Patchwork Democracy Nicaraguan Politics Ten Years After the Fall by David R. Dye with Jack Spence and George Vickers November 2000 Copyright 2000 Hemisphere Initiatives The report may be quoted at length if attributed. It may not be reproduced in whole or in part without CONTENTS the permission of Hemisphere Initiatives, Inc. David R. Dye, a Managua based research journalist Prologue 1 has resided in and provided political and economic analysis on Central America for eighteen years. He Basic Political Trends: 1990-2000 2 took principal responsibility for research and writing The Pact 7 this report. Who Benefits? 12 Jack Spence is President of Hemisphere Initiatives and is Associate Professor of Political Science at the The Pact’s Impacts 18 University of Massachusetts Boston. Spence coordinat- Conclusions 35 ed the research, made two field trips to Nicaragua, and edited all sections of the report. Endnotes 40 George Vickers is Executive Director of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and Treasurer of Hemisphere Initiatives. He edited all sec- tions of the report, made two field trips to Nicaragua timely and able help in making arrangements for including during the November 5th elections, and, printing and mailing. Carlos Fernando Chamorro along with Spence, wrote the analysis of the results of provided helpful information on printing and graphics the election and the performance of the Supreme and he along with Nobel León helped point toward Electoral Council during the weeks leading up to the election data. Rachel Farley of WOLA ably handled election. logistics for printing and delivery. In Managua Y made We would like to thank all those who granted us time implemented arrangements for printing and delivery. for interviews. They are mentioned in the endnotes. In We gratefully acknowledge a grant from PRODECA addition Claudia Ferreira Talero not only has translat- that made this report possible and covered almost all ed the report into Spanish but also provided help in making arrangements for printing and delivery of the of the expenses. WOLA covered travel expenses for reports. Nick Thorkelson of Thorkelson Graphics, Vickers and a portion of administrative costs. A por- Somerville, Massachusetts (www.nickthorkelson.com) tion of Spence’s travel expenses was covered by a did the graphic design and layout. Diane Chomsky, research grant from the John W. McCormack Guillermo Fernandez, and Kathy Sevilla provided Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Final editorial content is the responsibility of Spence and Vickers and Hemisphere Initiatives. Additional copies of this report and other Hemisphere Initiatives reports (listed on the inside back cover) can be obtained from Hemisphere Initiatives [email protected] [email protected] Or at the Hemisphere Initiatives web site at http://www.geocities.com/hem_init/ Or from Washington Office on Latin America 1630 Connecticut Avenue NW Washington, DC 20009 202 797-2171 [email protected] Patchwork Democracy Nicaraguan Politics Ten Years After the Fall PROLOGUE ver the past fifteen years, most coun- of the revolutionary Sandinista government in tries of Latin America have passed from February 1990, the country passed through a Oauthoritarian dictatorship to having second peaceful election for national and local democratically elected governments. In these authorities in October 1996. The army has procedural democracies, as some political scientists kept itself aloof from the political fray since a call them, officials are elected in a free and fair reform of civil-military relations in 1994. And manner, and there is inclusive suffrage, freedom in recent years, the vigorous efforts of a crusad- of expression and organization, and association- ing comptroller-general offered promise of a al autonomy.1 cleanup of the nation’s endemic corruption. It is proving more difficult, however, for Ten years after local and international many of these countries to move beyond the upheavals thrust Nicaragua on the path toward electoral trappings of democracy to construct liberal democracy, however, a closer look sug- effective democratic institutions capable of pro- gests that democratic rule and governability in viding justice, protecting rights, and delivering Nicaragua remain fragile. During the both security and economic betterment. Chamorro administration, Nicaragua’s National According to one cogent appraisal, “electoral Assembly passed important constitutional procedures are being institutionalized in a reforms and timid institutional reforms began. number of countries, to be sure, but all too The advances achieved during the Chamorro often these co-exist with pervasive clientelism, administration were a kind of crazy quilt imbedded injustice, massive corruption, fla- stitched together by ad hoc, unstable compro- grant impunity and reserved domains beyond mises following political battles over funda- the authority of government and the rule of mental issues of governance and economic func- law.”2 While such practices are found to vary- tion. Foreign aid has helped hold the patches ing degrees in established democracies as well, together. But key problems of governance are in the context of recent transition in Latin likely to continue until the country begins to America they are eroding faith in the democra- grapple more seriously with its central political tic option. problem—the consolidation of the rule of law, Now neglected by foreign academics and or as a noted scholar of politics has called it, the news media, Nicaragua has not been one of the democratic state of law.3 countries prompting special concern. In spite of Although there were variations of degree, for political vicissitudes and the recent disaster of most of the last century Nicaraguan political Hurricane Mitch, it has appeared to make fitful leaders looked upon government as a fount of progress toward the general goals of democratic enrichment and a cornucopia of resources with development. Since Violeta Chamorro’s defeat which to pay off friends and build political 2 Patchwork Democracy empires. To protect this corruption they have Nicaragua cannot be content with a “patch- needed impunity: pliant legislators, venal work democracy.” The country’s history sug- courts, auditors who could be easily bribed. gests that a political system based on exclusion Though constitutional facelifts have been fre- and that allows injustice and corruption to fes- quent, the political will necessary to seriously ter, is likely to generate growing discontent to reform “intermediate” institutions of the demo- the point where a breakdown of democratic cratic state such as courts and systems of con- order becomes thinkable. We recognize that trol has been notoriously weak. consolidation of democracy is a long-term The most recent political reform in Nicaragua problem — only a short interval has elapsed was a pact signed in January 2000 by the coun- since 1990. But vigilance in the Nicaraguan try’s two principal political forces. The signers case is warranted. The country does not possess — the ruling Liberal Constitutionalist Party many of the normal requisites for democratic (PLC) of president Arnoldo Aleman and the stability. Poverty is rife and inequality glaring. Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) And the political culture remains permeated by headed by Daniel Ortega — argue that their the legacy of authoritarianism and violence that accord will strengthen democratic institutions has marked the country’s history. and bolster governability. Critics of the agree- ment insist that it will do just the opposite. Eleven years after Hemisphere Initiatives’ This report raises strong doubts about first report on political transition in Nicaragua, whether the new rules for political competition this report examines the nature, the roots and and institutional functioning legislated this the likely consequences of the Liberal- year are laying the groundwork for further Sandinista pact. The document that follows progress toward fortifying the rule of law or for sketches a portrait of recent Nicaraguan poli- Nicaragua’s democratic progress more general- tics, details the content and origins of the new ly. These rules may be fomenting a stable sys- political accord, and assesses the impacts of the tem of deal making among a few players in an agreement after six months in the areas of insti- atmosphere marked by public cynicism and tution-building and functioning, and political apathy. But they also may be creating condi- party competition tions for a new political crisis that will thrust The body of this report was written before Nicaragua once again into the arena of hemi- the November 5th elections. The Conclusion spheric concern. contains a brief analysis of the elections. BASIC POLITICAL TRENDS: 1990–2000 ver the last two decades, Nicaragua has with the U.S. and copious US assistance to undergone extraordinary and wrench- Nicaragua’s contra rebels led to a highly Oing changes of a magnitude and inten- destructive war. That and failure of the revolu- sity matched by few other countries. In 1979, tion’s economic project set the stage for the it passed abruptly from 46 years of unbroken election of Violeta Chamorro as president.5 despotic rule by the Somoza family into a con- In the early 1990s, presidency minister vulsive period of economic and political change Antonio Lacayo, the chief decision-maker in as the revolutionary Sandinista National the Chamorro government, took to referring to Liberation Front (FSLN) took