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Show Thursday, May $, 199 THE DAILY HERALD,Provo, Utah — Page FE Ghosts of warstill roam Nicaraguan jungles Edfier’s m@fe- Nicaragua's civil war ended in 1990, but hundreds of ex-combatants still roam the hills and jun glesssome fearti! ef former foes, others angry over unmet promises of government aid. Theleader of the largest band recently let an Associated Press journalist. accompany himon @patrol. By BRENNAN LINSLEY Associated Press Writer WANAWAS, Nicaragua — Warmed’ by the sun burning off the morning haze, several dozen well-armed men and boys move along quietly, their steps masked by the , crowing roosters hissing of and of EL SALVADOR cicadas. aS The guerrilla’ leader, ““Char- ro,"“has been on the move along the harrow trail S after their leader, claim tolive by donated food and money and insist they do not rob locals In the village of Wanawas. a wortan who gave her name as Alicia said her daughter's common-law husband had been killed by kidnappers in nearby La Isla despite payment ofa rarisom. “That kind of thing wouldn't happen here in Wanawas. Not when Charro is around,” said Alicia, who declined to give her full name for fear of reprisals from government officials. Charro —the nom de guerre of rang Agree Cruz — neues 3aoe old with a thick, | black beard, a a/™ nicaRAGUA Cenenen’ ~ > Managua © } | quick sinile and | a Smith & Wes. } son pistol strapped to his chest. “My name i | means justice y , poor, people since before Pacific Ocean. ( dawn. It is three 169 mes xe _y days by feot to > ing | the nearest road.” 100ien f SOSA | for | i the of the mountains,” he told The Associated Press in a rare Mi asiienreeee ap interview. “The drop to a squat Charros don’t when the 12-year-old out front rob or extort money, but we hunt gives a warning sign, takes the down those who do. If we kill safety off his AK-47 rifle, and them in combat, that’s life.” scans the grass and trees. Charro said the five-day trek False alarm wasthe first time he hadallowed A poor farmer walks around a foreign journalist to accompany the bendin the trail and the guer- his guerrillas on patrol fillas greet him warmly. Charro, In the 1980s, Cruz was an riding a mule, reaches down to explosives expert for the U.S.Shake the hand of the admiring, supported Conira rebels who were néarly toothfess man fighting the leftist Sandinista Until recently. the government regime portrayed Charroand his group as The Sandinistas lost power in bandits and killers. along with elections in 1990, ending the similar bands of former guerrillas Contra war. But several months that hauntthe hills of the north six later, Cruz took up arms again. s after Nicaragua's civil war. citing threats fromthe Sandinistas it has taken a softer line, hoping — who still controlled the army independent mediators can per- and police — as weil as unfilled suade the greup todisband. government promises of resettle. Many peopie, however, see ment aid for combatants. About 1.000 “rearmados” — Charrodifferently: as a protector rather than predator in a region ¢ “rearmed ones” -— operate in where criminals are common and several groups in northern police are scarce: Nicaragua. Charro’s group, which His fighters, known asCharros numbers about 300. is believed to AP Phatos* Members of the guerrilla group known as the Charros patrol at dawn in a dense tropical haze near the tiny settlement of Yaro in remote southern Nicaragua. Until recently, the governbethelargest Many people also consider it the least prone to banditry although it can dispense a very rough justice. The Charros have been Known to capture suspected criminals, hold a quick public tr. al and then execute them with a ¢ shot to the head We haveno jails here.” Charro said In Managua, the capital, there is more skepticism that the Char ros havebenevolent aims, and the group is often lumped together with the other rearmados. On April 19. the head of the army. Gen. Joaquin Cuadra, told journalists that the rearmados would be “neutralized.” “Some will be disarmed; oth- t portrayed the Charros as bandits and Killers, like a number of other bands which haunt the hilis of northern Nicaragua. It has recently taken a softer line, hoping that inde- grou; ip to disband. Villagers say they are gratetul for the presence of the Charros, and say they are a stabilizing force in the area. pendent mediators can persuade the ers imprisoned, others dead.” he said Three days later, Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo said: “Dialogue is the ideal, but if the dialoguefails, the last recourse will haveto be, I guess, repression.” Angelica Mariia Cantillano, a 38-year-old mother of 12, told a pro-Sandinista human rights group on April 23 that she had to flee from the ranch where she worked when a band of Charros arrived seeking to kidnap her boss. When they couldn't find him, they set the ranch onfire and threatened herlife, she said. People in Wanawas dispute that characterization. The village of perhaps 200 people has no electricity, running water, school, medical care, telephone or police protection. It is five hours by rocky road and three more by muleynortheast of Managua. “The Charros pass through this area @ lot,” said a woman whodid not want her name used to avoid risking trouble with gov- A farmer,left, and a member of the guerrilla yn “ot : the village, focated in remote northern Nicaragua, say they appreciate the presence ofthe known as the Charros, gun hangs at right, share the tasks involved in slaughtering a Charros, they say are a means of protegion Prepi ing for on a pig,aenoe will share against violent banditry. Detractors say the are any residents ros are little more than armed thugs. at Thesitine in the ernmentofficials. “We don’t have any problems here with hostage takers because they are afraid of the Charros. The kids can go swimin the river alone without fear.” Some take comfoi an Cruz's standards butll orty “about reliance on vigilantes. “If you ask me what option is better now, today, for a vicim near Wanawas, | have to say Charro,” Said Alfredo Fisher, head of the Organization of American States peace mission in the region. “But for the future, for Nicaraguans toreclaim the structure of justice, his armed group must be seenfor what it is...It is not part of the state of law.” The OAS helping monitor