TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2008
Nicaragua Network Hotline (July 15, 2008)
1. Flooding on the Caribbean Coast2. Montealegre claims immunity from prosecution as National Assembly deputy
3. Petrocaribe summit held in Maracaibo, Venezuela
4. Nicaragua expresses disagreement with OAS declaration on the FARC
5. Sandinista youth volunteer to build and repair schools
Topic 1: Flooding on the Caribbean Coast
Torrential rains have slammed the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region over the last few weeks, causing widespread flooding and fears of food and potable water shortages. As of Sunday, the rains had been going on for 16 days. Two have died so far in the RAAS floodwaters. Delvin Báez Martínez, age 28, was the first drowning victim. His convoy was trying to cross the El Zopilote River on Sunday afternoon when their vehicle succumbed to the rushing water. The other passengers escaped by holding onto tree branches and eventually pulling themselves out, but Martínez was overtaken by the river.
On July 7 Ministry of Education spokesperson for the RAAS, Mayra Diaz, said that the school system is on “red alert.” She said the school year will not be affected by the floods because this is vacation time, nevertheless the schools of the RAAS are combat ready to serve as shelters though she apologized that many are in such bad shape that they “would put the population at risk.”
The rains did not stop all weekend and now the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) is also experiencing problems such as food shortages due to the flooding that has cut off land transport between the RAAN and the RAAS. About 100 kilometers of highways have been damaged, according to the infrastructure commission headed by vice president of the Regional Council Eduardo Romero. Food shortages could potentially be disastrous since the RAAN has yet to recover from the food deficits caused by Hurricane Felix last fall. The Civil Defense Committees have already swung into action, as there is concern for the wellbeing of the hundreds of families that live along the river banks. No alert has yet been declared for the zone.
Back in the RAAS, The National System for the Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters (SINAPRED) is coordinating with the local government to facilitate the delivery of food and to evaluate the situation. The organization is also working to prevent and control transmittable diseases that flare up during times of flooding.
Topic 2: Eduardo Montealegre claims immunity from prosecution as National Assembly deputy
Eduardo Montealegre, former candidate for president of Nicaragua for the National Liberal Alliance (ALN) and presently candidate for mayor of Managua of the Liberal Alliance headed by the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), went before a Managua court on July 9 to present his credentials as a Deputy in the National Assembly and therefore immune from prosecution. He was one of 39 former officials from the administrations of Arnoldo Aleman and Enrique Bolaños who were indicted on July 7 for fraud against the state in the issuing and renegotiation of Negotiable Investment Certificates (CENIs).
“This is a political accusation,” Montealegre said, “It's all political.” Montealegre was Minister of the Treasury and Public Credit under President Bolaños at the time of the renegotiation of the CENIs and of the auction of the assets of four banks which had failed under the previous Aleman administration. Both of these actions were illegal according to the indictments.
Montealegre could lose his immunity if 47 (a simple majority of the 93 National Assembly deputies) vote in favor of lifting it. The 25 member PLC bench opposes lifting his immunity as does the new 15 member bench calling itself the Nicaraguan Democratic Bench (BDN) which formed when the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) split. The ALN ran Montealegre for president in 2006 but then ousted him as leader. The 38 member Sandinista bench is working to find the nine additional votes needed for a majority. The three members of the Sandinista Renovation Movement bench said that they are awaiting the formal proposal. Sources close to the Sandinista Party insisted that they are within three votes of lifting Montealegre's immunity. The National Assembly is presently in a mid-year recess so discussion of the topic will not come up until August.
Topic 3: Petrocaribe summit held in Maracaibo, Venezuela
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, along with Alvaro Colom, President of Guatemala and Manuel Zelaya, President of Honduras, traveled to Maracaibo, Venezuela, to join Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at the Fifth Petrocaribe Summit on July 13. Petrocaribe was formed in June of 2005 and presently includes 16 countries which receive 200,000 barrels of oil daily with favorable financing. Those countries have received 59 million barrels of oil since the founding of Petrocaribe. Nicaragua joined Petrocaribe at the same time the country joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) in January 2007 when Ortega took office. The member countries include Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Belize, Jamaica, Surinam, Guyana, Granada, Bahamas, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Nicaragua, Honduras and Haiti. Guatemala joined the grouping at this meeting and Costa Rica became an observer.
