Nicaragua Network

1. End of an era: IMF closes Nicaragua office
2. Ten years of CAFTA: the analysis begins
3. Political briefs: PLI selects Assembly candidates; Vidaurre resigns; human rights ombudsperson
4. Special units planned to treat mosquito-borne illnesses
5. Nicaragua loses half its water supply to drought and deforestation
6. Environmentalists feed and water monkeys dying from long-running drought
7. High temperatures cause suffering and increase energy demand
8. U.S. allocates money for “violence reduction” in Nicaragua

1. End of an era: IMF closes Nicaragua office

On Apr. 1, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it was closing its office in Nicaragua on August 1. The announcement said, “This decision reflects the success that Nicaragua has had in maintaining macroeconomic stability and growth since the conclusion of the Extended Credit Facility program in 2011.” Juan Zalduendo, the IMF representative in Nicaragua, said that the IMF would maintain it offices in Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Brazil and Peru. He also stated that the IMF will maintain close cooperation and dialogue with Nicaragua on macroeconomic issues that the government may deem necessary. Nicaragua signed four programs with the IMF between June of 1994 and October 2011. Economist Nestor Avendaño said that the closing of the IMF office “is a recognition of the government and of the Nicaraguan nation because the country has a stable exchange rate with a low and stable inflation rate and because the public sector does not need a large influx of multilateral assistance due to adequate management of macroeconomic policy by the Treasury Ministry and the Central Bank.”

[Editor’s note: When the IMF and World Bank stabilization and adjustment programs began in Nicaragua, those organizations mandated privatization of public services, fees for public schools and primary health services and many other anti-people measures. When the Sandinistas returned to power in 2007, school and health care fees were ended and the moves toward privatization of water were stopped. Many feared that IMF and World Bank loans would end but in fact the World Bank has praised Nicaragua for its timely execution of projects and the IMF recently lauded the reduction of poverty. Some of this can be attributed to international campaigns against IMF and World Bank policies (a World Bank site now says, amazingly, “The World Bank is actively involved in attempts to eliminate user fees”!) but much of it has to do with the Sandinista government’s determination to end those policies and at the same time promote poverty reduction and growth and maintain economic stability.] (Informe Pastran, Mar. 30, Apr. 1; AFP, Mar. 30)

2. Ten years of CAFTA: the analysis begins

On Apr. 1^st, Nicaragua marks ten years since the country entered into the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), an accord between the United States and each of the five countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic. A number of Nicaraguan pundits have begun a discussion of whether the positive or the negative predictions about the agreement have turned out to be true. So far the consensus seems to be that the outcome has been positive with probable negative impacts awaiting in the near future.

Juan Sebastian Chamorro of the Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUNIDES) stated that many opponents had said that medicines would go up in price because of intellectual property protections and generic medicines would disappear but this did not happen. He added that some analysts said that due to the fact that the protections were negotiated by the US with each country and not the whole region, products would enter the country with the lowest tariffs and be transported to the other countries and damage local industries or crops. This did not happen either, he said. However, he stated, “Now, at ten years, tariff reduction on a series of products will enter into effect which could cause concern and producers must improve productivity if they want to compete; this is the case for rice and sorghum.” Chamorro added that Nicaragua’s exports to the United States have increased greatly, with Free Trade Zone growth being the “most notable.” He said that the value added by Nicaraguan workers at FTZ factories was US$222 million per year before CAFTA and now surpasses US$600 million. Before the agreement 55,000 people worked in FTZ factories while the current total is 113,000.

Former Central Bank president Mario Arana said that exports from Nicaragua to the US have grown from US$600 million annually before CAFTA to US$2.1 billion currently plus another US$1.7 billion in FTZ exports making Nicaragua the country in the region that has most benefitted from CAFTA. However, he said, dairy and poultry products, along with the above-mentioned rice and sorghum, which will come off protection in the next decade, are key to employment in the country and “We must concentrate on assuring that the production of these crops becomes more competitive and analyze the problems that the different sectors have.”

