Nicaragua Network

1. Indigenous Mayangna killed in Bosawas confrontation with colonizers
2. Two polls show strong support for government
3. United States has benefited most from DR-CAFTA
4. International Coffee Organization to help fight leaf rust in Central America
5. World Bank donates US$16.7 million for preschool education
6. Student desk deficit addressed
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1. Indigenous Mayangna killed in Bosawas confrontation with colonizers

Elías Charly Taylor, a member of the Mayangna community, died from injuries received in a confrontation on Apr. 23 in the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve (a UNESCO site) between colonizers and the indigenous who live in and around the Reserve.  At an Apr. 27 press conference, Nicaraguan Army head General Julio Cesar Aviles said that the situation in Bosawas, located in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), was “grave.”   He said that some 2,000 families of colonizers from mestizo communities in the north and east of Nicaragua had come into the Bosawas area, adding, “They do not come to live with nature; they come to destroy it,” logging timber for lumber companies and burning for cattle pasture and to clear fields for planting.  He said that there are cases of land grabbers who are very poor but behind them “there are others who are manipulating to take advantage of these persons.”  He said that the Army had 700 soldiers in seven companies patrolling the area.

Aviles stated that the protection of Bosawas was a matter of national security because, if the invasions of the Reserve continue, a major part of the country’s water reserves will be put in danger and along with them the resources for hydroelectric power.  Otilio Duarte, Police Commissioner for the Mining Triangle (Siuna, Bonanza, and Rosita), said that the inter-institutional commission recently formed that includes the Police, the Army, the Environment Ministry, and the Attorney General’s Office is mobilizing to carry out appropriate investigations.

The Army’s Ecological Battalion detained two brothers who said that they had “bought” 27 acres of land in Bosawas which they had cleared for pasture for 19 head of cattle and where they had expected to bring their families to live.  The Battalion is reinforcing patrols of the routes of entrance into the Reserve to prevent colonizers from taking more land or putting up road blocks.  The Army announced that the indigenous had released two mestizo teenagers who had been taken hostage at the time of the confrontation on Apr. 23 and the Army removed them from the area.

Gustavo Sebastian Lino, president of the Mayangna Sauni As territory, said at a press conference called by the indigenous that 18 communities were in mourning for the loss of Elias Charly Taylor.  He demanded that the government clean out illegal land grabbers and threatened further action by the indigenous if the government does not move.  “If we don’t get an answer,” he said, “we will go to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission because we have exhausted all recourse here. We are looking for a peaceful solution because we don’t want the death of more indigenous or of mestizos.”

Taymond Robin, a Mayangna technician, said that the government must continue the process laid out in the Law on Communal Property of the Indigenous and Ethnic Communities of the Autonomous Regions of the Atlantic Coast and of the Bocay, Coco, Indio and Maiz Rivers.  He said that after the titling process is completed, the government is to begin a process of removing illegal settlers from the indigenous land.   In the last six years, the nine Mayangna communities in the Bosawas Reserve have received communal titles to their land but since 2010 land invasions have increased.

Claudia Valle of the National UNESCO Commission expressed her “consternation about the latest happenings” and said that UNESCO had sent reports to President Daniel Ortega.  She added that she believed he (Ortega) had received “good proposals for actions over the short, medium, and long terms.”  (El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 27; Radio La Primerisima, Apr. 26; La Prensa, Apr. 28)

2. Two polls show strong support for government

Two polling firms released the results of their most recent surveys last week—the Costa Rican firm Borge y Asociados and the Nicaraguan firm M&R Consultores.  Both showed high levels of support for the government of President Daniel Ortega and low levels of approval for the political opposition.

M&R Consultores surveyed 1,600 people in urban, semi-rural and rural areas throughout the country between April 2 – 18.  According to the poll, 70.3% approved the performance of the Ortega government while 22.3% disapproved.  Sixty-nine percent said that they felt that the country had made progress in the last six years while 20.1% said things were the same and 10% said the country had gone backwards.  The Sandinista Party (FSLN) had the support of 59.1% of those polled, while 31.2% declared themselves independent and only 9.8% said that they supported the Liberals.  Among the Liberal parties, the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) showed a rise in support to 5.1% while the Constitutional Liberal Party fell to 3.8%.  The Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) had the support of only 0.1% of those polled while the Conservative Party polled 0.2%.  Breaking down the support for the Sandinistas, 23.9% supported FSLN strongly, 18.1% have hope in the government, and 17.1% are “occasional” supporters.  Informe Pastran stated, “It is notable that all of the social base that the MRS had has returned to the FSLN.”

