TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2009
Nicaragua Network Hotline (March 31, 2009)
1. Foreign direct investment rises in 20082. CENIDH denounces government at Inter-American Human Rights Commission
3. Forum considers post-Durbin Afro-Central American rights progress
4. Catholics march against abortion; Supreme Court decision rumored near
5. Ortega chairs SICA meeting but skips meeting with Biden
Topic 1: Foreign direct investment rises in 2008
The Agency for the Promotion of Investment in Nicaragua, also known as ProNicaragua, reported last week that foreign direct investment in Nicaragua rose from US$335 million in 2007 to US$600 million in 2008. The figure for 2006 was US$287 million. The steep rise in 2008 was attributed to investment in the energy sector. Javier Chamorro Argüello, director of ProNicaragua, said that while the international economic crisis could make attracting investment “more difficult,” the goal is to maintain 2008 levels for 2009. Most foreign investment in Nicaragua comes from other countries in Central America and from the United States. However, Chamorro said that “at this time of crisis” the government is opening the door to new investment sources.
In related news, on Mar. 24, Alvaro Baltodano, director of the Free Trade Zone Corporation, announced that Draexlmaier, a German company that supplies parts to Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar, will open a plant by the end of this year or the beginning of 2010. And, on Mar. 25 an international tourism convention opened in Managua with representatives from 130 development and investment companies interested in learning about tourism opportunities in Nicaragua and the rest of Central America
On the other side of the economic picture, Cone Denim, of the International Textile Group (ITG) which is the second largest denim manufacturer in the world, has laid off 700 people from the factory which had the capacity to produce 28 million yards of denim for jeans in a year. The company announced that the factory will likely stay closed for 14-16 months. And, with the bottom falling out of world peanut prices and credit tight, peanut farmers plan to reduce acres planted by more than 28% Peanuts are Nicaragua's third largest agricultural export after coffee and beef. The world market price has dropped from $28/hundredweight to $18.
Topic 2: CENIDH denounces government at Inter-American Human Rights Commission
Bayardo Izaba, director of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), appeared before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in Washington, DC, on Mar. 24 to express the concern of his organization about an accelerating tendency in Nicaragua for the National Police to be subordinated to the interests of President Daniel Ortega. He said that the president is attempting to turn that institution into an instrument for repression. He said that the citizenry is resisting because it cost them such a great price to achieve a non-repressive force. To that he added concern about the fragility of democratic institutions in Nicaragua and the politicization of those institutions along with persecution of many civil society and human rights organizations. Izaba asked the Commission to make an on-site visit to Nicaragua to learn about the situation and urged the Commission to accelerate the cases filed previously by CENIDH with relation to the cancellation of the legal recognition of two political parties, the Sandinista Renovation Movement and the Conservative Party.
Topic 3: Forum considers post-Durbin Afro-Central American rights progress
On March 27-28, a Central American forum organized by the Central American Black Organization (ONECA) was held to examine the human rights situation for Afro-Central Americans measured against the accords reached at the UN Conference on Racism held in Durbin, South Africa in 2001. The forum was co-sponsored by the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry and the Autonomous University of the Caribbean Coast (URACCAN). There was consensus that there has been minimal progress toward meeting the commitments made by governments, civil society, and international organizations toward fighting racism and racial discrimination.
“There is still a deficit in compliance despite the fact that there have been significant advances including the creation by each country in the region of some organism or decree ratifying the international convention against all forms of racial discrimination,” said Celeo Alvarez Casildo, president of the Honduran Organization for Communitarian Ethnic Development. The forum was part of a preparation process for the April 20-24 meeting in Switzerland to measure progress since Durbin to diminish racial discrimination. Alvarez said that compliance in Central America is at a low level because of a lack of policies for economic, cultural, and scientific development in excluded communities.
The government of Nicaragua is a guarantor of the rights of the indigenous and African-descended population and for that reason enjoys prestige in that community, said one Afro-Central American. The president of ONECA, Steve Francis, affirmed that the Nicaraguan government has made important advances in respect to its rights of the Afro-Central American communities.
