Distrust Undermines National Dialogue

The United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) coordinator in Nicaragua, Jorge Chediek, stated that distrust is undermining continuation of the national dialogue. The tripartite negotiation has been suspended because of the Bolaños government complaint that the Constitutional Liberals (PLC) and Sandinistas (FSLN) are failing to comply with the agreements while they accuse President Enrique Bolaños of the same. The center of the storm lies in the election of directors for the Institute of Urban and Rural Reformed Property (INPRUR) and of the Office of Superintendent of Public Service (SISEP), besides the constitutional reforms that the executive branch does not recognize. Each of these new laws transfers power previously held by the executive branch to the legislature.

Chediek urged that the three power centers make sacrifices in their positions in order to hold meetings that would allow the continuity of the national dialogue. He said, "It is important that all the parties involved look for points of agreement and what unites them, more than what separates them; and it is also advisable that each party involved make sacrifices to accommodate and to create conditions [conducive to dialogue], but the important thing is that trust be established as an essential element in this process." None of this is likely to happen, since none of the three power centers have anything to gain by compromise; and Bolaños, who is weakest of the three, can only compromise away his already nearly non-existent authority.

The new Archbishop of Managua, Monsignor Leopoldo Brenes, suggested that the main topics of the national dialogue turn toward social problems such as the energy crisis, teacher salaries, and the transportation sector. Brenes maintained that the national dialogue must have more players when specific subjects are being discussed.