Informe Pastran further commented, “While the government and business people say that the country is doing very well in macroeconomic sense with high exports, high levels of reserves, foreign investments, construction and tourism, the citizens below do not feel the same because, in the micro economy, feeding one’s family is ever more expensive for the pocketbooks of thousands of households.”  Thirty-one percent said that the principal problem confronting the country was unemployment, followed by rises in prices for food and basic services at 27.2%.  In third place was poverty at 13.1% and delinquency in fourth at 11.3%.  In the small single digits were corruption and drug trafficking.  While 42.3% of respondents said that Nicaraguans were doing “OK”, 29.6% said “doing well” and 5.5% said “excellent”, for a total of 78.3%, 54.4% said that they would leave the country for greener pastures, while 45.3% said that they would not, figures which had many commentators scratching their heads.  Related numbers showed that 67.4% would march in the streets to demand more jobs and 64.3% would march against rises in food prices with only 33.8% said they would march against election fraud.  Those who indicated the most willingness to march against high food and transportation prices were those who said that they were Sandinistas or independents.

Borge y Asociados polled 1,009 Nicaraguans between April 2-8.  The firm found opposition politicians Eduardo Montealegre and Arnoldo Aleman with high disapproval ratings and high favorable ratings for President Ortega and for First Lady and Communications Coordinator Rosario Murillo.  Only 13% had a favorable opinion of Montealegre while 69.7% had a unfavorable opinion.  In the case of Aleman, the figures were similar with 13.6% favorable and 73.4% unfavorable.  In the case of Ortega, the numbers were 74.7% favorable and 15.2 unfavorable.  For Rosario Murillo, 70.5% had a favorable opinion of her while 19.1 had an unfavorable opinion.  The government in general received a favorable rating from 49.3%, the National Assembly was rated favorably by 41.6%, the judicial branch by 42.1% and the Supreme Electoral Council by 41.4%. Where the M&R poll indicated that Plan Roof was the most popular government program, the Borge poll had Streets for the People with the highest rating.  The poll had a margin of error of 3.1% and a confidence level of 95%. [Historical note: Borge was the only polling firm that accurately predicted the Sandinista loss in the elections of 1990.]

On other subjects, M&R revealed that 49.2% believe that the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) will continue even without Hugo Chavez, 27.4% believe the alliance will be strengthened, 10.3% believe that it will weaken, and 5.1% that it will end. As for the inter-oceanic canal, 59% said they believed it would pull the country out of poverty, 14% doubted that it would be built; 14.6% said it was just publicity, and 13% did not know about it.  On the subject of religion, 53.4% said they were Catholic, 28.2% evangelical, 6.4% other denomination; 11.8% no denomination and 0.2% atheists.  Only 4.3% were in favor of reversing the criminalization of therapeutic abortion.  However, 82.3% indicated support for the recently passed but controversial law increasing penalties for violence against women, including 76.1% of men. 

The National Police received favorable evaluations in the M&R poll from 72.6% of those polled with 21.9% saying that their performance was average and only 5.5% giving them a negative rating.  The private sector also received favorable ratings with 76.5% of those interviewed saying that it was the engine driving the national economy and 82.3% approving the way the government promotes investment by the private sector.  However, 66.9% believe that the priority for the government and the private sector should be the creation of more jobs and improvement in wages.

According to the M&R poll, 40.2% believe that the political opposition parties should concentrate on organizing and participating in dialogue and negotiations with the government while 39.3% say that they should support conditions that promote stability and increase investment.  Only 4% said that the opposition parties should act as an effective counterweight to the government and only 3.1% agreed that they should strengthen their organization to exert greater pressure against the government.  The M&R poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5% and a confidence level of 95%.  (Informe Pastran, Apr. 24; El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 25; Radio La Primerisima, Apr. 26, 29)

3. United States has benefited most from DR-CAFTA

With US President Barack Obama scheduled to meet with the presidents of Central America in San Jose, Costa Rica, May 3-4, commentators are analyzing the trade relationship between the United States and Central America since the trade agreement known as DR-CAFTA or simply CAFTA went into effect in 2006.  In 2012, the total trade between the US and the region reached US$40 billion.  While analysts have noted that Nicaragua is the Central American country that has benefited the most from CAFTA, the real beneficiary has been the United States.  In 2005, Central America exported to the US products with a total value of US$11.4 billion and imported goods valued at US$14.3 billion with a resulting trade deficit of US$2.9 billion.  In 2012, Central America exported products worth US$13.57 billion to the US while importing goods valued at US$27.1 billion for a trade deficit nearly five times greater than in 2005, US$13.5 billion! While the United States increased the value of its exports to Central America from US$14.3 billion to US$27.1 billion (almost double), Central American exports to the US only increased from US$11.4 billion to US$13.57 billion.  (Informe Pastran, Apr. 29)

