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Article Excerpt
After nearly a decade of mounting accusations of corruption, government auditors and prosecutors are investigating former President Arnoldo Aleman (1997-2002). In the latest in a long series of scandals, Aleman and several associates, including former members of his administration, are either in jail or face indictment in connection with funds missing from the government-owned Channel 6 television station.
Serious corruption accusations against Aleman go back to 1993 when he was mayor of Managua. At that time, Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional (FSLN) Deputy Monica Baltodano accused him of diverting tools and other supplies from the Fondo de Asistencia Social (FASO) intended for the city's use. That was followed by a steady stream of accusations that continued throughout his presidency.
In 1998, Aleman went after comptroller general Agustin Jarquin when Jarquin began auditing the books of various government departments and investigating Aleman's connection with a private jet used in drug trafficking (see EcoCentral, 1998-09-10). Jarquin also demanded that Aleman report his personal assets as required by the probity law for public officials. Aleman's assets grew by an estimated 900% between 1990 and 1997 (see NotiCen, 1999-04-15).
In 1999, the National Assembly approved a package of constitutional reforms that many analysts regarded as the institutionalization of corruption. The reforms provided immunity from prosecution for the outgoing president by giving him a nonelected seat in the Assembly. They also stripped his antagonist, Jarquin, of power by replacing the one-person Contraloria General de la Republic (CGR) with a five-person council whose members were chosen by Aleman's governing Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC) and the FSLN--with a majority going to PLC appointees. Having curbed the auditing unit of government, the reforms weakened judicial authority over corruption by dividing membership on the Corte Suprema de Justicia (CSJ) between the two major parties (see NotiCen, 1999-12-23).
In 2000, Jarquin...
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