Nicaragua Network

1. Analysts discuss nine years of Daniel Ortega’s second presidency

On Jan. 10, President Daniel Ortega marked the ninth anniversary of his inauguration as president in 2007. He also served as coordinator of the Reconstruction Junta from 1979 to 1984 and as president from 1984 to 1990. Analysts pointed to important advances that the country has made since 2007. Economist Nestor Avendano told Informe Pastran, “With nine years in power, the most outstanding aspect of the presidency of Comandante Daniel Ortega is the guarantee of macroeconomic stability which has attracted an important flow of foreign investment and sustained economic growth. But it is still insufficient to reduce underemployment and poverty. The advances have been, to a large degree, thanks to the dialogue between the government and the business community and the workers.” Avendano went on to say, “In the area of social policies, what stands out is the shift from assistance to the poor to more human development with an increase in basic social services. Nevertheless, problems of income inequality, underemployment and informal labor persist.”

Telemaco Talavera, head of the National Council of Universities, said that besides the advances in macroeconomic stability, “The executive also pushed programs such as Zero Hunger which promotes local production of food and Zero Usury which provides loans with low interest in particular to women heads of household.” According to a study published late last year by the National Institute on Development Information, which surveyed 1,700 households throughout the nation, poverty declined in the period 2009 to 2014 from 42.5% to 29.6%.

Former Foreign Minister Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, who served under former President Arnoldo Aleman, said, “Nine years after Comandante Daniel Ortega returned to the presidency, there are two great tendencies that his administrations have shown. First, pragmatism in the economy. In that area, the prudent and responsible management of the macroeconomy has enabled the country to achieve rates of growth that are among the highest in Latin America in recent years and other important achievements such as better highways and roads, more access to electricity especially in the rural areas, and poverty reduction.” But, he said, on the flip side has been an erosion of separation of powers and the rule of law, weakening of institutions, and above all elections that lack transparency.” (Informe Pastran, Jan. 11; Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 10)

2. Electoral Tribunal to announce election schedule in March

Edwin Castro, head of the Sandinista bench in the National Assembly, said on Jan. 11 that the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) would announce the schedule for the general elections of November of this year in March. Voters will elect the president, vice-president, and members of the National Assembly and the Central American Parliament. In past elections the CSE has issued the call for elections in November of the year before the vote so expectations have been rising about the 2016 schedule for registration of candidates, etc. On Jan. 5, Wilber Lopez, head of the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) bench, had said, “It is very important that the Supreme Electoral Council immediately release the electoral calendar. We need [the CSE] to convene the political parties and lay out the rules.”

Meanwhile, members of the opposition continued to express their desire for unity. Eduardo Montealegre, leader of the PLI who has run for president in the past, said that he would not be a candidate this time. He said, “I’m not going to run. I’m just going to put in my grain of sand to help; I’m not going to get in the way. What we are doing is seeking out all those who will join us, those who are truly in opposition to the Sandinista Front.” Noel Vidaurre has said that he will spend January seeing unity but if that is not achieved he will announce his candidacy for the presidency running for the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), although in the past he has run as a Conservative. Vidaurre said that he has met numerous times with Montealegre attempting to achieve unity between the PLC and PLI but the efforts have so far come to naught. And National Assembly Deputy Wilfredo Navarro revealed that a group of dissidents from the PLC and PLI are forming still another Liberal Party that will be known as the Independent Constitutional Liberal Party. “We are tired of the shady maneuvers of the PLI and the PLC,” he said, “and bored with Eduardo Montealegre and [former President] Arnoldo Aleman who always want to be in charge.”

Radio broadcaster Fabio Gadea, who ran as the opposition candidate for president in 2011, said that in spite of his advanced age (he is over 80 years old), he is having medical check ups and would run if asked: “Of course, even if I would die in the effort. If we had guarantees I would accept.” He added that the CSE must invite sufficient national and international observers who would visit the polling stations and make sure voters had their registration cards.

Members of the Nicaraguan Resistance Party (PRN), one wing of the former contras, said that they were ready to continue in alliance with the Sandinista Party (FSLN) in the coming elections. Julio Cesar Blandon, known as Comandante Kaliman in the 1980s, told El Nuevo Diario that the leadership of his party based its decision on the good management of the Sandinista government. He said that the PRN would negotiate with the FSLN a certain number of slots on the list of candidates for the National Assembly and other offices and even said that the party would like to see one of its leaders as the Sandinista candidate for vice-president.

On Jan. 11, the Civic Electoral Tribunal (TEC), organized by the non-governmental organization Hagamos Democracia [which has received so-called “democracy promotion” funding from the US government], announced the names of four people who will run for president and 136 for the National Assembly in primary elections funded by the group. The four are Erick Cabezas for the Conservative Party, Moises Hassan for the Historic PLI and Citizen Action Party, Claudia Cuadra for the Christian Socialist Party, and independent Luis Adolfo Medal. (Informe Pastran, Jan. 5, 6, 7, 8, 11; La Prensa, Jan. 10, 11; El Nuevo Diario, Jan. 12)

