TUESDAY, OCTOBER 02, 2007
Nicaragua Network Hotline (October 2, 2007)
Topics covered in this hotline include:1. Ortega's UN General Assembly speech: "US leads global capitalist tyranny"
2. Humboldt Center calls on government to declare state of ecological disaster
3. Feminist movements call for civil disobedience in response to abortion ban
4. Nicaragua Network present at massive anti CAFTA rally in San Jose, Costa Rica
5. Trivelli warns that Nicaragua could be put on money laundering "blacklist"
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Topic 1: Ortega's UN General Assembly speech: “US leads global capitalist tyranny”
On Sept. 25 President Daniel Ortega spoke before the United Nations 62nd General Assembly in New York. Before he spoke he distributed copies of the Plan of Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of the communities in the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) destroyed by Hurricane Felix on Sept. 4. This document was produced by the authorities of the RAAN, the Central Government, and the leaders of the communities affected and it contemplates the investment of over US$292 million over the next six months in order to reactivate the region. The Nicaragua Network has raised over $10,000 for hurricane relief and is sending 100% of donations received. You can donate at our secure website: http://w ww.nicanet.org/donate_afgj.htm.Ortega began his speech by “remembering the millions of victims of colonial and neocolonial policies … [the victims] of the holocaust, of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the slaves of Apartheid, the occupation wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan,, Grenada, Nicaragua … the heroic and noble people of Cuba … the five Cuban heroes jailed in the US … the victims of the World Trade Center attacks … and all the millions of men and women who have been and continue to be victims of the genocide created by global capitalism.”During his twenty minute speech Ortega made some of the fiercest criticisms of the US government since coming to power on Jan. 10 of this year. “Eighteen years ago I spoke before the UN General Assembly and I remember very well the type of discourse, the messages and the positions [I heard then]… Today I listened intently to the second speaker [US President George Bush] … and I found no difference whatsoever between the thinking, the discourse and the actions of those at the head of this imperial power in 1989 and the speech I heard this morning.”“So what can I conclude?” asked Ortega, “I conclude that today we still have the same enemy as 18 years ago and that enemy is called global imperialist capitalism… The only ones who can change this situation are the peoples of the world.”
Ortega's speech was not received well by the Nicaraguan political opposition which issued a resolution on Sept. 28 condemning the anti imperialist nature of the President's discourse. The resolution, which was read in the National Assembly and signed by 50 opposition deputies including the three Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) deputies, said that the “positions expressed by President Ortega do not reflect the opinions held by the Nicaraguan people.” The resolution also criticized Ortega for “underrating” the suffering of those affected by Hurricane Felix in the RAAN.
Topic 2: Humboldt Center calls on government to declare state of ecological disaster
On Sept. 25, Director of the Humboldt Center Victor Campos called on the government to declare a state of ecological disaster in the areas affected by Hurricane Felix, a Category 5 storm which hit Nicaragua on Sept. 4 with winds of 160 miles an hour. According to Campos this would permit the government to effectively manage the ecological situation with the implementation of plans to prevent forest fires, ensure the best possible use of the forestry resources knocked down by the storm and encourage recuperation of the forested and coastal marine areas damaged by Felix. Campos said that the municipalities of Wiwili and San Jose de Bocay should be included in the zone of ecological disaster as well as the entire Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN).
Campos also requested that the government carry out an evaluation and inventory of the ecological damage caused in the Bosawas biosphere reserve. Bosawas, the largest reserve in Nicaragua, forms part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and has been declared Patrimony of Humanity by the UN.
According to the calculations of the Humboldt Center, which has offices in the areas affected, over 718,000 hectares of forest were damaged by Felix. These figures (with a total of 718,000) contrast with the calculations of the Ministry of the Environment which estimates that 1.3 million hectares of forest were affected by the hurricane.
Meanwhile, on Sept. 26 the Bilwi Mayor Nancy Elizabeth Enriquez made an urgent call to Central Government to send more food for those affected by the hurricane. According to Enriquez the authorities in Puerto Cabezas “now have no food,” and their “warehouses are empty.” She went on to say that “due to the lack of coordination of some NGOs involved in food distribution, some communities are receiving twice or three times their share while other communities are receiving none.”
