TUESDAY, MAY 04, 2010
Nicaragua News Bulletin (May 4, 2010)
1. With no resolution to political crisis in sight, rumors fly2. At May Day rally Ortega announces US$25 monthly payment for government workers
3. Social Security coverage increases 7% under Sandinista government
4. World Bank to finance US$100 million in paved roads; CAFTA's fourth anniversary noted
5. Coffee income increases dramatically
6. Nicaraguans elected to fill three UN positions
1. With no resolution to political crisis in sight, rumors fly
The Special Commission on Nominations of the National Assembly released its reports on Apr. 28 with recommendations for the controversial posts of justices of the Supreme Court and magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) whose terms of office have run out or are about to run out. But the National Assembly was no closer to an agreement that would result in any candidates receiving the required 56 votes out of 92 members of the Assembly. In the case of the Supreme Court Justices, instead of a majority report, there were three minority reports. For the magistrates of the CSE, there were two reports. As expected Sandinista Party (FSLN) deputies supported reelecting the officials whose terms were ending while opposition members recommended that they not be reelected. The previous week the Commission had issued its reports on candidates for Superintendent of Banks, Comptrollers General, and Human Rights Ombudsman.
Opposition Deputy Eduardo Montealegre said that his Nicaraguan Democratic Bench (BDN) had 48 firm votes to oppose the reelection of the magistrates of the CSE. “We're ready to sit down, to meet, to converse,” he said, adding, “We need 56 votes and we can't do it alone. Nevertheless we aren't going to reelect the magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Council.”
And, in fact, he had sat down with President Daniel Ortega on April 10, but the press did not know about it until last week when rumors about the conversation were confirmed. According to Montealegre, Ortega invited him to talk about the 25 high level appointments and he agreed “because neither the opposition nor the Sandinistas has the 56 votes to elect them [the officials].” He insisted that “there was no pact, zero pact,” a reference to the 1999 agreement between the Sandinista leader and former President Ortega and Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) leader and former President Arnoldo Aleman which divided up government posts between their two parties. Wilfredo Navarro, PLC vice president, said that an accord for the election of these officials would only happen based on negotiations between the FSLN and the PLC along with their ally, Montealegre.
As it turned out, Arnoldo Aleman had also talked with Daniel Ortega just one week before Ortega's meeting with Montealegre. According to Eliseo Nuñez Morales, the president made the same proposal to Aleman that he made to Montealegre: that his party not oppose the reelection of the magistrates of the CSE, in return for the FSLN not opposing his party's candidates. Nuñez Morales said that Aleman, like Montealegre, made no agreement with Ortega, noting that his party believes the entire CSE should be replaced. He said there were rumors that a different proposal was gaining ground that would elect three magistrates proposed by the governing Sandinistas, three from the opposition political parties, and three proposed by civil society groups.
Meanwhile, the Managua Appeals Court on Apr. 28 declared that the legislative session that opposition National Assembly deputies held in the Holiday Inn Hotel was not a legal session of the Assembly. At that meeting, the deputies in attendance voted to send to committee a bill to declare null and void a Jan. 9 decree by President Ortega that allowed officials to remain in their posts until their replacements had been named. Ignoring the court's ruling, opposition members of the Justice Committee of the Assembly met Apr. 29 and called on Ortega to testify before the committee this week. Committee chair Jose Pallais of the PLC said that, “[W]e are proposing Wednesday at 3:00 in the afternoon to hear his opinions.” Ortega was not expected to appear. The committee heard testimony from former Supreme Court President Alejandro Serrano Caldera who said that the Assembly did not have the power to declare a presidential decree null and void but it could repeal it.
Supreme Electoral Council Magistrate Rene Herrera provoked headlines on Apr. 30 when he said that the possibility national elections could be held earlier than planned (Nov. 2011) and the new National Assembly could choose the officials whose appointments have caused such controversy. He noted, “I am not discarding anything; but [confirming the dates of elections] is one of the functions of the Council. However, I'm not suggesting any day or month; it will happen when has to happen. For right now we are still working on the Atlantic Coast elections. When this is finished, we'll have time for that.”
Interesting, if unusual, analysis appeared in the media. According to El Nuevo Diario, PLC Deputy Oscar Moncada Reyes said that “the process” is totalitarian but a unique kind of totalitarianism where there are no political prisoners, no blood is shed, there are no political exiles, and the country appears tranquil. But, he maintained, one branch of government dominates the others “and that is a dictatorship.” (El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 28, May 2; La Prensa, Apr. 26, 30; Radio La Primerisima, Apr. 27, 28)
2. At May Day rally Ortega announces US$25 monthly payment for government workers
At a rally for International Workers' Day held the night of Apr. 30, President Daniel Ortega announced that government workers with monthly salaries under US$275 would begin in May to receive a $25 monthly payment in addition to their salaries. Ortega said that the payment would go to 61,000 teachers and other education workers, 23,600 health workers, 12,000 police officers, 10,000 soldiers, and 9,600 government administrative workers. He said that funds for the payments were not part of the regular budget but would come from Venezuela under the Bolivarian Alliance for Our Americas (ALBA).
Ortega also announced a subsidy for public busses, taxis, and boats throughout Nicaragua in which the price of each gallon of gasoline would be lowered by US$0.37 and diesel by US$0.42. He said that it was thanks to ALBA that Nicaragua was able to channel these resources to benefit workers and public transportation users. Gasoline has increased in price in the last few days with regular reaching US$4.04, up from US$3.90.