government Compliance with Provide justice for poor farmers such as Andres. peace accords and the disarming of civil war veterans In the Villages, Cruz comes across as part guerrilla, part politician, part comedian and part moralist In Yaro, a village near Wanawas, peoplesit in a semi-cir Ex-hotshot lawyer now on Unabomber case By he needed more gxperience, 5 Wie W‘Manne Merck Gartund traded a plush partner's office in oneofthe city’s powerhouse law firms for a converted broomcloset that smelled of old cigarettes — and the chance to put drug dealers and corrupt officials in prison. That trial experience helped prepare him for his role today as the Justice Department's point man on the nation’s two hottest cases: The Oklahoma City bombing and Unabomber, Peers say if anyone can bear up to the pressure it’s Garland — a fuast-thinking, quick-talking, consummately organized Harvardlawyer with a good headtor polities as well as courts, “Hehas the attention to detail and the foresight to anticipate every conceivable twist and turn.” said Rob Weiner of Armold & Porter, where Garland was a purtner. For 15 years, Garland has bumped back andforth betweenthe law firm and government. A turning point came in L988 when he took a leave fromthe firmto help the govemment prosecute Lyn Nofziger, the Rea- gan White House aide accused of illegal eye He want more criminal cases “He was a young partner at one of the best law firms in Washington, with his financial future pretty much set for him.” said Lawrence Barcella, who defended Garland signed uy an assistant U.S attorney, cutting his pay by more thanhaif. and seftled into a windowless office that had once been a closet and then a waiting patched Garland to take over the chaotic scene. She sent out the word: Everything goes through Oklahoma City, everything goes to Merrick Garland He worked from a warehouse with win- “He has the attention to detail and the foresight to anticipate every conceivable twist and turn.” — Rob Weiner, lawyer at Merrick Garland’s former law firm goal i guerrilla group known as the Garland is “obsessively meticulous. said Steinberg, who grew up with himina northside Chicage suburb. They roomed together at Harvard, where the disciplined Garland compiled daily lists of things to do and dutifully worked through them He started out on a pre-med scholar ship, and jokes that orgamic chemistry con, vinced him he was better suited to law After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1977, he landed two prestigious clerkships. for revered U.S, Appeals Judge Henry Friendly and Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. He has wanted to become a judgeever cle around him as he jokes and tells simple stones with simple morals. Hejots down reports of criminal activity His men keep an eye out for the army. Soldiers rarely comes around, but clashes do take place Gunssalesrise, pricesfall during past 3 years By JENNIFER BROWN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON — Gun sales have flourished for the past three years andprices areat their lowest in, a decade, despitelegislative pressut fromthe “most anti-gun administ tion in the history of this nation,” # = National Rifle Association official > says. roomfor chain-smoking cops. “He was thrownin the re with guys who were 10 years his junior. said fend Earl Steinbe: Now Garland, 43, reports directly to Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick. a friend fromtheir days at Harvard. She. in tum, is Attorney General Janet Reno's right hand. “They rely on his stupendousty good judgment. said anor Acheson, assis fant attorne gene: ral for policy Garland’s elaborate ule — principal associate deputy attorney genera al — belies an unpretentious nature and an easy lai These may be among the most important tools in overseeing such wide-ranging investigations, where dozens of overlap dows shattered by the blast. Computers were set up there to systematically sort and cross-check tens of thousandsofleads tromall over the country. Garland was in charge of weaving the jumble into an orderly case against Timothy MeVeigh and Terry Nichols His organization was widely praised. MeVeigh’s attomey, Stephen Jones. describes Garland as “very professional, courteous (0 the defense, and tenacious.” Although Garland made the early court appearances after the Oklahoma City bombing — telling a ae “1 could not Grassley, R-lowa, want to eliminate the Ping jurisdictions and egos must work ava of strategy and policy, from the structure open stat Garland would fill, saying the dealers,” Metaksa said, “lt will have no effect on crime, team. Whena truck bomb blew apart the fed of the indictments in Oklahoma City to the procedures for se: Ng Unabomber sus pect Theodore Kaczyaski’s Montana cabin firearms by reducing competition,” she said. Nofziger. “And he gave it up to hone bis eral buii in Oklahoma City exactly craft. He knew that to be a trial attorney, year ago, Killing 168 people Reno dis. imagine a mors hemous offense than this” — he now works behind the scenes in Washington. Hegtves guidance of critical questions since. In fact, it's an accident of timing that puts Garland at the helmof the two bombing cases, instead of on the bench. Last September, President Clinton nominated Garland to a highly prized judgeship on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, con sidered by many to be second in impor tance only to the Supreme Court For seven months, Garland bas been awaiting Senate confirmation. He's not alone — 36 of President Clinton's judicial nominees are also on hold as the November presidential elections approach Several senators, led by Sen. Charles appeals court's workload doesn’t justify it Nevertheless, Garland was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee with sup port of Some T ev Republicans. “The Climon administration has * “actively promoted policies to dis? > courage lawful commerce in firearms, Tanya Metaksa, NRA legislative director, told a House subcommittee Thursday. She cited a General Accounting Office report of a 45 percent drop in the number of gua dealers since 1993 “The freedom to purchase firearms is becomming Severely limited in certain areas of this country because of the fact that you see an J almost 50 percent drop ia the num- ber of federally licensed firearms but will instead drive up the cost of |