TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009

Nicaragua Network Hotline (March 17, 2009)

1. United States continues suspension of Millennium Challenge Account funds
2. Nicanet/SOAW circulate petition for Nicaragua to withdraw from SOA
3. Government denies agreement to destroy SAM-7 missiles
4. Cost of living rises; maquiladora sector signs wage agreement
5. Former banana workers denounce attempts at bribery by Dole
6. Affordable housing law passes in National Assembly

Topic 1: United States continues suspension of Millennium Challenge Account funds

The United States government decided on March 11 to continue the suspension of US$64 million in Millennium Challenge Account funds for Nicaragua because accusations of fraud in the municipal elections of Nov. 2008 had not been resolved to its satisfaction. At the same time MCA officials noted that the U.S. Congress had cut the world-wide appropriation for the MCA account by US$669 for fiscal year 2009.

In a press conference on Mar. 12, US Ambassador to Nicaragua Robert Callahan said, “We are going to continue working on the three highways that are contracted, that is 68 kilometers of new highways in the regions of Leon and Chinandega, and we are going to continue with the rural small businesses, and with the technical assistance for small farmers in the same zone.” He continued, “That, I believe, shows our commitment to the people of Nicaragua.” With relation to the Nov. 9 elections, Callahan said, “The Nicaraguans have 90 days to resolve the problem, the doubts, about the elections. If the government can resolve this problem in 90 days, we will immediately renew the aid.”

Bayardo Arce, President Daniel Ortega's economic advisor, said that he considered “positive” the decision to continue the suspension rather than cancel the aid. He confirmed that MCA projects already under contract continue in the western part of the country.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Deputy Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, while saying their anger was justified, stated that the travel by some of his colleagues (whom he did not name) to the United States and Europe to ask for cancellation of financial aid was an “unpatriotic act.” Aguirre is national secretary of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) as well as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Assembly. Sandinista Party (FSLN) Deputy Walmaro Gutierrez was more direct, accusing former presidential and Managua mayoral candidate Eduardo Montealegre and PLC leaders of carrying out this type of activity. Montealegre denied the allegations.

President Daniel Ortega said on Mar. 13 that “With the Millennium Challenge funds or without them, the people are going to continue to advance.” He told a crowd in Catarina in the Department of Masaya, “The yanquis are saying that they are going to take away our bread if we don't negotiate the mayors' offices. Well, if they take away our bread, we have our corn, our beans.” Then he asked, “What do you think? Are the municipal elections negotiable?”

The Foreign Ministry released last week a document entitled “White Book: The Reality of the Municipal Electoral Process of 2008 in Nicaragua” that lays out the government's position that the elections were not fraudulent. The document notes that 11,308 precincts participated in the elections at 4,047 polling places around the country. The results of only 45 precincts were appealed to the Supreme Electoral Council (172 were resolved by Departmental Electoral Councils). The CSE, in those cases, confirmed the decision of the lower tribunal.

The document contains nine parts including sections on the opposition's media campaign, national and international observation, and interference in the elections by foreign groups such as those funded by the National Endowment for Democracy of the United States. El Nuevo Diario reported that it was taken by Foreign Minister Santos to a recent meeting in Brussels, Belgium, to convince the European community that there was no electoral fraud. To read the entire “White Book” go here: http://www.radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias/48893

Topic 2: Nicanet/SOAW circulate petition for Nicaragua to withdraw from SOA

In anticipation of a vote this summer in the House of Representatives to close the School of Americas (now called Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, the Nicaragua Network and School of Americas Watch have initiated a petition asking Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to join five other Latin American countries and announce that he will withdraw Nicaragua from the infamous army training school. In 2007 similar legislation would have passed with a change of only 6 votes. To sign the petition go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/NicaraguaCloseSOA/.

Topic 3: Government denies agreement to destroy SAM-7 missiles

In response to reports in El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa that the Nicaraguan government has reached an agreement with the United States to destroy the SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles in its military arsenal, the Office of the Presidency issued a denial. The papers reported on an alleged March 12 memo signed by an official in Nicaragua's embassy in the US, Alcides Montiel, to Foreign Minister Samuel Santos that an agreement had been reached. Nevertheless, the official response from the Office of the Presidency stated, “It is not planned at this time to sign an accord between the government of Nicaragua and the government of the United States.”

