TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2008
Nicaragua Network Hotline (November 25, 2008)
1. Post election controversies continue2. Basic food costs skyrocket
3. AIDS cases continue to increase
Topic 1: Post election controversies continue
On Nov. 20, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) announced final results for the Nov. 9 municipal elections 15 days before the constitutional deadline. The Sandinista Party (FSLN) won 105 of the 146 municipalities, including the capital city of Managua where Alexis Argüello defeated Eduardo Montealegre. The Constitutional Liberal Party Alliance (PLC Alliance) won in 37 while the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance won in four. The FSLN increased its number of municipalities from 87 to 105 while the PLC saw a reduction from 58 to 37 municipalities. The FSLN won 13 of 17 departmental capitals, including Managua, Leon, Chinandega, Jinotega, Esteli, Ocotal, Juigalpa, Rivas, Matagalpa, Somoto, San Carlos, Carazo and Masaya. The PLC Alliance won in Granada, Boaco and Bluefields. Six municipalities in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region will hold their elections in Jan. 2009.
Rivas noted that the Liberal members of the Council dissented on the certification of 11 municipalities including Corinto, Jinotega, Masaya, San Francisco de Cuapa, Santo Tomas, Wilwili, Laguna de Perlas, Nindiri, La Concepcion, San Miguelito, and Altagracia. One Sandinista member dissented in the case of El Crucero. The CSE denied a challenge that had been introduced by the PLC Alliance three days earlier.
Opposition parties in the National Assembly lost no time in preparing to introduce a bill to annul the elections, but appear to be 2 votes short of the 47 necessary to pass it. Roberto Rivas, president of the CSE responded in a letter that the constitution gives the Electoral Branch the exclusive power to organize elections and declare the results, including nullification. The CSE is an independent branch of government with seven magistrates; three from the FSLN, three from the PLC, and one independent. Supreme Court Justice Rafael Solis said that the bill would be declared unconstitutional by the Court.
The PLC expelled from the party two of its CSE magistrates and one alternate for having supported the CSE decisions. The third PLC magistrate abstained early on from rulings on the elections. Rene Herrera, one of the PLC magistrates said that [former President and party leader] Arnoldo Aleman knew of the role that he played and the reasons why the Liberals lost the elections. “There was bad organization at the polling places; let's be honest, here we were not fighting with the organization of the Christ Child or Mother Teresa,” he said
Violence continued last week as both sides clashed repeatedly. There were injuries, but no deaths. Opposition parties were prevented on Nov. 18 from holding a march with the slogan “All against Fraud!” by thousands of Sandinista supporters. The Sandinistas, according to El Nuevo Diario, were armed with stones in bags, new machetes, clubs with nails, and homemade mortars and mortar launchers. They lined the march route and prevented opposition supporters from marching. Several hundred supporters of the opposition gathered to hear speeches by defeated PLC Managua mayoral candidate Eduardo Montealegre and others including Edmundo Jarquin and Dora Maria Tellez of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (which supported the PLC Alliance). Violence broke out after the speakers left in a caravan protected by riot police. The chaos lasted almost an hour with the police doing their utmost to prevent injuries as insults and stones flew. Again, representatives of media outlets got the worst of it. According to El Nuevo Diario, furious Sandinistas destroyed a vehicle belonging to the opposition Channel 2 TV, and reporters from the Sandinista outlets Radio Ya and Channel 4 were “almost lynched” by supporters of the opposition. Ivan Olivares of the weekly “Confidencial” was stabbed by a group of Sandinistas. On the same day, the installations of Radio Dario in Leon, Metro Stereo, and Caricias were destroyed by a group of 40 Sandinistas. All three stations support the right-wing opposition.
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) called on the National Police “to persist in its efforts to defend its institutional integrity and the right to life of the Nicaraguan people.” CENIDH noted that journalists and other members of the media had suffered from violent attacks which threatened freedom of the expression in the country. On Sunday, Nov. 23, Catholics in 300 parishes participated in processions for the feast of Christ the King called by the Catholic Bishops Conference to be accompanied by “prayers for peace.” Some feared that one or both of the political groups might disrupt the processions but Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes of Managua expressed his satisfaction that the day was undisturbed.
National Police Commissioner Aminta Granera said, “The complexity of the social and political situation that we are living through in Nicaragua, with disturbances to public order caused by activists from the political parties, obliges us to evaluate at each moment and with each specific incident the type of response that the Police should make.” “Above all,” she said, “we have focused on protecting lives. We have protected and we are going to protect people's lives.”
