Nicaragua Network

1. Energy distribution sold to another Spanish company
2. Colombia to increase naval presence near Nicaraguan waters
3. Road paving advances throughout the country
4. Senior Citizens march for pensions
5. Prison reform and at-risk youth training
6. “Vivir Bonito” campaign gaining support
7. Selling turtle meat prohibited in RAAS
8. Nicaragua to fight for “rosquillas” trademark
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1. Energy distribution sold to another Spanish company

The sale of Nicaragua’s electrical energy distribution system to the Spanish company TSK-Melfosur by previous owner Gas Natural Fenosa (the successor to Union Fenosa which ran the system after it was privatized in 2002) was formally announced on Feb. 14 at a press conference attended by Energy Minister Emilio Rappaccioli and Treasury Minister Ivan Acosta.  Speaking for TSK, Santiago del Valle said that “with this purchase of majority ownership of the Disnorte-Dissur Energy Distributor, we as new owners want to make the company healthy, increasing energy distribution with the goal of better service to the Nicaraguan population.”  Francisco Moreno of Melfosur said that he wanted to make Nicaragua’s distribution network a model for the world.  Also attending the press conference was Spain’s ambassador to Nicaragua, Leon de la Torre Krais.  

Analysts noted that the cost of the transaction for TSK-Melfosur could be as much as US$162.8 million given that, along with the US$57.8 million it paid for the distribution network, the company would also be responsible for the debts of the previous owner to the generating companies in the amount of US$85 million and US$20 million in other debts or losses.

Reactions among different sectors of the population varied.  Marvin Pomares, director of the Consumer Defense Institute, said, “We believe that besides investment, they will have to do a census of charges on a national level because there are bills that are exorbitant and this has resulted in a lack of confidence on the part of consumers.”  He added that the number of offices around the country should be increased.  Enrique Picado, coordinator of the Community Movement, said that the public had deserved an audit of Fenosa’s management before the company was sold because “this [electricity] is a public good of social and national character.”

Cesar Zamora, manager in Nicaragua for the US-based energy multinational AEI, said that the power generation companies (wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and petroleum) met with TSK-Melfosur and expressed their willingness to continue to work with the distributor.  Zamora stated that the new owners must invest in new meters, improved efficiency, and wider distribution to reduce the losses Fenosa was experiencing.

Bayardo Arce, economic advisor to President Daniel Ortega, stated that the government of Nicaragua retains the 16% share of the distributor which it owned under Fenosa and that an official from the Energy Ministry will work with TSK-Melfosur as the second official on the board of directors to ensure improvements in service.  He also announced that the government intends to maintain for the near future the subsidy that low income households receive for their energy bills.  Electricity rates are determined by the Nicaraguan Energy Institute (INE), a regulatory agency, and they are reviewed every five years with the next review scheduled for this year.

Salvador Mansell, head of the National Electricity Transmission Company (ENATREL) which carries electric power from the power generating stations to the transmission network, confirmed last week that 72% of Nicaraguans now have access to electricity and that the government’s goal is to achieve 90% coverage by 2016.  He said, “That would mean connecting more than 4,000 communities around the country.  We are talking about the Caribbean Coast, the north-central part of the country and part of the Pacific area that is lacking power.”  The government’s plan also includes legalizing connections in 640 neighborhoods where electric power is consumed but not paid for, beginning with 30 neighborhoods this year.  (El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 14, 16; Informe Pastran, Feb. 14, 15; La Prensa, Feb. 13, 15; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 13, 14)

2. Colombia to increase naval presence near Nicaraguan waters

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Feb. 18 that he was ordering an increase in Colombian naval presence at his country’s maritime borders with Nicaragua after a member of the Colombian Senate accused the Nicaraguan Navy of boarding a Colombian fishing vessel in the waters awarded to Nicaragua in last November’s World Court decision.  Speaking on the island of San Andres, he said, “This type of incident should not happen again and toward that end the Navy will increase its presence or number of ships that it has [in the area].”  He added, “The historic rights of our fishermen will be respected whatever happens because no one has to ask permission from anyone to fish where they have been fishing and we will take care of that.”  After throwing a line in the water himself, he said, “The right to do what I have just done will be defended until death.”

