TUESDAY, MAY 05, 2009

Nicaragua Network Hotline (May 5, 2009)

1. Ministry of Health is “prepared” to prevent the spread of the flu
2. Opposition in National Assembly says Ortega exceeded constitutional travel limits
3. Dole revels in victory over banana workers
4. Miskitos name ambassador to United States
5. Seventy-nine rural communities trained to plant school gardens

Topic 1: Ministry of Health is “prepared” to prevent the spread of the flu

The Nicaraguan Health Ministry has announced that it is prepared to prevent the spread of swine flu in Nicaragua where no cases have yet been detected. Health Minister Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez said, “Don't have doubts. In the case of any respiratory symptoms, visit your health center. Don't be frightened. We are prepared to attend you.” He called on people not to self medicate with antibiotics and added that the Ministry has received flu medication for 10,000 treatments from the World Health Organization (WHO) and is purchasing anti-flu medication for 50,000 more patients.

Dr. Maritza Cuan, director for Managua of the Local System for Integral Health Education (SILAIS), said that the Health Ministry had trained more than 22,000 health brigade volunteers, among them leaders of market vendors, members of the Councils of Citizen Power, teachers, and students.

In the National Assembly, deputies from different parties agreed that the government was justified in utilizing funds from the Social Security Institute [which provides both old age pensions and health coverage] to confront the influenza threat. The Civil Coordinator, a network of organizations, said that it was appropriate that the government was taking preventive measures to confront the flu, while urging transparency in the use of the funds and opposing using the emergency for political purposes.

The government cancelled traditional celebrations of International Workers Day on May 1. Instead, President Daniel Ortega gave an address on the radio. Archbishop of Managua Leopoldo Brenes called on members of the faithful who were suffering from flu-like symptoms to stay home and not attend mass on Sunday.

Topic 2: Opposition in National Assembly says Ortega exceeded constitutional travel limits

Opposition deputies in the National Assembly asked the office of the Directorate of Migration to release information about the recent travels of President Daniel Ortega, saying that they believe that the president has been out of the country longer than the constitution allows [15 days in one month] and thus could be relieved of office. Ortega travelled to several countries between April 4 and 28 including official meetings of the System for Central American Integration (SICA) in Honduras, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) in Venezuela, and the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. He also visited Cuba twice. He skipped a Central American meeting with U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden in Costa Rica. Opposition deputies in the Assembly criticized him harshly for missing that meeting.

Deputy Pedro Joaquin Chamorro of the Nicaraguan Democratic Bench (BDN) said, “We have asked Migration for information about the time from April 1st to the present date. If we prove that President Ortega has violated the Constitution, our bench will promote his immediate replacement by Vice-President Jaime Morales Carazo.” The BDN was joined by deputies from the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), and Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS).

Topic 3: Dole revels in victory over banana workers

After Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney threw out two consolidated lawsuits (Mejia vs. Dole Food and Rivera vs. Dole Food) by Nicaraguan banana workers, Dole Food Company reveled in its victory. With its US$7.6 billion in net profits in 2008, Dole is the largest marketer of fruit and vegetables in the world. At Camp Nemagon in Managua, banana workers said they would not give up the fight for justice. The judge agreed with Dole that two lawyers for the workers had recruited clients to give false testimony that the pesticide DBCP (Nemagon and Fumazone) used by the company had made them sterile while working in Dole banana fields.

The ruling was celebrated at Dole's central office in Westlake Village in Los Angeles County, CA, and in Managua. “The ruling of the court confirms that Dole, our co-defendants [Dow Chemical and the Amvac Chemical] and the Superior Court were all victims of fraud on a large scale as well as obstruction of justice,” said Dole's general counsel Michael Carter in a note released by the company in Managua. Another Dole attorney, Scott Edelman, said that Dole had tried to work with the government of Nicaragua to detect those who had truly been affected by the pesticides, but that the Nicaraguan authorities showed no interest in a just solution, but rather, based on Law 364 (Law for Cases of Persons Affected by DBCP), they have not guaranteed due legal process for Dole and other companies. Law 364 is the first law passed in a country where banana workers were affected by DBCP that has given workers a chance to prevail against transnational companies in legal cases. To read more about Law 364 and the long struggle of the workers affected by Nemagon, click here.

