TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2009

Nicaragua Network Hotline (July 28, 2009)

1. Opposition parties to push resolution in Assembly to expel Zelaya
2. Supreme Court may legalize therapeutic abortion
3. Government proposes electoral observation in 2011 by EU
4. Another Spanish company buys Union Fenosa
5. Police crack down on various trafficking crimes

Topic 1: Opposition parties to push resolution in Assembly to expel Zelaya

According to Eliseo Nuñez, spokesman for the “Let's Go with Eduardo” Movement, the apparently not very aptly named Nicaraguan Democratic Bench (BDN) will push for a resolution in the National Assembly that will demand the expulsion of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was overthrown in a military coup on June 28, and also order an investigation of President Daniel Ortega because of his links to Zelaya. Nuñez said that Zelaya had violated the sovereignty of Nicaragua by calling for insurrection in Honduras and by organizing from Nicaragua actions in preparation for entering Honduras. In the case of Ortega, Nuñez said that he had violated resolutions of the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) which demanded Zelaya's return to power but did not approve the use of force to achieve that end.

Earlier in the week, Eduardo Montealegre, former presidential candidate and a BDN deputy in the Assembly, said, “Nicaragua can't be turned into a nest for terrorists, nor a space for insurrection. For that reason I ask former President Zelaya to leave Nicaragua; he should go somewhere else to call for invasions and not do it here.” He added that if Zelaya wants to continue to enjoy Nicaraguan hospitality, he should “close his mouth.” Zelaya has not called for invasion and simply read from the Honduran constitution the section stating that the people have the right not to cooperate with the coup government.

Meanwhile, Zelaya made his headquarters in the city of Ocotal, not far from the border with Honduras. He said that he was organizing his followers for “peaceful resistance” and for a return to his country. “Let's keep up the resistance,” he said, adding, “We are planning day by day.” As many as one thousand Hondurans have crossed the border, evading border guards, to join Zelaya. Speaking in front of the Hotel Fronteras in Ocotal, Zelaya said, “I urge … the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to confront the dictator with strength to let us know what the position of the United States is with relation to this coup.”

Meanwhile, dozens of tractor-trailers were lined up for kilometers on both sides of the border, some waiting as many as five days to cross. The Nicaraguan Federation of Cattle Ranchers said that if the crisis lasted longer the export of beef (US$23 million), cattle on the hoof (US$4.7 million) and cheese (US$29.5 million) to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala would be seriously affected.

On July 24, the Nicaraguan government formally denounced the persecution of its citizens living in or traveling through Honduras by the coup government as well as violations of the human rights of Honduran citizens. That followed a communiqué by the coup government which accused Zelaya, Ortega and President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela of “interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Honduras” and of being responsible for putting at risk the lives of Hondurans. The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) expressed its concern about the “political persecution” of Nicaraguans in Honduras. The international organization said that, since the coup, foreigners have been arrested “in particular Nicaraguans who have been affected in disproportionate numbers.”

Topic 2: Supreme Court may legalize therapeutic abortion

Supreme Court Constitutional Panel President Francisco Rosales confirmed that the Constitutional Panel has written a decision on a case brought by women's organizations challenging as unconstitutional a law overturning more than a 100 year old right of a woman to a therapeutic abortion when her life or health is in danger. Rosales said the decision still needs to be reviewed by the entire Court, which could take a different view. Sources in the judiciary say that the Constitutional Panel's decision, if accepted by the full court, would declare the 2006 criminalization of therapeutic abortion to be unconstitutional.

Vatican spokesman Federio Lombardi denied that Pope Benedict had denounced therapeutic abortion in an address in Luanda, Angola, in March. He said the Pope rejected abortion as a means of birth control but that the Catholic Church prefers to speak of therapeutic abortion as “indirect abortion and that is morally acceptable when there exists grave danger for the life of the mother and for no other reasons.”

Women's groups have complained that Sandinista deputies in the National Assembly supported criminalization of therapeutic abortion in order to gain favor with the Catholic Church. They filed a case to declare Law 603 unconstitutional in January 2007. President Daniel Ortega has reportedly declared to Sandinista justices that he is not going to intervene in the decision. “You decide it,” he is quoted as saying.

