THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2007
Nicaragua Network Hotline (December 25, 2007)
1. Opposition paralyzes National Assembly2. Venezuela approves US$250 million for Nicaraguan refinery during Petrocaribe summit
3. US citizen Eric Volz, convicted of murder, liberated by suspect judicial process
4. Ortega talks about therapeutic abortion ban for first time
5. Survey shows support for Ortega administration in Managua
1. Opposition paralyzes National Assembly
The anti-Sandinista opposition parties, including the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN), Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), and the Bench for National Unity, which together form the Block Against the Dictatorship and comprise a majority in the National Assembly, paralyzed the legislature in the final two weeks of the year resulting in a failure to pass the 2008 budget and potentially raising electricity rates by 40% for the poorest sector of the population by failing to extend the subsidy they have received to date. The so-called Block Against the Dictatorship, which was recently formed to block President Daniel Ortega's political program , announced the decision to abandon legislative work after sending three bills to committee which would grant amnesty from criminal prosecution for public officials involved in corruption including former presidents Aleman and Bolaños, and ALN leader Eduardo Montealegre.
The institutional crisis began after the installation of the Councils of Citizen Power (CPCs) on Nov. 30. The CPC's are a participatory grassroots democratic system in which committees at the local level have input into delivery of government services and national policy, are a key part of the Sandinista government agenda. They make the supporters of US-style representative government crazy as do their counterparts in Venezuela. Opposition parties attempted to block the the CPCs by amending the law which allowed the creation of the system. In response President Ortega issued a decree establishing the CPCs. The opposition reacted to the decree by creating the so-called Block Against the Dictatorship.
Also on Dec. 18 the MRS leader Edmundo Jarquin announced that the party plans to cast its threee votes in favor of constitutional amendments which would severely reduce the power of the Executive branch. These reforms were introduced by the FSLN and PLC and ratified by the National Assembly in 2005, when the National Assembly was locked in a power struggle with President Enrique Bolaños. In the end the amendments were suspended in a political compromise. The amendments would considerably reduce the power of the Executive branch and increase that of the Legislative branch. The power to appoint and remove government ministers, for example, would pass from the President to the Legislature. The constitutional reforms will be discussed again in January 2008. The MRS “will oppose a further suspension of the constitutional reforms and invites the other members of the Block Against the Dictatorship to do the same,” said Jarquin in a press conference on Dec. 18.
Sociologist and presidential adviser Orlando Nuñez believes that the MRS will pay a “political price” for its decision to support the right wing agenda to disrupt the Sandinista government's plans. In the end “it will be the people who decide whether they are more interested in the arguments going on inside the National Assembly or in the [government] social programs which benefit them,” said Nuñez.
2. Venezuela approves US$250 million for Nicaraguan refinery during Petrocaribe summit
During the IV PETROCARIBE Summit in Cienfuegos, Cuba on Dec. 21 the Venezuelan government approved the immediate transfer of US$250 million to the Nicaraguan government for the first phase of construction of the “Bolivar's Supreme Dream” oil refinery and petrochemical plant in Nicaragua's Port Sandino on the Pacific Coast. The project will have a total cost of US$4.5 billion and is scheduled to be completed in 2012. In July this year, Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega laid the first brick on the site where the refinery will be built, thus symbolizing their commitment to the project which will allow Nicaragua to process and export fuels and other oil derived products.
During the IV PETROCARIBE Summit, which coincided with the inauguration of an oil refinery and petrochemical plant in Cienfuegos, Cuba, the representatives of the 17 member countries issued a declaration in which PETROCARIBE was described as “the means by which ... the supply of oil to the countries of the Caribbean and of Central America is guaranteed ... in a fair and sustainable manner.” PETROCARIBE is an initiative by the Venezuelan government whereby 17 Caribbean and Central American countries are able to import their total oil needs under preferential payment conditions. The initiative also contemplates the construction of a number of oil refineries and petrochemical plants within the member countries as part of a plan to create sovereignty over fuel distribution within the region.
Over the next ten years the Venezuelan government plans to finance the construction of ten new oil refineries and the extension of eight existing oil refineries within Latin America at a total cost of US$22 billion. “Today we are inaugurating the first of these new refineries,” said Chavez during his speech at the end of the summit, “... which will allow Venezuelan oil to be taken to Cienfuegos, to Haiti, to Dominica, to Nicaragua, instead of it being taken to the US.” The PETROCARIBE summit declaration stated that “the malign consequences of the unequal international economic order, such as the impact on the price of basic products including fuels, ... [together with] the impact of the fall in value of the US dollar on the spiraling international price of oil ... underlines the need to protect developing countries from the damage” these trends imply.