The Nicaraguan Army said that its vessels had not been involved in any incident with Colombian fishing vessels, noting in a communiqué, “The commanders of the naval force are in communication with their Colombian counterparts and they have not reported any incidents.” The Nicaraguan communiqué said that “The claim of harassment comes from fishermen who in the past got authorization to fish from Colombian authorities and now have to get [that authorization] from Nicaragua.”  According to the accusation of Senator Alexandra Moreno, Nicaraguan ships harassed the Colombian fishing boats, boarded them, and gave them 72 hours to leave the area.  The Nicaraguan government has insisted that it will respect the rights of residents of the island of San Andres to continue to fish in their traditional waters.

On Nov. 19, 2012, the International Court of Justice at The Hague issued a ruling in which it confirmed Colombia’s ownership of the islands of the San Andres Archipelago but assigned the surrounding waters, which form Nicaragua’s continental shelf, to Nicaragua.  Colombia has hired the British law firm Volterra Fietta to prepare a plan under which Colombia could challenge the ruling.  Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin visited San Andres with British attorney Robert Volterra over the weekend to meet with fishermen and other islanders in preparation for his firm’s report expected to be completed in May.  (El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 14, 18; Informe Pastran, Feb. 18)

3. Road paving advances throughout the country

Pablo Fernando Martinez, minister of transportation, announced that in 2013 Nicaragua will pave at least 200 more kilometers of road in addition to the 215 kilometers paved in 2012. The country now has more than 3,000 kilometers of paved road toward its goal of 8,000 kilometers. There are paved roads in all the departments and two autonomous regions and the highway system is increasingly interconnected, greatly improving the ability of agricultural producers to get their crops to market. The ministry is hoping for loan approval from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and World Bank to fund a road to the future deep-water port at Monkey Point.

Martinez also announced that the IDB has approved a US$39 million loan to pave a road from Nejapa to Puerto Sandino in the Department of Leon. That project is scheduled to begin in April. (La Prensa, Feb. 13; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 13)

4. Senior Citizens march for pensions

A thousand members of the National Union of Senior Citizens (UNAM) marched on the National Assembly to exert pressure on the legislature for a long-demanded law creating reduced pensions for senior citizens who do not have enough weeks in formal employment to qualify for social security. Leaders met with the National Assembly’s Committee on Health and Security and the Nicaraguan Institute of Social Security to put together draft legislation. They warned that if no progress is made on the bill in the National Assembly the elders will “take to the streets.” Their demand is a minimum pension of US$125 per month for persons above 60 who have 250 weeks (about 5 years) of qualifying employment. They also demand medical services, medicine, personal loans, and other services for the elderly retirees. (Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 14; El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 14; La Prensa, Feb. 13)

5. Prison reform and at-risk youth training

Minister of Government Ana Isabel Morales has announced that most of the US$9.2 million seized from 18 Mexican drug traffickers posing as television journalists who were captured last year, will be used to improve conditions in the country’s prisons. Their equipment and vehicles will also be sold and used in the project. She said the proposal only awaits final approval by the Supreme Court. Of the total, US$7 million will go to the prisons and the remaining US$2.2 million will be used to buy new vehicles for the National Police.  The money for the prisons will be added to US$6 million allocated by the Sandinista government in 2010 to improve prison conditions including repairs and remodeling, improved plumbing, proper drainage, and improved health care and job training for inmates. The prison project includes partnership with Nicaraguan businesses for jobs and training so families of prisoners aren’t destitute and prisoners have the prospect of employment and reintegration into society when they have served their sentences.  The 18 Mexican drug traffickers recently received 30 year prison terms.

