TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2008

Nicaragua Network Hotline (May 13, 2008)

1. Regional position on food crisis consolidated during Presidential Summit
2. Negotiations to end partial transportation strike fail to bear fruit
3. Colombian survivors of attack on FARC camp given asylum in Nicaragua
4. Sandinista government makes health and education gains
5. Attorney General committed to establishing indigenous ownership of Pearl Cays
6 Human Rights Ombudsman wants to end sending of Nicaraguan military personnel to SOA

Topic 1: Regional position on food crisis consolidated during Presidential Summit

Presidents and other high level government representatives of Central America, the Caribbean and the Andes consolidated a regional position on the causes of the global food crisis and possible measures to be taken to increase food sovereignty and security during a presidential summit “Food for life” hosted by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega in Managua on May 7.

The Presidential Summit in Managua was attended by President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, President Evo Morales of Bolivia, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Prime Minister Rene Preval of Haiti, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vicente and the Grenadines, Vice President of the Cuban Council of State Esteban Lazo Hernandez, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, Salvadoran Foreign Minister Marisol Argueta, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Haroldo Rodas, Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinoza, Economic Development Minister of Belize Ervin Contreras, Panamanian Agricultural Minister Guillermo Salazar and Ambassador of the Dominican Republic in Nicaragua Pedro Blandino. The Summit was also attended by representatives of the FAO, the UN, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Food Program, UNICEF, the Central American Parliament and the Latin American Parliament.

The joint declaration issued at the end of the summit expressed the participating countries' decision to unite forces in an attempt to reduce the devastating effects of the global food crisis on Latin America and the Caribbean. In the document the causes of the crisis are listed as being, among other things, the neoliberal economic policies in force across the region and the agricultural subsidies of the US, Europe and Japan, which together have resulted in the virtual collapse of the agricultural sectors of the region thus creating a situation in which Latin American and the Caribbean depend on importing basic food products from rich nations to feed their people. The use of food to produce fuel and ongoing climate change were also mentioned as key factors in the current crisis.

The Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) which represents Nicaragua's biggest businesses, issued a statement rejecting any governmental intervention in the market as part of an attempt to reduce the impact of the food crisis. “We strongly oppose any actions which aim to regulate or restrict free trade,” reads the statement. “We are of the belief that any governmental action or public policy which aims to overcome the food crisis must be carried out without affecting the ... development of the private sector.” As always, profit before people.

Topic 2: Negotiations to bring partial transportation strike to an end fail to bear fruit

The impact of the transportation strike which began on May 5 was reduced significantly on May 10 after the government signed an agreement with the majority of the bus and taxi cooperatives. According to representatives of the private sector, however, the ongoing partial strike is still causing losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, mainly for big economic players and exporting companies that depend on cargo transportation to get to their goods to market or out of the country.

The majority of those on strike carried out their protest pacifically. Several violent incidents between police and protesters were reported, however, as small groups of protesters attempted to block main roads or entrances to important commercial areas and markets. Numerous protesters and a handful of police officers were injured in the clashes although none seriously. The National Police, in an attempt to guarantee circulation on the countries' roads and highways for individual drivers and transportation workers who did not join the strike, made over 100 arrests and confiscated a number of mortars and firearms during the week.

After the agreement between the government and the majority of transportation cooperatives was signed, things slowly began to return to normal in many areas of the country. The agreement contemplates an immediately applicable reduction of US$0.30 in the price of a gallon of fuel for public and cargo transportation cooperatives. Transportation Minister Fernando Martinez met with the representatives of the National Chamber of Transportation on May 12. The meeting, which was mediated by Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo and President of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise Jose Adan Aguerri, did not bear fruit, however, with both sides accusing the other of being inflexible in its position.

Topic 3: Colombian survivors of attack on FARC camp given asylum in Nicaragua

Two of the survivors of the Colombian Army cross border attack on a FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) camp in Ecuador on Mar. 1 arrived in Nicaragua on May 11 after being granted humanitarian asylum by the Nicaraguan government. The two young Colombian women, Doris Torres Bohoquez, 21, and Martha Perez Gutierrez, 24, who are members of the FARC, were seriously injured during the attack and have been treated at the Military Hospital in Quito for the last two months.

