Nicaragua Network

1. Government sends 2014 budget to Assembly
2. Nicaraguan delegation travels to China to learn more about canal
3. Arguments finish before World Court on San Juan River dredging
4. World Bank official gives Nicaragua high marks on infrastructure projects
5. Dengue scourge increases despite eradication efforts
6. New US law may benefit Nicaragua on property claims
7. Honduran police capture Nicaraguan wanted for attempted murder
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1. Government sends 2014 budget to Assembly

In a formal ceremony on Oct. 17, Alba Palacios, first secretary of the National Assembly, received the proposed national budget for 2014 from Treasury Minister Ivan Acosta.  In his presentation before the Assembly, Acosta explained that the 2014 budget projects a 12.6% increase in revenue from 2013 and a corresponding increase in expenditures.  He said that 57.5% of the budget will go to social programs and poverty reduction.  The calculations for this budget, he explained, are based on an estimated growth rate of 4.5% with an inflation rate of no more than 7.1% and loss in value of the córdoba with relation to the dollar of 5%.  The budget estimates revenues of US$2.2 billion and allocates expenditures of US$2.8 billion with the deficit to be filled by donations, loans and the issuing of bonds.

Education will receive US$360 million which corresponds to 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an increase from 2013 when the education budget was US$296 million representing 2.67% of GDP.  The education budget includes the hiring of 1,000 new teachers and the rehabilitation of schools and equipment with a focus on rural and indigenous and Afro-Nicaraguan communities. The budget allocates US$384 million to the Ministry of Health to finance the government’s free health services and includes funds for the hiring of 600 new health care workers.  Teachers will get a raise in salaries of 9%, health care workers a raise of 7.3% while the rest of government employees will receive a 5% raise.

Included in the budget is the first payment in the amount of US$17.44 million, as promised, on the debt that the government has with the National Institute of Social Security (INSS).  Also in the official budget this year, for the first time, is US$48 million for the “solidarity bonus” for over 130,000 low wage government workers.  This bonus of $365 per year was formerly paid for with financing from Venezuela through the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).

Other important budget allocations include US$192 million to be transferred to the country’s 153 municipalities, US$37.9 million for the newly created Ministry of the Family, Communitarian, Cooperative and Associative Economy for economic programs to benefit those sectors, US$168 million for the Nicaraguan Army and National Police, USS$9.24 million for public transportation subsidies, US$11.68 million for electricity subsidies for poor households, and US$112 million for service on the national debt. Acosta added that the budget included US$4.48 million for “defense of national sovereignty” including the legal processes underway at the World Court at The Hague.  (Informe Pastran, Oct. 16; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 17; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 17; La Prensa, Oct. 18)

2. Nicaraguan delegation travels to China to learn more about canal

A group of about 30 business people, political figures, government officials and advisors, academics and environmentalists left on Oct. 18 for a visit to Hong Kong, Beijing, and other Chinese cities to meet with Chinese businessman Wang Jing and the HKND company as well as the other Chinese companies that have been contracted to carry out various parts of the technical feasibility studies for the massive shipping canal project planned in Nicaragua.  The project includes, besides a canal wider than the expanded Panama Canal, two ports, a railroad, two airports, an oil pipeline, and free trade zones.

Businessman Cesar Zamora said, “Wang Jing impressed us with his business sense and his political connections.  We have had a very well planned itinerary and meetings have exceeded our expectations because we have seen that the project will go forward.”  The agenda in Beijing was scheduled to include meetings with China Railway Construction Co., Ltd. (CRCC), which has built big projects in Saudi Arabia and Italy and is in charge of technical viability studies in Nicaragua.  The group will visit the cities of Xuzhou and Wuhan and megaprojects such as the Three Gorges Dam which several of the companies contracted by HKND had a role in building.

Laureano Ortega of ProNicaragua (the government agency which promotes foreign investment in Nicaragua) said that the Nicaraguan businesspeople will get to see firsthand the efforts that are going forward and the real possibilities that exist for Nicaraguan businesses to benefit directly from the project and establish direct relationships with Chinese companies.  National Assembly Deputy Edwin Castro said that on the trip they would be able to find out how the Chinese companies are doing the work on the studies for the canal.  Also traveling to China were environmentalist Kamilo Lara of the National Recycling Forum and Telemaco Talavera of the National Council of Universities (CNU).  Not traveling was opposition National Assembly Deputy Luis Callejas who said that his passport was returned without a visa and he was told he was not on the list.  The previous week, he had said at a press conference that he wanted to go to China to tell potential investors that if his party were elected to power any investment on Nicaraguan territory that they made based on the canal concession law ran the risk of being confiscated without any right to compensation.

