Nicaragua Network

1. Murillo launches “Live Beautifully, Live Well” Campaign
2. Talks underway in Assembly to fill high-level posts
3. Indigenous clash with colonizers over Bosawas Reserve
4. Nicaraguan cooperatives grow in strength and numbers
5. Russia steps in to replace US aid cuts
6. Adoption rules to be strengthened, streamlined
7. Record number of turtle nestings at Chacocente
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1. Murillo launches “Live Beautifully, Live Well” Campaign

On Feb. 5, First Lady and Communications and Citizenship Coordinator Rosario Murillo announced a new program which she described as “Prosperity is Health, Education, and Communities that are Clean, Safe, Pretty, Tranquil and Harmonious” but which quickly acquired the nickname “Vivir Bonito, Vivir Bien” which could be translated “Live Beautifully, Live Well.” She emphasized that a major part of the program will be cleaning up the environment of Nicaragua’s cities, towns, and rural areas.  But, along with control and clean up of garbage and improved hygiene, will come community participation in health and education programs that will involve government agencies, private business and the Family, Community and Life Cabinets that will be formed under a new law being considered in the National Assembly.

National Assembly Deputy Martha Marina Gonzalez, chair of the Committee on Women, Youth, Children and Family, explained that, in the Cabinets, “The families will be organized voluntarily to promote community health, projects in the schools, to follow conditions in the schools… [and] if there is a disaster, the families will be organized to show solidarity in the community.”

The Managua mayor’s office announced that it was joining the “Vivir Bonito” campaign by beginning the collection of at least 6,000 tons of garbage from the Managua’s massive storm drainage system [set up to carry the rain water from the Sierras de Managua through the city into Lake Xolotlan (Lake Managua) during the rainy season.]  But municipal General Secretary Fidel Moreno said that while cleaning the storm sewers before the rainy season to prevent flooding was one of the most important annual projects of the city, even more important was the creation of a level of consciousness in the population about the consequences of throwing garbage into the storm sewers in the first place.  He announced that vehicles that dump garbage illegally will be impounded now and violators will be fined between US$200 and US$400. Francisco Diaz of the National Police said that his officers will be giving “total support to the mayor’s office and to the inspectors from the Health Ministry.”

On Feb. 6, Murillo announced that the BINICSA, a Spanish company operating in Nicaragua, was signing an accord with the city governments of Managua, Matagalpa, Esteli, Leon, Jinotega, Tipitapa, Rivas, Ciudad Sandino, Granada, Masaya, Chinandega, Nindiri, Ticuantepe and La Concha to produce electrical energy from the garbage of those cities.  That same day Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), said that his organization would meet with the government to discuss how businesspeople could participate.  “Of course, as the private sector, we have to work to clean up not only Managua, but all of Nicaragua,” he said.

By Feb. 9, 29 people or businesses (including the oil company PETRONIC) had been fined for dumping garbage illegally.  Moreno said that he was meeting with the cart drivers who pick up garbage to take it to (sometimes illegal) dumps and informing them of the sites where they were allowed to dump.  In Managua there are five transfer centers and 40 authorized commercial recycling centers.  On Feb.11, the representative of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Nicaragua, Ricardo Seintenfus, apologized for his office’s illegal dumping of garbage over the weekend. He said that, because it was a “moral” and not a “political” offense, they would not use their diplomatic immunity and instead would pay the fine. Moreno said that an OAS truck was caught in flagranti delicto dropping off garbage at an illegal site. 

Opposition political figures expressed alarm at the Family Cabinets which would have the task of organizing families at the neighborhood level.  Former vice-presidential candidate for the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) Edmundo Jarquin said that “with the Family Cabinets, we could unleash a dangerous totalitarian dynamic in which no aspect of personal and family life would be outside political control disguised as social control.”  Opposition National Assembly Deputy Eliseo Nuñez said that the strategy was to “disguise poverty as is done by fascist and authoritarian governments.”  Former Judge Alfonso Davila Barboza said that the “Vivir Bonito” campaign “goes further than fascism and enters the arena of extravagant political programs like those of Lenin and Stalin in the old Russia [sic].”  (El 19 Digital, Feb. 5, 7, 9; Informe Pastran, Feb. 5, 6, 8; La Prensa, Feb. 6, 8, 10; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 6, 11; El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 9)