Judge Chaney said that this month she will initiate new procedures to determine if fines should be imposed against the plaintiffs and their lawyers. She said that other cases in California should be suspended and said that she was alerting courts in other states where banana worker cases are moving forward not to accept legal documents, medical reports or court rulings from what she said was the “corrupt legal system of Nicaragua.” She said that she had obtained her information about the Nicaraguan legal system from the U.S. Department of State.

Attorney Antonio Hernandez, who with Los Angeles attorney Juan Jose Dominguez had brought the cases against Dole, said that they had used specialized laboratories in Nicaragua and the United States which proved that the plaintiffs were sterile and suffered other physical and mental conditions due to their exposure to Nemagon and Fumazone. He said that although they had presented evidence that Dole had tried to suborn testimony [see http://www.nicanet.org/?p=666], the judge rejected that evidence. He urged the government of President Daniel Ortega, the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman and the Foreign Ministry to protest the decision.

Gonzalo Carrion of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) said that cases over the last few years such as the freeing of drug traffickers, the loss of goods taken from organized crime, and the ruling that freed convicted former President Arnoldo Aleman all contributed the lack of confidence in Nicaragua's legal system.

In the camp known as Nemagon City across from the National Assembly in Managua, which was set up by banana workers in 2007, Guillermo Vivas, a leader of the group, said that they would continue in the struggle. Benjamin Chavez, a leader of the 4,500 workers from the Pacific and Atlantic regions of Nicaragua represented by the Ojeda-Gutierrez Law Office, said that on May 3 a meeting was scheduled with the workers to go over the Chaney ruling and consider how it would affect their cases.

Topic 4: Miskitos name ambassador to United States

The Miskito Council of Elders in Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas) which declared independence from Nicaragua on April 18, has named an ambassador to Washington, the Rev. Wycliff Diego Blandon. Blandon, according to La Prensa, is one of the most important figures of Caribbean Coast community resistance in the last 50 years. In the 1970s, he founded the Alliance for the Promotion of the Miskito, Sumu and Rama (ALPROMISU). Blandon said that he has lived in Miami for 20 years adding that he has been doing the work of ambassador of the Miskito nation for many years. He said that he is naming representatives in different cities around the United States and will be knocking on doors in Europe where, he said, there are indications of support for Miskito independence.

Blandon said that Steadman Fagoth and Brooklyn Rivera have manipulated his people, noting that “There is tremendous unrest; the communities are awakening little by little and now it will not be possible to stop them. What they want is liberty; they want independence and we know that that is not the discourse of Fagoth, much less that of Rivera.” Blandon noted that Rivera has accused him of being linked to the CIA, but he said that does not bother him. “I have lived many years in the United States and I have been an activist for the human rights of the indigenous throughout the world, so it doesn't bother me that they say I'm with the CIA.”

The Council of Elders issued a decree saying that it would not allow the elections for members of the Regional Council of the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) to take place on March 7 of next year.

Foreign Affairs Vice-Minister Joel Dixon, in charge of indigenous issues at the Ministry, minimized the importance of the naming of an ambassador to the United States by the Miskito Council of Elders. “For this kind of action you would have to have consensus among all of the sectors of the population of the region, Dixon said. He added that the National Assembly should approve legislation that would permit a deepening of the process of autonomy for the Atlantic Coast.

Topic 5: Seventy-nine rural communities trained to plant school gardens

Seventy-nine rural schools in the South Atlantic Autonomous Region and Chontales received training from the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA) and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Education to plant school gardens. Participating in the training sessions were students, teachers, principals, heads of households, gardeners, and volunteers in 52 rural communities. The program is linked to the Integral Program for School Nutrition and the vegetables harvested are to be used in the school meals program.

Julio Munguía, an IICA specialist said, "The interest of those in the training was very high. Entire communities of students walked two or three hours to attend the training to learn to how to raise a garden which will also improve their nutrition." Thirteen thousand very poor children attend the 79 schools where the trainings were held. Their diet is based on corn, beans and occasionally a milk product like cheese. After each training IICA donated seeds for pumpkins, green peppers, cucumbers, pipianes (small green squashes), radishes, beets, tomatoes and carrots. Over four years IICA has conducted a national program of promoting the creation of school gardens in poor rural communities.

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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