Meanwhile, a new poll from M&R Consultores showed 64.5% of Nicaraguans surveyed considered that the shipping canal project was a serious one with a future; 13.5% doubted that it would become a reality; 11.8% said it was pure publicity, while 10% did not reply.  (La Prensa, Oct. 16, 18; Informe Pastran, Oct. 17, 18, 21; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 17, 18, 21)

3. Arguments finish before World Court on San Juan River dredging

Between Oct. 14 and 17 the International Court of Justice (World Court) at The Hague heard arguments from Costa Rica and Nicaragua relative to Costa Rica’s accusation that Nicaragua violated precautionary measures issued by the Court in March of 2011 pending resolution of a boundary dispute before the Court that should be resolved sometime next year.  Costa Rica accused Nicaragua, in particular Eden Pastora and his crew, of dredging in the area in dispute, a tiny triangle of swampland at the mouth of the San Juan River, in September of this year, causing grave environmental damage.  Nicaragua replied that Pastora had entered the disputed area by mistake and that the dredging team and equipment was immediately withdrawn from the area on orders from President Daniel Ortega and therefore there was no need for the Court to issue any further precautionary measures on that issue.

Costa Rica further claimed that Nicaragua had dug two new “artificial channels” in the estuary and also for the first time claimed as Costa Rican territory some sand bars on the coast which it had never claimed in the past and which even Google maps assign to Nicaragua.  Nicaragua answered that throughout the decades, Costa Rica has always protested when Nicaragua has dredged the river to keep it navigable, which it has longstanding rights to do. Nicaragua was represented by Nicaraguan international law attorney Carlos Argüello and Paul Reichler, the same international law attorney from the United States who presented arguments for Nicaragua at the World Court in the case against the United States in 1984-86.  Argüello lamented the use of undiplomatic language by Costa Rica’s representative who called Nicaragua at one moment in his presentation before the court, “a criminal state.”  Argüello said that in 30 years of work before the court he had never heard those terms used.  He noted that Nicaragua has reiterated multiple times its willingness to sit down and negotiate all differences.

Argüello noted that if there had been recent damage to the San Juan River, it came from the badly constructed road that Costa Rica had built along its southern bank without any feasibility or environmental studies and with subsequent revelations of corruption involved in the contracting of the work. And, in fact, Nicaragua asked the Court to issue precautionary measures against Costa Rica because of environmental damage caused by the road.  The Court will hear arguments on this matter in November and will probably rule on the requests for precautionary measures by both countries at the same time early in 2014.

In related news, five Nicaraguan environmental organizations announced that they will introduce a claim against Costa Rica in the Central American Court of Justice because of damage from the highway bordering the river. This is the second time they will have taken this issue to the Court. The Costa Rica government refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the Court when it ruled against it in the previous case.  The organizations filing suit include the National Recycling Forum, the Friends of the San Juan River Foundation, and several others.  (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 16; La Prensa, Oct. 16; Informe Pastran, Oct. 15, 17; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 17)

4. World Bank official gives Nicaragua high marks on infrastructure projects

World Bank Regional Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean Hasan Tuluy gave the Sandinista government high marks after a three-day visit to World Bank-funded infrastructure projects, including improvement of farm-to-market roads, wind power and health centers, in the southern part of Nicaragua. He said that the World Bank was “proud to be a partner with the government of Nicaragua and with the communities for the financing of these important projects, the quality of which is impressive.” He said he hopes for fiscal 2014 to add new funding for “projects that have a significant economic and social impact for the population of Nicaragua.” The World Bank currently funds 115 projects in Nicaragua at a cost of US$109.9 million. The government of President Daniel Ortega has expressed interest in World Bank funding to expand potable water and sewer access, rural road improvements, education, and coffee production. [The World Bank has been criticized in the past for pushing mega-dam projects and unsustainable debt on poor countries. Currently much of World Bank funding for poor countries is in the form of grants, and in Nicaragua at least, the government has sought funding for projects of more modest size that promote poverty reduction.]

