La Tribuna newspaper on 9 September published a communique from a previously unknown armed group calling itself the Armed Ecological Front (FEA) that said that it had taken up arms to preserve the Boswasas nature reserve in the north of the country.

Security Implications

The apparent emergence of the 60-strong armed group, which reportedly is composed of former Sandinista soldiers, underlines the difficulty over disarming the rearmed rebel bands left over from the ten-year civil war in the 1980s. The right-wing Liberal Alliance (AL) government of President Arnoldo Aleman in May reached a disarmament agreement with the roughly 700-strong Northern Front - 380 (FN - 380), and is working towards a similar agreement with the 300-strong Andres Castro Northern Front (FUAC). FN-380 was made up of former right-wing Contra rebels who fought against the Sandinista government (1979-90); FUAC is composed of left-wing demobilised Sandinista soldiers.

The FEA communique said that the group would burn trucks entering the Boswasas reserve in order to prevent continued exploitation of the forestry reserves. While the group may have some ideological motivation, it is more likely that its members want to retain their armed bandit lifestyle and maintain control of their traditional territory. The armed forces have pledged to crack down hard on any rearmed rebels that are still active once it has reached an accord with the FUAC.

Aleman has been more successful than his predecessor in reaching peace with the rearmed bands. However, the appearance of the FEA suggests that it will be almost impossible to totally eradicate armed banditry from the remote and sparsely populated northern parts of the country. Armed rebel group activity has traditionally centred on the mountainous northern and central departments of Jinotega, Matagalpa, Esteli, Nueva Segovia, Boaco and Chontales. The risk to travellers is low, but bands have engaged in occasional acts of armed robbery and kidnap.

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