Topic 3: Feminist movements call for civil disobedience in response to abortion ban
On Sept. 28 a procession of dozens of vehicles traveled across Managua from the Supreme Court to the headquarters of the Sandinista party (FSLN) to protest the criminalization of therapeutic abortion. The procession was organized by a number of women's rights groups led by the 28th of September Campaign. The slogan of the procession was “If they don't respect our lives, we won't respect their laws.” The organizers of the protest called on women to participate in acts of civil disobedience in order to demonstrate opposition to the abortion ban and declared Managua the “Global Capital of Injustice.”
On Sept. 30 another procession organized by the same group took place outside the Managua Cathedral with the aim of “raising awareness” within the Catholic Church about the impact of the abortion ban.
According to the Autonomous Women's Movement, 82 women have died in Nicaragua this year as a result of the ban on therapeutic abortion. The movement is planning to take legal action against the Nicaraguan government in a number of international human rights courts in an attempt to overturn the legislation which “sends us either to prison or to the cemetery.”
In October 2006 the National Assembly outlawed therapeutic abortion after an anti abortion campaign organized by the Catholic Church. On Sept. 13 the National Assembly voted to maintain the abortion ban despite pressure from national and international human rights groups and national and international medical associations to legalize therapeutic abortion again. Nicaragua is one of only three countries in the world which prohibit therapeutic abortion without any exceptions to save the life of the woman.
Topic 4: Nicaragua Network present at massive anti CAFTA rally in San Jose, Costa Rica
Costa Ricans will vote on Oct. 7 in a referendum on whether their country should sign on to the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). Representing the U.S.-based Stop CAFTA Coalition, Katherine Hoyt of the Nicaragua Network, and Emily Gaggia, an activist with the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) in Seattle, traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica, to release the Coalition's second monitoring report on CAFTA at a press conference on Sept. 28.
Hoyt reported on the Coalition's findings about the negative impact of CAFTA on Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. Gaggia spoke about how local US activists are working to explain the damage done by free trade agreements likening them to the problems US citizens have in getting social services and health care. The press conference was attended by three TV stations, four newspapers, two radio stations, one internet outlet, and one international news agency (AP). Two newspapers printed articles about the monitoring report, and Hoyt and Gaggia did several radio interviews. They also participated in a gathering of women opposed to the trade agreement.
On Sunday, Sept. 30, 150,000 Costa Ricans filled 20 blocks of the Paseo Colon in San Jose to support the “No TLC” (Free Trade Agreement) campaign. It was a festive gathering of young and old, of music and speeches by Costa Ricans from all walks of life who spoke of their desire to retain their public services in public hands by voting “no” on Oct. 7th. Eugenio Trejos, President of the “No TLC Patriotic Movement” said that he was “more than satisfied with the attendance at the rally. It was many more than we had expect…, the largest rally that the country has seen.”
Topic 5: Trivelli warns that Nicaragua could be put on money laundering “blacklist”
US Ambassador Paul Trivelli warned that Nicaragua could be put on a “blacklist” of countries with inadequate legislation to prevent financial crime if the National Assembly fails to pass a bill which would facilitate the creation of a Financial Intelligence Unit. Trivelli said that Nicaragua is one of the only countries in the American continent which doesn't have a Financial Intelligence Unit. According to the US diplomat the FIU is an essential tool in the combat international financial crime often linked to terrorist activity.
Should Nicaragua fail to join the other 106 countries which already have FIUs and form part of an international financial intelligence network then the country would be classified as “high risk and would mean that the cost of financial transactions would increase and the competitiveness of the country could be reduced,” said Trivelli. “Legitimate bankers and investors would not be willing to come to Nicaragua,” he went on, should the country be “considered vulnerable” in terms of financial security. Trivelli said the US would be willing to provide technical assistance for the creation of a FIU in Nicaragua.
Nicaraguan Superintendent of Banks Victor Urcuyo agreed that Nicaragua must look to create its own FIU. Urcuyo said that in 2008 the Financial Action Group will reevaluate the financial intelligence situation in Nicaragua and, should the country still not have a FIU, there could be a “devastating” impact on the national economy. President of the Caribbean Financial Action Group William Zapata urged the Nicaraguan deputies to pass the bill proposed by Washington and offered the group's support for the creation of a Nicaraguan FIU.
On Sept. 26, Supreme Court President Manuel Martinez rejected Trivelli's warning saying that the creation of a FIU as proposed by the US government could turn Nicaragua into a police state. “I'm a Liberal [Constitutional Liberal Party],” said Martinez, “and I wouldn't create a law that would allow that.” According to Martinez the Nicaraguan financial intelligence system is very effective but “we don't talk openly about [how it works] because that is confidential state information.”
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