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10-19-1990 : Former Sandinista Officials Establish New Deborah Tyroler

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Recommended Citation Tyroler, Deborah. "Nicaragua: Former Sandinista Officials Establish New Airline." (1990). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ noticen/4581

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NotiCen by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LADB Article Id: 069185 ISSN: 1089-1560 Nicaragua: Former Sandinista Officials Establish New Airline by Deborah Tyroler Category/Department: General Published: Friday, October 19, 1990

On Oct. 17 in , William Hupper, Herty Lewites, and Javier Chamorro all officials in the former Sandinista government announced the establishment of Central American (CAAL), scheduled to begin service between Managua and Miami on Oct. 27. Hupper served as finance minister, Lewites as tourism minister, and Chamorro as deputy foreign minister under the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) administration. The Managua-Miami flight will cost $275 roundtrip, the lowest fare currently available. Future cities CAAL plans to service include: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico City, Madrid, Spain, and London. Lewites said CAAL had obtained landing rights in the US. At present CAAL is leasing a from an unidentified US company for $35,000 per month, but anticipates purchasing its own aircraft in February. Regional commercial carriers which service Miami-Managua include Aviateca [Guatemala]; Lacsa [Costa Rica]; and Sahsa [], as well as the domestic Aeronica. American Airlines, and Continental Airlines are the only US commercial carrier which currently fly to Nicaragua or have plans to. The Agence France Presse and the Associated Press cited contradictory information concerning CAAL's financing. AFP cited unidentified sources as saying that the FSLN put up an initial investment of $1 million. AP, however, quoted Lewites as denying that the FSLN contributed any money, and unidentified sources "with close ties to the airline" as saying that the party's investment is as high as 25%. AP also reported that CAAL ownership is 68% Nicaraguan and 32% "Saudi Arabians and Greek Arabs." AFP quoted Hupper as saying that private investors provided the start-up capital, and that he and his partners hoped to obtain more capital in the near future from Arab and Greek investors. AFP said Lewites responded to a question on the FSLN connection to CAAL as follows: "We do not want to mix politics in here, but everyone knows we are Sandinistas and as such we will turn over part of what we earn to the FSLN." AP quoted Lewites as saying, "The Sandinista Front will not be able to get to power again by way of arms, but by votes, and elections cost a lot of money...I'm going to give [the Front] as much as I can." (Basic data from AFP, 10/17/90; AP, 10/17/90)

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