3. US citizen Eric Volz, convicted of murder, liberated by suspect judicial process
US citizen Eric Stanley Volz, who was convicted in April 2007 of the rape and murder of 21 year-old Nicaraguan Ivana Jimenez Alvarado and sentenced to 30 years in prison, left Nicaragua for the US on Dec. 21 after two justices at the Granada Appeals Court ruled in favor an appeal. The two justices upheld the sentence of Nicaraguan Julio Martin Chamorro who was convicted of acting as Volz' accomplice in the crime. The appeal will now be considered by the Supreme Court which will issue a final ruling on the case in January 2008. However, Volz has left the country, unlikely to ever return.
The Granada Appeals Court issued the ruling after Volz's mother, Maggie Anthony's two day trip to Nicaragua during which she met with influential Nicaraguan judicial authorities including Attorney General Julio Centeno Gomez. Human Rights Ombudsman Omar Cabezas called for the two Granada justices to be investigated, claiming that they had issued the ruling after receiving “bribes” from Volz's family. According to Cabezas, Volz is related to a “very powerful Republican Senator” who has used all his “financial means” in order to bring about Volz' liberty. Ortega himself lamented Volz's return to the US describing the course of events of the last week as “sad and unfortunate.”
4. Ortega talks about therapeutic abortion ban for first time
For the first time since the issue of therapeutic abortion, which previously allowed abortion to save the life of the woman, was imposed on the national agenda by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and evangelical churches during last year's election, President Daniel Ortega has spoken publicly on the issue. According to Ortega it is “a lie that lots of women are dying as a result of the legislation... What they are saying is totally false.”
According to a report published by a Nicaraguan women's organization in October, however, at least 15 women, the majority under 25 years of age, have died as a result of the legislation, which outlaws the practice of therapeutic abortion, even if the pregnant woman's life is at risk. The overturned law was over 100 years old.
Ortega insisted that the Ministry of Health (MINSA) guidelines “oblige” doctors “to attempt to save both [the woman's and the unborn child's] life. That would be the ideal outcome. If, in the end, it is impossible to save both lives though, then logically either the mother or the child will have survived.” Obviously Ortega's “logic” has a few holes in it. He went on to say that the legislation “hasn't even come into force yet, because I have not yet sent the new Penal Code to be published.” The criminalization of therapeutic abortion was passed by the National Assembly in October 2006. This is separate from the Penal Code reforms which took place during the last few months, however, and therefore the ban on therapeutic abortion has been in force since then.
Finally, Ortega said that he would have to send the text of the new Penal Code back to the National Assembly for final revision because there are a number of anomalies included within the legislation. He did not mention whether or not the issue of the abortion ban would be included within these revisions.
5. Survey shows support for Ortega administration in Managua
The results of a survey published by the Nicaraguan Institute of Social Studies and Investigation (INIES) show that the policies and actions of the Ortega government are approved of by the majority of the population of Managua. Pollsters interviewed 2,100 people from the urban and rural areas of Managua on Dec. 16. Of the interviewees 43.2% described themselves as Sandinista supporters, 28.1% said they had no party preference, 9.4% said they were Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) supporters, 8.5% described themselves as Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) supporters, 7% preferred not to reveal their party preference, 3% described themselves as Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) supporters and 0.3% as Conservative Party supporters. 52.6% of those interviewed were women and 47.4% were men. PLC and ALN supporters would appear to be under-represented in the survey.
Of those surveyed 58.9% said they approved of Ortega's work as President so far while 38.4% said they disapproved. 71.4% approved of the work of government institutions in resolving urgent national problems, while 27.2% disapproved. 65.6% approved of Ortega's actions at international summits and conferences while 31.8%disapproved. 70% approved of Ortega's efforts to consolidate Central American and Latin American integration and unity while 28.5% disapproved.
72% said they believe that the right wing media in Nicaragua sustains a campaign which aims to undermine the government while 23.3% do not believe that to be the case. 57.4% disapprove of the Block Against the Dictatorship attempts to block social programs such as Zero Hunger, Zero Usury and the sale of rice and beans at below market prices by the Citizen Power Councils.
**********
This hotline is prepared from the Nicaragua News Service and other sources. To receive a more extensive weekly summary of the news from Nicaragua by e-mail or postal service, send a check for $60.00 to Nicaragua Network, 1247 E St., SE, Washington, DC 20003. We can be reached by phone at 202-544-9355. Our web site is: www.nicanet.org. To subscribe to the Hotline, send an e-mail to nicanet@afgj.org
Labels: Archives Hotline