In addition, the Nicaragua News Bulletin of Oct. 8, 2013, reported that DR-CAFTA was pushing pork producers out of business because each year the amount of pork that the United States can send to Nicaragua free of tariff charges increases by 10%. There was also fear that when the tariffs come off peanuts, pineapple, peanut butter, fresh vegetables, cabbages, some cooking oil and others, there will be negative impact as well. (Informe Pastran, Apr. 1; Nicaragua News Bulletin, Oct. 8, 2013)

3. Political briefs: PLI selects Assembly candidates; Vidaurre resigns; human rights ombudsperson

The Independent Liberal Party (PLI) finalized its slate of candidates for the National Assembly on Mar. 29, choosing for the most part new faces. Under Nicaragua’s system of proportional representation, citizens vote for the party of their choice and seats in the Assembly are assigned based on the number of votes each party receives. The only current National Assembly deputies who will be running for reelection are Boarnerges Matus of Chontales, Raul Herrera of Esteli, and Jose Herrera of Madriz. Familiar names from the last five years, including Eliseo Nuñez, Wilber Lopez, and Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Barrios, are not on the slate of candidates. The alliance led by the PLI has not yet chosen its presidential candidate with several people in the running including octogenarian radio broadcaster and former candidate Fabio Gadea, Saturnino Cerrato of the New Christian Alliance Party, Luis Callejas of the PLI, and Christian Democratic Union President Wendy Puerto. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 29, Informe Pastran, Apr. 4)

Meanwhile, presidential candidate for the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) Noel Vidaurre insisted that “no family member or friend of [former President Arnoldo] Aleman is going to be a candidate for deputy.” However, Aleman said, referring to his wife Maria Fernanda Flores, “If she wants to be a candidate, I support her.” At an April 4 meeting of the PLC executive committee, Vidaurre, who is a veteran politician from the Conservative Party, was sidelined and not given a seat at the table. Leon politician Carlos Jiron said that Vidaurre had “offended the Liberal family.” Then, on Apr. 5, at a meeting of the PLC-led Unity Alliance, Vidaurre resigned his presidential candidacy over the issue. (El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 4; Informe Pastran, Apr. 4; La Prensa, Apr. 5)

In other political news, on Mar. 29, President Daniel Ortega proposed Corina del Carmen Centeno Rocha to fill the post of Human Rights Ombudsperson vacated recently by Omar Cabezas’ retirement. Centeno is from Prinzapolka in the North Caribbean Autonomous Region where she was general secretary of the Confederation of Health Workers. She holds a degree in health administration and currently works with the Local Systems of Integrated Health Attention (SILAIS) in Matagalpa and Jinotega.  National Assembly Deputy Wilber Lopez, leader of the PLI bench, told Channel 12 news that among the likely PLI nominations are Vilma Nuñez, president of the Nicaragua Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) and Marcos Carmona, executive director of the Permanent Commission on Human Rights (CPDH). However, on Apr. 1, the PLI bench proposed Alvaro Leiva, the executive secretary of the third, and most right wing, human rights group in Nicaragua, the Pro-Human Rights Association (ANPDH), funded by the United States in the 1980s to burnish the contras’ image. The president of the ANPDH is Bishop of Esteli Abelardo Mata, an outspoken critic of the Ortega government. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 30, Apr. 1, 4; Informe Pastran, Mar. 31, Apr. 1)

4. Special units planned to treat mosquito-borne illnesses

Communication coordinator Rosario Murillo announced on Mar. 30 the establishment of specialized healthcare units in hospitals throughout the country to strengthen the fight against deadly diseases such as Zika, dengue and Chikungunya. “Every patient showing signs of these diseases must be examined and treated by a multidisciplinary team in order to immediately and accurately evaluate their health condition,” Murillo said. She said that people who show a fever must stay in the unit for 24 hours where their vital signs will be taken every hour. Patients who show alarming signs will be stabilized by the health care team. It is hoped that the units will be set up in the next few weeks. On Mar. 29, Murillo said that there had been no new confirmed cases of Zika with the total remaining at 129 cases, including 14 pregnant women. On Apr. 4, the Ministry of Health announced that there had been 65 new cases of dengue in the previous week with 1,192 cases in 2016 of whom eight have died. There were 65 cases of Chikungunya confirmed last week with 363 cases so far in 2016. (Nicaragua News, Mar. 31; Informe Pastran, Mar. 29, 30; El Nuevo Diario, Apr.4)

5. Nicaragua loses half its water supply to drought and deforestation

Nicaragua’s three year long drought, exacerbated by El Niño and continued deforestation, has resulted in a 60% loss of surface water and 50% of underground sources which have either dried up or been polluted, according to former Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources Jaime Incer Barquero. Incer is currently president of the Nicaraguan Foundation for Sustainable Development (FUDENIC-SOS). He cited the disappearance of 100 rivers and tributaries and the contamination of lakes Tiscapa, Nejapa, Venecia, and Moyua. He also pointed to the drop in depth of Lake Cocibolca which has left boat piers far above the water, and Lake Managua where in some areas the lake has receded 200 meters.

