Nicaragua Network

1. Seniors take over Social Security building in Managua; clashes follow
2. Ten die in Air Force helicopter crash
3. Climate change forum warns of threat to water
4. Outbreak of Type II dengue
5. Rural access to electricity and water continues to grow
6. Small farm in San Ramon example of organic sustainability
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1. Seniors take over Social Security building in Managua; clashes follow

The past week has been marked by the conflict caused by the protests of the National Union of Older Adults (UNAM) and their demands for a reduced pension from the Social Security system.  The protests began at offices of the National Institute for Social Security (INSS) around the country but then moved to the occupation of the INSS headquarters in Managua.  UNAM members were able to enter and occupy part of the INSS building but were in an area with no access to water, bathrooms, or food.  Anti-Sandinista youth groups, non-governmental organizations, and political parties called for activists to support the seniors with food and water but the police, who said that the takeover of public buildings was illegal, would not allow them access. Early on the morning of Saturday, June 22, a group of Sandinista supporters (called mobs by the opposition) arrived at the scene and removed many of the UNAM supporters in an encounter which quickly degenerated into violence.  UNAM supporters accused the police of brutality; however, the police were unarmed except for shields and seven of them were hospitalized with injuries sustained in interactions with young protesters.  On Monday, June 24, thousands of supporters of the government held a march and rally which appeared to mark a reconciliation between the seniors and the government with the presence of Porfirio Garcia, president of the UNAM, who during the previous week had been accused of letting himself be manipulated by forces unrelated to the seniors’ cause.

Throughout the week of protests, Social Security officials repeatedly explained the recent history and present condition of the Social Security system seemingly to no avail.  Dr. Roberto Lopez, president of the INSS, said, “We have to be clear about what is happening in this country which is that a group of people with good intentions, older people who feel that they have a just claim that we agree is just but have no possibility to resolve, is being manipulated by politicians on the right in order to break the [Social Security] Institute and destroy the hopes of all the workers.”  He noted that, since President Daniel Ortega took office in 2007, the number of workers paying in to Social Security has risen from 381,000 to 674,000.  The number of seniors receiving pensions has increased from 105,431 to 148,145.  But, Lopez said that there are 54,872 living seniors who paid into the system for between five and 14 years which is not enough for them to receive a pension.  He said, “If we paid the pensions to those who did not pay in for 750 weeks [14 years], we would have a deficit.”  He noted that it would cost US$98 million per year to pay a reduced pension of US$133 per month and the reserves of the Social Security fund total US$63.7 million. The government currently pays a small monthly stipend with ALBA funding of between US$42 and US$117 (depending on how long they paid into Social Security) to 8,000 seniors who did not pay into Social Security enough years to receive a pension. These seniors also receive monthly food packets, and health care, including wheel chairs, canes and other necessary items.

Sandinista Deputy Walmaro Gutierrez, chair of the Economy, Production and Budget Committee of the National Assembly, said that the Social Security system could not be funded by a line in the budget because the INSS by law does not come under the regular budget but rather is funded by the monthly payroll taxes of workers. [The International Monetary Fund has demanded that Nicaragua reform its Social Security system making it even harder to get a pension, increasing the age of retirement and the number of years a worker has to pay into the system.] 

There was commentary about the role of social media in bringing out university students and others to the protests with opposition youth setting up Twitter and Facebook accounts.  Jurist and educator Carlos Tunnermann said that “youth had awakened” and mobilized to take water, food and medicine to the seniors. Sociologist Oscar Rene Vargas said that through social networks young people had learned about protests in Greece, Spain, Turkey, and Brazil. He added that while the seniors have been the most persistent in their demands, “as the government continues its lack of response to their demands, the protest will continue to grow and more youth will join.” 

In Los Angeles, California, Nicaraguans sympathetic to the opposition organized a march protesting what they called “police brutality” using a photo of an older woman who had been hit on the head and had blood streaming down her face.  The problem was that the photo was of a Colombian woman who had been brutalized by Colombian police.  In the week of protests in Nicaragua, no senior citizen has complained to human rights groups of being injured although some university students have reported injuries to the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH).

