Nicaragua Network

[Note: This is a double issue, covering news from Dec. 19 through Dec. 31.]

1. Nicaraguans celebrate Christmas and the New Year
2. San Cristobal Volcano erupts again
3. FTZ workers to get 8% raise
4. 60,000 homes electrified since 2007; 50% renewable energy achieved
5. 8,000 affordable housing units built in 2012
6. Family remittances on the upswing
7. False TELEVISA journalists declared guilty
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1. Nicaraguans celebrate Christmas and the New Year

In Managua, the celebration of the holidays began on Dec. 20 with the inauguration by Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo of a town of Bethlehem with life size biblical figures, narrow streets, houses, and bridges in the Luis Alfonso Velasquez Park.  First Lady and Communications Coordinator Rosario Murillo said visitors could see in this Bethlehem the simplicity with which people lived at the time of Jesus.  She said all should ask God to help them to “put in practice this evolved consciousness” which comes from “the Christian, socialist, and solidarity spirit that inspires our Nicaragua.”

Conservative Catholic clergy, however, criticized the Sandinista government for manipulating religious symbols to enhance support for the government.  Monsignor Silvio Fonseca of the Office of Family, Children and Life of the Managua Archdiocese said, “They want to paint themselves as a theocratic state that not only rules over temporal things but which has invaded the area of religion also.”   He said, “Some priests have knowingly lent themselves to that manipulation.  This is grave.” He added that the government of President Daniel Ortega also “insults the legitimate hierarchy who are the only ones who have the moral and doctrinal authority to orient the people in religious matters and in celebrations of popular piety.”

On Dec. 22 and 23, a record number of Nicaraguans crossed the border from Costa Rica into Nicaragua to spend Christmas with their families.  Freddy Montero of the Costa Rican Office of Migration said that “there has never been a movement so large.”  The total for those two days was 26,409 and the total from Dec. 15 to 25 was 74,000.  He said that his office processed 21 people per minute at 28 windows at the Peñas Blancas crossing.  The Migration Office expected another crush of Nicaraguans returning to their jobs in Costa Rica between Jan. 1 and 3.

Meanwhile, in all of Central America, 134 people died violently or in accidents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  In Honduras, 62 people were murdered between Dec. 24 and 26 while another 15 died in accidents.  In Nicaragua nine people died violently or in accidents.  Costa Rica and Panama suffered the fewest deaths with seven and two respectively losing their lives from non-natural causes.  Head of the Nicaraguan Police Traffic Office Roberto Gonzalez Kraudy said that one out of every three traffic deaths in Nicaragua is due to alcohol.  He stated that traffic deaths in 2012 had reached 655 by the day after Christmas, already more than all of 2011 when the total was 613.

Merchants reported higher sales of food and lower sales of fireworks for the holidays.  In the markets and shopping centers of Managua, food, beverages, clothing, and toys were selling well.  However, Maria Montano, a seller of fireworks for 48 years, told El Nuevo Diario that sales have been “all right” on some days but “dead” on others.  The Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce announced that its figures indicated that sales for Christmas and the New Year had grown by between 20 and 30% this year.

On Dec. 23 Nicaraguans marked the 40^th anniversary of the devastating earthquake of 1972 and the death of as many as 10,000 people.  They worried about the possibility of another of the tremblers that have destroyed Managua three times at approximately 40 year intervals over the past 125 years.  The news agency Prensa Latina said that buildings constructed of wattle and daub during the 1940s, after the 1931 earthquake, ignored basic principles that should be followed in a city with 18 fault lines.  The agency quoted a taxi driver named Manuel as saying that besides mourning the death of friends, Managuans mourned the death of the city when the dictator Anastasio Somoza ordered it bulldozed and left it without life.

Dec. 31 marked the 40^th anniversary of the day, a week after the earthquake, that the airplane carrying earthquake aid to Nicaragua organized by baseball great Roberto Clemente fell into the Caribbean with all lives lost.  Clemente, who had just recently achieved his 3,000^th hit for the Pittsburgh Pirates, had been in Nicaragua for the Amateur World Championship Games as director of the Puerto Rican team earlier in the month.  When the earthquake occurred, he quickly organized an aid shipment from Puerto Rico which he accompanied.  His body was never recovered.  President Ortega sent a message recognizing the anniversary to his family in which he said that Clemente, “a legendary figure, gave his all to a small, destroyed, and disconsolate country that then experienced his tragic death as another great catastrophe.”

