TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2008
Nicaragua Network Hotline (December 23, 2008)
1. Aid and loans held up over election concerns and legislative deadlock2. President Ortega shores up international support
3. Daughter of Nicaraguan to be Obama's Secretary of Labor
4. First wind farm to begin producing electricity in January
Topic 1: Aid and loans held up over election concerns and legislative deadlock
The European Union, several of its member nations and the United States have put loans and donations to Nicaragua on hold because of opposition parties' accusations of fraud in the country's Nov. 9 municipal elections. The FSLN won 105 of 146 municipalities to 37 for the Constitutional Liberal Party and four to the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance. Opposition parties continued to paralyze the National Assembly, failing to pass legislation required for release of multilateral loans.
The European Union suspended US$46 million in budget support funding after offering funding to hold a recount or repeat the elections. Nicaraguan officials condemned the EU's attempt to interfere in Nicaragua's internal affairs. A minority of the European Parliament then approved a resolution lamenting possible fraud saying that the results “lacked any democratic legitimacy” with 52 votes in favor, five against with 728 not present.
The “Grupo Sur” network of European non-governmental organizations expressed concern about the cutoff of funds to Nicaragua and accused the European Union of “making development aid to Nicaragua a political instrument.” Grupo Sur said, “Coercion should not be the instrument utilized to influence the politics of a government,” and called for dialogue between the EU and the Nicaraguan government and civil society. The Grupo Sur is composed of nine NGOs from Spain, France, Belgium, Greece and Italy.
The Netherlands has cut US$16.8 million in aid. Dutch Minister of Development Bart Koenders said, “It doesn't seem reasonable to me to give direct aid to the Sandinista government that has done all that it can to impede free and honest elections.” The statement said that aid for sex education, health care, and support for small businesses would continue. The German government announced that it would maintain aid to Nicaragua.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Nicaragua Robert Callahan said that the Nicaraguan government “has approximately 90 days” to resolve the electoral crisis or “it is probable that the [Millennium Challenge] Account will be definitively cancelled and also the United States government could review all aspects of our aid to this country.” When asked about a letter from six conservative members of the U.S. House of Representatives to the Bush Administration asking for Nicaragua to be expelled from the Dominican Republic-Central American Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), Callahan said that the representatives were expressing their concern but it was very complicated to make changes in a legally agreed upon trade accord.
Multilateral financial institutions have not expressed concerns about the elections but have been hamstrung by the failure of the National Assembly, paralyzed by months of political conflict, to pass required legislation. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) can't release US$20 million until the loan is approved by the Assembly. Unless approved by Dec. 31, that money will be lost and not added to next year's total. US$36 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also dependent on passage of several bills, including the 2009 budget and appointments to the board of directors of the National Bank and the Development Bank. The IMF also requires that all of Nicaragua's budget support funding be in place and that cannot happen until the bills are passed and EU aid is reinstated or replaced by other sources. IMF representative in Nicaragua Humberto Arbulú expressed satisfaction with Nicaragua's macro-economic performance, noting that inflation was decreasing; reserves were solid, as was the banking system. An IMF mission will visit Nicaragua in the second week of January.
In the typical brinksmanship of the Nicaraguan political class, National Assembly President René Nuñez, a Sandinista, said on Dec. 20 that all the political parties were ready to support an extraordinary session of the Assembly to address the issues which had been left unresolved when he closed the legislative year last week. Agustin Jarquin, a Social Christian allied with the FSLN said, “The legislative agenda is almost agreed upon,” adding that all were willing to discuss the pending economic measures and the possibility that a bill, calling for annulment of the Nov. 9 elections and doing a recount of tally sheets, would be introduced and sent to either the Justice Committee or a special committee.
According to Jarquin, the Sandinistas are willing, because of the gravity of the situation, to do a recount in some of the municipalities where the opposition insists it won. This would be done by means of a political agreement, which would be sent to committee. The Assembly would then consider a declaration directed at the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) asking that body to review the electoral results. This would be necessary given that the constitution does not give the Assembly a role in electoral matters. In Nicaragua, like most of Latin America, the electoral authority is an independent branch of government not subordinate to the executive or legislature. El Nuevo Diario said that sources told its reporters that an agreement would be reached in which a recount of tally sheets would take place in 15 municipalities. It claimed that seven would go to the PLC-led alliance and two more to the ALN.