The Coco River, which forms the Caribbean border with Honduras can be crossed on foot in some places and there are stretches as long as 8 kilometers that are dry. Despite dredging in the San Juan River, which forms the border with Costa Rica, sand bars disrupt navigation on increasingly large segments of the river.  FUDENIC-SOS blames climate change and the El Niño phenomenon, and also the government’s lack of policies to restrain deforestation. The Bosawas, Indio Maiz, Cerro Silva and Punta Gorda nature preserves have had massive forest loss that has accelerated in recent years. Environmental Resources Management (ERM), the firm hired by the Chinese company HKND Group to do an environmental impact study for the proposed shipping canal, reported that, between 1983 and 2011, “nearly 40 percent of the natural land cover in southeast Nicaragua was lost.”

The National Livestock Commission of Nicaragua (CONAGAN) stated in February that it was concerned about water shortages in areas that account for 30% of the country’s livestock. Ironically, the cattle industry is a major contributor to deforestation as it pushes the agricultural frontier farther and farther into what was unspoiled forest in search of more grazing land. The effects of El Niño are not expected to moderate until August of this year. The Union of Agricultural Producers in Nicaragua (UPANIC) estimates that US$200 million was lost to the drought in 2015. Nicaragua’s Central Bank also reported that low water levels affected hydroelectric production in 2015 which is the cheapest form of renewable energy. Family food security is another victim of the drought. Although the government has responded by distributing food and water, critics call the response “band-aids.” They want the government to declare a national emergency.

On April 5, the director of the National Water Authority, Luis Angel Montenegro, announced that the government’s National Water Resources Plan was in draft stages and would be released soon. He said that all Nicaraguans should ask themselves “what they can do to support the government in the solution to this crisis.” (Interpress Service, Apr. 5; Informe Pastran, Mar. 31, Apr. 1, La Prensa, Apr. 5)

6. High temperatures cause suffering and increase energy demand

Government communications coordinator Rosario Murillo urged families to take particular care of the very old and the very young during the heat wave that is hitting Nicaragua. “We have to know how to live in this extreme weather that we have,” she said. She added, “We must take care in a special way of our older adults and our children.” March and April are already the hottest month of the year and in March they peaked at 38.8°C (almost 102°F) in Chinandega and 37°C (98.6°F) in Managua, putting a special burden on the majority of people who have no access to air conditioning. High temperatures are causing record demand for electricity according to Cesar Zamora, president of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Energy. Zamora noted that “energy consumption shoots up as the heat becomes more suffocating.”  Additionally, Zamora noted that more farmers are using irrigation and the sugar mills are running more hours, both of which mean more electricity use. Other industry and commercial enterprises also use more electricity when temperatures rise. On April 3, Managua temperatures hit 39°C (102.2°F). (El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 3, 4; Informe Pastran, Mar. 30)

7. Environmentalists feed and water monkeys dying from long-running drought

One indicator of a community’s economic well-being is to look at what it can afford to care about. By that measure, efforts by young environmentalists to bring food and water to monkeys and other forest creatures in the drought-struck forests southeast of Rivas, indicate that the well-being of Nicaraguans have improved significantly in the last few years. “When the monkeys see the food and water, they begin to howl with joy. It is very exciting to see that we are able to help,” said Ilse Diaz, director of the Nicaraguan Environmental Organization. Nicaragua is enduring its third consecutive year of drought. The drought and loss of habitat is taking a serious toll on the howler monkeys, sloths, porcupines, squirrels, parakeets, and other species of the dry forests on the Pacific side of the country. Volunteers have begun taking fruit and water to the wildlife in Tola and Madera beach in the Department of Rivas, 90 kilometers south of Managua. In five visits this year, 120 youth have set out baskets of fruit and containers of water beneath the trees. Dozens of monkey carcasses have been found in the Pacific forests, apparently victims of dehydration and starvation. There are reports from the Department of Matagalpa that the animals are moving from the forests to the towns in search of food and water. (El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 4; La Prensa, Apr. 4)

8. U.S. allocates money for “violence reduction” in Nicaragua

The Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the US State Department has announced the availability of US$600,000 in grant money for programs in “violence reduction and drug resistance education curricula in Nicaragua” in spite of the fact that Nicaragua has one of the lowest crime rates in Latin America. The “beneficiaries of the proposed programs should be students enrolled in schools or participating in programs with NGOs in targeted areas in Nicaragua,” according to an announcement released by the US Embassy in Managua. US-based non-profits, non-US-based non-profits, and public or private universities may apply for the grants. (Informe Pastran, Mar. 30; http://nicaragua.usembassy.gov/nt_160321_inl_grant.html)