ON MARCH 23, a delegation from the Contras and the National
Union of the Opposition (UNO), under the auspices of the
Archbishop of Managua, Obando y Bravo, signed an agreement anticipating the disarmament and demobilization of the counter-revolutionary army, to take place before April
20 at the latest (UNO leader Violeta Chamorro is to assume presidential powers on April 25). The demobilization of the
Contras is characteristic of the situation in Nicaragua today - the negotiations for the transition of government between the
Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and the bourgeoisie take place in a turbulent social context.
CECILIA GARMENDIA
HE MAJORITY OF the Contra
T troops have entered Nicaraguan territory — nearly 10,000 armed men are scattered across regions five (Boaco-Chontales), six (Esteli-Nueva
Segovia) and seven (Matagalpa). The agreements which the Central American presidents had previously signed had anticipated that the mercenaries would surrender their arms in Honduras — now the latter are demanding that this be done in Nicaragua, and that the arms be surrendered to the United Nations mission for
Central America (UNCA) rather than to the Sandinista People's Army (EPS).
Attacks continue despite ceasefire
The counter-revolutionary army has moreover not reacted in a homogeneous manner to the signing of the accord of
Toncontin - the notorious commandant
"Franklin" has not yet clearly expressed either when, or where his men will disarm.
The Contras mount daily attacks on the self-defence cooperatives, the leaders of the popular movement and even the units of the EPS, despite the unilateral ceasefire declared by the FSLN. Some Contra leaders make contact with the Sandinista army when they enter Nicaragua, others go to the mountains without any control.
At the end of March, the Contras attacked a cooperative close to the village of La
Trinidad (Esteli), as well as a battalion of the EPS at Yali, killing 12 soldiers. The list of such deaths and destruction is long.
This climate of war and terror exerts pressure on the discussions relentless underway on the future of the EPS. The protocol on the transfer of government, signed between the FSLN and UNO, recognized the "respect for the institutionality and the professionalism of the armed forces and the forces of public order" as well as their chains of command (Barricada, March 28-30, 1990), but it recognon-deliberative character of the Sandinista People's Army". However, Violet Chamorro has already announced that she intends to reduce the numbers of the army - it would be difficult for the FSLN to oppose this measure if the Contras are effectively disarmed. But doubt still remains as to the intentions of the mercenaries and what kind of role the FLN, its cadres and, in the first place, the current minister of defence, commandant Humberto Ortega, a member of the Front's leadership, will retain.
Regional leaders support dismantling of Contras
The aggressive attitude of the Contras weighs on this discussion and the FLN cannot afford a confrontation on this terrain, which imperialism could use to prolaration supporting the dismantling of the Contras before April 20. The FSLN unceasingly repeats that the handover of government will go ahead at the date scheduled, but after the attack at Yali, vice-president Sergio Ramirez declared that if the Contras persisted in their attacks and did not stick to their commitments, nobody could guarantee the conditions of the transfer of government. Both sides, then, are using an element of pressure.
The multiplication of strike movements today is another new factor in the situation. Some of these strikes take the form of occupations, as in a big agricultural property in Leon, where the workers are demand wage increases, they have visited the workers at the La Corona oilworks, also on strike, to bring their financial support, the workers at Coca-Cola have provided drinks for the strikers. Solidarity and links between the sectors in struggle continue to multiply. The toughest strikes have taken place in the private sector. They constitute a test for the Sandinista leadership and for the workers movement in its confrontation with the bourgeoisie.
But the discontent of the workers is above all the fruit of the economic crisis sweeping the country - the majority of strikes are for wage increases. The lid provided by the presence of the FSLN in government blown off with the perspective of a return of the bourgeoisie to power. In the Corona oilworks (which belongs to the United Brandt multinational) the strike began when the management tried to dismiss a trade union militant who had been a candidate in the legislative elections for the MAP (an organization of Maoist origin). After some hesitation, due to its traditional sectarianism towards this political organization, the CST threw itself into support for this movement.
Wave of strikes In public sector
Struggles have also broken out in the nationalized sector and the civil service. Primary school teachers have been threatening for a long time to go on strike, demanding a 495% wage increase which they have just received. There is discontent also among secondary school teachers, town hall employees in Managua, librarians, and so on. Some leaders of the FLN have tried, with little success, calm the situation. This attitude amongst some revolutionary leaders, notably Daniel Ortega, illustrates the debates currently going on within the FSLN. But the trade union organizations (CST and ATC -Association of Workers of the Countryside) are actively organizing strikes, restructuring themselves and preparing the continuation of the struggles.
