THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2008

Nicaragua Network Hotline (January 15, 2007)

1. Ortega presents first annual report to National Assembly and in Plaza of the Revolution
2. A week of political surprises and journalistic speculation
3. Emergency continues in RAAN four months after Felix
4. COSEP abandons talks to raise minimum wage
5. Teachers unions sign benefits agreement with Ministry of Education

Topic 1: Ortega presents first annual report to National Assembly and in Plaza of the Revolution

On Jan. 10 President Daniel Ortega presented the first annual report of his five year administration to the National Assembly. In the evening of Jan. 10 Ortega presented his report again, this time to thousands of supporters and members of the CPCs in the Plaza of the Revolution. During the presentation in the Assembly, which lasted for two hours, Ortega emphasized the need to change the economic model currently in force in Nicaragua in order to bring about the necessary changes to combat the conditions of poverty imposed on the majority of the Nicaraguan people. Under the current economic model, said Ortega, national and foreign investors are able to make massive profits at the expense of the Nicaraguan workers and the environment without being obliged to give anything back to the country.

Ortega said the biggest achievements of 2007 were the renationalization of healthcare and education, saying that his government must now work to bring better quality to these services. He also mentioned the “extraordinary” effort his government has made to legalize land and property deeds for thousands of Nicaraguan families in rural and urban areas.

Ortega announced that an agreement had finally been reached between the government and the US multinational Exxon-Mobil which will allow the importation of 10 million barrels of oil a year from Venezuela under preferential payment conditions. Under the terms of the agreement, he said, Exxon-Mobil has agreed to sell a number of oil storage tanks in the port of Corinto to the Nicaraguan state oil company PETRONIC and to buy, process and distribute the oil from PETRONIC (which imports the oil from Venezuela).

The president also made the surprise announcement that the government would no longer continue to service the debt with national banks created by the issuing of the Certificates of Negotiated Investment (CENIs) even though the government commits to doing so in the 2008 National Budget proposal. According to Ortega the private banks have not cooperated with government attempts to renegotiate the public debt created by the CENIs.

Notably absent from the legislative session were the opposition deputies (of the Constitutional Liberal Party, PLC, the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance, ALN and the Sandinista Renovation Movement, MRS), who did not attend in protest against what they describe as Ortega's dictatorial intentions.

Topic 2: A week of political surprises and journalistic speculation

Intense talks between the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) and the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) resulted on Jan. 9 in an agreement to form a Liberal coalition to run unity candidates in the November municipal elections. The Liberal coalition candidate for mayor of Managua will be ALN leader and failed presidential candidate Eduardo Montealegre. Apparently the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) and the Bench for National Unity, two minority blocs in the legislature, will not be joining in a unified anti-Sandinista coalition for the municipal elections.

There was intense speculation about the fact that former president and convicted criminal Arnoldo Aleman attended the meeting which negotiated the agreement even though he is supposed to be under house arrest and not allowed to leave or receive visitors. Many journalists put Aleman's sudden freedom down to the opening of another chapter in the pact between the PLC leader and Sandinista leader, President Daniel Ortega, but why Ortega would facilitate the creation of a more powerful opposition in the municipal elections is far from obvious and may simply be the knee jerk anti-Ortega bias that has come to dominate the Nicaragua print media. It soon surfaced that Judge Roxana Zapata of the Penitentiary System Court had ruled in favor of a petition by Aleman's lawyer allowing the former president to return to his previous “family life regime” until the Supreme Court ruled on his case.

On Jan. 10 came another surprise when the 16 justices of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of President Ortega's installation of the Councils of Citizen Power (CPCs) by presidential decree. The Councils, however, will not be able to form part of the structures of public administration or receive government funds. The non-FSLN parties in the National Assembly, including the PLC, have been highly critical of the CPCs which are a mechanism to encourage greater participatory democracy by moving local planning and spending to the community and neighborhood level. The opposition parties paralyzed the National Assembly around the end of the year and threatened to cut Ortega's anti-poverty programs from the budget in retaliation for the CPCs.