Speaking at a rally on Nov. 20, President Daniel Ortega, who had not been seen since the election, thanked long-time Sandinista members who had worked on the various campaigns. He blamed the opposition for initiating the violence that has marked the days since the election. He said, “The Sandinista Front has never gone out into the streets to protest after losing an election as the right did one day after the voting. They should accept the results and get to work for the development of the country.”
On Nov. 21, the Sandinistas held a massive rally in Managua to celebrate the party's victory. At that rally, First Lady Rosario Murillo said, “We will continue to oppose foreign agents with the cultural beauty and symbols of the people of Nicaragua, our people, who know about struggle and honor.”
On Nov. 20, motions by both Nicaragua and the United States failed in the Organization of American States. Nicaragua received only the support of Venezuela for its motion to censure OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza for “allying with the United States against Nicaragua.” The United States motion of support for “democratic governability in Nicaragua” failed as well.
Wilfredo Penco, head of the Council of Latin American Electoral Experts, one of three groups of Latin American electoral tribunal members which observed the Nicaraguan municipal elections, speaking from Caracas where he was preparing to observe Venezuela's regional elections, said that the elections in Nicaragua were carried out “in conformity with Nicaraguan law and in conformity with international standards.” He added that “beyond isolated incidents and skirmishes, the municipal elections in Nicaragua were clean elections.” He stated that there has been a media campaign against the election results based on political and economic interests which has resulted in destabilization and a lack of recognition of what was a democratic process.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on Nov. 20 said, “There are real concerns about the integrity of the vote.” European Common Fund representatives that provide financing for democratic governability to non-governmental organizations met in Managua on Nov. 20 to evaluate the projects of 55 Nicaraguan organizations that they currently support. The Fund also provides some support for government projects. Diplomatic sources said that aid from the European Union member countries was being reduced as a result of concern about the conduct of the municipal elections.
Topic 2: Basic food costs skyrocket
The cost of the “basic basket” of 53 food, housing, and clothing products, needed for a family of six to survive for a month, rose by US$48.12 in the first ten months of 2008 to US$442.04. The Ortega government's National Institute for Development Information (INEDE) which prepared the report, called the cost “impossible and unpayable” since even though the minimum wage has been raised twice this year for a total of 33%, it is still only US$96.30.
Independent economist Aldolfo Acevedo noted that the drop in oil prices has reduced inflationary pressure, but the continuing rise in food prices is the heaviest weight on most families. Inflation is expected to be 18.1% for 2008. By the end of October inflation in “transportation and communication” costs dropped to 6.9% but “food and drink” had increased to 18.92%. Luis Barboza, a representative of the Sandinista-affiliated National Workers Front (FNT) said, “Workers who receive minimum wage are only able to cover 25-30% of the cost of the basic basket.” He called the 33% increase in minimum wage “insignificant.” Food costs alone consume US$297.78 of the basic basket, so the drop in propane cooking gas of 3.5-3.75% and sharply lower gasoline and diesel prices have not improved the buying power of most people by very much.
A Free Trade Zone worker said that due to high prices, the beans in Nicaragua's national dish “gallo pinto” (beans and rice) have become “sporadic” and most often they can only flavor the rice with some bean soup. Another said that he can now buy only 10 pounds of rice a month instead of the fifteen his family previously consumed. Yet another said , “We now work only to eat.”
Topic 3: AIDS cases continue to increase
Minister of Health Roberto Perez Solis announced that Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has dedicated US$65 million over five years for use in programs to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to treat those with the disease. Isabel Green, vice-president of the Nicaraguan Institute of Social Security (INSS) which works hand in hand with the Ministry of Health on HIV/AIDS said, “Education is fundamental because it orients people to change behaviors. We have all the strategies of communication and information to sensitize people. We have plans for quicker tests and prevention strategies such as condom use, abstinence and monogamy. There are medical treatments, but prevention is the most important.” Nicaragua is currently treating 704 patients and there have been 746 reported deaths.
Ministry of Health (MINSA) Executive Director of Health Services Carlos Jarquin reported that the incidence of new cases of HIV-AIDS has risen in two years from 7.6 per 100,000 to 12. Those statistics are for 2005-2007. So far in 2008 the public health system has reported 535 new cases, of which 138 are women. In 2007, only 264 new cases were reported. Dr. Jarquin estimates that there could be as many as 20,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and said that, to some extent, the growth is attributed to the expanded testing.
According to MINSA Secretary General Enrique Beteta, when the Sandinista government assumed power in 2007, it reactivated the Nicaraguan Commission on AIDS (CONISIDA) which has trained women in the National Police and Ministry of Government about prevention, and 10,000 students have received seminars and they have delivered information to the at-risk population.
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