WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2012
Nicaragua News Bulletin (November 27, 2012)
1. Nicaragua celebrates World Court decision; Colombia refuses to accept ruling2. Supreme Electoral Council issues final election results
3. Tax reform in National Assembly
4. Lake Xolotlan rising and growing
5. Sustainable Energy Forum delegates visit La Chureca
6. Progress in efforts against child labor
7. Preventative programs counter violence in Granada
1. Nicaragua celebrates World Court decision; Colombia refuses to accept ruling
NEWS FLASH UPDATE: On Wednesday, Nov. 28, President Juan Manuel Santos announced that on the previous day Colombia withdrew from the 1948 Pact of Bogota in which members of the Organization of American States agreed to take disputes to the World Court and recognize its jurisdiction. A week after the Court ruled that, while Colombia retained the San Andres Archipelago, Nicaragua's territorial waters were greatly expanded, Santos said that his decision means “excluding from the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice issues referring to sovereignty” and follows the principal “that territorial and maritime boundaries should be fixed by means of bilateral treaties as was the tradition in Colombia and not by rulings from any court.” [The United States, Canada, Argentina, and Venezuela never ratified the Pact of Bogota and are not party to it.] OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said that he had received the official note from Colombia withdrawing from the Pact which, ironically, was signed in the capital of Colombia.
Nicaragua celebrated the November 19 ruling by the International Court of Justice (World Court) that expanded Nicaragua's territorial waters in the Caribbean with a gathering in the Plaza of the Republic that very night attended not only by President Daniel Ortega and all the high officials of his government but also by the country's former presidents and former foreign ministers. In attendance were former Presidents Enrique Bolaños and Arnoldo Aleman along with Antonio Lacayo, in representation of former President Violeta Chamorro. In his address Ortega said that, among all the contradictions and challenges faced by Nicaraguans, this was a day of patriotism and national unity for all Nicaraguans. He reviewed the history of the case noting that the struggle began when, in February 1980, the Sandinista revolutionary government invalidated the Barcenas-Meneses Esguera Treaty that Nicaragua had signed in 1928 under occupation by the United States and which abandoned waters and islands on Nicaragua's continental shelf to Colombia. He explained that President Chamorro continued the policy and, in 2001, President Aleman entered the claim that the World Court had resolved that day in Nicaragua's favor. Ortega also recognized the efforts of President Bolaños and his foreign ministers Norman Caldera and Eduardo Montealegre.
Under the ruling, the Caribbean islands under Colombian jurisdiction will remain with that country but Nicaragua has the right to extend its Caribbean territorial waters 200 miles out on the continental shelf from its shores. Colombia retains waters around the islands San Andres, Catalina, and Providencia (confirmed as belonging to Colombia in a 2007 ruling) along with a number of smaller cays. In his Nov. 19 address, Ortega expressed concern about Colombia's reluctance to accept the ruling and assured the inhabitants of the Colombian islands that they would be able to continue to fish in their traditional waters. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on the 19th that, because the court had made “grave errors,” his country did not accept the ruling and would seek “alternatives to the decision.” In this he was supported by his predecessor, former President Alvaro Uribe, who noted in a Twitter message that other countries, including the United States, had refused to accept World Court decisions. [In 1986, the Court found the US guilty of aggression against Nicaragua in the contra war.]
Meanwhile, Panama, Honduras, and Costa Rica said that that the World Court ruling did not affect their maritime borders in the Caribbean, contrary to statements by Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angel Holguin that the ruling contradicted treaties between Colombia and the three Central American nations. In the cases of Honduras and Costa Rica who asked to submit briefs as parties to the case, the Court assured them that its ruling would not affect third parties and it did not accept their participation. Romulo Roux, Panamanian Foreign Minister said, “No ruling of the Court can affect a sovereign state that is not a party to the process.”
United States reaction to the Court's decision was mixed. US Ambassador to Nicaragua Phyllis Powers said, “Really, this is an issue between Nicaragua and Colombia and my government is confident that they will resolve it between them.” Kevin Whitaker, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said that Washington was “concerned” about the ruling and will analyze it because it does affect US interests. The last time he was in Nicaragua was in Feb. 2010 when he demanded that Nicaragua respect the Democratic Charter of the OAS and improve “governability” in the country. He was political officer in Nicaragua from 1995 to 1998. Ricardo Zuñiga, White House national security advisor for the Western Hemisphere, appeared to agree more with Ambassador Powers. He said, “The ruling and the dispute are bilateral issues between Colombia and Nicaragua on which we do not take a position,” adding, “We cooperate against drug trafficking with many countries and our intention is to continue functioning.”