Informe Pastran and the Consultancy for Development (COPADES) put together a list of the most outstanding people of 2012, naming President Daniel Ortega as political figure of the year; Aminta Granera, head of the National Police, woman of the year; international lawyer Carlos Argüello man of the year for his work at the World Court on the dispute with Colombia; Treasury Minister Ivan Acosta as government official of the year for his management of the nation’s fiscal health; COSEP head Jose Adan Aguerri as business leader of the year as well as numerous others.  Also honored were cane sugar, electricity production, dairy farmers and the construction industry.  (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 20, 23, 30; La Prensa, Dec. 23, 26; Informe Pastran, Dec. 21, 27; El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 27, 31)

2. San Cristobal Volcano erupts again

On Christmas Day, the San Cristobal Volcano, the highest volcanic peak in Nicaragua, entered into eruption for the second time in 2012, having erupted in a similar fashion in September. On Dec. 27, Nicaragua’s director of Civil Aviation, Capitan Carlos Salazar announced that flights on two international air routes that passed near San Cristobal Volcano would be rerouted so they would not be affected by the clouds of ash from the erupting mountain which were reaching altitudes of 13,000 feet.   By Dec. 28, clouds of ashes and gas were reported as far away as the coasts of El Salvador.

Martha Ruiz, director of the governmental Institute for Territorial Studies, speaking at a joint press conference with health and civil defense officials, said that people living near the volcano were “at risk of developing respiratory illnesses, along with skin irritations and eye problems.  Health Minister Sonia Castro recommended the use of masks, eye glasses, hats and long sleeves for those who would venture out in the areas where ash was falling.  Communications Coordinator and First Lady Rosario Murillo said that 400 people had been evacuated to shelters or the homes of family members but that there was still resistance on the part of some living under the mountain to leave their houses.  Traffic authorities recommended using headlights and reducing speed to a maximum of 25 mph in areas of limited visibility.  Yellow alert was declared in the Department of Chinandega due to the ash and sulfur dioxide gas. 

Farmers in the area reported that cattle, horses and pigs were affected by breathing problems and because ash covered their pastures.  Harvests of peanuts, sesame seed, corn, sorghum and beans had already been collected, farmers reported, while the wind was blowing ash off the leaves of bananas and plantains. 

By New Year’s Eve, the volcano was slowly returning to normal with fewer expulsions of gas and ash and, while the yellow alert for Chinandega continued, some evacuated families were returning to their homes in violations of government recommendations.   (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 26, 27, 31; La Prensa, Dec. 26, 28; Informe Pastran, Dec. 26,  27, 31; El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 27)

3. FTZ workers to get 8% raise

The tripartite committee of labor, business, and the Sandinista government has agreed to an 8% minimum wage increase in each of the next three or four years (depending on the news source) for Free Trade Zone (FTZ) workers. This is the third multi-year agreement successfully negotiated which has meant labor stability for companies and regular raises for 105,000 FTZ workers. The agreement also establishes a “social housing” fund to build dignified housing for FTZ workers and continues a food subsidy with the help of the Nicaraguan Basic Food Company (ENABAS).  The minimum wages for other job sectors are negotiated twice a year. Final statistics are expected to show a 5% growth in exports from FTZ businesses over 2011 with about US$2.7 billion in sales.

Alvaro Baltodano, technical secretary of the National Commission for Free Trade Zones, said the tripartite committee did an exhaustive study of the international market, including the situation in the European countries, to come to agreement on the minimum wage increases. Baltodano said that, in the next four year period, 45,000 new jobs are expected to be created for a total of 150,000 workers in the country’s FTZs. The new Minister of Labor, Alba Luz Torres (who recently replaced Jeannette Chavez), praised the agreement and promised to continue to enforce good labor practices.

Roberto Gonzalez, of the Jose Benito Escobar Sandinista Workers Central, was satisfied with the agreement but noted that it “was not enough” and that it offered new challenges for the future, especially with regard to health conditions, but he said, “We believe that in this path of understanding and dialogue we will find other points of convergence.” President of the Nicaraguan Association of Textile and Clothing Industries (ANITEC), James Scott Vaughn, said that the “winner” in the negotiations was “Nicaragua” and said that the security provided by the agreement would generate more jobs. (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 21; Informe Pastran, Dec. 19; El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 22)

4. 60,000 homes electrified; 50% renewable energy achieved

The Sandinista government has brought electricity to more than 60,000 homes that had never before had that service. Minister of Energy and Mines Emilio Rappaciolli reported that since the government of President Daniel Ortega took office in 2007, access to electricity nationally has increased from 52% to 75%, raising the quality of life for some 350,000 people, especially the poor. Ten thousand homes were connected in 2012 alone. Rappaciolli said that reduction in poverty is measured qualitatively as well as quantitatively and electricity in the home increases a family’s wellbeing. Bringing electricity to 1,200 rural communities has involved adding nearly 750 miles of electric lines.

