In a Sandinista power play that's being likened to a coup against Nicaragua's institutional democracy, high court magistrates loyal to President Daniel Ortega ruled Monday evening against a constitutional ban that prohibits consecutive reelection. The decision by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, according to Sandinista magistrates, clears the way for Ortega to seek reelection in 2011.

The high court's ruling, made in the absence of opposition judges who reportedly were not convoked for the court session, is being called a brazen assault on Nicaragua's rule of law, and a dangerous step closer to an Ortega dictatorship.

“They are manipulating the constitution and the state of law in an unthinkable way,” former Supreme Court President Alejandro Serrano told The Nica Times, adding that the Supreme Court does not have the authority to declare the constitution unconstitutional.

Unable to obtain the 57 votes needed to reform the constitution to allow for his reelection in 2011, President Ortega and 109 mayors belonging to his Sandinista Front party filed a motion of unconstitutionality Monday before the Sandinista-controlled Supreme Court. In a matter of hours, the Sandinista magistrates ruled in Ortega's favor.

The Constitutional Chamber's ruling will now go before the full Supreme Court, where the Sandinistas have a majority, for a final decision.

Opposition politicians, constitutional lawyers and civil society groups have all come out against the Sandinista ruling, while it has been applauded by Ortega supporters and the countries of the Venezuelan-backed Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA), a leftist bloc criticized for allegedly dragging Honduras into crisis with a similar reform agenda last June.

Leaders of Nicaragua's private sector warn the court decision could kill any semblance of judicial security that Nicaragua has had, destroying the investment and business climate in the process.

Opposition leaders met Tuesday to try to coordinate a response to the crisis and a plan to stop Ortega's drive for reelection.

“If we allow Ortega to get away with this, there is no going back,” stressed Enrique Saenz, leader of the opposition Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS).

Read the Oct. 23 Nica Times for more on this story.

Ottón Solís, a presidential candidate who's best known for leading a battle against the region's free-trade pact with the U.S., spoke Tuesday to the Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) – perhaps the country's biggest proponents of a free market.

In the lead-up to Costa Rica's nationwide referendum on the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) two years ago, Solís stood on the opposite side from the foreign business community, trying to convince Costa Ricans that the terms laid out in the pact for an open market would be harmful to the economy and small business owners.

But on Tuesday, he stood before his one-time opponents, hoping to persuade them that he had their best interests at heart.    

“I think he spoke very frankly on the topics we asked him to address,” said Lynda Solar, president of AMCHAM. “Do we agree with him on all things? No, we do not. But I think it is important to look for areas we do agree in order to resolve those issues.”

While Solís told his audience that he supports foreign investment, he said he disagreed with other politicians in that “it is the answer to all our problems.”

The country can't just focus on trying to attract as much foreign capital as possible, he said. Instead, it needs to focus on preparing a workforce, improving infrastructure and making the state more efficient.

“This is our plan to be more competitive,” he said. “This is how we will attract foreign investment: with efficiency in handling processes, with transparency, with better infrastructure....”

But then came the bad news.

Solís, a 55-year-old academic and politician, said that foreign business can't continue to escape local taxes.

“It' s very hard to explain when you have a country with so much poverty and education problems, and there are multinationals that are paying 0 percent in income tax,” he said, advocating a progressive tax in which people and businesses on the high end of the income spectrum are taxed more.

AMCHAM's Solar sounded an alarm of caution at this statement.

“Costa Rica competes with other countries for these multinationals,” she said in a phone interview later that day. “Do you prefer to raise taxes with the possibility that you' ll lose investments, high-paying jobs (and indirect employment) and watch them go elsewhere?”

Solar, whose organization does not endorse candidates or take political sides, said, “It' s a factor that has to be weighed seriously for Costa Rica to continue to compete.”

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Another day, another proposal rejected in the negotiations between representatives of ousted President Manuel Zelaya and interim President Roberto Micheletti.

The renewed talks all but broke down Monday.

In responding to a bid last week from the Zelaya camp for Congress to decide whether the deposed leader will finish his term of office, Micheletti's negotiators proposed that they decide Zelaya's fate after seeking official opinions from Congress and the Supreme Court. Zelaya's negotiators soundly rejected that offer in fewer than two hours.

“That proposal is insulting,” said Víctor Meza, Zelaya's top negotiator.

Meza said Zelaya's team had no counterproposal and instead demanded the interim government make a better offer than the previous two. Micheletti negotiators had previously offered to let the same Supreme Court that ordered Zelaya's arrest on June 28 decide whether he should return to power.

Meza said both proposals were “offensive.”

“The dialogue isn't broken, but it's being obstructed,” he said.

Before Meza issued his response, Micheletti negotiator Vilma Morales stressed the need to take all the time that's needed in negotiations to reach a solution. She said she opposed Zelaya's attempts to exert pressure and set deadlines for negotiations.

Zelaya temporarily suspended talks in reaction to Micheletti's first proposal before they resumed Monday. On numerous occasions he has set and subsequently pushed back deadlines for an agreement to be reached before his team will pull out of talks.

“Deadlines don't work with dialogue,” Morales said.

Armando Aguilar, another Micheletti negotiator, said Monday's offer is the best compromise between the two original proposals.

“They didn't accept our proposal, we didn't accept theirs,” Aguilar said. “So the third option is to put the decision back under the control of this commission.”

Meza accused Micheletti of using the negotiations as a political instrument to win time as the countdown to the Nov. 29 presidential election continues.

Both commissions say they're in agreement on every issue between them except Zelaya's return to power. Zelaya already said he will give up his campaign for a constitutional assembly to rewrite the 1982 constitution, which critics saw as an attempt to abolish presidential term limits.

“Mr. Zelaya conceded all he could to help dialogue,” Meza said.

Read the Oct. 23 Nica Times for more on this story.

Crime appears to be down this year in the province of Heredia, north of San José, according a Heredia Regional Police report released Tuesday.

Through September 2008, the province registered 3,393 crimes, which included thefts, assaults and break-ins of cars and homes. For the same time frame this year, the province reported 3,205 – a 5.5 percent decrease.

Reported home break-ins fell from 429 to 353 and vehicle robberies dropped from 849 to 785.

The Heredia towns of Santo Domingo, San Pablo and Flores have seen the biggest decreases. All three townships have recorded drop-offs in reported crimes for three consecutive years.

“This is a sign that the community and the police are the perfect pairing to fight delinquency,” Heredia Regional Police Director Daniel Calderón noted in a press release. “I'm making a call to the population of Heredia to continue reporting any type of illegal act.”