At the summit, President Chavez announced that Venezuela would make more flexible the payment conditions for the 16 member countries of the Caribbean and Central America. Chavez proposed a formula in which as long as the price of a barrel of oil is above US$100 beneficiaries would pay 40% in 90 days and the other 60% would be financed over 25 years at an annual interest rate of 1%. If oil goes above US$200 a barrel, these countries would pay Venezuela 30% in 90 days and the remaining 70% would be financed. “This would help to compensate for the fact that the price of petroleum has shot up horribly,” said Chavez.
Speaking at the summit, Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said that Petrocaribe has saved its members US$921 million, has created eight mixed enterprises for the development of storage and distribution infrastructure with a value of US$552 million; and has invested US$100 million in social projects. “We have today a unique mechanism for the integration of the region based on the principles of solidarity, complementarities and justice,” Ramirez said.
A few days before the summit, Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo spoke on Channel 12 Television of the importance of Venezuelan aid to Nicaragua, particularly in the area of energy. “If we had not received aid from Venezuela, who knows how we Nicaraguans would be right now,” Obando said. He noted that the country would likely be still suffering seven hour power outages without Venezuelan aid.
Topic 4: Nicaragua expresses disagreement with OAS declaration on the FARC
On July 10, the Nicaraguan government expressed disagreement with a declaration approved by members of the OAS on July 8 on the conflict in Colombia, saying that the conditions do not exist for a dialogue between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government of President Alvaro Uribe. The OAS declaration called on the FARC to immediately and without conditions release all its prisoners, renounce violence and enter into a dialogue with the Colombian government.
President Daniel Ortega, whose own guerilla experience perhaps gives him a greater understanding of the situation in Colombia than Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who supported the OAS resolution, explained that the declaration did not present the necessary elements for a political dialogue that would permit the release of prisoners in the hands of the FARC and of those in the hands of the Colombian Army. He said that the text of the declaration did not propose procedures that would lead to “a firm and lasting peace that would guarantee the lives and security of all those who would join the political, economic and social life of the country and prevent their being physically eliminated during that period.” The FARC's previous attempt to convert to a political entity resulted in the assassination of hundreds of candidates it put forward for election.
However, Ortega said that he supported negotiation as a mechanism to establish the foundations for a lasting peace in Colombia. He also expressed his willingness to play a role in a future process of dialogue between the FARC and the Colombian government.
Topic 5: Sandinista Youth volunteer to build and repair schools
Thousands of young people, many of them members of the July 19th Sandinista Youth Association and the Federation of High School Students (FES), have come together for the “Builders of the Future, Heirs of Peace” project which has repaired 2,111 classrooms and built more than 100 classrooms since the project began six months ago. In Managua alone there is a deficit of 16,000 classrooms and another 12,000 are in dire need of repair, so hopefully projects such as this one will continue to help alleviate the educational problems Managua faces. One of the legacies of the Sandinista Revolution is that there is probably no country in the world with a higher culture of “volunteerism” than Nicaragua.
The young people were recognized for their hard work by Minister of Education Miguel de Castilla and other officials. Volunteers received a backpack filled with work clothes to wear as they renovate more classrooms all over the country. Because the young people come from many different parts of Nicaragua, the coordinators of each area were given a laptop computer to help them continue with the project.
Sandinista Youth National Coordinator Mario Rivera said, “Since the project has begun more than 5,000 young people from all over the country have participated. The communities in which the classrooms are being built are also very involved, and provide lodging and food for the young people.”
Executive director of Nicaraguan Institute for Youth (INJUVE) Fidel Moreno, further praised the project and its participants by saying, “What they have done in six months is more than what has been done in the past sixteen years. With the new 2,000 classrooms, at least 120,000 young people are guaranteed basic education. The goal for the second stage of the project is 4,000 new and repaired classrooms.”
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