In December Nicaragua achieved production of 50% of its electricity from renewable sources. In addition to large projects, this has involved constructing 5 small and 20 micro hydroelectric generating plants.  Renewable energy sources have saved the country US$200 million in oil purchases. Wind and geo-thermal projects are expected to generate 66 megawatts of power and, in 2013, the Tumarin, Hidropantasma, Larreynaga, and other hydroelectric projects will come on-line further decreasing Nicaragua’s need for oil while bringing electricity to more homes every day, according to Rappaciolli. (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 19; Informe Pastran, Dec. 19)

5. 8,000 affordable housing built in 2012

Judith Silva, president of the Institute of Urban and Rural Housing (INVUR), reported that in 2012 over 8,000 homes were built for low income people. The Sandinista government built 4,800 units of social housing for families in extreme poverty and private companies built about 4,000 houses with affordable price tags. The housing is provided to families who cannot obtain bank mortgages. Just last weekend 220 homes, built under different housing programs, were finished in Rivas.

One of the Rivas programs is for public employees whose salaries are limited by International Monetary Fund conditions.  Municipal workers and workers in the ministries of Health and Education were able to buy 42 of the houses. The 452 square foot houses have two bedrooms, a living-dining area, and a bathroom as well as front and back yards. The public employees pay US$83 per month to acquire the US$12,000 houses. The US$549,000 project was paid for with funds from the savings and loan cooperative ALBA-CARUNA, the Inter-American Development Bank, and INVUR. (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 25)

6.Family remittances on the upswing

Remittances from family members outside Nicaragua -- primarily the US and Costa Rica -- were predicted by the Central Bank to reach US$930 million for 2012.  However, international analysts estimated that the figure would go up 12% over 2011 and was on-track to exceed last year’s total of US$1.05 billion. Family remittances are vital to Nicaragua’s economy representing 19% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and benefiting nearly one million families. 

Overall, family remittances in Latin America grew by 13% in 2012 despite the fact that the Obama administration in the US deported 410,000 undocumented Latino workers, 13,000 more than the previous year.  Manuel Orozco, director of the Remittances and Development program of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, DC, said that multiple factors account for the increase in remittances. He cited the slightly improved financial situation and the migration of more highly qualified women, among other reasons.  He explained that the multiplicity of new ways to move money internationally, including on the internet, is a major factor in increasing remittances. (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 26; Informe Pastran, Dec. 26; La Prensa, Dec. 26)

 7. False TELEVISA journalists declared guilty

The first chapter in the case of the 18 Mexicans who were arrested on Nicaragua’s northern border in August travelling with US$9.2 million in six vans painted with the logo of the Mexican television network TELEVISA was closed on Dec. 19 when Judge Edgard Altamirano found the defendants guilty of international drug trafficking, organized crime and money laundering.  Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 18. The prosecution has asked for the maximum penalty of 30 years while the defense asked for the minimum, which is 14 years. Also, Nicaraguan authorities may prosecute them for illegal use of the TELEVISA name based on an accusation by the company. Prosecutors in Mexico have issued warrants for the arrest of 15 of the 18 for money laundering and will seek their extradition to Mexico. 

At the time of the conviction, Mexican authorities had still not confirmed whether letters carried by the group’s leader Raquel Alatorre were in fact signed by TELEVISA vice president Amador Narcia or whether the signatures were forged. When two Mexican experts came to opposite conclusions, Nicaraguan prosecutor Armando Juarez said that Nicaragua would use its own experts. The TELEVISA legal department issued a statement accusing unnamed Nicaraguan officials of trying to extort money from the company in exchange for freedom for the 18, a charge which was denied by Nicaraguan authorities.  Alatorre and at least one of her associates entered and left Nicaragua (usually travelling from Mexico to Costa Rica) more than 40 times between 2008 and 2012 and analysts were questioning who her contacts and associates were in Nicaragua. Did she have a base of support in Nicaragua?  During the trial, her contact in Costa Rica was revealed as an exporter who denied wrong doing.  (Informe Pastran, Dec. 21, 31, La Prensa, Dec. 18, 26; Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 20, 24; El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 22, 27)