Nicaragua Network

1. Experts say losses from coffee fungus could reach US$50-100 million
2. Managua auxiliary bishop’s accusations stir up storm
3. Eighty women murdered in 2012
4. Social Security reform discussion begins
5. Nicaragua on target to achieve Millennium Development Goals in health
6. Caribbean fishing industry looks to grow 8%
7. Experts call for driver education
8. Nicaragua produced world’s best cigar in 2012
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1. Experts say losses from coffee fungus could reach US$50-100 million

Leaders of the coffee industry estimated last week that losses from funguses such as coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix) and anthracnose  (Glomerella cingulata  ) could reach US$50 to 100 million. Mario Lopez of the National Coffee Council (CONACAFE) said that “production estimated at 1.125 million hundredweights could be reduced to 605,000 hundredweights of export grade coffee and 200,000 hundredweights of coffee apt only for sale in the domestic market.”  Alvaro Fiallos, president of the Union of Farmers and Ranchers (UNAG), estimated that about 35% of this cycle’s production would be lost.

Eduardo Rizo, president of the Jinotega Coffee Growers Association, said, “On the third day of January of 2013, because of the rust, the anthracnose and other funguses we have lost about US$100 million.” On the other hand, Felix Altamirano, the representative in Nicaragua of a US coffee importer, estimated the loss in export revenue at US$50 million.  In 2012, Nicaragua exported almost US$520 million in coffee.  Rizo called on the government to sit down with growers and representatives of banks and micro-financing entities to make sure that producers do not lose their farms if they cannot pay back their loans on time.  He added, “It’s not about repudiating debts, but rather restructuring the credits of the growers.”

Agriculture Minister Ariel Bucardo called on growers to join together with the government, taking advantage of the crisis to put in place a plan to renovate the country’s coffee farms, replacing the many thousands of aging coffee bushes which experts say are between 20 and 25 years old, past the end of their productive life.   Bucardo said that the government estimates that something over 20% of the country’s coffee plants are affected while in previous years the figure has been around 8%.  

Maria Auxiliadora Briones of the Foundation for the Technological Development of Agriculture and Forestry (FUNICA) said that “Of the 43,000 farmers dedicated to growing coffee, 90% are small and medium scale producers who will have to find some other activity to survive during the four or five years that the new coffee plants will take to begin to produce commercially.” 

In Dipilto, in the northern Department of Nueva Segovia, Felicita Duarte, a single mother who picks coffee every year to help support her children, said, “The coffee has lost its leaves and its berries; we are barely picking one tin a day when last year we were picking four to six tins each day.  We are worried because we buy things for the whole year with what we earn now.”  Francisco Montenegro, a small farmer in the same area, said that he will need 4,000 new coffee bushes to replant his 3 ½ acre farm which has been hit hard by both coffee rust and anthracnose.  He asked the government for help.  Another area farmer, Trinidad Vallecillo, said that the northern areas of the country are most affected because the rust began in Honduras and moved south.  He said that he calculated that some farmers have lost 50% of their crop while others have only lost about 20%.  (La Prensa, Jan. 1, 4, 5; Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 3. 7; Informe Pastran, Jan. 7; El Nuevo Diario, Jan. 7)

2. Managua auxiliary bishop’s accusations stir up storm

Recent declarations by Auxiliary Bishop of Managua Silvio Baez have raised a storm of controversy.  On Dec. 30, La Prensa published an interview in which Baez said, “In recent years, the position of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nicaragua has been coherent and very clear.  We have condemned with clarity a social and political situation that is not benefiting the present or the future of the nation.  We have realized that in some dioceses there are priests who for different motives and at different levels do not follow our orientations.”  Then he added, “I have received information from some priests that the government [of President Daniel Ortega] has offered them money that they can use for whatever they want…. But I have told them it is better not to have that bell tower or better furniture.”  Baez added that some priests have felt they could support government policies because retired Managua Archbishop Cardinal Miguel Obando works with the government as head of a commission [for peace and reconciliation].  In the same interview, Baez criticized the use of religious symbols and slogans by the government to gain sympathizers.  

Retired Granada Bishop Bernardo Hombach said on Jan. 3 that, in the past, the Catholic Church and its priests received support from Liberal governments and he stated that it is not bad to receive help, if the money goes to benefit all and not into the pockets of the priests.  “If a parish receives money for a social project from the government, I believe that you can accept that without any problem because it is not money from a political party but money from the people and in previous governments the church received money for this project or that,” he explained.  However, he added, “We are human and we like to be supported in material ways and then afterward we may not have the valor to speak up.”  He spoke of money the church receives for teachers’ salaries in Catholic schools, for the celebration of towns’ patron saints, for repairing historical churches.  And, he added that during the Somoza dictatorship, many priests were chaplains in the National Guard, while bishops were close to the administration of President Arnoldo Aleman in the 1990s.  In summary, Hombach said that the best would be that church and state not be married but that neither should they live always in confrontation.  

