SANDINISTA LABOR UNION PROTESTS AGAINST DANIEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAGUA 000891 SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CEN KRAAIMOORE DEPT FOR DRL MAGGIO, MITTLEHAUSER DEPT FOR INL/IAA ARCHULETA STATE PASS USAID STATE FOR USOAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2019 TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM NU SUBJECT: SANDINISTA LABOR UNION PROTESTS AGAINST DANIEL ORTEGA REF: A. MANAGUA 835 ¶B. MANAGUA 828 Classified By: Ambassador Robert J. Callahan for reasons 1.4 (b & d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On August 21, approximately three hundred union members from the Central Sandinista de Trabajadores (CST),the smaller of Nicaragua's two principal Sandinista party-affiliated labor confederations, protested in front of President Daniel Ortega's residence/headquarters. They called on President Ortega to fulfill his campaign promises to improve workers' rights and to also "call off" a campaign by the Ministry of Labor (MITRAB) against their union. The protest follows a heated public war of words between CST President Roberto Gonzalez and Gustavo Porras, the General Secretary of the larger Sandinista labor union Frente Nacional de Trabajadores (FNT) (see reftel A),and may show signs of growing divisions within the Sandinista ranks. END SUMMARY -------------- -------------- CST LABOR PROTEST FROM MITRAB TO PRESIDENT'S HOME -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) On August 21, three hundred Central Sandinista de Trabajadores (CST) union members began a protest in front of the Ministry of Labor (MITRAB) to complain about MITRAB "persecution" of employers who have large CST unions. CST workers allege that MITRAB inspectors were harassing their employers with excessive inspections and fines, while leaving alone employers with FNT workers because of the ongoing fight between CST leader Roberto Gonzalez and FNT leader Gustavo Porras. (NOTE: Porras is a Deputy for the FSLN party in the National Assembly, where he presides over the Health Commission. He is also a key confidant of First Lady Rosario Murillo and holds a senior position in the national leadership of Murillo's Citizens Power Councils (CPCs). END NOTE) When CST workers learned that the Minister of Labor, Janneth Chavez, would not meet with them nor listen to their demands, they marched to the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) party headquarters, which is also the residence of President Daniel Ortega, and from the location which he governs the country as President. ¶3. (C) Protesting CST union members remained outside the President's residence and FSLN party headquarters for at least two hours, chanting Sandinista slogans and dedicating a song to First Lady Rosario Murillo about "how sad the rains sounds under cardboard-roofed homes" of Nicaragua's workers. Three of the protesters were able to deliver a letter of complaint to Ortega's office, but none of the President's staff received them. The leader of the protest, Pedro Ortega (no relation to the President),complained that President Ortega had not fulfilled his campaign promises for fair salaries, jobs and housing, despite already having been in office for more than half of his five-year term. Protest leader Ortega expressed frustration that MITRAB was fighting against CST workers. He also threatened that if President Ortega did not keep his promises "CST will take over the streets with at least five thousand workers." -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) The CST protests in front of both MITRAB and President Ortega's home are new developments in the growing conflict between the two largest Sandinista unions - FNT and CST. The CST protest reveals a deepening sense of dissatisfaction among the ranks of the Sandinistas with the Ortega administration's failure to produce on its campaign promises to improve conditions for workers. Moreover, the protests demonstrate the failure of behind the scenes negotiations to bring a resolution the politically embarrassing turf battle between the CST and FNT. CALLAHAN