Nicaragua Network

1. Government opens talks with economic sectors about joining TPP
2. Remembering Chavez on third anniversary of his death
3. Volcanoes still active; NASA highlights satellite photo of Momotombo
4. Community health care model is fighting Zika
5. Lobster diving extended but on the decline
6. Low oil prices cutting into recycling efforts
7. Nicaraguan sign language unique; new web site inaugurated
8. Transportation news briefs

1. Government opens talks with economic sectors about joining TPP

The Nicaraguan government has opened discussions with representatives of the country’s economic sectors about the benefits of requesting membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement among Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Canada, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and Vietnam. [Agreement on the accord was reached in October 2015 but each country’s legislature has to approve laws to implement it.] Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said that Nicaragua must continue to open markets for its farmers, businesspeople, and workers while making them more productive and competitive to generate more employment. Central Bank President Ovidio Reyes said that Nicaragua has substantially increased its export capacity which would permit it to “take advantage of a larger market” such as the TPP. Guatemala and Honduras are both considering the same proposal.

Gustavo Porras, general secretary of the National Workers Front (FNT), said that unions would begin a process of consultation, debate, and analysis on the advantages and disadvantages of joining the TPP. “Workers will support everything that improves levels of employment and that improves the quality of what Nicaragua produces,” he said.

The director of the US State Department’s Office of Bilateral Trade Affairs, Robert Manogue, said in Managua recently that most of the products that Nicaragua exports to the United States would continue to enjoy important tariff advantages for a decade over similar products exported to the US from TPP member countries. But, Dean Garcia, executive director of the Nicaraguan Garment and Textile Association (ANITEC), said that, if Nicaragua joined the TPP, it would be able to buy raw materials from any of the countries in the trade area and assemble products that could enter the United States under special tariff privileges that it does not have under the Central America Free Trade Agreement.

Nicaragua currently belongs to several trade alliances, including the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA)—a cooperative agreement, the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) with the United States, the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), the Central American-European Union Association Accord, and the Central American Integration System (SICA), as well as bilateral trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Canada. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 3; Informe Pastran, Mar. 3)

2. Remembering Chavez on third anniversary of his death

National Assembly President Rene Nuñez said that Nicaraguans felt respect, affection, and admiration for the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whom he called the heir of Bolivar and Sandino. He noted that Chavez, like Augusto Sandino before him, had taken up the ideas of liberator Simon Bolivar for a free and anti-imperialist Latin America. The Assembly honored Chavez on the third anniversary of his death, which was Saturday, Mar. 5. To commemorate the day, the government organized events and activities around the country culminating in a gathering at the Hugo Chavez circle in Managua.

President Daniel Ortega traveled to Caracas to participate in commemorations there which were attended by other Latin American leaders, including President Evo Morales of Bolivia and Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren. In his speech at the memorial event, Ortega sent “our very special salute to our brother, President Nicolas Maduro, … and to the people who are doing battle in the midst of enormous challenges.” He also denounced the renewal by President Barack Obama of an executive order first issued last March that declared Venezuela a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States saying, “They are underestimating us; they are underestimating the strength of the Bolivarian revolution.”

The Venezuelan oil provided to the 18 member countries of PETROCARIBE under favorable repayment provisions declined by 17% in 2015 compared to the previous year. (In general, however, Venezuela increased its exportation of oil in 2015 in order to make up for the gigantic drop in price on the world market.) In turn, Nicaragua has exported less to Venezuela, according to the Center for Export Procedures (CETREX). CETREX reported that in the first two months of 2016 Venezuela imported US$23.25 million in food products from Nicaragua compared to US$59.03 million during the same period in 2015, with coffee, beef and milk particularly affected. Nicaragua has made some of its oil payments “in kind” with food exports to the South American country. According to analysts, there will be no problem finding other markets for Nicaragua’s coffee but it will be difficult to find other markets for the liquid milk that was being exported to Venezuela. In the first two months of 2015 Nicaragua exported over 10,500 tons of milk to Venezuela while so far this year no milk has gone to Venezuela. (Informe Pastran, Mar. 3, 4, 7, La Prensa, Mar. 6, 7; Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 5; Telesur English, Mar. 4)

3. Volcanoes still active; NASA highlights satellite photo of Momotombo

Seventy-eight explosions were registered at the Momotombo volcano over the weekend of Mar. 5-6, according to government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo, with, she said, a total of 279 since the volcano began erupting at the beginning of December. Monday morning, Mar. 7, the volcano shot gas and ashes more than 1,000 meters into the sky. Telica volcano registered eleven explosions over the weekend for a total of 75 while the lake of lava continued its active movement inside the Masaya volcano. Eleven earth tremors were registered over the weekend.