The Supreme Court also ruled unconstitutional the so-called Framework Law which postponed laws and constitutional amendments passed during the Bolaños presidency that would have shifted power from the presidency to the National Assembly. As a result the constitutional reforms introduced by the FSLN and PLC during the (Enrique) Bolaños administration (in an attempt to undermine his authority as president) came into force on Jan. 10. These reforms now weaken Ortega's authority by giving more power to the Legislative branch which, among other things, will now be able to appoint or remove government ministers.

During a press conference on Jan. 11 Aleman denied that his renewed freedom under the terms of Family Life Regime had anything to do with political negotiations with President Ortega and the Sandinista party (FSLN) saying he would “never” negotiate with Ortega. Aleman went on to say that “grave errors” had been committed during the last few weeks of political crisis and that it was essential for representatives of all political parties to “sit down and negotiate” in order to find a way to reduce tension between the executive and the legislative branches.

In calling for dialogue Aleman contradicts influential members of his own party and of the other opposition parties who have said that, until Ortega's decree to install the CPCs is overturned, they are not willing to negotiate. Vice president of the PLC Wilfredo Navarro, Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) representative Victor Hugo Tinoco and leader of the Bench for Liberal Unity Yamileth Bonilla are among the opposition party deputies who have rejected the government's call for negotiations to resolve the crisis.

Topic 3: Emergency continues in RAAN four months after Felix

A situation of extreme hardship and general chaos lingers in the majority of indigenous and rural communities in the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) four months after Hurricane Felix, according to local journalists. In a special report from Krukira for Radio La Primerisima journalists described how, despite the enormous effort made by central and local government, by international agencies, NGOs and a number of foreign governments, the situation in the region is still critical.

During the first few weeks after Felix struck, outside aid was focused on food aid, establishing temporary shelter for the population, provision of clothes and blankets, and psychological rehabilitation. A simultaneous evaluation of the environmental damage took place, reconstruction of destroyed houses began, tools, equipment and seeds for agriculture were distributed and school classes began again. These efforts were remarkable, but were not sufficient due to the magnitude of the disaster.

The majority of families in Krukira have still not been able to rebuild their houses due to a lack of fuel and oil to power the chain saws provided to cut wood. While some fishermen and farmers have been able to begin work again, most families are still making do with significantly less income than they did prior to Felix.

The main problem noted by journalists on the ground has been the lack of coordination between the authorities and the other agencies involved in the relief effort.

Topic 4: COSEP abandons talks to raise minimum wage

The Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) has abandoned talks with the labor unions and the Ministry of Labor to raise the minimum wage, COSEP president Jose Adan Aguirre announced last week. Aguirre said COSEP took the decision to abandon the talks in response to the news that a labor union with links to the National Workers Front took over a textile factory belonging to the company Atlantic Apparel in Granada in protest against unfair pay and conditions in the factory. Aguerri said COSEP will not participate in the talks until the situation in the textile factory returns to normal.

Nicaraguan law establishes that talks must be held between the private sector, unions and the government at least every six months in order for any adjustments to the minimum wage to be agreed upon. In June 2007 an increase of 18% was adopted as a result of these talks. COSEP has proposed a further 10% increase while the National Workers Front and other big labor federations insist on a 30% rise. The government is currently proposing a further increase of 12%. If by Jan. 15 the new increase has not been agreed between the private sector and the unions, the government will define the new minimum wage by presidential decree.

Topic 5: Teachers unions sign benefits agreement with Ministry of Education

On Jan. 8 the Ministry of Education and representatives of eleven different teacher unions signed an agreement on benefits for working and retired primary and secondary school teachers in Nicaragua. The agreement contemplates a total budget of US$3.55 million, US$1 million more than the budget of a similar agreement signed last year for US$2.5 million. As a result of this agreement, the Nicaraguan government has for the first time committed itself to paying for healthcare and treatment for retired teachers. US$105,000 has been allocated for these ends during 2008.

The budgets for dental care, eyesight care, life insurance, maternity benefits, bonuses, intercity transportation and transportation to the Northern and Southern Atlantic Autonomous Regions (RAAN and RAAS) have all been significantly increased as part of the agreement.

Minister of Education Miguel De Castilla described the signing of the agreement as a “happy event” saying he expects to see better quality education as a result because teachers in Nicaragua will now “be able to enjoy the minimum standards of personal wellbeing.”






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