TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 01, 2009
Nicaragua Network Hotline (September 1, 2009)
1. Rivas: “We will have observers for the Atlantic Coast elections”2. IMF releases US$150.7 million to Nicaragua
3. Government declares health emergency based on more flu cases
4. Water and sewer access expanding in Managua
5. Women unite to combat poverty
Topic 1: Rivas: “We will have observers for the Atlantic Coast elections”
Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) President Roberto Rivas said last week that there will be observers for the elections of the authorities of the North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions (RAAN and RAAS) scheduled for March of 2010. But, he added, “We will not permit groups that have participated openly in partisan political activity because one thing is political participation in the broad sense and another thing altogether is participation in a particular movement or group.” He said that the government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has invited the European Union to send observers for the election of the 45 member Regional Councils of the RAAN and the RAAS.
Jose Luis Villavicencio, also a magistrate on the Supreme Electoral Council, said that, “On the subject of observation by national groups, I am of the opinion that we should permit broad national observation without restriction, but with enough regulation.” He stated, “Some organizations have gotten in their heads that observers are poll watchers but that is not true,” adding that it is the poll watchers who form a part of the official electoral process and observers must limit themselves to watching the process and releasing a report without taking a position in support or one candidate or party.
Villavicencio also accused the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of the United States of financing political parties in Nicaragua. He told a Channel 12 television audience that the NDI is financing the collection of signatures on a petition demanding that the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Council be removed as well as financing training for political party activists and members of election observation groups. The report on the web page of Radio La Primerisima noted, however, that the FSLN has on occasion participated in training financed by the NDI. Villavicencio called the financing interference in the internal affairs of Nicaragua and a violation of national sovereignty and said that he would ask the Division on Political Parties [of the CSE)]for a list of parties whose members have been trained with NDI financing. U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan denied that either of the organizations linked to the two U.S. political parties [the NDI and the International Republican Institute (IRI)] finance partisan opposition political party activities in Nicaragua. The Nicaragua Network knows, however, that is a lie. For more information, click here.
Meanwhile, it was announced that Stefano Sannino, a representative of the European Union, would visit Nicaragua in early September to meet with different sectors of Nicaraguan society to prepare the way for a decision about whether to renew US$32 million in budget support funds that the EU had suspended after fraud was alleged in the municipal elections of Nov. 2008. Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel Coronel said that he was confident that things would “go well” and the aid would be renewed.
Topic 2: IMF releases US$150.7 million to Nicaragua
On August 28, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released US$150.7 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to the Central Bank of Nicaragua as part of the multilateral financial support approved by the industrialized G-20 nations to help poorer countries strengthen their international currency reserves. According to the Central Bank, the funds will reinforce the financial security of the country and help it to absorb the impact of the global financial and economic crisis. The Central Bank noted that these SDRs are unconditioned and separate from the funds Nicaragua has pending under the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) which have economic conditions attached. Central Bank President Antenor Rosales announced that on Sept. 7 a delegation from Nicaragua will meet in Washington, DC, with the IMF to analyze the second and third revisions of the country's economic program under the PRGF. After that an IMF mission will come to Nicaragua to give “final approval” to the program, according to Treasury Minister Alberto Guevara.
Topic 3: Government declares health emergency based on more flu cases
On August 27, President Daniel Ortega declared a 60 day health emergency as two more women died of swine flu and the total of cases confirmed in the country reached 929. The hope, according to Minister of Health Guillermo Gonzalez, is to speed care to the sick and avoid further deaths beyond the four recorded so far. He said that health centers now had anti-viral medicines and health workers in the public and private clinics had been alerted to provide anti-viral treatment to those who presented serious symptoms whether or not swine flu had been confirmed.
Ana Quirós, director of the Center for Health Information and Consulting Services (CISAS), criticized Ortega saying he should not have given such an important role in mobilizing the population to the Councils of Citizen Power (CPC) because “the President and the Health Minister may not like it but there are a whole lot of places where there are no CPCs.” She added that the experience of the Community Movement in mobilizing for health emergencies should not be discarded. While the CPCs can play a good role, the work should not be limited to them, she stated.