2. Talks underway in Assembly to fill high-level posts

The governing Sandinista Party and the opposition Independent Liberal Party (PLI) are in talks in the National Assembly to agree on a list of people to fill the posts of more than 60 high level officials (including the Supreme Court and the Supreme Electoral Council) whose terms have run out and who have remained in office based on a presidential decree.  Sandinista Deputy Jose Figueroa said that the talks had not concluded but, “once there is an agreement between the government and the opposition in the National Assembly, we will put the list on the calendar. We’re still talking.”  Opposition Deputy Eliseo Nuñez said, “Yes, there have been talks; we have talked and apparently the [Sandinista] Front believes that this should be resolved before the [mid-year] legislative recess.”  Supreme Court Justice Rafael Solis said that the discussions under way are seeking an equilibrium between the Sandinistas and the opposition.  He explained that the Sandinistas have enough votes to fill the posts with their supporters only but “the prevailing thought is that the 30% to which the opposition has a right [based on its seats in the Assembly] should be respected.”

Meanwhile, President Daniel Ortega sent to the Assembly for approval the names of all his ministers, vice ministers, ambassadors, and directors of government agencies.  He had not done this in the past.  National Assembly President Rene Nuñez said that they would be put on the calendar for next week.  Eliseo Nuñez, the opposition deputy, said that this was a positive development which puts the country on a path toward legality and improved institutionality.  (La Prensa, Feb. 8; El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 5, 7; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 6)

3. Indigenous clash with colonizers over Bosawas Reserve

The indigenous Mayangnas of the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) have declared “all out war” against the land grabbers who they say are destroying the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve where some of their communities are located. The government of the Mayangna Sauni Bas Indigenous Territory filed accusations against Saul Castro Montenegro for the crimes of usurpation of public or communal property, illegal use of natural resources, starting forest fires, and illegal logging. Public prosecutors signed on to the case.  That case will be heard on Feb. 19.

Leonardo Juwith Benlis, vice-president of the Mayangna territorial government, said that the Mayangna will file suit against 10 land traffickers who have brought in 1,000 families and clear cut a large swath of forest in indigenous territory within Bosawas.  Bosawas is a UNESCO biosphere reserve of tropical humid rainforest located on the border with Honduras in north central Nicaragua. 

Meanwhile, a judge found Victor Manuel Taleno guilty of usurpation of communal lands in the Mayangna Sauna Bas territory.  Documents presented in the case showed that he used fire arms to kill animals in the area and trafficked in indigenous land within the Reserve.  Jose Luis Lira admitted his offense and asked for pardon.  He said that he was taken to the indigenous lands under false pretences and thought that the land had been set aside for demobilized Army soldiers.  He said, “I put myself to work, but I didn’t know that the land belonged to the Mayangnas; I ask for forgiveness for being there.  None of the Mayangnas sat down with me to explain this to me.  I paid 500 cordobas [US$20] supposedly so they would legalize my papers.”  Taleno was given four years in jail and Lira three.

Mayangnas blocked the road between Rosita and Bonanza in the indigenous community of Españolina, demanding the expulsion of the colonizers, while another group of indigenous have blocked the Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas)—Rosita road at Betania demanding that the National Demarcation Commission include their land in the community title of Wawa Bar, another indigenous community.   At the same time, a group of mestizo colonizers blocked another road in the community of Miranda where they demanded the release of Taleno and Lira and that the government grant them the land they are farming. 

Then, on Feb. 10, about 60 of the colonizers at Miranda took down their barricades and headed to the indigenous roadblock at Españolina where a confrontation ensued.  Five people were wounded, including two of the Mayangna and three of the colonizers.  Jose Luis Solorzano, secretary of the municipal government of Bonanza, told El Nuevo Diario that Bonanza officials were trying to arrange a dialogue with the indigenous leaders.  (El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 9, 11; La Prensa, Feb. 8; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 10)

4. Nicaraguan cooperatives grow in strength and numbers

Nicaragua has the most cooperatives in greater Central America (which also includes Panama, Belize, and the Dominican Republic) according to Manuel Aburto, general manager of ALBA-CARUNA, ALBA’s national rural credit enterprise. Nicaragua’s cooperative sector has grown from 1,700 cooperatives with 100,000 members in 2007 when the Sandinistas returned to government, to 4,500 cooperatives with 300,000 members at the end of 2012. That number includes 384 cooperative savings & loans with 70,000 members. The other cooperatives are in the areas of agriculture, fisheries, and transportation.

