TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2009
Nicaragua Network Hotline (February 17, 2009)
1. NGOs, cleared of charges, demand firing of government officials2. Opposition alliance still illusive
3. Saul Arana named new Nicaraguan ambassador to US; Callahan notes Millennium Challenge deadline
4. CPCs demand audit of Zero Hunger
5. First phase of Nicaraguan oil refinery inaugurated.
6. Healthcare centers and schools destroyed by Felix rebuilt
7. ENACAL announces new sewage treatment plant
Topic 1: NGOs, cleared of charges, demand firing of government officials
On Jan. 22, Prosecutor Douglas Vargas announced that his investigation of money laundering allegations against several nongovernmental organizations including the Center for Communications Research (CINCO), the Autonomous Women's Movement (MAM), the Civil Coordinator and the Venancia Group would be dropped because the evidence did not support bringing them to trial. He did say that the investigations revealed some irregularities and recommended an audit. He sent the investigation results to the Ministry of Government with the recommendation that regulations covering the registration and control of associations be reviewed.
The affected NGOs, although they considered the dropping of charges a victory, expressed concern last week that the Ministry of Government could continue an administrative investigation or that the framework covenants for their work could be changed. In a statement read by CINCO Director Sofia Montenegro, the NGOs demanded on Feb. 12 that the government investigators be fired for abuse of power and they said that the government should release a statement of support for Oxfam Great Britain and the Syd Forum. Charges against the two international funders had been dropped previously. Considering the focus that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy place on forming “women's” groups and “youth” groups in countries where the US tries to thwart Left movements and governments, the Nicaragua Network considers it a matter of national sovereignty to investigate the foreign sources of money for NGO's. Assuming that there is no further harassment of women's groups, we consider the fact that the NGOs were cleared by the investigation to be a victory for institutionality and the rule of law.
Topic 2: Opposition alliance still illusive
Leaders of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) and the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) met on Feb. 15 and agreed to form a committee to work toward uniting the two parties for the national elections in 2011, according to Eliseo Nuñez, president of the ALN. Since shifting alliances among Nicaragua's right-wing are usually measured in weeks or months, it is doubtful that this is the last word on alliances for the 2011 presidential election. PLC leader Arnoldo Aleman said that his main goal for the alliance was to secure the ALN's support for a bill attempting to overturn the November municipal elections but Nuñez said that the ALN would not put at risk the four municipalities where it won.
Last week Eduardo Montealegre defended his decision to accept the support of Alvaro Somoza, son of the Luis Somoza Debayle and grandson of Anastasio Somoza Garcia, claiming the younger Somoza opposed the dynasty of his grandfather, father and uncle. Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) leader Dora Maria Tellez said her party would not join the coalition that Montealegre is attempting to form. “We are doing our own work as a party and we are trying to recover our legal recognition; that is our first priority,” she said. The Nicaragua Network is relieved to hear that last week's rumors that the MRS would join a coalition with Somoza were untrue.
Former MRS presidential candidate, Edmundo Jarquin, speaking at a conference in Washington, DC, noted that the Sandinista revolution of the 1980s had brought “great historical progress” but claimed the country had “gone backwards under the government of [President Daniel] Ortega.” He said that the electoral system had “lost all credibility.”
Topic 3: Saul Arana named new Nicaraguan ambassador to the US; Callahan notes Millennium Challenge deadline
The weekly Confidencial quoted government sources that Saul Arana will replace Arturo Cruz as Nicaragua's ambassador to the United States in late April or early May. Arana is currently Nicaragua's ambassador to Japan. Arana is an economist who served as ambassador to Costa Rica, Greece and Yugoslavia during the 1980s, as well as director of the North American Section of the Foreign Ministry. In February 1979, as a leader in the Washington Area Nicaragua Solidarity Organization (WANSO), Arana participated in the founding conference of the Nicaragua Network. In the 1980s, Arana's wife, Patricia Elvir, coordinated humanitarian aid with North American solidarity groups opposed to the US-backed contras from the Nicaraguan Committee for Friendship, Solidarity, and Peace in Managua. Sources close to the Foreign Ministry said that Arana's name has been presented to the United States president. Foreign Minister Samuel Santos did not want to confirm the information because he said that the Ministry is awaiting the official approval of the appointment from Washington. But he said that Arana was a “top notch” ambassador and that at the present time the “normal processes” are moving forward.
In other diplomatic news, US Ambassador to Nicaragua Robert Callahan said on Feb. 13 that the board of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) will meet on March 2 to decide whether US$64 million in aid which was suspended in November will be cancelled or released. He said “time was running out” for the Nicaraguan government to resolve fraud allegations in the Nov. 8, 2008, municipal elections. The Nicaragua Network urges solidarity activists to contact their elected officials to pressure the Millennium Challenge Corporation to continue the aid on the basis that cutting it will only hurt the poor. The suspended funds would finance small and medium farmers in the departments of Leon and Chinandega for two years. Click here for details on the campaign to restore aid.