Destruction of the missiles, acquired by the Nicaraguan Army for defense during the US-funded contra war of the 1980s, has been a top priority of the US in its bilateral relations with Nicaragua. The US claims that the SAM-7s are a danger to US national security. Radio La Primerisima reported that the real goal of the US is to deprive Nicaragua of its principal defensive weapon. The official government statement reiterated Nicaragua's desire to exchange some of its SAM-7 arsenal for medicine and medical equipment. Army spokesman Gen. Adolfo Zepeda confirmed that it is the position of the Nicaraguan Army to destroy some of the 1,051 SAM-7 missiles in its arsenal, but not all of them.

Topic 4: Cost of living rises; maquiladora sector signs wage agreement

The Social Economic Observatory (OSE), on March 11 denounced the “great disparity between the price of the basic basket of goods,” which Nicaragua uses as a measure of the cost of living, “and the minimum wage for workers.” The OSE reported that in February the cost of the basic basket was US$450 for a month for a family compared to the monthly minimum wage for agricultural workers of US$70. Inflation in February was .58%, a considerable drop from the 1.52% inflation in February 2008, but higher than in January 2009. Accumulated inflation for 2009 is .64% for an annualized rate of 10.78%, a major improvement over the 18.35% during the same period of 2008.

In related news, last week, unions, the government, and Free Trade Zone employers signed an emergency economic agreement that establishes a minimum wage for the 75,000 workers in the free trade zones. Wages will increase 8% this year and 12% in 2010 and 2011, but it will be possible to revise the wage according to the economic situation. All the signing parties were in agreement that the accord was necessary to counter the effects of the world economic crisis on the Nicaraguan textile industry. "We think that this is a suitable way to reach agreements to the benefit of workers. We think that this is the way to solve and move forward during this great economic and financial crisis in which we are living," stated Alvaro Baltodano, executive secretary of the National Free Trade Zones Corporation. Baltodano said that the agreement gives stability for foreign investment as well as for the workers.

In related news, union leader Roberto Gonzalez and National Assembly Deputy Agustin Jarquin introduced a bill in the Assembly that would establish an indexing system under which the minimum wage would be automatically adjusted once a year according to the rate of inflation. This would satisfy workers who want wages to keep up with inflation and business owners who want the twice a year adjustment reduced to once a year.

Topic 5: Former banana workers denounce attempts at bribery by Dole

Several former banana workers have accused Dole Foods of attempting to bribe them to speak out against the lawyers Juan Jose Dominguez and Antonio Hernandez of California who have successfully represented banana workers affected by the pesticide Nemagon against Dole in the courts of that state. Jose Benito Vindel, who worked on a banana plantation in Chinandega from 1973 to 1979, said that he was visited six times by two foreign men he said were agents of Dole. Vindel said they offered him US$60,000, US visas for him and his family, and work and housing in the United States if he would cooperate with them. Vindel, who suffers from several health problems resulting from pesticide poisoning, said he refused to testify against the lawyers and his former work mates. Vindel was pressured to testify that Dominguez and Hernandez had threatened him not to testify against them. Similar accusations were made by Fanor Guerrero and Luis Padilla who were visited by the same two men. Padilla was also visited by two Nicaraguans who offered him US$100,000 half of which he would receive after testifying in the United States. Agronomist Eduardo Padilla was offered money to testify that the pesticide was properly applied and had no bad effects on workers. He said he was offered US$50,000. Dole Foods, from its headquarters in Westlake Village, California, denied the accusations.

Topic 6: Affordable housing law passes in National Assembly

On March 11, the National Assembly gave final approval to an affordable housing law which stipulates that, for purposes of making the down payment, employers must allow employees to draw on the current balance of the severance pay they earn for each year on the job. Mortgage interest will be subsidized by the government. Employers will not have to facilitate home purchase for more than 20% of their employees in any one year. The homes must be between 385 and 645 square feet in area, with a maximum cost of US$20,000. The down payment would be about US$1,000 and the monthly mortgage payment about US$150 to be paid off in 25 years. The law passed with votes from all political parties with provisos that no citizen movement or grouping will receive preference and all government subsidies must be included in the national budget. Supporters hope that it will reduce the nation's 750,000 housing deficit. However, Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), said that neither the government nor private business had the capacity at this time to make the law function as it was designed. He said that the requirement for businesses to turn over to workers their severance pay would decapitalize local companies.

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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