TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2008
Nicaragua Network Hotline (May 27, 2009)
1. Sao Paulo Forum: Latin America experiences a “change of epoch”2. Government announces measures to combat inflationary “tsunami”
3. Supreme Electoral Council cancels legal status of PC, MRS and two indigenous parties
4. Trivelli: After 9/11 no country wants to be considered as a refuge for terrorists
5. Free Trade Zone companies reach partial agreement with government; discussions continue
Topic 1: Sao Paulo Forum: Latin America experiences a “change of epoch”
The 16th summit of the Sao Paolo Forum which took place in Montevideo, Uruguay May 22- 25 issued a joint declaration stating that Latin America and the Caribbean “are not experiencing an epoch of changes but a change of epoch ... characterized by the continuing advance of left political forces and progressive social movements.” Over 200 delegates of the 70 political parties and social movements belonging to the forum participated as well as observers from Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Italy, China, Japan and Vietnam. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a founding member of the Sao Paolo Forum, participated in the closing ceremony. Ortega described as “of great satisfaction” that there are 13 left and progressive governments in the region, more than at any other point since the forum was founded, or in history for that matter.
The joint declaration went on to note, however, that “the advance of progressive projects in the region is being confronted by the United States, the national right wing, multinational companies and, very importantly, by the large media companies which systematically carry out campaigns of misinformation.” Ortega echoed that sentiment when he called on participants to fight to “overthrow the tyranny of global capitalism” and warned that “the [US] empire is not asleep, it is conspiring, because it realizes that every day it loses more ground in Latin America and the Caribbean.” According to Ortega the recent reactivation of the US Navy's 4th Fleet is “clearly” part of an attempt to “intimidate our people and our governments.”
The Forum condemned Colombia's attack in Ecuador against a guerrilla camp stating, “The concept of preventive warfare has been introduced [to the region] ... with an unprecedented event commanded by the US using the Colombian government as its puppet... We will close ranks in order to avoid the concept of preventive war, which has spilled so much blood and caused so much destruction in other areas, being introduced in the continent... We reject all forms of terrorism, but we also oppose the fight against terrorism being used as an excuse to criminalize social protest.” The Forum described the internal situation in Colombia as being the “main risk factor for stability and peace in the region.”
Topic 2: Government announces measures to combat inflationary “tsunami”
On May 22 Trade and Commerce Minister Orlando Solorzano warned during a press conference that spiraling oil prices threaten to provoke a “tsunami” in the Nicaraguan economy. “We must prepare ourselves because if we are organized and prepared we can defend ourselves,” he said. Solorzano said that the government has been talking with representatives of the private and productive sectors so as to design strategies which will reduce the impact of spiraling inflation on the population.
Solorzano explained that the government continues to increase the capacity and influence of ENABAS, the national basic grains company, within the national market so as to “organize internal trade from the top down.” The government is making direct purchase and distribution agreements with cooperatives and small farmers and distributors of basic products including rice, beans, corn, sugar, eggs, meat, and dairy products to eliminate middlemen and speculators thus providing below market prices for the population. “We aren't controlling prices,” said Solorzano, “the law doesn't allow for that nor do we think that is the solution.” The Sandinista government expects to add 793 points of sale to the current 298 this year with the help of the local Councils of Citizen Power (CPC).
Agriculture Minister Ariel Bucardo announced that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAGFOR) has US$70 million available to finance small and medium farmers during the May 2008 to April 2009 agricultural cycle with low and zero interest rate loans. State agencies, the Venezuelan Social Economic Development Bank (BANDES) and the ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the People of Our America) Bank, are providing the funds which will benefit 111,000 farmers. Small and medium farmers have historically been Nicaragua's most productive sector but 16 years of neoliberal governments eviscerated the sector, a situation the Ortega government is working urgently to reverse.
According to Bucardo these funds are “not sufficient to cover 100% of the productive sectors' demands,” however. The government is currently in talks with private bankers and financial institutions with the aim of increasing access to low interest credit for farmers.