In other health news, President Ortega said at a Managua graduation ceremony for 44 Nicaraguan graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba that the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA) had brought widespread benefits to Nicaraguan health care. He said that the Nicaraguan people had trust in the Cuban-trained doctors who were noted for their humanity and solidarity.
Topic 4: Water and sewer access expanding in Managua
Some 60,000 residents of the “driest” neighborhoods in Managua will be able to have easier access to potable water within the year, thanks to an agreement between Ruth Herrera, head of Nicaragua's state-owned water company ENACAL, and Managua's new mayor Daysi Torres to collaborate on the installation of water and sewer lines to 36 points in the capital. The project is targeting the neighborhoods most in need of potable water during the dry season. The project will cost US$30 million funded by the World Bank, half with a grant and half with a loan at 1% interest payable over 30 years. Mayor Torres said that the communities will help in all the work, not the least by developing a consciousness not to litter and throw trash in the storm sewers. She also pledged to fine the litter bugs, something that has not been done previously.
Topic 5: Women unite to combat poverty
Pine needles and colored thread are the materials that Martha Sabina Martinez uses to make her crafts that are helping to lift her out of poverty. Martinez lives five kilometers from Honduras in the small community of El Polvon, Chinandega. In this area, the only economic activity is agriculture, but it is not enough to drive economic development. Martinez acquired credit two years ago from the women's organization Pro Mujer and invested it in her artisanry and other necessities for her home. Since then her business has increased and she now makes three times as much as her husband makes in agriculture, about $150 a month, which has allowed the family, with their five children, to eat better and make improvements to their home. She sells her creations at the Roberto Huembes Market in Managua, in Masaya, and plans to expand to Granada. Currently she is working together with her neighbors to produce 400 pieces for sale in New York where Pro Mujer has its headquarters.
Ninfa Isabel Escalante, also from El Polvon, thinks that producing crafts has been a good subsistence option for families in the community who lack other economic options. “Before, we sometimes went without food, but not now,” she said. In her case, the extra income has allowed her to buy tables and chairs, a bed, and kitchen utensils. She plans now to do some repairs on her house.
A group of Western Union Foundation officials from four countries visited El Polvon and other communities in Chinandega and Leon to witness the results of Pro Mujer's work in the country. The Western Union foundation has donated US$75,000 to Pro Mujer. During the visit, the delegation announced an additional donation of US$5,000 for women's economic development. Tony Tapia, program director of the Foundation stated that Nicaragua is the Central American country that receives the most support from the Foundation. In the past five years the Foundation has donated US$390,000 to various projects with the funds coming from the company and from employee donations worldwide.
Zoyla de Jesus Palma lives in El Viejo, Chinandega. She said that she has been working with Pro Mujer for 11 years and that her first loan was for 600 cordobas [roughly US$50 in 1998]. When she got her first loan she had neither a job nor a business. She said she and her two daughters were living “at the mercy of God.” “When one has nothing, no collateral, no one will give him a loan. That was my situation,” she remembered. With her first loan she bought milk, sugar, and firewood to make candy. Her original intention was to sell clothing wholesale, but the loan was not big enough for that. She began by making candy from five liters of milk. She sold it all. Then she bought 10 liters of milk and also sold all the candy she made. Soon she was using 30 liters of milk per day and had enough profit to buy plastic bags to package the candy. She was able to save US$800 and, with additional loans from Pro Mujer, was able to buy enough clothing to found her wholesale clothing business. Now she has two pickup trucks to deliver clothing to shops in various Chinandega neighborhoods and has a warehouse filled with inventory.
Gloria Ruiz Gutierrez, national director of Pro Mujer, explained that the program is directed at poor women. Pro Mujer has a presence in five countries in Latin America and, in Nicaragua, it works in eight departments. The program offers services in the areas of credit, training, and health. “Our mission is to promote the empowerment of women through those tools,” she said. Their credit program works on the model of communal banks composed of between 15 and 48 women. “The credit is the method to attract the women, and the final intention is to offer training to promote the transformation of their attitudes about themselves,” she said. In Nicaragua they have helped 31,000 women, investing US$5.3 million in loans and donations.
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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