In the second year of a much praised, National Police-run program of job training for juvenile delinquents and at-risk youth, 220 youth, 180 boys and 40 girls, are receiving training. The inter-disciplinary program includes psychological evaluation along with education to prepare the youth for productive work. Courses at the Center for Training and Youth Development in Managua include auto mechanics, computers, home electrical repair, tailoring, manual crafts, hairdressing, baking, and sustainable agricultural practices. One program graduate described the program as “a great opportunity to start on a new road of life, working and studying.” (Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 13)

6. “Vivir Bonito” campaign gaining support

More and more towns, groups and citizens signed on this week to the “Vivir Bonito” campaign announced on Feb. 5 by government communications and citizenship coordinator Rosario Murillo.  The anti-littering aspect of the campaign is what has gained support from political figures who have not in the past been supporters of the government.  Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Barrios, son of former President Violeta Chamorro and martyred journalist Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal, once a leader of the contras and now a National Assembly deputy, said, “I frankly see nothing bad, in fact the contrary, that the government through the director of communications and first lady Rosario Murillo launch a national campaign to combat our ancestral bad practices of daily dirtying the surroundings in which we live.”  He added, “The truth is that there are some who criticize just to criticize: If the mayor’s office doesn’t clean the garbage out of the storm sewers, it’s bad; if they do it and impose a fine on those who threw it there, bad also, because it is a sinister totalitarian campaign of Rosario’s who has ordered all of us to ‘live beautifully.’”

In related news, Fidel Moreno, secretary general of Managua, announced that owners of vacant lots would be responsible for keeping them free of garbage and would be fined if they filled up with trash.  The fines could be between US$200 and US$2,000, he said.  He said that the municipality has begun issuing 200 notifications giving property owners a week to clean up and fence their lots.  If they do not, the city will clean the lots and charge the owner.  He said that the owners of the vacant lots will have to figure out how to keep others from dumping garbage on their property.  Moreno spoke during a visit to an illegal dump on the northeast side of the university roundabout which the city has had to clean up three times in the past two weeks.  He said that with the income from fines levied, the city has not needed more money than has been budgeted.  Money from fines will help to build the promised 40 legal dumps and recycling areas. By Feb. 13, the campaign had fined 62 companies or individuals.  Trash baskets and bags are being distributed to buses, taxis and individuals around Managua.  (La Prensa, Feb. 12, 13; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 13)

7. Selling turtle meat prohibited in RAAS

Regional Delegate of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA), Johanna Schwartz, announced in Bluefields that “the capture, sale, and consumption of sea turtle meat are prohibited in the entire region.” Bluefields is the capital of the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS). Police will enforce the new regulation designed to protect endangered sea turtles. Objections were immediately raised that turtle meat is a “traditional” food of the region. Vendors, who sell the turtle meat for US$1.44 to $1.65 per pound, complained that the regulation interfered with their livelihood. The MARENA representative responded that they can sell other sea food that is not endangered. Local sources reported that an average of 17 sea turtles had, up until now, been butchered weekly in Bluefields. Violators of the new ban will be fined and their meat confiscated according to a MARENA communiqué.

Caribbean Paradise restaurateur Jimmy Carter expressed what is hopefully the sentiment of the majority. He said, “In my restaurant I don’t sell any dish with turtle meat because all the species of turtle in the world are in danger of extinction and their hunting and trading are prohibited. There are other alternatives for food. A turtle can live for more than a hundred years. They are inoffensive and beautiful.” (El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 16; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 16)

8. Nicaragua to fight for “rosquillas” trademark

Nicaragua asked the US Department of Commerce to deny a trademark registration for rosquillas to a Salvadoran company saying that rosquillas are a type of cookie made of corn and cheese that is native to Nicaragua and its registration as a trademark by a company from another country would impede Nicaragua’s commerce with the United States.    Orlando Solorzano, Nicaraguan Minister of Development, Industry and Trade, said that the production of the golden, toasted rosquillas is in the hands of small and medium sized businesses principally in the northern part of Nicaragua.  If the Salvadoran company were allowed to trademark the name rosquillas, “it could mean that we wouldn’t be able to export [rosquillas] to Florida,” he explained.  (Informe Pastran, Feb. 15)