Topic 4: CPCs demand audit of Zero Hunger
Complaints of thin cows and dead chickens from beneficiaries of the Zero Hunger Program have resulted in the resignation of the director of the program, Gustavo Moreno. Moreno said he will resign due to discontent by Councils of Citizen Power (CPCs) with his management. The CPCs are organized groups of citizens in each community. In the rural areas, they have a role in the selection of peasant women to enroll in the Zero Hunger Program. Agriculture Minister Ariel Bucardo said that after receiving complaints about the quality of the animals, he put the problem before President Daniel Ortega who ordered an audit. Bucardo estimated that 3-4% of families in the Zero Hunger Program were not receiving quality animals.
Bucardo defended the Agriculture Ministry which received an exemption from the normal purchasing process from the Comptrollers' Office to purchase US$35 million (for 2007-2009) in animals, seeds and tools due to the urgency of distributing the poverty reduction package. Opposition forces have criticized the bypassing of the bidding process. Comptroller Lino Hernandez, however, said that the exemption did not mean giving a free hand to the functionaries involved, explaining that they still have to receive at least three bids and they have to submit all their documents to the Comptrollers' Office. Transparency International (TI) classified Nicaragua as most corrupt in Central America according to a report released Feb. 10. One of the reasons cited excessive permissions to exempt agencies from the normal contracting processes. TI also gave low ratings to other leftist governments such as Ecuador and Venezuela.
Topic 5: First phase of Nicaraguan oil refinery inaugurated
The Nicaraguan government will inaugurate the first phase of a joint Venezuela/Nicaragua oil refinery on Nicaraguan soil on Feb. 26. The first phase of the “Dream of Simon Bolivar” oil refinery will be the construction of three storage tanks capable of storing 230,000 barrels of oil each. The refinery will be located in Nagarote, 45 kilometers west of Managua. Director of the state company Nicaragua Petroleum (Petronic), Francisco Lopez, said the refinery “is not a dream,” referring to rumors that the mega-project would be cancelled due to the drop in oil prices. The total project is projected to cost US$4 billion. Venezuela is currently providing 10 million barrels of oil annually to Nicaragua at market rates but with preferential financing. Lack of storage capacity has prevented Venezuela from providing more oil. Lopez also announced that a new electricity generating plant producing 40 megawatts will begin functioning in the city of Masaya in a few days. Also in May another plant that will generate 54 megawatts will be inaugurated in Nagarote. These projects are all being constructed with aid from Venezuela to increase electricity generation capacity to 293 megawatts nationally in 2009.
Topic 6: Healthcare centers and schools destroyed by Felix rebuilt
In the less than two years since Hurricane Felix devastated the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), the Emergency Fund for Social Investment (FISE) has rebuilt 18 healthcare centers and 29 schools destroyed by the hurricane. Funding was provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the German KFW bank, and the Bolivarian Alternative for Our Americas (ALBA). At a cost of US$1.27 million, the 18 healthcare centers were completed in record time to serve the 20,000 inhabitants of Bilwi/Puerto Cabezas and surrounding communities. The new, modern facilities will provide medical services and improve the quality of care for women and children in particular. Besides Bilwi, communities that received new healthcare centers are: Awas Yari, Dakar, el Rahua Watla, Awas Tara, Lidaukra, Mani Watla, Pahara, Kahka, Betania, Dakban, Klingna, Kamla, Kuakwil , San Pablo, Sangnilaya, Sukatpin, and Sumubila.
FISE also spent US$3.15 million constructing 29 schools, financed from the same sources as the healthcare centers. This initiative guarantees access to education in indigenous communities where schools were destroyed by Hurricane Felix. Now even the smallest children, those under six years of age, have schools with the minimum conditions for their development. ALBA financed 23 of the schools.
Topic 7: ENACAL announces new sewage treatment plant
Nicaragua's public water and sewage company, ENACAL, announced that on Feb. 20 it will inaugurate a new sewage treatment plant to improve the water quality of Lake Managua (Xolotlan). ENACAL spokesperson Jessica Caldera said the new plant will treat raw sewage from Managua so that it will be clean by the time it goes into the lake. She said that they hope that, with the treatment plant, they will eliminate polluted marshes caused by sewage that fails to reach the lake. The marshes breed diseases such as malaria and dengue and cause diarrhea, especially in children.
Caldera said that the plant is of European design and will be the first of its type in Central America. It cost about US$30 million and was financed by national and foreign funds from Germany and the Scandinavian countries, as well as a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). With the improvement of culverts that will carry the sewage to the new plant, the total cost increases to US$85 million. Plans to treat the sewage have been in the works for 40 years, and will finally be realized.
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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