Nicaraguan coast guard vessels were in place in the newly gained maritime territory, according to the head of Nicaragua's armed forces, General Julio Cesar Aviles. Aviles said, “We are in the limits that the World Court has assigned us. We have sailed to the east of the [disputed] 82nd meridian,” adding that Nicaraguan vessels had not noted the presence of any Colombian ships. President Ortega said on Nov. 26 that new maps were being drawn up to show the recently recovered maritime territories and that Nicaraguan authorities were meeting with officials of the United States to discuss modifications to agreements on cooperation in the zone against drug trafficking. (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 19, 26; Informe Pastran, Nov. 20, 21, 27; La Prensa, Nov. 21, 24, 28; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 27)
2. Supreme Electoral Council issues final election results
The Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) issued the final results of the November 4 municipal elections, confirming that the governing Sandinista Party won in 134 of the country's 153 municipalities, the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) in 13, the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) in two, Yatama in three, and the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance in one. The nation will have 62 women mayors, a record that is the result of changes to the electoral law mandating that half of each party's candidates for mayor and council seats be women.
The CSE rejected the challenges submitted by the PLI and the PLC. The PLI had challenged the results in Ciudad Dario, Matiguas and El Almendro and the PLC in Nueva Guinea. Roberto Rivas, president of the CSE, said that the Nicaraguan electoral system worked in a pyramid and that challenges had to begin at the precinct level in order to then be referred up to the national level. PLI leader Luis Callejas said that the vote tallies were correct when they left the precincts but at some point along the way some disappeared and were not counted. He accused the CSE of “killing the hopes of the people in a transparent electoral process.” Mauricio Zuñiga of the Institute for Development and Democracy (IPADE) said that the electoral law states that challenges can be made to the CSE when it is demonstrated that results were changed after leaving the precinct, either at the departmental or national level.
IPADE [which has received US funding for official national election observation] observed these elections in an unofficial capacity and reported that “the political parties did not indicate signs of irregularities in 148 of the 153 municipalities” and limited their challenges to a few localities. IPADE noted that the proofs presented in the case of Nueva Guinea were serious enough for the CSE to review the count and its decision to reject the challenge “affects the legitimacy of the electoral authorities.” (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 21; Informe Pastran, Nov. 21, 22, 27; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 27)
3. Tax reform in National Assembly
A bill to reform Nicaragua's tax system was reported out of committee on Nov. 26 and is expected to be debated by the whole Assembly this week. Tax reform has been one of the measures demanded of Nicaragua by the International Monetary Fund. Sandinista Deputy Walmaro Gutierrez said that taxes on the 56 products of the basket of basic consumer goods that have been taxed in the past will not be increased, although a few luxury foods will see an increase. He added that the provisions in the bill had been discussed throughout the past few months with a wide spectrum of sectors including small, medium and large business people and farmers.
Reaction to the bill was mixed with La Prensa saying that big businesses would continue to receive tax exemptions while taxes on professional services would be increased. The daily criticized the system of deductions for health care and education expenditures saying that the refund to the tax payer would come in the form of a note of credit and, because the tax office was so inefficient, it would probably never be delivered. For La Prensa, the only positive aspect of the new law would be that the Minister of the Treasury would be obligated to inform the National Assembly and the Comptroller General's Office as to which companies receive tax exemptions and for how much and that information will then be public knowledge.
