Arnoldo German

José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo (Managua, January 23, 1946) is a Nicaraguan politician and businessman, president of Nicaragua from January 10, 1997 to January 10, 2002. He was also mayor of Managua between 1990 and 1995 for the National Opposition Union (UNO).

He is the son of liberal public officials from the time of the Somoza dynastic dictatorship belonging to the Nationalist Liberal Party (PLN).

Biography

He completed his primary and secondary education in Managua, at the La Salle Pedagogical Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. In 1967 he completed his law studies at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, occupying important positions in the commercial and banking systems of the country. ^{[citation needed ]}

After the fall of the dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle on July 19, 1979 with the triumph of the Sandinista Revolution and the consequent rise to power of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), his father died in 1980. The Governing Board of National Reconstruction (JGRN) allowed him to attend funerals, something Alemán found humiliating ^{[citation required]}.

In the Nicaraguan General Elections of 1990, presided over on February 25, 1990, Alemán is elected Councilor of Managua, defeating the Social Christian Agustín Jarquín —who would later denounce some cases of corruption in his government. The victory of Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in the presidential elections of that same year made cooperation between the state and her mayor's office even more effective. In turn, between 1990 and 1991, and again from 1993 to 1996, he served as general secretary of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC), one of the fourteen member formations of the National Opposition Union (UNO), and which led Chamorro to the presidency.^{[citation required]}

Elections

On September 1, 1995, he resigned from the post of mayor to prepare his candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic in the 1996 elections for the Liberal Alliance, a renewed libero-conservative coalition launched in December 1994 and of which was president. In addition to the PLC, the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN), the Liberal Party (PALI), the Independent Liberal of National Unity (PLIUN) and the Nationalist Liberal Party (PLN), all heirs to the historic Liberal Party at the beginning of the century, later converted as the Nationalist Liberal Party.^{[citation required]}

In the October 20 elections, Alemán prevailed with 51.99% of the votes over Daniel Ortega Saavedra with 37.83%. Numerous international observers documented cases of electoral fraud; among them, ballot boxes full of votes before the voting began, the distribution of food in exchange for votes for UNO and the PLC, alteration of the tally sheets taking away votes from the FSLN and hundreds of cases of deaths that had voted.

The candidate for the Sandinista National Liberation Front, Daniel Ortega, had branded Alemán a "liberal-Somocista" candidate. After his defeat, he questioned the results that gave Alemán victory, but the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) ratified them.

With a majority of the results, Alemán took office on January 10, 1997, replacing Violeta Barrios de Chamorro.^{[citation required]}

President of the Republic (1997-2002)

He won the general elections on October 20, 1996, and on January 10, 1997, he took office at the "Denis Martínez" National Stadium, together with his vice-president, engineer Enrique Bolaños Geyer. Alemán's public administration was marked by various acts of corruption that led him to be one of the richest men in the country, despite the fact that his initial declaration of probity when he began his work in the Managua Mayor's Office was only around 2,000 dollars. ^{[citation required]}

Alemán's government agreed with the International Monetary Fund and other international creditors to cancel part of the interest on the national debt in exchange for applying a structural adjustment. Nicaragua's per capita GDP was the second lowest in the Americas after Haiti. The social situation was partially affected by successive natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, the droughts caused by the El Niño meteorological phenomenon and, more seriously, Hurricane Mitch, which in its wake in November 1998 caused a thousand dead and devastated extensive agricultural areas. At the beginning of 2000, inflation doubled to 10%, while unemployment exceeded 20% of the active population. ^{[citation required]}

A few months after his inauguration, the "Los Tarjetazos" scandal broke out, when it was discovered that the Central Bank was issuing credit cards paid by taxpayers in favor of President Alemán. Also, some time later the existence of some checks issued by the DGI in favor of the extinct BANIC was discovered to pay debts of the Genisa company, owned by Alemán, for an amount of 111,000 dollars, a transaction that involved Petronic and private exchange houses.. Another scandal was the issuance by the DGI of “credit notes” in favor of automotive distributors to deduct future taxes, in exchange for luxurious vehicles that ended up in the hands of those close to Alemán, costing Nicaraguans almost 11 million córdobas. In addition, President Aleman issued a check for $500,000 for the alleged purchase of equipment for Channel 6. The EAAI and Intur contributed an additional $350,000. The equipment was never purchased.

In addition to the mega-salaries received by Alemán (who received $285,000 a year) and 400 high-level officials (who, in total, cost $40 million a month), the Aleman government was caught up in a series of of controversial developments, among which La Chinampa stands out — a 615-hectare farm, developed by drilling wells by INAA, electrified with ENEL resources, using materials from the Mayco company, and decorated with cattle belonging to the IDR —, the presidential house — which would originally cost 4 million dollars (donated by Taiwan) and would end up costing 14 million dollars without any changes to the original plan, resorting to loans — and the Pochimil Palace — a luxurious residence, owned by Bayron Jerez, built on the Pochomil Viejo beaches with MTI funds destined to deal with the damage caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

In April 1999, discontent with the Aleman administration revived in a wave of riots and labor protests, especially in the transportation sector. The president ordered the Army to intervene. Alemán saw his popularity plummet and, in addition, he found that the Office of the Comptroller of the Nation demanded explanations for the increase in his private assets by 900%, coinciding with his presidential term. Given the turn the protest was taking, Alemán opted to freeze the liberalization of public transport and maintain fuel subsidies.