There were only three survivors of the Colombian Army attack during which at least 26 people were killed including the FARC's international spokesperson Raul Reyes. The other survivor of the attack, the Mexican student Lucia Morett, is also currently in Nicaragua. Morett asked the government for permission to stay in Nicaragua until the official and unofficial threats of action against her in Mexico subside.

Topic 4: Sandinista government makes health and education gains

The National Vaccination Brigade during Apr. 17- 30 fulfilled 95% of its goal and continues carrying out house to house visits to vaccinate those unable to get to the vaccination points, according to a report presented by the Ministry of Health (MINSA) on May 7. The National Vaccination Brigade was aimed specifically at children under the age of 13 although pregnant women and the elderly were also benefited. The number of popular vaccination campaign points set up in neighborhoods and communities increased from 8,374 in 2007 to 9,579 in 2008, while the number of health personnel who participated in the brigade increased from 9,464 to 12,197.

Over one million preschool and primary school children are to benefit from the Ministry of Education's (MINED) school meal during this trimester according to the Vice Minister of Education Milena Nuñez. As of Apr. 25 MINED began distributing 6,000 tons of food (rice, beans, corn, oil and cereal) to approximately 9,000 preschools and primary schools in all 153 municipalities of the country as part of MINED's Integral School Nutrition Program (PINE). The daily school meals are prepared by local parents' committees. Nuñez said MINED has already bought the food to be distributed as part of this program for the rest of 2008 and for the first trimester of 2009. According to Nuñez the program helps to increase pupil's concentration levels and decrease dropout rates.

Topic 5: Attorney General committed to establishing indigenous ownership of Pearl Cays

Attorney General Hernan Estrada said his institution is “committed to defending the Pearl Cays ... which [an individual] is trying to steal” from the indigenous communities. In the early 1990s, a Greek-born US citizen, Peter Tsokos, obtained control of the islands, which under the Autonomy Law belong to the indigenous people of the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS), and under the constitution are national patrimony which cannot be bought or sold. The Rama and Miskito peoples have been denied their historical access ever since. In 2002, the husband of Maria Luisa Acosta, an lawyer who was representing indigenous interests in the islands, was brutally murdered, execution style, in their home while Acosta was away speaking to a delegation of North Americans. There have been a series of legal cases and judicial misconduct which has resulted in judges being removed from the bench or transferred to other departments that has prevented the intellectual authors of the murder, which was committed with a pistol registered to Tsokos' lawyer, from being brought to justice.

At the beginning of the month Attorney General Estrada announced that his office had appealed a recent ruling issued by the Bluefields Appeals Tribunal upholding the civil registry documents establishing Tsokos' ownership of the Cays. He went on to say that in June his department plans to give an indigenous territory demarcation title to the indigenous communities which are the historic owners of the islands.

The Nicaragua Network has been involved in the struggle to return the Pearl Cays to their rightful owners for a number of years. Information on our web site has caused a number of potential buyers of the islands to change their minds. We also took a delegation to Nicaragua after the murder investigation bogged down which prompted National Police officials to pursue the case more aggressively and resulted in the arrest and conviction of the two men who actually committed the crime. Our work has been so effective that a different Peter Tsokos, also a US citizen, recently contacted us to complain that no one will do business with him. He sells real estate in Panama.

Topic 6: Human Rights Ombudsman wants to end sending of Nicaraguan military personnel to SOA

Nicaragua's Human Rights Ombudsman, Omar Cabezas, speaking at a recent military press conference, told high army officials that they should stop sending officers to train at the U.S. Army's School of the Americas, which he called a training center for torturers. The School, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), is located in Columbus, Georgia. Cabezas, who is also President of the Iberian-American Federation of Ombudsmen, added that those officers who are presently receiving training at the school should be brought home.

Major General Ramon Calderon answered that the type of training that officers are presently receiving is in post-conflict peace keeping operations including proper military conduct during those operations. “They are studying at the Center for Superior Military Studies. On occasion we send some officers to these special quick courses.” He added that the Nicaraguan Army had made great efforts toward advancing professionalization and in deepening understanding of ethical values and human rights.

Calderon said that the demand for withdrawal of the student military officers was also sent to President Daniel Ortega and the Army will wait for him to make a pronouncement on the issue.

Meanwhile, Radio La Primerisima reported that on April 24, the head of the Nicaraguan Army, Omar Halleslevens, travelled to the U.S. to be the principal speaker at the closing ceremony for the peacekeeping course in which 12 Nicaraguan Army officers had participated.

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
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