Some seniors have complained of being used by the media.  Maria Esther Leyva had her photo published around the world along with words of protest against the government but she later appeared on television saying she had been manipulated.  She noted she receives a monthly stipend, a basket of basic goods and has even received a house from the government and explained that she went to the protest because the UNAM movement of which she is a member demanded that she participate.  But, she emphasized that she is very grateful for what she has received.  She also said, “They are taking advantage of us.  If [Eduardo Montealegre] arrived, no one called him.  If the lady from Human Rights [Vilma Nuñez] came, no one called her.  They come to give themselves a certain shine and then they leave.”

The Catholic Church appeared divided with Auxiliary Bishop of Managua Silvio Baez calling the government’s actions “state terrorism” in his Sunday’s sermon at the Cathedral while Managua Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes visited all seven injured police officers in their hospital beds.

At the government-organized rally on Monday, June 24, UNAM President Porfirio Garcia said that his organization is a non-profit with no political affiliation that only fights to improve the standard of living of its senior citizen members.  He said that the members of UNAM were grateful for the benefits they were receiving and that negotiations would begin again in the search for a permanent resolution of the problems of the seniors.  He said that some might be asked to leave his organization but that they would continue to march for the rights of older adults.  And, in fact, a group of about 80 seniors continued their protest at the INSS building with one member of the board of directors, Gilberto Solorzano, promising a hunger strike.

To read a history of the Nicaraguan Social Security system in English, go to http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/4240.  (Informe Pastran, June 20, 22, 24; El Nuevo Diario, June 20, 22, 24; Radio La Primerisima, June 21, 24; La Prensa, June 21, 23)

2. Ten die in Air Force helicopter crash

On June 20, at 10:30am local time, a MI-17 helicopter carrying nine officers of the Air Force of the Nicaraguan Army and one civilian employee crashed into Lake Xolotlan (Lake Managua) causing the death of all on board.  Among the dead was Air Force Chief of Staff Col. Manuel Lopez whose body was among the first recovered.  The helicopter crashed off the shore of the community of Cuatro Palos in the municipality of La Paz Centro, 57 kilometers northeast of Managua.  Other officers on board were Col. Mario Jiron, chief of the aircraft repairs base and Col. Eugenio Alfaro, Air Force chief of operations and planning.  Alfaro piloted the aircraft.  Also among the dead were Lt. Col. Aldo Herrera, chief of the weapons section of the directorate of operations and planning, Lt. Col. Chester Vargas, chief of intelligence and counter-intelligence, Lt. Col. Idelfonso Hernandez, head of air inspection and co-pilot of the helicopter, Lt. Col. Francisco Corea, head of personnel and cadres of the Air Force, and Cristian Lopez, civilian accountant for the Air Force.  Also aboard were Maj. Oscar Silva, aviation technologist and Private Osmar Acosta, anti-aircraft artillery operator. 

An Air Force communiqué said that the crew reported that they needed to make an emergency landing and immediately after that communication was lost.  The helicopter was flying at an altitude of 5000 feet when it lost power.  It was heading to Managua from a base on the north side of the Momotombo Volcano.  This was the worst Nicaraguan aviation accident since 13 military officers and 15 civilians died in a crash on the Caribbean coast in 1996.  Manuel Lopez and Mario Jiron were among the founders of the Nicaraguan Army in 1979.

One military source told La Prensa that it was a “serious error” to have seven members of the general staff of the Air Force on the same aircraft.  Normally, the source said, the top officers never travel together.  He explained, “Or they go in two helicopters or some go by land” because they are thinking of the possibility of an accident like the one on Thursday. This same helicopter had a mechanical malfunction in 2001 in El Salvador with Col. Manuel Lopez aboard along with then President Arnoldo Aleman.

Col. Javier Pichardo, Ret., former head of the Air Force, said that the crash was a great tragedy for the country.  He stated that the pilot and co-pilot (Alfaro and Hernandez) had piloted these aircraft during the war of the 1980s and had thousands of hours of experience.  And he said that the helicopters were excellent – tested in war, adding that “many of these in the decade of the 80s saved hundreds of lives and proved their efficiency.”  And, he stated, “A cause of lack of maintenance is not possible since the Air Force has all the instruments to do the needed inspections to the entire fleet of helicopters that it has,” adding that if the motor and fuselage were duly inspected these could fly “for 50 or 60 years without any problem.”

