TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2007
Nicaragua Network Hotline (September 11, 2007)
Topics covered in this hotline include:1. Ortega: US$30 million required to begin process of reconstruction in RAAN
2. ALN and PLC sign political pact and approve legislation to limit faculties of CPCs
3. Exxon-Mobil walks out on negotiations and suspends oil imports creating gas shortage
4. Therapeutic abortion debate heats up as National Assembly deputies prepare to discuss reform
Topic 1: Ortega: US$30 million required to begin process of reconstruction in RAAN
On the morning of Sept. 4 President Daniel Ortega declared a state of disaster in the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) after category five Hurricane Felix caused widespread destruction across the region during the early hours of the same day. Emergency response and rescue efforts were coordinated by diverse government entities, including the System for Attention to and Prevention of Disasters (SINAPRED), the Nicaraguan Army, the Air force and Navy and other central and local government institutions.
Most affected by the hurricane were the municipalities of Bilwi/Puerto Cabezas, Sandy Bay and Cabo Gracias a Dios. According to the government, the majority of the buildings in these towns and the 75+ surrounding communities may have been destroyed and over 150,000 people have been affected.
Much of the infrastructure in the affected towns and communities was partially or totally destroyed, including roads, electricity cables, telephone cables, radio towers, piers and even the airport control tower in Bilwi/Puerto Cabezas. In addition, 90% to 100% of crops were destroyed in the affected areas and most wells used for drinking water have been contaminated. The destruction in many of the communities has yet to be evaluated, given that several areas are still inaccessible by road or water.
On Sept. 9 the central government announced that there were 67 people dead and 138 missing as a result of the hurricane, though communities are now reporting many more. The government accepts that the death toll is likely to rise to several hundred. In the region of Cabo Gracias a Dios, locals say that dozens of dead bodies have been washed up on the beach. An unknown number of fishing boats in the region have been lost at sea, say survivors. "It is possible that we'll never know how many people died," said local government official Reinaldo Francis.
If you can make a contribution to help the Nicaraguan victims of Hurricane Felix, click here!
Luis Carlos Avila, coordinator of the mission of Cuban doctors working in Nicaragua, is currently in Bilwi/Puerto Cabezas to evaluate the situation and warns that while “we cannot yet talk of epidemics,” with the widespread contamination of wells and the rapid increase in the number of mosquitoes in flooded areas, urgent measures must be taken to prevent outbreaks of deadly diseases such as malaria, dengue and leptospirosis.
On Sept. 6 President Ortega appealed to the international community for donations for the area affected by the hurricane. According to initial government estimates, US$30 million is needed to guarantee the immediate needs of those affected and for the first stage of infrastructure reconstruction. Ortega said the immediate priorities are water, water purifying equipment, food, blankets, plastic sheeting, corrugated metal roofing for temporary shelter, and medicines.
Ortega plans to propose to the country that are members of ALBA (the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas) that a US$5 million housing and infrastructure program already planned for Nicaragua be redirected to the RAAN in order to contribute to the government's reconstruction plans. The President went on to announce his proposal that US$11 million be released by the Public Finance Ministry for the emergency effort.
Several nations and international organizations have come forward with donations, including Honduras, El Salvador, the US, Venezuela, Canada, the European Union, the World Food Program and UNICEF. The European Union donated US$1.37 million, Canada donated US$1 million and sent 10,000 blankets, the US donated US$150,000, Venezuela donated US$1.5 million as well as 10 tons of food and water, construction materials, clothes and blankets and an all terrain vehicle which will help to explore areas where road access in conventional vehicles is limited.
The UN plans to launch a "Flash Appeal" with the aim of raising over US$45 million for medium term reconstruction projects. UNICEF has already promised US$200,000 and the Pan-American Health Organization has promised another US$200,000 for the UN appeal.
You can make a secure on- line credit card donation by going to: http://www.nicanet.org/donate_afgj.htm. Click on the button that says Hurricane Felix. You can also call our office at 202-544-9355 with your credit card information or send a check to Nicaragua Network, 1247 E St., SE, Washington, DC 20003. Be sure to put "Hurricane relief" in the memo or include a note.
Topic 2: ALN and PLC sign political pact and approve legislation to limit faculties of CPCs
The Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) and the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) signed a pact on Sept. 3 which ALN president Eduardo Montealegre said signaled the beginning of a united Liberal front and a "true opposition" to the Sandinista government. The two Liberal parties, which together hold a majority in the National Assembly, have agreed to vote as a bloc on 18 bills. Among the legislation they will support are bills to destroy the remaining SAM-7 missiles and amendments to the Law of Freedom of Expression.
