Nicaragua Network

1. Two million people visit beaches over Holy Week
2. Ortega condemns Belgium terror attack
3. Economic briefs: 4.9% growth rate; more eggs; more cell phones; FTZ workshop
4. Momotombo erupting again and National Geographic arrives
 

1. Two million people visit beaches over Holy Week

Holy Week and Easter were marked in Nicaragua by religious processions and services, and visits to the ocean or the country’s lakes and rivers to escape the excessive heat that always characterizes this time of year but which this year reached new heights. The Red Cross reported that thirty-two people died by drowning while lifeguards rescued 250 others from the water. The National Police reported that 27 people died and another 80 were injured in 559 traffic accidents. That was 133 more accidents and 15 more deaths than occurred during Holy Week in 2015, according to Police Commissioner Francisco Diaz. There were 11 murders during the week. The Office of Migration reported that 95,884 people, including Nicaraguans and foreigners, had entered the country during Holy Week. Eduardo Fonseca, director of the Chamber of Retail and Service Industries, said that he believed that his sector exceeded its projections of US$180 million in sales for the period.

According to government communications coordinator Rosario Murillo, between Mar. 19 and 26, more than two million people had visited the country’s 400 swimming locations and one million had participated in religious processions. Temperatures, famously high this time of year, were above normal for Holy Week and Easter with Managua temperatures at 98.6°F and Chinandega reaching 101.8°F on Easter Sunday. By Good Friday (Mar. 25), Murillo reported, free government buses had taken 75,000 low-income Managua residents to enjoy nearby lakes and she added that on Holy Saturday and Easter “another important number of families will spend a happy day at the beach at Granada [on Lake Cocibolca] or at Xiloá Crater Lake.”

On Good Friday, 200 artists prepared sawdust carpets portraying 44 different religious scenes on the streets near St. John the Baptist Church in the indigenous Subtiaba neighborhood of Leon. The best carpets were awarded prizes by the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute. The designs on the carpets, however, were brushed away by the evening Good Friday processions not to appear again until next year.

Managua Archbishop Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes celebrated Easter mass at Resurrected Christ Church in Las Americas II neighborhood in Managua. In a country where Easter seems less important than Good Friday, Brenes said, “For many it is easy to take on [Christ’s] passion and death, what is difficult is to recognize the hope of the resurrection.” He noted that Mary Magdalene and the other women were the first to the tomb “while the men slept.” He also asked those present to use their cell phones to send an Easter message to someone who could not attend the mass and at the end of the mass to read back some of the replies they received. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 25, 26, 27, 28; La Prensa, Mar. 28; Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 28)

2. Ortega condemns Belgium terror attack

President Daniel Ortega sent a message of condolence to the Belgian government which strongly condemned the terrorist attack in that city that killed 34 people and injured more than 200. “We want to extend our heartfelt condolences and express our total condemnation of the terrorist attack that Brussels experienced this morning,” the president wrote.  Nicaraguan Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes also lamented the attacks in a message to his counterpart in Brussels, Archbishop Joseph de Kesel. Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo reported that a Nicaraguan from Santa Tomas, Chontales, who lived in Belgium, was safe. He had arrived at the Brussels airport on a flight from Nicaragua shortly before the attack. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 22)

3. Economic briefs: 4.9% growth rate; more eggs; more cell phones; FTZ workshop

On Mar. 28, the Central Bank released a report with the country’s economic numbers for the year 2015. Nicaragua grew at a rate of 4.9%, according to the Bank, up from 4.6% the previous year. Contributing to the growth were low fuel prices, the government’s program of public investment and dynamic private investment, along with internal demand. The country’s trade deficit grew, however, with imports growing by 11.6% and exports dropping in value by 2%, due to lower international commodity prices. The most dynamic sector was construction which grew by 25% followed by financial services with 9.5% growth and commerce with 7%. Preliminary figures (based on a third quarter report) released on Mar. 23 indicated that tourism will have produced US$528.6 million in 2015, an increase of 18.7% over 2014 (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 23, 28)

According to the National Poultry and Feed Association (ANAPA), the country’s egg industry expects to produce 657 million eggs in 2016, approximately 66.4 million more than in 2015. ANAPA president Donald Tuckler said that the increased capacity is due to the efforts of the Nicaraguan Egg Commission in coordination with the central government to raise production. He said that the egg sector is very diverse with producers of all sizes in all zones of the country. As part of efforts to strengthen conformity with global food traceability standards and to inform consumers, egg producers of more than 200 boxes daily must stamp each egg with an identifying mark and retailers who buy from smaller producers must carry a record of where the eggs originated. Alfonso Valerio of the Egg Commission said efforts were ongoing to increase Nicaraguans’ consumption of eggs which has risen from 60 eggs per person per year in 2007 to 100 eggs per year in 2015 but which is still the lowest in Latin America. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 28)

According to cellular and wireless industry media outlet Telecompaper, cell phone usage in Nicaragua has skyrocketed over the last ten years from 1.62 million accounts in 2006 to 7.26 million in 2015, representing a growth of 350%. The national telephone company, Telcor, stated in its annual report that the number of landlines over the same period grew from 247,862, to 354,017, a 38.5% increase and internet connections grew by an order of magnitude from 23,624 to 236,997. (Informe Pastran, Mar. 2)

The Better Work Program in Nicaragua organized a workshop on occupational safety and better practices in the Free Trade Zone sector earlier this month in Managua. Jonas Astrup, an expert on social responsibility issues at the International Labor Organization (ILO), said the workshop contributed to improvement in the healthcare of workers, to the strengthening of work safety and to increased productivity in the Free Trade Zone sector. (Nicaragua News, Mar. 28)

4. Momotombo erupting again and National Geographic arrives

Momotombo Volcano erupted again on Mar. 24, sending a column of gas and ash as high as 2,000 meters into the air and incandescent material as high as 500 meters. Armando Saballos of the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (INETER) said that some of the explosions have been loud enough to be heard by nearby communities. Momotombo began erupting in December 2015 and scientists have counted 404 explosions since then, the majority of them small but some of them spectacular, with 32 over the Easter weekend.

Meanwhile, a team of scientists led by Sam Cossman from National Geographic arrived in Nicaragua on Mar 26 to explore the lake of lava in the Masaya Volcano and prepare the way for a documentary film team that is expected to come later. INETER adviser Wilfried Strauch said, “We invited Sam Cossman to help us in the investigation of what is happening in the Masaya Volcano. You know that there is a lake of lava that has gotten very big and very beautiful and Sam Cossman has done work on similar volcanoes in other parts of the world.” He added, “We hope that work on the documentary can help us to understand what is happening in the volcano because we cannot go down there easily.” Cossman has used drones to film close to dangerous lava in other volcanoes. To watch a Sam Cossman film of a volcano in the island Republic of Vanuatu in the Pacific, go here: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/150220-volcano-drones-vin?source=relatedvideo(El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 25, 27)