Tuluy praised the Sandinista government projects saying, “It is an infrastructure that will allow the population to benefit from public services, not only to improve conditions for the population of today, but probably to improve the conditions and well-being of future populations.”  Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Fernando Martinez, who accompanied Tuluy said, “They [World Bank officials] have rated participation of the population well over all [including] women and youth, and the administration of the contracts. So we hope that funding will continue to benefit the projects that the Sandinista government is promoting for all the communities in the country.” (Informe Pastran, Oct. 21; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 21; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 21; La Prensa, Oct. 20)

5. Dengue scourge increases despite eradication efforts

Cases of Dengue Fever have increased 14% in Nicaragua over last year with different sources quoting numbers between 3,500 and 5,000 despite government mosquito abatement efforts. There have also been nine deaths, the latest being a five year old Rivas boy, compared to two last year. The departments of Chinandega, Managua, Leon, Granada, Rivas, and Carazo are the most affected. Dr. Carlos Saenz, director of epidemiology for the Ministry of Health predicted that more cases will be seen in the coming weeks which are usually the rainiest of the year. Government spokesperson Rosario Murillo said that the government will redouble efforts to mobilize the agencies of government and the population, including the Sandinista youth, to eradicate mosquito breeding sites, fumigate houses and neighborhoods, and raise awareness of the population about this dangerous disease. The Ministry of Health stated that 1.6 million houses have already been visited to educate residents about the importance of removing mosquito breeding sites in standing water and that 3 million breeding sites have been destroyed. Minister of Health Sonia Castro and coordinator of the health workers union FETSALUD, Dr. Gustavo Porras, will lead a national meeting of local government officials and cabinet ministries aimed at multiplying efforts to contain the illness. (El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 19; La Prensa, Oct. 20; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 21)

6. New US law may benefit Nicaragua on property claims

A law going into effect in the US on Jan. 1, 2014, may have a positive effect on Nicaragua concerning the yet to be resolved property cases filed by US citizens for property confiscated after the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship. The law, called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), requires all foreign banks and financial institutions to report on US citizens’ income internationally. The Nicaraguan Attorney General’s office has sent notice to dual citizens (those who became naturalized US citizens after their property was confiscated because of their association with the dictatorship or the National Guard) that they are required under FATCA law to prove that they are current on their US and Nicaraguan tax obligations. Attorney General Hernan Estrada said, “There has been a fiesta here [on property claims] with some claimants listing their US citizen relatives or even a newborn baby.” Compensation payments for settlement of property claims will now be reported to the US as taxable income. (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 15)

7. Honduran police capture Nicaraguan wanted for attempted murder

On Oct. 17, Honduran police captured Marvin Figueroa, known also as “Comandante Nicaragua” in Danli, a town close to the border with Nicaragua.  Honduran Police Chief Juan Carlos Bonilla said that Figueroa was wanted in Honduras for illegal possession of firearms, attempted murder and possible links to drug trafficking.  He is also wanted in Nicaragua for cattle theft, extortion and drug trafficking.  At the time he was captured, he was waiting for a meeting with Bishop Abelardo Mata of Esteli, Roberto Petray, director of the Permanent Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (ANPDH), and a reporter and a photographer from La Prensa. Bishop Mata has been saying for years that there are political bands in Nicaragua’s northern mountains who have taken up arms against the government of President Daniel Ortega. 

Mata, Petray, and the journalists met with other members of Figueroa’s group which calls itself the Nicaraguan Guerrilla Coordinator (CGN).  CGN members said that Mata had called for dialogue and asked to meet with them to hear what they had to say and transmit that message to the government.  Mata protested that their telephone communications were tapped by the Nicaraguan government and their meeting was filmed by what Radio La Primerisima referred to as “Honduran colleagues” and transmitted over media outlets friendly to the government.  Radio La Primerisima also reported that the ANPDH was funded by the United States and European governments. Mata said that both the Church and independent media were being persecuted by the government because “they (the government) cannot quiet the clamor of a people and the ill feeling is growing.  So in some way they have to find scapegoats and file false accusations against those who are speaking for those who have no voice.” 

Police Chief Aminta Granera said that Figueroa and Adrian Altamirano, who was also detained, were wanted in both Honduras and Nicaragua for criminal activities and “our police force has been exchanging information that we have and receiving information that [Honduran authorities] have to unite our efforts and then go to both countries’ prosecutors to get charges filed in these cases.”  (La Prensa, Oct. 18, 20; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 19; Informe Pastran, Oct. 21)