Head of the Nicaraguan Army Gen. Julio Cesar Aviles said on Monday, June 24, that all the bodies had been recovered and that retrieval of the parts of the helicopter would proceed in order to determine the cause of the crash. (Radio La Primerisima, June 21; La Prensa, June 21; Informe Pastran, June 20; El Nuevo Diario, June 22, 24)

3. Climate change forum warns of threat to water

The 5th National Forum on Climate Change at the University of Central America (UCA) warned that, although Nicaragua has one of the world’s best ratios of water to population (23,500 cubic meters per person per year), climate change threatens serious shortages. Although Central America only produces half a percent of the world’s greenhouse gasses, it is one of the most vulnerable regions on the planet to climate change. UCA Academic Vice-President Renata Rodrigues opened the conference stating that climate change is a reality and manifests itself principally as prolonged drought and extreme rainfall, each of which put pressure on water resources.

Vice-Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) Roberto Araquistain noted the effect of bad practices by agriculture and manufacturing as a threat to water supply. As an example, he said that a manzana (1.74 acres) of rice is usually cultivated with 5,000 cubic meters of water when 2,000 would suffice.  UN representative Pablo Mandeville said that 83% of Nicaragua’s water usage is for agriculture and 14% for industry while only 3% goes to domestic use. Forty percent of the rural population does not have sufficient access to water. (El Nuevo Diario, June 20)

4. Outbreak of Type II dengue

The more aggressive and fatal Type II dengue has sickened 87 people in recent days, three of them seriously. The three grave cases are geographically dispersed in Managua, Chinandega, and Matagalpa with less severe cases reported even more widely. Seven fatalities from Type II dengue have been reported in Honduras. Type II dengue presents few symptoms different from Type I and piggybacks on other ailments suffered by its victims. Doctors recommend that people go to medical centers upon the first sign of fever as Type II dengue can cause hepatitis, myocarditis and other serious diseases.

Meanwhile, nationwide, affiliates of the Local Systems of Integral Attention to Health (SILAIS) were carrying out abatement campaigns against the mosquito which carries dengue as the first weeks of the rainy season mean that there are more places for the insects to lay their eggs. (Radio La Primerisima, June 24; El Nuevo Diario, June 20)

5. Rural access to electricity and water continues to grow

The National Electrical Transmission Company (ENATREL), through the National Program of Sustainable Electrification and Renewable Energy, announced that in the first six months of 2013 it had brought electricity to 2,241 rural homes. Fifty-five projects added 96 kilometers of electric lines toward the goal of 2,048 kilometers by the end of the year. With increased access to electricity has come increased demand. ENATREL estimated increased demand of 584-700 kilowatts per rural community on the current 500.73 megawatt national capacity. [National electricity shortages that were endemic under the last right-wing president, Enrique Bolaños are now a thing of the past.] The goal for the remainder of the year is to bring electricity to 1,000 small communities in the two Atlantic Coast Autonomous Regions.

Also last week, the mayor of El Tuma-La Dalia in the Department of Matagalpa announced that a US$3.3 million water project will provide 15,000 families with public potable water and sanitary facilities. Construction, financed with Swiss aid and national resources, will begin in October.  (La Prensa, June 19; Radio La Primerisima, June 18)

6. Small farm in San Ramon example of organic sustainability

Vicente Padilla is a small coffee producer who used his demobilization money from the army to buy 8.7 acres of land. He converted the land to organic farming, primarily coffee, but also fruit trees and basic grains as well as a cow, chickens, pigs, rabbits and guinea pigs. His farm in San Ramon is often visited by university students studying agriculture who are interested in learning about organic farming as well as representatives of different organizations who want to learn about his system that combines crops and animals. His coffee bushes have not suffered from the leaf rust that has blighted so many of Nicaragua’s coffee farms because, Padilla said, “we have confronted it with organic products such as composted fertilizer, and other products made here that we apply to the foliage as a preventative measure.”

Padilla said he has been approached by agricultural engineers who want him to use chemical products to increase his yield but he answers that he and other members of the Nicaraguan Agro-Ecology Movement have found that farms that use organic products do well.  He said that, while it costs a lot to convert to organic farming, after the first few years those costs diminish.  He added that many growers want to exploit their farms to the maximum without caring about the damage to nature.  “But what we want,” he said, “is for our farms to be sustainable.” (El Nuevo Diario, June 20)