The first concrete result of the ALN-PLC pact was passage on Sept. 6 of a law to obstruct implementation of the Councils of Citizen Power (CPCs). The legislation prevents the CPCs from being part of the Executive Branch. The bill was passed with 52 votes including votes from the PLC, the ALN and the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS).
Justice Committee chair Jose Pallais said that as a result of the reform the CPCs had been reduced to "nothing more than citizen consultancy agencies." President Daniel Ortega has promoted the CPCs as a vehicle for participatory democracy, making Nicaraguan citizens the “presidency” of the country.
An estimated five thousand people organized by the Movement for Nicaragua marched on Sept. 8 in Masaya protesting the Councils of Citizen Power. Violeta Granera, executive director of the Movement for Nicaragua, said that the march was organized to protest any intention of the Ortega government to challenge as unconstitutional the legislation passed two days earlier. Last June, a Nicaragua Network delegation met with the International Republican Institute (IRI) office in Managua. The IRI representative proudly told us that the IRI had “created” the Movement for Nicaragua. The IRI is one of the four core groups of the National Endowment for Democracy, a quasi-private organization funded by US tax dollars which supports parties and candidates whom the US government favors.
While the signing of the political agreement between the two Liberal Parties is a concrete first step towards Liberal unity, it is clear that there are still significant obstacles to unity. Currently the issue creating ongoing tension is an amnesty bill proposed by the ALN. This bill would grant legal amnesty for all officials from the Aleman and Bolaños administrations who have been found guilty of committing a crime while in office, or are in the process of being tried. Apparently Aleman believes his freedom is assured thanks to his pact with Daniel Ortega, and he doesn't want to see former president Enrique Bolaños and former Minister Eduardo Montealegre, both rivals for Liberal leadership, get out of their own significant legal charges for corruption while they were in office.
Topic 3: Exxon-Mobil walks out of negotiations and suspends oil imports creating shortage
Exxon-Mobil walked out of negotiations with government representatives on Sept. 5 and created a gas shortage in the country through their belligerence. Exxon-Mobil is in a fight with the Venezuelan government about its oil holdings in that country. It also has controlled 80% of Nicaragua's oil imports to date. That dominance is threatened by the Ortega government's agreement with the Venezuelan-owned oil company PDVSA to provide Nicaragua with its entire petroleum needs on concessionary terms.
The situation came to a head a few weeks ago when a judge seized a number of Exxon-Mobil empty storage tanks in the port city of Corinto because the oil giant owed millions of dollars in back taxes. The tanks were used to store Venezuelan oil. Venezuelan oil tankers were being idled for days while oil shipments were unloaded into tanker trucks because no storage tanks were available. The government has offered to return Exxon-Mobil's unused storage tanks if it would contract to store Venezuelan oil. Reportedly the government and Exxon-Mobil's representative had reached an agreement when the representative received a call and then walked out of the meeting. Exxon-Mobil also ceased importing oil at the same time. It does have a refinery in Nicaragua and continued to provide its own gas stations, but other international oil companies, which usually buy from Exxon-Mobil soon ran short of fuel.
Topic 4: Therapeutic abortion debate heats up as deputies prepare to discuss restoring right
The Catholic Church hierarchy expressed its "concern" over the possible restoration of the law which, from 1893 to 2006, permitted “therapeutic” abortion to save the life or health of the mother. Just ten days before the general elections last year the penal code was changed to criminalize all abortion, even if it was carried out to save the mother's life. The campaign was organized and funded by the Catholic and evangelical churches and only the Sandinista Renovation Movement had the courage to resist pressure to change the law on the eve of the election.
Bishop of Esteli Abelardo Mata said that "if necessary" the Catholic Church would again organize a protest march. "We know that there are international agencies which are promoting the legalization of the therapeutic abortion in Nicaragua, and we make an urgent call to the deputies of the National Assembly to take into account the ‘pro life' culture of the Nicaraguan people" said Mata.
The Director of the Action Now Women's Center, Martha Munguia, criticized the Catholic Bishops saying that they "are placing all the responsibility of sexual abusers on the victims... As a result of [this type of] fundamentalist attitude," she went on, "there are girls who have fallen pregnant as a result of rape and who [are being forced into motherhood], which is not normal at their age."
Munguia praised the decision of the deputies of the National Assembly Justice Committee to consider the possibility of a penal code reform to reintroduce therapeutic abortion. The members of the Justice Committee have been consulting with medical experts and women's rights groups during the last few weeks to come up with a list of circumstances under which a therapeutic abortion would be permitted. Committee chair Jose Pallais said that among the medical circumstances to be included on the list would be ectopic pregnancies and pregnancies in minors who doctors say are at "serious risk." The penal code reform is scheduled to be discussed in the National Assembly this week.
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