NICARAGUA: GON ASSERTS BETTER COOPERATION ON ADVANCING U.S. CITIZEN CLAIMS

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001298 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CEN, EEB/IFD/OIA, AND L/CID STATE ALSO FOR WHA/EPSC STATE PASS TO USTR TREASURY FOR INL AND OWH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EINV ECON KIDE CASC NU SUBJECT: NICARAGUA: GON ASSERTS BETTER COOPERATION ON ADVANCING U.S. CITIZEN CLAIMS REF: MANAGUA 1256; MANAGUA 1166 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) During the December 3 Property Working Group meeting, Government of Nicaragua (GON) officials highlighted that the GON had resolved 42 U.S. citizen claims so far during the current waiver year, and asserted that the government has demonstrated its "good faith effort" in settling cases. They also stated that the GON is committed to resolving claims under government control. Econoff pressed officials to advance partially-resolved claims and non-waiver claims. Econoff also explained that U.S. citizen cases in court that are registered with the Embassy cannot be removed from our Section 527 list until claimants receive adequate and effective compensation. The resolution of 42 claims during the first half of the waiver year is positive news. We believe, however, that Attorney General Estrada will use this progress on case resolution to press us to remove claims from our Section 527 list that he alleges lack sufficient documentation or were never registered with the GON. GON RESOLVES 42 CLAIMS BY NOVEMBER -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On December 3, Econoff held the monthly Property Working Group meeting with Ruth Zapata, Head of the Office of Assessment and Quantification (OCI); Jeanette Garcia, President of the National Confiscations Review Commission (CNRC); Magally Bravo, the Attorney General????s Executive Coordinator for Property Issues; Alfonso Solorzano, CNRC member; and Rebeca Zuniga, Coordinator of the Office of U.S. Citizen Claims. Zapata highlighted that the GON has resolved 42 claims so far during the current waiver year, including the case of U.S. citizen Juan Barreto, whose 28 properties were expropriated by the Nicaraguan Army (Ref A). Zuniga asserted that the resolution of this case demonstrated the GON's good faith effort to settle U.S. claims. SETTLING CLAIMS UNDER GOV'T CONTROL -------------- ¶3. (SBU) CNRC President Garcia mentioned that the GON is working diligently to resolve claims under government control. She noted that the GON had settled one claim for U.S. citizen Indiana Gutierrez on November 26, whose property had been confiscated by the National Corporations of the Public Sector (CORNAP). She stated that the GON plans to resolve at least 33 claims under government control during this waiver period (Ref B),which include the Barreto case. PARTIALLY-RESOLVED CLAIMS AND NON-WAIVER CASES -------------- - ¶4. (SBU) Econoff and his staff presented a list of partially-resolved claims and non-waiver claims to GON officials and pressed them to advance these cases. He reminded them that the Embassy advocates on behalf of all U.S. citizen property claims regardless whether they fall under Section 527. He emphasized that all U.S. property claims should be afforded equal due process to defend their property rights. U.S. PROPERTY CASES IN COURT ARE STILL 527 CLAIMS -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Officials pressed Econoff to remove claims from the Section 527 list that are currently in court because claimants seek the return of their property. They argued that those claims are no longer the GON's responsibility to resolve. Econoff explained that U.S. citizen cases in court that are registered with the Embassy cannot be removed from our Section 527 list until claimants receive adequate and effective compensation. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The resolution of 42 claims during the first half of the waiver year is positive news. The cooperation between the Embassy and working and mid-level officials on case resolution has improved this year when compared to the last two waiver periods. We believe, however, that Attorney General Hernan Estrada will attempt to leverage this progress to press us to remove claims from our Section 527 list that he alleges lack sufficient documentation or were never registered with the GON. We anticipate that Estrada will argue that the United States has not demonstrated the same good faith effort to reduce the overall number of Section 527 claims. During his trip to Washington in January 2010 and the upcoming bilateral review in Managua in February 2010, he will pressure us to remove those claims or threaten to "resolve" cases without cooperating with us or U.S. claimants. CALLAHAN