Savings and loan coops held a combined loan portfolio in 2012 of US$103 million aimed mainly at the rural sector. Aburto said the savings and loans expect to lend US$123.5 million in 2013. He said that they captured US$24.7 million in savings in 2012 which they hope to increase to US$41.2 million in 2013. The savings and loan cooperatives currently have US$14.4 million in equity with a goal of increasing that to US$20.6 million this year. Loan repayments remain above 90%.

Aburto said that the greatest concentration of cooperatives is in the northern part of the country with the Department of Matagalpa in the lead. Cooperatives include livestock, coffee, sustainable agriculture, agro-industry, and tourism. He noted that cooperatives generated 20% of jobs world-wide, more than transnational corporations combined. In Nicaragua they generate 44% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  Aburto said that in the next period the focus will not be on increasing the number of cooperatives but rather their quality and competitiveness on the world market by improving their technology, automation, and training including marketing and business skills which are surpassed in Central America by cooperatives in Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. Greater access to the European market is a goal. (El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 5; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 5)

5. Russia steps in to replace US aid cuts

As US aid to Nicaragua has decreased with the suspension of Millennium Challenge grants in 2009 and the cut-off of US$3 million in 2012 due to failure of the US to approve its transparency waiver, Russia particularly, but also China, have increased their aid and investments. Orlando Soloranzo, minister of industry, development and trade, said that the aid and investments will be longer term and “more strategic.” Russia is viewing Nicaragua as its launching point for exports to Central America. The Russians want to build an auto manufacturing plant in Nicaragua in order to sell vehicles in the region. The planned inter-oceanic canal makes Nicaragua a logical distribution point for Russian exports, as does the long history and network of trade relationships already in place between the two countries.

Russia has donated hospitals, buses, fire engines and 100,000 metric tons of wheat to Nicaragua and plans on the same volume of donated wheat in 2013 preparing in 2014 to export wheat to the rest of Central America. Russia has also, in a recent meeting, expressed interest in investing in Nicaragua’s renewable energy generating projects and construction of railroad connections to move passengers between Managua, Masaya, and Granada, and a rail route connecting the port of Corinto with Monkey Point in the South Atlantic Autonomous Region, possible terminus of the canal. In a few days, President Daniel Ortega will be presenting 130 new Russian buses to transportation cooperatives in Managua. In March a trade mission from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg will visit Nicaragua to discuss with Nicaraguan business leaders new trade opportunities including importing Nicaraguan beef, coffee, and tobacco. (Informe Pastran, Feb. 5)

6. Adoption rules to be strengthened, streamlined

As part of a comprehensive reform of the nation’s laws concerning women, youth, children, and families, the National Assembly is re-writing the law on adoptions to speed the process and provide stronger assurances that the adopted child is not used for sexual exploitation, commercial gain, or any other illegal activity. The new law will outline three stages: pre-adoption, adoption, and post-adoption, with the first stage capped at 75 days, a process which used to require years. Foreigners will face additional requirements and will be monitored for two years by the closest Nicaraguan consulate in their country. While Nicaraguan adopters can be single, married, or a stable unmarried couple, foreigners must be married to adopt Nicaraguan children.  Adopters must be between the ages of 24-55 and must be a minimum of 15 years older than the adoptee. (El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 7)

7. Record number of turtle nestings at Chacocente

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) reported that from July to January of this year there were more turtle nestings in the Chacocente Wildlife Refuge than in previous years thanks to some turtles coming ashore to lay eggs up to four times. In recent years an average of 15,000 turtles nested at Chacocente, but this year’s 71,000 nests represent 15-35,000 turtles, most of them the endangered Olive Ridley species. Green sea turtles, leatherback turtles and hawksbill turtles also nest in the refuge. MARENA spokesman Mario Espinosa emphasized the need to protect the turtle nests or risk losing part of Nicaragua’s national heritage. “The leatherback nests only one or two times a year and lays fewer eggs than the Olive Ridley and, because of its larger size, has a more difficult time getting out of traps or nets.” MARENA has spoken with fisherman and they are “sensitized to the problem,” according to Espinoza. 1.2 million turtles were born between July and January, about 300,000 fewer than last year. An Olive Ridley lays up to 8.5 dozen eggs. MARENA estimates that 140 dozen eggs were looted from nests last year. (La Prensa, Feb. 6)