On Mar. 5, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) posted on its web page a report on Momotombo with a Mar. 2 photograph from its Terra satellite of the volcano and the area surrounding it which can be viewed here: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=87623. The report notes that when the image was taken, “a plume was drifting west-southwest from the volcano over the town of Puerto Momotombo, the World Heritage site of Leon Viejo, and nearby farming villages. The lava visible on the north and northeast of the summit is a combination of new and old flows.” The report goes on to quote Chuck Connor, a geologist at the University of South Florida conducting field research at the volcano, who noted, “The lava flow extending down and off the northeast flank is still steaming.” Connor continued, “The volcano is located in one of the most volcanically and seismically active areas on Earth.” He explained that the structure of the lava flows and other deposits “provide invaluable information about how such features formed on other planets like Mars.” (Informe Pastran, Mar. 7; El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 6, 7; Earth Observatory, Mar. 5)

4. Community health care model is fighting Zika

On Mar. 2, the government announced that, in the 33 days since the first case in the country was detected, Nicaragua had confirmed 93 cases of Zika. The latest was a 63 year old Managua woman. After the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an advisory about the dangerous spread of the disease, Nicaraguan authorities amplified their plans for the elimination of egg-laying sites for the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Campaigns against the Aedes Aegypti were already in effect because this mosquito also carries the Chikuingunya and dengue viruses which had sickened many Nicaraguans with the latter causing numerous deaths.

Carlos Cruz, Director of Health Services for the Ministry of Health, said that “If we do not want the Zika virus to come into our homes we have to take a series of measures,” including frequently scrubbing the sides of laundry trays and water barrels, covering water barrels, frequently changing the water in dog dishes and animal drinking troughs, all with the goal of preventing the mosquitos from laying their eggs in standing water. He said on Mar. 1 that the previous week health brigades had visited 185,606 homes in 880 neighborhoods and communities. Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said that, “The family and community healthcare model is successfully coordinating cleanup of streets, parks, schools and doing everything necessary to win this battle against Zika, which is a battle for life, especially lives of pregnant women who are the most vulnerable to the virus.”  (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 2; Informe Pastran, Mar. 1; Nicaragua News, Mar. 1)

5. Lobster diving extended but on the decline

On March 1, the National Assembly extended indefinitely the implementation of the prohibition of commercial lobster diving on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast. The prohibition of diving for lobster, which often results in paralysis or death for the diver, was to go into effect on March 26, having been postponed several times in the hope that other jobs could be found for the divers. Sandinista Deputy Filiberto Rodriguez, who sits on the Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment, said that the Nicaraguan Fisheries Institute (INPESCA) and the regional governments of the North and South Caribbean Autonomous Regions had requested such a change to the law because the bread winners of numerous families would be made jobless if it went into effect.

However, many of the divers have already moved into other fishing activities including catching lobsters with traps, according to Armando Segura, president of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Fishing (CAPENIC). He said the numbers are declining because of a program supervised by the Central American Fishing and Aquaculture Organization under the auspices of the Central American Integration System (SICA) which is creating job alternatives in other areas of the fishing industry. The number of commercial boats that use divers has declined from 26 in 2011 to 13 today and the number of artisanal boats has declined from 370 to 180 during the same time period. Segura said that just over 3,000 people make their living from the Caribbean spiny lobster industry, including divers, diver helpers, sailors, sorters, sellers, and buyers. The export of lobsters grew by 32.5% in 2015 over 2014, according to the Center for Export Procedures (CETREX). Fisheries exports are expected to reach US$300 million in 2016, including fish, lobsters, sea cucumbers, and clams. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 1, 7)