The CST is reorganizing itself to become a trade union confederation and create sections in the different enterprises. The ATC has created five federations, by branch of production, to be more efficient. Their plan of campaign envisages the creation of a solidarity fund to support strikes, the defense of jobs, wages and social gains, as well as the nationalized sector (APP). The two organizations are preparing to fight for the defense of the right to strike and of the active occupations (Barricada, March 26, 1990). 21
But these provements are still fragmentMay 7, 1990 • #184 International Viewpoint
----- pull-quotes on this page -----
NICARAGUA demanding that the boss pay social allow- ances. The Sandinista Federation of Workers (CST) organizes and supports these move- ments. The sugar cane workers have gone on strike and marched to Managua to
NICARAGUA / BRAZIL ed. Despite the importance of the sectors affected by the strikes, the majority of the population remains in favour of a waitand-see policy. The big mobilizations that took place after the elections of February 25 have subsided. But all the evidence is that the masses expect a rapid amelioration of their living conditions after April 25. For the crisis continues — prices go up everyday, the dollar is worth twice as much on the black market as in the banks. Moreover neither the Contras nor the UNO can give any answer on the fate of the 862 Nicaraguans kidnapped by the former. Violeta Chamorro's advisors have promised a visible improvement — or in any case a stabilization — in the first 100 days of the government; if they do not deliver the social situation could become explosive. Dismantling the revolutionary state quietly The line that seems to be prevailing within the coalition of 14 parties (going from the reactionary right to the two Stalinist parties) that makes up UNO is that of the president and her right hand man,
Alfredo Cesar, leader of the PSD, the
Social Democratic Party. He is a former officer of the revolution, who was director of the Central Bank, before joining the
Contras in 1982. The UNP parties are adopting a conciliatory attitude, avoiding any frontal attack on the FSLN. The economic plan which has majority support today, the Mayorga plan, envisages a quiet dismantling of the revolutionary
In its first six months in government, the
UNO will implement an economic stabilization and a reduction of inflation, and introduce a new currency (the "cordobaoro", in parity with the dollar). Only after having obtained this stability, and having built the social base it currently lacks, does the government propose to attack the
But this economic project depends on foreign finance and social peace, unforeseeable elements especially at a time when it is clear that the economic plans of the bourgeoisie will mean a deterioration of the standard of living of the workers and that important sectors of the bourgeoisie who went into exile, and whose thirst for revenge can be imagined, are thinking
The National Assembly is living through some intense days, adopting a multitude of laws seeking above all to give legal guarantees to the masses. It has also voted through a law of immunity for the president, vice-president and the ministers and directors of the national enterprises which has been opposed within the FSLN.
The Front has justified it by pointing to 22 the vengeful spirit which has far from disappeared in the ranks of the UNO - it International Viewpoint #184 • May 7, 1990 explains that because of the defensive war (which the UNO does not recognize as legitimate) the FSLN was obliged to carry out some transactions and modifications in its budgetary plans and that the bourgeoisie would try to accuse the Sandinista leaders because of this. But commandant Luis Carrion, today mayor of Managua, has replied that he has no need of such an amnesty, because he is perfectly capable of defending what he has done since
A law on cooperatives, recognizing the legal ownership by the peasants over the lands affected by the agrarian reform, has been voted through. Another agrarian law allows these lands to be sold, bequeathed mortgaged and so on. It is true that the 120,000 families which have benefitted from the agrarian reform had been demanding such a measure and that the UNO would have taken it in any case but the Front had previously explained that such legislation would open the door to the reconcentration of land ownership, all the more true today when the big landowners prepare to return to Nicaragua.
Different approaches inside
FSLN
The National Assembly has also voted through a law concerning university autonomy and legalized the status of the housing accommodation conferred since the revolution. The MAP, with the support of six FSLN deputies, has presented a bill for a minimum salary. The president of the National Assembly, the commandant of the revolution Carlos Nunez, has violently attacked this proposal as adventurist and "destabilizing" to the economic
This attitude illustrates also the different approaches and debates taking place inside the FSLN in response to the current situation, on the attitude to take in relation to UNO, on the continuation or otherwise of the policy of social partnership with certain sectors of the bourgeoisie developed since 1988 and on the preparation for confrontation on the social terrain.
This debate has only just begun.
The situation and the future of the Nicaraguan revolution are today marked by instability. The presence and the attitude of the Contras represent a sword of Damocles hanging over the head of the FSLN, the revolution and the Nicaraguan masses, and this should inspire supporters of the revolution everywhere to remain vigi-
The Collor
Plan
THREE months after being elected President, Fernando Collor has introduced the economic measures intended to get Brazil out of the grave crisis it is currently experiencing. The "Collor plan" is a sign of the new situation in the country, the qualitative change that has taken place in the debate about the way out of the crisis.
On the one side, the ruling classes, relieved by their electoral victory, even if still disturbed by the high vote for Lula, believe that this is the last chance. On the other, the workers and popular movement, which plays a central role in Brazilian politics thanks to the Workers Party (PT), the Brazilian Popular Front and the United Confederation of Workers (CUT), has been on the rise for ten years. The following article first appeared in Em Tempo of March 1990. EDUARDO ALBUQUERQUE