4. International Coffee Organization to help fight leaf rust in Central America

International Coffee Organization executive director Roberio Oliveira said that the ICO is evaluating the impact of leaf rust on coffee groves in Central America in order to put together a plan to assist the countries affected by the plague.  Speaking in San Salvador, he said, “We have come to see the situation on the ground” in order to decide “what type of cooperation we can offer.”  He said that the international coffee community had its eyes on Central America because of the “critical situation” caused by the rust.  It is estimated that the fungus infection has caused a loss of US$550 million and the loss of 441,000 jobs in Central America during the 2012-2013 harvest season.  The ICO has called it the worst leaf rust plague since the fungus was first detected in Latin America in 1970. Oliveira said that the ICO had no estimate yet of what the impact of the leaf rust might be on the 2013-2014 harvest.

Oliveira arrived in Nicaragua on Apr. 29 where he was scheduled to meet with Minister of Agriculture Ariel Bucardo and Cooperative and Family Economy Minister Pedro Haslam before travelling to visit coffee farms in the northern part of the country.  In Nicaragua, past leaf rust plagues have affected mainly groves below 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) elevation.  However, with this infestation, coffee groves up to 2,000 meters above sea level have been affected.  Northern departments, in particular Nueva Segovia, have registered temperature increases of more than two degrees Celsius (3.6°F) and that is where the first serious cases of the rust were noted.  By mid-January, the infection had passed previous epidemics to affect 20% of the country’s coffee farms, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Edgardo Garcia, general secretary of the Farmworkers Association (ATC) said that next year replacement of 100,000 acres of coffee groves will be initiated which will result in substantial job loss over three years for each of those farms while the new plants grow.  Garcia said that this season’s exports of the bean were not affected but that next year’s export total likely would be affected even though the damage this year has been less that the 30% of farms originally estimated.  He added that the Nicaraguan government would be releasing figures on the damage caused by the epidemic in the north of the country in the next few days.

Both the volume and the value of Nicaragua’s coffee exports rose in the first half of the 2012-2013 harvest season, according to the Center for Export Procedures (CETREX).  Volume grew 51.3% and value grew by 14.4% between October 2012 and March 2013 compared to the same period last year. This year exports totaled 49.1 million kilos while last year the figure was 32.4 million kilos.  The reason that the value of the coffee exports grew by so much less than the volume was that last year the price per hundredweight was US$229.8 while this year it had dropped to US$173.7.  (Radio La Primerisima, Apr. 26, 29; La Prensa, Apr. 26, 28; El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 27)

5. World Bank donates US$16.7 million for preschool education

The Managua office of the World Bank announced on Apr. 29 that the Bank was making a donation of US$16.7 million to improve preschool education in Nicaragua.  The funds come from the Global Partnership for Education and complement funds from other donors.  The funds will be used to increase registration rates, improve infrastructure, develop curriculum and train teachers in 43 municipalities in seven departments especially in communities where preschool registration is low and poverty rates are high.  Over 230,000 children are expected to benefit.  Two hundred preschool classrooms will be remodeled or built, sanitary facilities built, appropriate sized desks and play equipment will be constructed, along with security walls and fences.  Because over 70% of preschool teachers have not received formal training, teacher education will be an important component of the program.  Another goal is the development of a unified curriculum for the whole country including materials for indigenous language groups and for children with special needs. (El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 29)

6. Student desk deficit addressed

The Ministry of Education (MINED) has distributed 22,000 new student desks and 70,000 repaired desks to address a shortage in classrooms throughout the country. Jose Treminio, Deputy Minister of Education, said the goal is to deliver 60,000 new desks and repair 120,000 by October.  This week MINED began distributing 19,000 more new desks Nueva Segovia, Madriz, Jinotega, Matagalpa, Chontales and Río San Juan.  According to the 2012 School Infrastructure Diagnostics, the education system suffers from school classrooms in bad condition, lack of basic services, and shortages of student desks. The report found that many children had to stand during class, share a desk with another student, or sit on the floor. There was a deficit of 95,000 student desks in Jinotega, Matagalpa, and the North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions (RAAN and RAAS). Nubia Ordóñez, Regional Secretary for Education of the RAAS Government stated, “We are happy to see this issue being addressed in coordination with the government but we are not satisfied… There is still a lot of work that needs to be done.” MINED hopes to eliminate the desk shortage problem by next year.  Treminio reported that a US$1.5 million investment was made to buy new desks and US$2.1 million was invested to repair those that they could fix. MINED will invest approximately US$17.6 million in rehabilitating and building schools across the country and US$7.79 million in minor repairs. Additionally there will be 15 new and remodeled schools in which $3.9 million was invested to benefit 20,000 students. (El Nuevo Diario, Apr 25; La Prensa, Apr 28)