Topic 4: Catholics march against abortion; Supreme Court decision rumored near
Hundreds of Catholic faithful, headed by four Nicaraguan bishops, marched in Esteli on March 25 against abortion on the Day of the Unborn Child. They marched a little more than a kilometer ending in front of the Cathedral of Esteli where they held an open air mass with speeches in favor of the “right to life.” The mass was officiated by the bishop of the diocese of Esteli, Juan Abelardo Mata with participation by Papel Nuncio Henry Josef Nowacki, and the other three Nicaraguan bishops. Mata said that the objective of the march was to transmit a message for life and against death to the population. Masses “for life” were said throughout Nicaragua on Wednesday. Nicaraguan law prohibits abortion in all situations.
During the 2006 presidential campaign, the National Assembly bowed to a campaign by the Catholic and evangelical churches to outlaw therapeutic abortion which had been legal for more than 100 years when the life or health of the mother was in danger. The law required a “scientific determination by three doctors and the consent of the spouse or relative closest to the woman” before the therapeutic abortion could be performed.
Feminist groups have appealed the criminalization of therapeutic abortion to the Supreme Court which has not yet issued a ruling on the case. On March 30, Bishop Mata denounced a leaked allegation that the Supreme Court has resolved to rule that the criminalization of therapeutic abortion was unconstitutional. The Catholic leader exhorted the justices to analyze the decision and urged “that it not be based on compromise or to respond to international forces or to balance between parties.” He said that the government says it is of the people, so it must protect the life of the people. Mata did not reveal his source that the Supreme Court was about to make a decision of unconstitutionality. He said that the bishops have begun to speak with President Daniel Ortega and the Supreme Court justices so that they “rethink what they are going to do.”
Topic 5: Ortega chairs SICA meeting but skips meeting with Biden
Managua was the scene on Mar. 25 of the XXV Summit of the Central American Integration System (SICA). The goal of the meeting, according to President Martin Torrijos of Panama, was to “arrive at common positions in the face of the challenges that our countries face” with relation to the international financial crisis and the upcoming Summit of the Americas, April 17 - 19. President Daniel Ortega chaired the meeting because Nicaragua holds the SICA presidency this year. Also attending the meeting were Presidents Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador, Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, and Torrijos of Panama. President Alvaro Colom of Guatemala cancelled his visit at the last minute and sent Foreign Minister Haroldo Rodas. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias was to be represented by Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno but Stagno did not attend. Security Minister Carlos Perdomo represented Belice.
The meeting approved a resolution applauding the recent Salvadoran electoral process in which FMLN candidate Mauricio Funes was elected president. The gathering passed a resolution calling on donor nations not to place political conditions on foreign assistance which Nicaragua's opposition press painted as not as strong as Daniel Ortega would have liked. The final resolution stated, “We call on the international community to continue offering cooperation to the region which will permit the overcoming of the economic and social inequalities that persist in our countries under principles of respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of our democratic and sovereign peoples.”
On Mar. 30 four of the six Central American presidents and the Prime Minister of Belize met with U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden. Those who did not attend the San Jose meeting were Manuel Zelaya of Honduras (because of “agenda problems”) and Ortega of Nicaragua who felt, as did some other political figures, that the Central American Integration System should have been the venue for the meeting. It then would have been held in Nicaragua as it is currently holding the presidency of the SICA. Ortega sent Manuel Coronel, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs instead.
The U.S. Vice President said that he had come to Latin America to show the interest of the Obama administration in a relationship based on respect, which he said begins with knowing how to listen and on policies not for the hemisphere but with the hemisphere. Biden promised to increase the help to the Central American region to fight drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorism under the Merida Initiative to US$110 million from the current level of US$65 million. The Central American leaders presented initiatives for increasing the capitalization of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration as well as the widening of coverage and renovation of the Temporary Protected Status for Central American immigrants in the United States.
Topic 6: Teachers' salary increases barely above inflation
According to independent economist Adolfo Acevedo, it will take 13 to 14 years to raise teachers' salaries to the Nicaraguan average wage of US$290-$295 per month with the $25 annual increases which represent 3-4% over inflation, planned by the Nicaraguan government. Acevedo considers that this reality frightens qualified prospective candidates away from teaching. “The problem is that a person can earn nearly double what a teacher makes in any other kind of career. Qualified people are going to get work elsewhere and we'll end up with only people with inadequate credentials in the profession,” he said.
This reality “is not new, but has existed for a long time” and has generated a “decreasing” quality of education over the years, according to Acevedo. Minister of Education Miguel de Castilla has reiterated that teachers are the key to raising the quality of education. Despite that he has not been able to sufficiently raise their salaries, Acevedo said.
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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