Opposition National Assembly Deputy Enrique Saenz said that the Ortega government is prepared to allot US$540,000 in the 2013 national budget to projects of the Catholic and Protestant churches.  He said this was unacceptable.  “Lamentably,” he said, “the regime has been quite successful at bending wills in exchange for money.”  He said that, in a secular state, it is not proper to allocate public funds to religious institutions because it can open the door for the authorities to intervene in religious affairs.  However, he also said, “One thing is to support popular activities such as patron saints or buildings that, while religious in character, are also national symbols such as the basilica of El Viejo, and quite another is to give general support.”  His views on the contribution of US$45,000 to Managua Caritas for the treating of mothers and children with AIDS, part of the 2013 budget, were unclear.  He ended by saying, “We’re not questioning the justification of all the allocations, because it is clear that several can be explained.  But let’s not fool ourselves; we know the tactics of Ortega.  They make the lists and they approve them.  The obvious question is, with what criteria.” 

Closer examination of the items in the budget, including the assistance for mothers and children with AIDS, resulted in further controversy with more, but not all, voices coming to the defense of the allocations to religious institutions.  Managua Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes said, “For many years all governments have given help to the Church for its work; the important thing is that the help we receive go to works, not to personal uses.”  However, Fr. Silvio Fonseca of the Archdiocese Office of Family, Children, and Life, said, “No aid must compromise the Church because the Church must always keep its independence with relation to any other outside resource. The Catholic faithful are able to support the needs of the Church and it is preferable for the Church to be materially poor but spiritually rich.”

Meanwhile, both Auxiliary Bishop Baez (who originated the controversy) and Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos travelled to Rome to be present at the ordination of Vatican diplomat Fortunatus Nwachukwu as a bishop.  Nwachukwu has been appointed as the new Apostolic Nuncio [ambassador] of the Vatican to Nicaragua.  A statement from the Nicaraguan government said that Santos explained to Nwachukwu about the funds provided to some local Nicaraguan parishes, without giving any more detail about their conversation.  (La Prensa, Dec. 30, Jan. 1, 5, 6; Informe Pastran, Dec. 31, Jan. 3; El Nuevo Diario, Jan. 7)

3. Eighty women murdered in 2012

In spite of the fact that the Law to Prevent Violence against Women went into force in June of 2012, the rate of murders of women went up instead of down last year.  According to the Network of Women against Violence (RMCV), 80 women were murdered in 2012, up from 71 in 2011.  The areas where violence against women was greatest were Managua, the North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions, and the Department of Jinotega.  Thirteen women were murdered in December with nine of the murderers still at large.  Five of the thirteen were girls under 17.  Again this year, the majority of the murders were committed by men known to the women, in many cases an ex-spouse or partner.

Organizations that work for women’s rights accused the authorities of negligence in preventing and punishing crimes against women.  The National Police recognizes its shortcomings when it comes to following up on cases of violence.  According to the Directorate of Police Stations for Women and Children, between January and August of last year, 130,873 women and adolescents visited the stations but only 23,509 complaints were officially filed for court processing.  In order for a case to go to court, a woman must present a doctor’s statement, testimonies of witnesses and other documents.  Police Commissioner Isabel Largaespada, head of the Women’s and Children’s Police Stations, said during a forum on the subject that in many cases women do not carry the process all the way to court.  According to the RMCV, 13 of the women murdered this year had reported violence to the police who failed to take preventive measures.  The Network also said that judges often side with the perpetrators of violence, leaving them free to act again with impunity.  (Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 2; La Prensa, Jan. 1, 2,3; Informe Pastran, Jan. 3)

4. Social Security reform discussion begins

The National Assembly will be considering changes to the Social Security system this year, according to Sandinista Deputy Walmaro Gutierrez, chair of the Economy Committee in the Assembly.  He said that the subject is not yet on the agenda but a reform bill has to be passed in order to fulfill commitments made to the International Monetary Fund for a new IMF economic program to be signed. Meanwhile, different sectors are laying down their positions before talks begin to hammer out a bill to present to the Assembly.  The tentative proposal released several months ago by the National Social Security Institute (INSS) would raise the retirement age from 60 to 65 years and increase the number of years a person would have to work to get full benefits from 14 to 28 years. The most recent evaluation of the system, done in 2009, indicated that under conditions in that year the system would be insolvent in 2021.