Topic 3: Supreme Electoral Council cancels legal status of PC, MRS and two indigenous parties
On May 22 Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) spokesperson Felix Navarette announced that the CSE magistrates had voted to cancel the legal status of four political parties, the Conservative Party, the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), the Multi Ethnic Party for Caribbean Coast Unity (PAMUC) and the Multi Ethnic Indigenous Party (PIM). Navarette said the decision to suspend the legal status of the Conservative Party, PAMUC and PIM was due to the fact that these three parties had not met the legal requirement to present candidates in over 80% of municipalities for the upcoming local elections. The decision to suspend the MRS' legal status, he said, was due to its failure to present sufficient documentation of internal structural changes, an accusation the MRS denies. Navarette said that the parties had six days to appeal the resolution. Cancellation of legal status does not prevent a party from running candidates but does eliminate their right to public financing.
On May 23 Enrique Saenz and Azalea Aviles, presidents of the MRS and the Conservative Party respectively, expressed their outrage at the CSE resolution and denied the claim that their parties had failed to fulfill the requirements of the Electoral Law. Saenz produced correspondence with the CSE which he said proved that the MRS had presented all the necessary documentation on time. Saenz said that the CSE decision is “part of an attempt to close political spaces” and that he and his colleagues will do all they can “to defend this right legally and politically.”
Aviles described the CSE decision as “unfounded” denying that the Conservative party had failed to reach the candidate requirement. The Conservative Party has had a long fall since the days that it was the principal opposition to the Liberal Party and the two parties traded power through periodic civil wars. Aviles accused the CSE of being under control of a pact between the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) and the Sandinista Party (FSLN).
The PLC and FSLN agreement under which each party votes for the other party's nominees to the CSE, Supreme Court, and other government agencies, results in an even split between those parties in most government institutions. The CSE, which has an odd number of magistrates, is presided over by Roberto Rivas who is said to represent Cardinal Obando y Bravo. Rivas confirmed the CSE decision on May 23 saying that in many cases the failure to fulfill the prerequisite of presenting enough candidates is because candidates dropped out after the electoral registration deadline.
Topic 4: Trivelli: After 9/11 no country wants to be considered a refuge for terrorists
On May 21 outgoing US Ambassador Paul Trivelli was asked about the US government's reaction to the Nicaraguan government's decision to award asylum to the three survivors of the Colombian attack on a guerrilla base in Ecuador on Mar. 1. “My only observation,” he replied, “is that, after 9/11 no country in the world wants to be considered as a refuge for terrorists.” When asked whether the US would consider putting Nicaragua on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, Trivelli said “Nicaragua is not on the list at the moment and I do not think we are going to put her on it, ... but we are constantly observing the signs given off by all countries in the world.” “Up until now the Nicaraguan government, police force and army have all cooperated with us on issues like drug trafficking, organized crime, terrorism and people trafficking. So in terms of security our relationship is still in good shape.”
Trivelli was not asked about terrorists Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch, who are harbored by the Bush administration in Miami. Posada is wanted in Venezuela and Cuba for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban civilian airliner which killed 73 people including Cuba's Olympic fencing team. Bosch and Posada have admitted to the media of participating in numerous bombings and terrorist attacks in Cuba.
Meanwhile Foreign Minister Samuel Santos responded to his Colombian counterpart's “energetic protest” against the Nicaraguan government's decision to award asylum to the three survivors (Mexican Lucia Morett and Colombians Doris Bohorquez Torres and Martha Perez) by saying, “Daniel Ortega's government has no reason to stop carrying out its own humanitarian acts like any other country interested in taking care of human beings.”
Topic 5: Free Trade Zone companies reach partial agreement with government, discussions continue
After the recent decision of several Asian companies operating garment factories in Nicaragua's Free Trade Zones to move their operations to Asia, pressure has built on President Daniel Ortega's government to insure that other companies do not follow suit, which would leave tens of thousands of Nicaraguans without jobs. On May 25 Ortega met with the president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), Jose Adan Aguerri, and executives of ten Free Trade Zone companies. According to Aguerri the executives expressed a number of concerns to the President but committed themselves to remain in Nicaragua and to become more socially responsible.
Among other things, it was agreed during the meeting that the National Technological Institute (INATEC) would be allowed to train Free Trade Zone workers and that the government would guarantee that both the Internal Revenue and Nicaraguan customs would become more efficient in the transactions concerning Free Trade Zone companies. Aguerri said that the issue of the minimum wage had also been discussed but that they had come to no agreement. Finally, it was decided that joint committees would be set up to continue to discuss the issues raised during the coming weeks.
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