6. Low oil prices cutting into recycling efforts

A hidden casualty of the low price of oil is recycling. As the price of oil has fallen, so has the demand for recyclable materials resulting in a fall in prices which disincentivises collectors from picking up trash in the streets. Environmentalists and public health officials are concerned that the accumulation of trash will lead to more disease and illnesses. David Narvaez, president of the national network RedNica said prices for recyclable materials, especially plastics, have fallen by 40%. The estimated 10,000 collectors of recyclables have seen their income fall steadily over the past several months. Nora Marin, director of ReciclaNica said that last year the price earned for a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of plastic was US$0.18, but is now half that much. Companies that export recycled materials have also seen a drastic fall in prices on the international level. Narvaez pointed out that Nicaraguans produce 1,600 tons of trash a day, of which 6.5-7% is recycled. “For us this is worrisome,” he said. “We’re still in diapers when it comes to recycling…. Chile, Brazil, and Argentina are reusing the raw materials. We are working toward making plastic chairs, tables and other articles like they do in other countries,” he added. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 2)

7. Nicaraguan sign language unique; new web site inaugurated

El Nuevo Diario published a feature on Nicaragua’s unique sign language for the hearing impaired which was invented without reference to other sign languages by students at Managua’s Melania Morales School for the Deaf in the 1980s. Frustrated by their teachers’ insistence on oral teaching and verbal responses, students at the school surreptitiously developed their own sign language and in 1994 produced a dictionary of signs after convincing skeptical teachers that they were communicating rather than mimicking. Juan Javier Lopez, president of the Federation of Associations of People with Disabilities (FECONORI), said, “They prohibited us from using signs but it was natural for us.” Today Nicaragua’s unique sign language is studied by linguists; recognized (since 2009) in Nicaraguan law; one can earn a teaching degree in it; and there is even a television show in Nicaraguan sign language on Channel 6. Classes are taught at the headquarters of the Association of the Deaf of Nicaragua (ASNIC) and families are provided with the education in sign language that they need to communicate with deaf family members.  

In related news, on Mar. 1, the Central American University (UCA) announced the inauguration of a web site (www.etavs.org) with information about resources for people who are blind or deaf and a communications platform for them to use. At the inauguration of the site, Samuel Ubeda said that the project “will be administered by the deaf and the blind with the help of volunteers.” According to a government census carried out five years ago, Nicaragua has 16,000 people with vision disabilities and 13,000 persons who are deaf. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 1, 4)  

8. Transportation news briefs

Beginning on March 1, buses traveling between Managua and other cities were not allowed to carry standing passengers. Francisco Moreno, president of the Cooperative of Transporters of the North (COTRAN), said that bus owners would comply with the safety regulations but that they would ask the Ministry of Transportation to review the fare schedule because with no standing passengers, they would earn much less. Riders were of mixed minds with some applauding the new rules and some complaining that fares would go up and others saying that they sometimes needed to ride standing up rather than wait for a later bus in order to get to work on time. The Transportation Ministry was fining violators about US$18. Bus owners demanded a 20% rise in the fare for express buses from Managua to Matagalpa, from US$2.70 to US$3.25, while owners of buses traveling to Rivas wanted a 35% increase. Maura Mairena said that the bus that she takes from Managua to San Carlos in the Department of Rio San Juan leaves Managua full with all passengers seated but picks up standing passengers along the way who pack the bus beyond conditions of safety. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 1, 3, 4)

Meanwhile, the Nicaragua Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) signed a US$65 million loan to improve road infrastructure in the northern part of the country. Pablo Martinez, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, said the funds will be used to build 33.5 kilometers of the El Comejen-Waslala highway in Matagalpa department. (Nicaragua News, Mar. 4)

In related news, according to the National Police, the five principal highways that connect Managua with the rest of Nicaragua are congested with 40,000 vehicles during rush hours at the beginning and the end of the work day. Each of the five highways, the north highway, the Masaya highway, the south highway, and the old and the new Leon highways, carries about 8,000 vehicles. The Police stations traffic police at key points to move traffic along and prevent accidents, according to the head of the traffic division Roberto Gonzalez Kraudy. While final figures have not been released, through November of 2015 there had been 556 traffic deaths in Nicaragua compared with 672 for all of 2014, an apparent decline of over 100 deaths. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 1; Informe Pastran, Mar. 2)