The Jose Benito Escobar Sandinista Workers Central (CST-JBE) will make a proposal that will retain the current retirement age at 60 and maintain the 14 year work requirement.  Luis Barbosa, general secretary of the union confederation, said that the CST-JBE proposal will mandate that administrative expenses of the INSS not exceed 6% of income.  He noted that administration currently uses 10.8% and that lowering that figure would save US$21 million annually.  Barbosa emphasized that the number of workers covered by Social Security needed to increase.  He noted that, with more than 2 million economically active citizens in Nicaragua, only 18% are paying into Social Security.  He proposed that taxi and bus drivers, self-employed persons and even working students pay into the system.  Gustavo Porras, coordinator of the National Workers’ Front (FNT) said that workers, business people, and the government should sit down under the auspices of the National Labor Council to analyze the proposals for reform of the system. He agreed that retirement ages and contributions should not be changed.  Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), agreed with the proposal to begin a tripartite dialogue under the auspices of the National Labor Council.   (La Prensa, Jan. 1, 3, 4, 5; Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 2, 3; Informe Pastran, Jan. 2, 3)

5. Nicaragua on target to achieve Millennium Development Goals in health

Pan-American Health Organization Director Mirta Roses noted Nicaragua’s achievements in 2012 and challenges for 2013 and stated that Nicaragua has the infrastructure in place to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the United Nations by 2015.  These were adopted in 2000 and include eight goals for the eradication of poverty and an increase in social development. Roses declared Nicaragua the regional leader in childhood vaccination, especially for rotavirus and pneumonia. She noted that Nicaragua has successfully prevented thousands of deaths from infant diarrhea and pneumonia. She especially praised the Sandinista government’s “model of family and community health.” She also highlighted the decrease in transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child due to the greater availability of anti-retroviral medicines in hospitals, one of the UN goals.

Roses also credited Nicaragua as being the first country in Central America to eradicate measles, rubella, and congenital rubella through vaccination and she noted that it has the fourth lowest incidence in Central America of dengue after Panama, Belize, and Costa Rica. Roses said that over the last five years, infant mortality (under 5 years of age) had dropped from 28 per 1,000 live births to 21. Finally, she noted that the government has put in place a program including exams and HPV vaccine to cut the 620 deaths per year of women from cervical cancer. (Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 3)

6. Caribbean fishing industry looks to grow 8%

The Caribbean Coast fishing industry hopes to grow by about 8% in 2013 thanks to the World Court decision handed down in November of 2012 granting Nicaragua sovereignty over more of its coastal waters which had previously been controlled by Colombia. The new maritime boundary gives Nicaragua access to an area rich in fish and natural resources. Improved breeding and better quality control of shrimp cultivation also contribute to the optimism of the industry as it looks forward to 2013. The fishing industry in 2012 exported US$194 million worth of seafood, a figure which is expected to rise to US$210 million in 2013. At the same time, the number of fishing vessels in the new waters is expected to increase from the current 16 to 30. (Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 4)

7. Experts call for driver education

Nicaraguan experts called for a road safety education campaign and road improvements rather than changes in the traffic laws as the best way to cut the growing number of accidents and traffic fatalities. Francisco Bautista, former deputy director of the National Police said that the population is growing, the number of motor vehicles is growing, the number of drivers is growing, and that this increase in the volume of vehicles and motorcycles increases the risk of accidents. He said it is necessary to improve the education, control, and supervision of drivers and pedestrians. Roberto Orozco called the number of accidents “a problem of human conduct” and called for an education program for drivers of taxis, busses, motorcycles and cars.  Former Police Commissioner Rene Vivas called it “a matter of responsibility and education” and advocated classroom teaching on driver safety.

Nicaragua has a land area of 130,000 sq. km. with 21,967 kilometers of roads, only 2,220 of which are paved despite the Sandinista government’s efforts to reverse that situation. Through December 21, 2012, 665 people died in traffic accidents, 220 of them related to alcohol.  This is a 3% increase over 2011. (Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 5)

8. Nicaragua produced world’s best cigar in 2012

According to Cigar Aficionado magazine’s annual list of best cigars, Nicaragua produced four of the ten best cigars in the world last year. Flor de las Antillas Toro won first place. All four of Nicaragua’s cigars in the top ten list were grown and rolled in Esteli. The six inch cigar, Flor de las Antillas, which sells for US$6.90 received 94 of 100 points in Cigar Aficionado’s rating system.  Nicaragua exported 100 million cigars in 2011 and through October 2012 had generated US$60 million in sales, primarily to the US, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Spain. The tobacco industry employs 30,000 people in Esteli, the other northern departments, and Ometepe Island. Nicaragua took 1st, 4th, 8th, and 9th places in 2012, while Cuba took numbers 2 and 6. (Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 5)