LIKE THEIR EGGS, BEATEN REF: MANAGUA 1041; MANAGUA 794 CLASSIFIED BY: Robert J. Callahan, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) -------------- -------------- AUTHOR OF ORTEGA'S JUDICIAL COUP GETS EGGED -------------- -------------- ¶1. (SBU) In the early morning of October 22, Supreme Court Justice (CSJ) Magistrate Francisco Rosales was pelted with several dozen eggs by a number of unidentified youth as he was exiting his vehicle and entering the building of 100% Noticias, a Managua television station for an interview. It is widely believed that Rosales was attacked because of his role as President of the Constitutional Chamber of the CSJ that issued a decision on Monday evening, October 19, permitting Daniel Ortega's re-election (see ref A). A very flustered and visibly incensed Rosales claimed that the egg-throwers were the children of leftist politicians. On the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) radio station YA, Rosales subsequently blamed the United States Embassy for the attack. Rosales stated on October 23, that "the anti-social (perpetrators) involved in the attack were paid directly by the Embassy of the United States to do these acts of violence." -------------- RETALIATION? -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On October 22, a group of Daniel Ortega supporters assaulted Leonor Martinez, an activist in the Civil Coordinator (CC),a left-of-center NGO. Martinez was walking in the street after a CC press conference, when a black van with the FSLN flag flying on it pulled up to her. Of the four men in the van, three came out and put a gun to her head and a dagger to her side. Then, the three men twisted her arm behind her back-breaking it-and threw her to the ground. They proceeded to threaten her and her family while insinuating that she should stop her work with the CC, presumably because of its anti-Ortega stance. -------------- -------------- CONNECTION TO EARLIER CIVIL SOCIETY REPRESSION -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The fourth man, who stayed in the van, identified himself as Armando Arroliga (better known as "El Gato"). Arroliga works in the Managua Mayor's Office and was a prominent leader of the FSLN-led assault against a peaceful protest that took place at the Managua Cathedral on August 8 (see ref B). Martinez, supported by human rights defender Vilma Nunez, described her attack to the press outside the hospital where she later received emergency surgery to set the bone in her broken arm. Nunez claimed that Rosales stated he "would send the Sandinista Youth" out to avenge his egging. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) This most recent example of FSLN-sympathizers seeking to silence and intimidate members of civil society is representative of a larger trend toward the suppression of the public airing of opposition viewpoints. Given that the recent Nicaraguan Supreme Court (CSJ) ruling has further polarized and aggravated the already-tense political climate (see reftel B),attacks against opposition voices will very likely increase in number and severity. While there is no evidence that the violent attack against Leonor Martinez is tied directly to the egging of Rosales, it has become clear that the FSLN officials and their minions are reacting very aggressively to all forms of criticism of their party decisions. CALLAHAN