3. Energy news: Renewables on the rise; more investment in renewables; electricity losses

The Ministry of Energy and Mines announced on Jan. 11 that, at certain times of day, up to 65% of Nicaragua’s energy needs are being met by renewable energy. For example, on Jan. 11, between 8 and 11:00am, only 35% of the energy being used in the country was produced from petroleum while 30% came from wind power, 14.5% geothermal, 10%, biomass, and 10% hydroelectric. But, by 2:00pm, the percentage provided by renewables had dropped to 55%, still an impressive number. The government has proclaimed a goal of generating 91% of the country’s energy by renewables by the year 2027. According to Mauricio Medal, an expert in clean energy, investment in renewable energy in Nicaragua has proved attractive for international investors. Medal said “The developers of renewable energy sources enjoy a wide range of tax benefits, including exoneration from import taxes, value added taxes, and income taxes. (El Nuevo Diario, Jan. 12)

Meanwhile, the president of the Chamber of Energy of Nicaragua, Cesar Zamora, announced that the energy industry is planning on investing in the near future US$300 million in projects of wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy. He said that the energy industry would present to the government a proposal this week for a reduction in electricity rates, noting that in 2015, Nicaragua saved 32% over the previous year in the cost of energy production based on the drop in the price of petroleum and the increase in the number of renewable energy projects. (Informe Pastran, Jan. 8)

On the other hand, energy experts say that Nicaragua loses 20% of its energy due to obsolete lines. Zamora said that the average for the Central American region is 11%. He said that money from the sale of petroleum that goes to poverty reduction should go to reduce these losses and also to reduce the electricity rates and expand coverage. However, engineer Fernando Barcenas said that would signify a gift to the private distribution companies who committed themselves in 2013 to invest US$75 million to improve the distribution system in five years, something that they have not done. Barcenas added that Nicaragua’s energy loss is not so much from people connecting illegally to the electricity grid but rather to the deteriorated distribution system. (La Prensa, Jan. 9)

4. Ramas disagree about negotiations with Canal Commission

On Jan. 10, Allen Clair Duncan, a member of the Rama-Kriol Territorial Government, said that members of the indigenous territorial government were being pressured by the central government to sign a “lease in perpetuity” to 263 square kilometers of indigenous territory (both land and maritime) for the eastern terminus of the proposed inter-oceanic shipping canal and its subprojects. [The route of the canal goes through Rama territory to which the indigenous have communal title. By law the land cannot be sold but it can be leased.] He said that an assembly of the community only authorized the 18 members of the territorial assembly to negotiate with the Canal Commission a rental contract for the area it was going to occupy. Carlos Billis Wilson, president of the community of Bangkukuk Taik [which would have to be moved to a different location], said that he did not understand what he had signed because it was not well explained.

However, the next day, Hector Thomas McCrea, president of the Rama-Kriol Territorial Government, released a communique saying that Allen Clair Duncan was not authorized to speak for the territorial government and that his declarations about the consultation with the Canal Commission were false. He said that the process has been carried out in accord with a methodology elaborated by the Rama-Kriol Government and the Canal Commission and is based on good faith principles. (La Prensa, Jan. 11, 12)

5. Nicaragua continues to succeed against drug traffickers

Operation “Retaining Wall” of the IV Region Military Command, is designed to confront drug trafficking and organized crime. Commander Alberto Lorios reported the operation seized US$800,000 and 2,500 kilograms (5,500 lbs.) of cocaine in region IV in 2015 through the end of November and destroyed marijuana fields. Nationally, between Sept. 2014 and August 2015, the Police seized 5 ½ tons of cocaine and neutralized nine drug trafficking cells that attempted to settle in the nation, seized US$3 million, 183 guns, 296 light and heavy vehicles, 39 boats, 2,072 radios, and 111 properties. Combatting drug trafficking remains a high priority among government institutions and Nicaragua’s success, especially compared to the scourge of drug trafficking in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, has been recognized internationally. (Informe Pastran, Jan. 11)

6. State universities expect to grant 14,000 degrees in 2016

Nicaragua hopes to grant 14,000 university degrees in 2016, 64% of them to women, according to the National Universities Council (CNU). The CNU reported that there are 122,000 students enrolled in the university system studying 276 disciplines. First year students number 31,500. CNU President Telemaco Talavera said that the government pays for free university education for 100,000 students and provides partial support to the remainder.  The CNU is composed of the 10 largest universities, eight of them state and two state-subsidized. They enjoy a 90% retention rate. Another 47 private universities operate in Nicaragua but statistics were not available for them. (La Prensa, Jan. 8)

7. International news agency features women’s cooperative

An international news agency recently published a story about a successful 10 year old women’s cooperative in the rural Matagalpa mountain community of El Chile. The 18 women in the cooperative have achieved earnings of three times the minimum wage selling 33 products they make including handbags and purses, backpacks, etc. made on indigenous looms. The article points out that the cooperative’s success means the women do not need to migrate leaving their children behind for others to raise. “We have the economic capacity to sustain those salaries and to increase them if we wanted,” said marketing director Nohelia Corrales. “But we don’t because we prefer to create a fund with five key areas: scholarships, health, education, entertainment, and loans to improve our homes or purchase land.” Corrales also said that for three years the cooperative has funded annual family trips for its members. She added that one of the challenges is marketing because the product is more in demand for international tourists than for local customers. So, she said, the coop sends its weavings to 16 tourist sites around the country. It also has a web page at http://telaresnicaragua.com which has helped open markets in the United States, Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. (Informe Pastran, Jan. 6; Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 6)