The final stretch of his term coincided with a fracture of the alliance that led him to the government, his former allies began to criticize him, among them the former vice president of the Republic with Chamorro, Virgilio Godoy, who declared that Alemán and the his had "robbed more quickly than during the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza". Conservative congressman Leonel Teller estimated that Alemán had amassed some 250 million dollars in his tenure. Public opinion was particularly irritated by the fact that the president's luxury spending came to an end in January 2002.

While in the presidency, he married María Fernanda Flores, a Nicaraguan resident in Miami, whose family belonged to the Somocista elite. ^{[citation required]}

Later political activity

Alemán was replaced in the presidency on January 10, 2002 by his former vice-president Enrique Bolaños Geyer, winner of the general elections of November 4, 2001. Upon leaving the presidency, it was speculated that he would keep his sphere intact of power, and this was confirmed in the election to preside over the National Assembly: his candidate was chosen by the party, ignoring the one recommended by the new President Bolaños. A distancing then takes place between Alemán and President Enrique Bolaños, who leaves the Party and founds his own, Alianza por la República (APRE). Also during this period part of the acts of corruption of his time were denounced.^{[citation required]}

The former US ambassador to Nicaragua, Paul A. Trivelli, accused Alemán of using the Liberal Party to reach an agreement with the leaders of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Alemán managed to formalize a political coalition with Eduardo Montealegre and other liberal forces ahead of the Municipal Elections in November 2008. These elections were considered fraudulent by the opposition in 40 of the 153 municipalities in the country, but despite international and national pressure, the CSE declared the FSLN the winner in those mayoralties with major irregularities.^{[citation required]}

Corruption charges and imprisonment

At the end of his term, he was accused by his adversaries of having accumulated a fortune close to 250 million dollars in foreign assets and banks. As the top leader of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC, right), he was accused in December 2002 by the Attorney General's Office of having used public funds to launder money and commit fraud to the detriment of the State. Finally, in 2003 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for money laundering and corruption, charges that led to his removal from law as a representative and subsequent arrest. He was kept in prison with a controversial family coexistence permit, granted by a judge that allowed him free movement through the city of Managua. ^{[citation needed ]}

In 2004, Judge H. Méndez ordered the transfer of the former president from his house-hacienda "El Chile" to effective imprisonment in the Tipitapa Model Prison for fraud of 1.3 million dollars and other crimes to the detriment of the State. However, Méndez had difficulties in complying with the resolution, because Alemán's family, farm workers and liberal deputies tried to prevent the ex-governor from leaving. Alemán supporters set fire to tires on public roads, while in others they made bonfires with tree branches and threw glass in protest of his confinement.

Alemán also faces other accusations of corruption in Panama and the United States for money laundering. Embassy reports to the United States Department of State say that while Alemán was president, he and his family stole approximately one hundred million dollars from the people of Nicaragua through the looting of the national treasury and the accounts of different ministries and agencies, controlled by their corrupt associates, Aleman, his family, and their associates used various schemes to steal and launder government money, but most of the funds were laundered through shell companies in Panama, the United States and the Dominican Republic". His wife María Fernanda Flores de Alemán, his brother Álvaro Alemán, his late sister Amelia Alemán, his daughter María Dolores Alemán, among others, created some of the companies conceived by the ex-president's accomplices. Some of his closest associates during his administration were also accused of corruption; one of the main ones, Byron Jerez.^{[citation required]}

On January 15, 2009, Arnoldo Alemán was dismissed on corruption charges by the Nicaraguan Supreme Court, which at the time was presided over by Manuel Martínez Sevilla, a close associate of Alemán.

2011 Election

Alemán decided to run for the presidential elections on November 6, 2011 for the PLC-PC Alliance, allying himself with the Conservative Party, a former rival of the Liberals.^{[citation required]} His main opponent was President Ortega, despite the fact that the latter was prohibited by the Constitution from running for re-election, according to article 147 of the Political Constitution of Nicaragua. Despite having a low popularity in the polls, Alemán remained stubborn that his party was the only true opposition, causing a division of the opposition forces with the candidate of the Independent Liberal Party Alliance (PLI) Fabio Gadea Mantilla, Alemán's in-law. that has greater acceptance by the citizens opposed to Ortega. In the end, the elections would give victory to Ortega with 62.46% and 31% for Gadea Mantilla, 5.91% for Alemán's PLC and less than 1% for the two minor parties.^{[citation required]}

Clandestinity

On November 9, 2020, the United States Department of State placed Alemán on a list of corrupt foreign officials, and Mike Pompeo barred his family from entering the country. In 2021, he was dishonorably discharged from the PLC.