Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 12, 1990 TAG: 9007120337
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MANAGUA, NICARAGUA LENGTH: Medium
Hours later, Chamorro in a late-night joint news conference with army Gen. Humberto Ortega offered to hold talks with the Sandinista strikers in a bid to end six days of unrest that has threatened to topple her 10-week-old government.
The unions that called the strikes, the army and police all are loyal to the Sandinista party, now the main opposition to Chamorro's U.S.-backed administration.
"I feel very sure I will serve out my term," she said at a news conference attended by the U.S. and Soviet ambassadors and other members of the diplomatic corps.
Chamorro's confidence she will serve until 1995 stemmed from the promise of the Sandinista People's Army to obey her command to restore order.
Although Chamorro also is the defense minister, the army is run by Humberto Ortega, a member of the Sandinista's nine-man directorate until March.
Ortega said the army would never back a coup. At the same time, he made it clear the military would stop short of all-out force against the strikers.
The armed forces, he said "will never carry out a coup against any government here, much less the government of Dona Violeta. But neither will the army and police fire on the people."
Ortega said four people had been killed and 15 to 20 wounded in confrontations between Sandinista strikers and government supporters. The Nicaraguan Human Rights Commission earlier estimated 84 injured.
Chamorro reversed her government's earlier insistence that the strike must end before talks could begin.
She said she was willing to negotiate once the streets were cleared of barricades, basic public services were restored and strikers cleared from government installations.
Ortega claimed the army would have Managua back to near-normal today.
Police and army loyalty have been a key issue since Chamorro defeated Ortega's brother, Daniel Ortega, in the Feb. 25 general elections.
Presidential spokesman Danilo Lacayo said Chamorro "called for public condemnation" of the explosion that knocked a pro-government radio station off the air Wednesday.
Lacayo said the president ordered a police investigation of the incident.
Radio Corp.'s transmitter and antenna were blown up after leftist Sandinista organizers told strikers to ease their grip on Managua and demanded Chamorro open negotiations immediately.
Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista chief who was president until Chamorro took power April 25, had charged that the station was calling on the government to request U.S. military intervention to end the strikes.
No one claimed responsibility for the explosion, but radio station director Castillo Osejo said he blamed "the Sandinistas, because nobody else would be interested in doing such a thing."
The developments Wednesday did not seem to make a major difference in daily life in Managua, although a few more people were in the streets.
by CNB