On the other hand, economist Nestor Avendaño said that the reforms “will promote economic growth in the medium and long term, reducing the tax rate from 30% to 25% between 2016 and 2020 to attract more national and foreign investment.” He noted that five common “luxury” food products will be taxed while the minimum salary at which workers have to begin to pay income tax will rise adding that, “We must respect the principle that he who has more pays more; he who has less pays less.” (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 26; La Prensa, Nov. 26; Informe Pastran, Nov. 27; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 27)
4. Lake Xolotlan rising and growing
Lake Xolotlan (Lake Managua) has grown in area by over 40 sq. km. in the past two years according to the Regional System of Visualization and Monitoring of Mesoamerica (SERVIR). That finding comes as no surprise to the people living on the lake shore or the Sandinista government which has moved almost 1,000 families from flood-prone land over the past year. The growth amounts to a 3.8% increase in the lake's size. The water level has increased from 38.7 meters above sea level to 42.6 meters, nearly the level reached in the devastating 1998 Hurricane Mitch. The increase was attributed to 14 years of higher than normal rains in the San Juan River watershed. Nicaragua is among the countries of the world most vulnerable to the affects of climate change. (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 25; La Prensa, Nov. 25)
5. Sustainable Energy Forum delegates visit La Chureca
The Central American Regional Forum on Sustainable Energy met last week in Managua with ministers of the environment from six countries in attendance. Participants visited the largest solar energy plant in Central America located in Diriamba in the Department of Carazo as well as the Santiago Regional Hospital in Carazo where hot water is produced by solar energy. Environmental Ministers and Vice-Ministers also visited the La Chureca landfill in Managua to learn about the Acahualinca Neighborhood Integral Development Project. Four of a planned 38 natural gas wells have been installed on the dump and will eventually provide energy. The development project has already closed and sealed 90% of the dump and will soon close the remainder, replacing it with a modern recycling and garbage disposal plant that will employ 450 workers from the 238 families which previously made their living scavenging on the largest dump in Latin America, in operation since 1943. One hundred thirty-six people are already employed.
The Sandinista government has moved the families to new social housing in the area, provided job training, and enabled the children to attend school. The project is expected to open in coming months, perhaps by Christmas, with an additional US$15 million in aid from the Spanish government which has already invested US$45 million to close the dump and build the recycling center. The new facility will be able to process 140 tons of trash each hour, most of what Managua produces daily. Jason Toruño, director of community cleaning, promised that the approximately 140 illegal dumps around the city will be cleaned up when the La Chureca facility opens. Former Managua Mayor Dionisio Marenco said that Managua will need two or three smaller landfills to accommodate the amount of trash that will be produced by a growing Managua. (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 22; La Prensa, Nov. 23, 24, 26)
6. Progress in efforts against child labor
The elimination of child labor has been a goal of the government of President Daniel Ortega since taking office in 2007. Progress on coming into compliance with the ILO convention on child labor is being made. The National Commission on Juvenile Employment (CNEJ) is coordinating the formation of a National Plan of Juvenile Labor and Employment 2012-2016. A total of 5,000 youth aged 15-24 benefited from the installation of Municipal Juvenile Employment Centers in 11 municipalities in the Departments of Chinandega, Masaya, Rivas, Jinotega and Matagalpa. From 2007-2011 labor inspectors throughout the country signed 4,089 agreements with employers in which they agreed to comply with labor rights laws for juvenile workers and not to employ children. The program to make the coffee harvest free of child labor has recruited farmers, mayors, the education ministry, Ministry of Health, and rural unions, placing 1,000 children in Jinotega, El Tuma-La Dalia, and Carazo in educational, health and recreational activities. Programs in Chinandega, El Rama and El Bluff have also created alternatives and removed children from dangerous jobs crushing stones or working in mines. Helping parents get better jobs is also part of the programs.
For young legal age workers the multi-agency initiative has provided job safety training and protective equipment. From 2007 to 2011, the government conducted 2,665 special workplace inspections and rescued 2,770 underage workers. It restored the labor rights to 601 adolescent domestic workers and educated 6,261 young workers about their labor rights. In 2011 the government issued 3,000 work permits for adolescents of working age.
Hermogenes Polanco of the government program MiFamilia in Chontales said that the number of children who work in the countryside and in the cities is still high and that it is difficult to eradicate this problem. He said that his agency works with parents to reduce their children's work hours to two to four hours a day so that they can go to school. Classes are held for parents to improve their own economic situation so that their children will not have to work. (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 23, 24; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 27)
7. Preventative programs counter violence in Granada
The Ministry of Education and the National Police are jointly implementing preventative programs in Granada neighborhoods exposed to street violence and drugs, including La Sabaneta, Adelita, Villa Sandino, Pancasán and Calle La Calzada. Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) are US drug prevention programs first used in Nicaragua in 2001. Director of Youth Affairs of the National Police, Commissioner Pedro Rodriguez Argueta extolled these programs stating, "These programs help children and teenagers say 'No' to any harmful situation and motivates them to pursue other productive paths." The GREAT and DARE programs serve 20,000 youths annually. In Granada alone, the programs have benefited 500 primary and secondary students this year. (El Nuevo Diario, Nov 27)
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