Constitutional Liberal Party Deputy Jose Pallais said that the Supreme Court can mandate that the National Assembly establish an exception in special cases such as when the life of the mother is in danger. He said the current law criminalizes all forms of abortion, but a special exception to save the life of the woman could be added to the Criminal Code or covered in a separate law. Pallais is chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Amnesty International (AI) sent a delegation to Nicaragua to conclude its report on maternal mortality as part of an international campaign to reduce the high level of women's deaths, aggravated in the case of Nicaragua by the criminalization of therapeutic abortion. President Ortega did not receive the delegation. Kate Gilmore, associate secretary general of AI, said she met with Minister of Health Guillermo Gonzalez who denied that maternal mortality has risen this year. Nicaragua Network notes that many women have died because they could not get a needed abortion, but maternal mortality likely has not risen because of free health care. Gilmore criticized Ortega and the Commission on Women, Children and the Family for not meeting with them. For Amnesty to meet with Nicaragua's highest health official would seem to be an appropriate response by the Nicaraguan government.

Topic 3: Government proposes electoral observation in 2011 by EU

Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel Coronel said last week that, “Nicaragua is open to electoral observation, particularly that of the European Union.” He said that the EU has not caused complaints about its electoral observation in the past. “What we won't agree to is the observer who becomes an agent of opposition and loses objectivity; one who enters into subjective questions,” Coronel said.

On July 22, Bayardo Arce, economic advisor to President Daniel Ortega, said on Channel 8 television Nicaragua would present to the EU a proposal to permit observation of the 2011 presidential elections in exchange for the release of EU aid which he put at US$109.1 million. He said that he was confident that the EU would renew its aid to Nicaragua because of the recognition that the Ortega government has received for its work in the areas of food security, literacy, health care and others.

Topic 4: Another Spanish company buys Union Fenosa

In a $25 billion deal, the Spanish transnational energy company, Gas Natural, has bought the much maligned Union Fenosa, also a Spanish transnational which has the contract for electricity distribution in Nicaragua. Jorge Katin, communications manager for Union Fenosa in Nicaragua, confirmed the “consolidation” of the two companies. Katin wasn't able to give details but said, “In this country the situation will not change and the two companies that distribute electricity in Nicaragua [DISNORTE and DISSUR] will be operating normally. In the future we will announce any changes.” Minister of Energy and Mines Emilio Rappaccioli said that the purchase will have no affect on Nicaragua's minority ownership of the Nicaraguan operation. “Probably the name Union Fenosa will disappear, but the companies that distribute electricity will operate under the same parameters,” he said.

Topic 5: Police crack down on various trafficking crimes

Since the beginning of the year, the Auxiliary Judicial Directorate (DAJ) has filed charges in 11 cases of human trafficking for prostitution, illegal adoption, and forced labor. DAJ head, Maj. Glenda Zavala, said they have an office specializing in review of human trafficking cases that have been uncovered in the departments of Chinandega, Rivas, Matagalpa and Managua. She said they have obtained four convictions.

An information and prevention campaign has been launched against human trafficking coordinated by the International Migrations Organization (OIM) in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica. In Nicaragua, the National Coalition against Human Trafficking, a coalition of 130 organizations including the government, international agencies, and local nongovernmental organizations, will coordinate the “No More Human Trafficking” Campaign with television and radio spots and a radio “soap opera” for broadcast throughout Central America. Minister of Government Ana Isabel Morales noted that Guatemala and El Salvador are the principal destination of trafficked Nicaraguans but that other countries include Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico and the United States. The majority of human trafficking is for prostitution and illegal adoption, but also includes forced labor in construction and domestic labor.

Immigrant trafficking was also highlighted in the news last week when a captain of the National Police, Eddy Ronald Martinez Ubeda, was indicted in the Department of Rivas for trafficking in illegal immigrants. Martinez was captured during a police roadblock on the Pan American Highway. Martinez presented the officers with police identification but was taken into custody when two Asians were observed in the back seat who were unable to present documentation. Martinez unsuccessfully attempted to bribe the arresting officers to let them go.

The final trafficking case involved a 23 year old Nicaraguan carpenter, Luis Enrique Picado Tercero, who died on May 30, two hours after having a kidney removed for sale to a US citizen suffering from renal failure. The lawyer for US citizen Ryan Matthews told police his client was too sick to be questioned at this time. Matthews body rejected the kidney and it had to be removed two weeks after the transplant. Picado's body will be exhumed for an autopsy, according to Maj. Zavala. Picado's mother has filed a complaint through the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) with the Public Ministry. She denies that she received any money for her son's kidney. She did say that Matthews, who she does not know and never talked to, had reportedly offered her son a visa to the United States. The press has reported that Picado revealed to doctors at the Military Hospital, where the transplant was performed, that Matthews had offered him $20,000, a visa to the US, and work in exchange for his kidney.

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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