Pacheco Places Conditions on
Support For OAS Candidate

San Salvador, Nov. 27 (EFE) ? Former Salvadoran President Francisco Flores' bid to become OAS Secretary General appears to be losing support, with opposition to his candidacy remaining steady in Honduras, Venezuela and his own country, and supporters such as Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco expressing reservations.

Flores was nominated as the Central American candidate for the position at the 14th Latin American-Iberian Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in San José , Costa Rica Nov. 19-20 (TT, Nov. 26). Since then, opponents to his candidacy, particularly in his own country, have alleged he was involved in corruption during his presidency.

The backlash apparently prompted Pacheco to place conditions on his support for Flores . Pacheco said Friday that he backed Flores because he was the best chance Central America had of keeping the position, but said his support was contingent on charges of corruption against Flores being cleared up satisfactorily.

Any hint of corruption is particularly damaging for Central America 's potential candidate, since the Secretary General position was left vacant when former Costa Rican President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez resigned on Oct. 8 to face corruption allegations against him.

Rodríguez is currently serving a preventive detention order as prosecutors investigate illegal payments he allegedly received from global telecommunications firm Alcatel during his presidency (TT, Oct. 15).

Political analysts told EFE on Saturday that the undecided position of Pacheco and other heads of government in the region, along with Honduran President Ricardo Maduro's open opposition to Flores ' bid, may weaken Flores ' candidacy.

Maduro has reiterated that Flores was not in fact chosen by consensus as had been agreed by Central American heads of state, and continues to back the candidacy of his own country's former Foreign Minister Carlos López Contreras.

Maduro also accused Flores of having deliberately delayed the demarcation of the border between their two countries in compliance with the judgment handed down in September 1992 by the International Court of Justice.

According to the Salvadoran daily El Diario de Hoy, Flores has said that as OAS Secretary General he will keep out of any border issues between the two countries.

The leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) El Salvador 's main opposition party, accused Flores this week of diverting public funds to an institution set up by his wife, Lourdes Rodríguez de Flores, which was nothing more than "a facade."

Meanwhile, Peru has said it will present its own candidate, possibly ex-President Valentin Paniagua, according to a statement Friday by Peruvian Foreign Minister Manuel Rodríguez in Panama .

Venezuela rejected Flores ' candidacy from the start because of the support he gave businessman Pedro Carmona, who proclaimed himself the successor of President Hugo Chávez when he and other opposition leaders temporarily displaced Chávez during a two-day coup in 2002.

Flores says that his declarations at the time were misinterpreted "as applause for the coup, but they were no different from those of the European Community. We would never endanger our relations with the Venezuelan people."

Eighty Nicaraguans Apprehended
At Border Region Farm 

Immigration officials in Los Chiles, in the Nicaraguan border region of Costa Rica , apprehended a group of eighty Nicaraguans on Friday who had entered the country illegally to work during the orange and coffee harvests.

The group, which consisted primarily of workers between 20 and 30 years old, was found at an area farm.

On Friday afternoon, the workers were transported back across the border and handed over to immigration officials in San Carlos , Nicaragua .

“Business owners who wish to hire foreign workers for the harvest should apply to the Labor Ministry, so that the Ministry can coordinate with its Nicaraguan counterpart to recruit interested workers,” Immigration Police director Marco Badilla said in a statement.

“Once that has been done, the workers can ask the Immigration Police for the necessary permits,” he added. “This allows foreign workers interested in the harvest to enter the country legally and return to their own country without any problems.”