Topic 2: Daniel Ortega shores up international support
During the two day summit meeting of 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, without the United States and Europe, organized by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Daniel Ortega said that Nicaragua was suffering from attacks and a blockade on the part of the European Union (EU) and the United States which were trying to impose their political will on Nicaragua. He said, “This is grave because it is aggression against a country as poor as Haiti. It is because we have refused to continue the neoliberal policies that over the previous years had impoverished our people.” Ortega said that after the Nov. 9 municipal elections, which were won overwhelmingly by the Sandinistas, “Our adversaries, who were clear about their defeat, accompanied by the Europeans and the Yanquis, dedicated themselves to looking for ways to discredit the electoral process.”
Former FSLN Secretary for International Relations, who broke with the FSLN, Julio Lopez Campos, retorted that it was a grave matter that Ortega had made such serious accusations at the summit and that no other countries spoke up in support of his position. Lopez said that when Ortega was elected in Nov. 2006, there was no protest. The protest today, he said, was because there were “notorious irregularities and if the government and the FSLN don't want to recognize that, it's a big problem.”
After leaving Brazil, Ortega travelled on Dec. 17 to Moscow for a two-day official visit. After meeting with Ortega on Dec. 18, Russian President Dimitri Medvedev said that Nicaragua was “a key and strategic partner” of his country in Latin America. Medvedev said that Russia was ready to renew economic assistance and trade with Nicaragua which has been minimal since the FSLN lost power in 1990. The two presidents urged an end to the “economic, trade and financial blockade that the United States maintains against Cuba” as well an end to “foreign pressures against the people and government of Nicaragua.” Ortega was accompanied by the head of the Nicaraguan Army Omar Halleslevens.
Ortega's final stop was in Libya where he met with leader Omar Khadafy and expressed his enthusiasm for maintaining coordination between Latin America and North Africa on matters such as the international financial crisis and the struggle for just and equitable world trade.
Topic 3: Daughter of Nicaraguan to be Obama's Secretary of Labor
US President-elect Barack Obama announced the appointment of Rep. Hilda Solis as the next Secretary of Labor. Solis, of Mexican and Nicaraguan origin will give up her East Los Angeles, CA, congressional seat, for which she was elected in November to a fourth term. Her mother was originally from Jinotega and her father was from Mexico. Solis served on the Energy Committee in the House and worked on immigration and environmental issues. The 51 year old Solis served in both houses of the California legislature before being elected to federal office. During the administration of Jimmy Carter, Solis worked in the White House Office of Latino Affairs. Solis is the third Latino appointed to Obama cabinet following New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson [who has family links to Matagalpa] for Commerce and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar for Interior.
Topic 4: First wind farm to begin producing electricity in January
Nicaragua will begin to produce 40 megawatts of electricity from wind power in January. The Amayo consortium will begin operations and connect to the national electrical grid on January 4, according to project director Sean Porter.
The wind farm, located in the department of Rivas and consisting of 19 windmills more than 100 meters high, was built with an investment of US$95 million from the Central American Economic Integration Bank, and funds from Guatemalan, U.S., and Nicaraguan investors. The cost to produce the electricity from wind power is 8.625 cents per kilowatt compared to 18 cents from petroleum burning generators. The wind farm will produce enough electricity to satisfy the needs of 325,000 families consuming 150 kilowatts a month and will save the State US$30 million, or 216,000 barrels of oil. Nationally, 500 megawatts of electricity are produced daily, 80% of it from burning fossil fuel.
In other environmental news, Victor Campos, deputy director of the environmental organization Centro Humboldt said that his organization is worried that cuts in international aid will reduce environmental protection funding. “The tense situation with donor organizations worries us,” he said, “because development of environmental studies relies on the U.S's Millennium Challenge Account grants for work in the protected areas.” The Ortega government and the National Assembly Environmental Committee were given a failing grade on environmental performance in 2008 by the Centro Humboldt.
Compos declared that, although there was some progress in amending the Penal Code to penalize polluters, everything is on paper with the government not truly having a program to defend the environment. “It's not any different from past governments. We had hoped that this government would dedicate more resources for environmental protection projects. We observe that the spaces for participation have closed; it is not possible to access information unless you participate in the Councils of Citizen Power,” he claimed.
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