In his May Day speech, Ortega criticized what he called a “racist” and “anti-immigrant” law in the U.S. state of Arizona as well as anti-immigrant measures he said that were being put in place in Europe. He called on the developed countries that do not want to receive immigrants to invest in the poorer countries so that the people do not have to leave their homelands to search for a better life in distant places. (Radio La Primerisima, May 3)
3. Social Security coverage increases 7% under Sandinista government
In the three years of the Sandinista government of President Daniel Ortega, coverage of workers by the Nicaraguan Institute for Social Security (INSS) has increased from 19% to 26% despite the global financial crisis caused by the irresponsibility of US banks, according to INSS Executive President Roberto Lopez. “There is a seven percent growth in the coverage of social security for two reasons: first a greater confidence by workers and employers that the right of social security coverage is a human right and a right designated in the Constitution of the Republic,” he said. The other factor, according to Lopez, is improvements in the administration of the INSS which made the growth possible.
He pointed out that 9% of farm workers are now covered, a project abandoned by the neoliberal governments from 1990-2006. Permanent workers on coffee farms, sugar cane farms, and others have been incorporated into the social security system which has given them the right of medical treatment for workplace injuries. “In this manner it is guaranteed that they receive free medical attention and, if necessary, a pension if they are disabled,” he said. He pointed out that this is a benefit to the employer who is otherwise legally required to provide treatment.
Teachers Union (ANDEN) activist Jose Antonio Zepeda said there is a process of recovering workers' rights that had been “confiscated” by the neoliberal system. “For example,” he said, “teachers paid social security on their total wages but the social security system only credited us for our basic salary. Increased wages for years of work and other factors were not recognized at the time of our retirement.” He also said that the neoliberal governments failed to provide the services that workers, especially teachers, had a right to under social security. “Today the medical companies [under contract to the INSS] have a mission; there are contracts; there are obligations and quality control of services. The workers' needs are addressed and social security is an instrument to improve the life of the worker at the time they retire or become sick,” Zepeda said. He said that the continued low percentage of coverage is because many business owners see their share of the cost for workers to have access to the system as a tax rather than an investment. (Radio La Primerisima, Apr. 27)
4. World Bank to finance US$100 million in paved roads; CAFTA's fourth anniversary noted
Personnel from the World Bank and Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MTI) inspected farm-to-market road paving projects in the Department of Esteli financed by the World Bank. The personnel visited projects completed in 2009-2010, including Esteli-Llanos de Colon, Casares-Huehuete, and Palacaguina-Telpaneca. Laura Tuck, director of the World Bank's Sustainable Development Department for Latin America and the Caribbean expressed satisfaction with the impact the paved roads have had for the population. “It's impressive,” she said, “now we are able to see more access to these municipalities, the improvement of services, transportation, and the economy.” She announced that the World Bank will continue to support Nicaragua's farm-to-market road paving projects with US$60 million and an additional US$40 million in financing.
MTI Minister Pablo Fernando Martinez explained that the inspection confirmed the quality, schedule, and progress of the projects. “The objective of the World Bank is to help reduce poverty which is exemplified by the paved roads that are the route by which the economic activity moves, and the route for health care and education,” he said. Martinez said that in the past year 120 kilometers of road have been paved, some by paving companies and some by community participation. He said that the community participation projects were the most economical “because when the population participates, not a single paving stone is lost.” He said probable future paving projects will include roads from Jinotega to Pantasma and from De Las Cruces to Cua.
In other economic news, US Ambassador Robert Callahan announced that Nicaragua's exports to the US have increased by 37% in the four years since the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) entered into force. Nicaragua is the only country in Central America whose exports to the U.S. have increased in this manner according to Callahan. However, at a meeting commemorating CAFTA's fourth anniversary, US Commerce Department representative Walter Bastian called for Nicaragua to implement “clear rules of the game” to attract investment and improve trade even more. (Radio La Primerisima, Apr. 27, 28; El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 28)
5. Coffee income increases dramatically
The value of Nicaraguan coffee exports rose by 43.1% in the first six months of the 2009-2010 harvest season in comparison to the same period the previous year according to the government's Center for Export Statistics (CETREX). In the period of October to March export coffee sales totaled US$129.3 million. CETREX attributed the increase to higher productivity and a rise in international coffee prices. Coffee sold for almost $20 more per hundredweight (at US$142) than in the previous year and the quantity of coffee exported by Nicaragua increased 26.2%. The primary importers of Nicaraguan coffee were the United States, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Spain and Canada.
Some small and medium coffee producers are improving their income and the lives of their families through the production of specialty coffees which are becoming increasingly popular in Japan, Europe, and the United States. Luis Balladares, general manager of the Las Segovias Coffee Processing Plant, said that he is certain Nicaragua has a high potential to produce specialty coffees but that a major effort is lacking to determine the areas best suited for growing niche market coffee. He said that businesses in Costa Rica and Guatemala do a better job of promoting specialty coffees and that Nicaragua needs a private-public partnership to produce and promote its own specialty coffees.
One of the ways that Nicaraguan coffee is gaining a better international reputation is through participation in internationally judged competitions which Nicaragua is increasingly coming to dominate. Last week eight Nicaraguan coffee producers earned the highest ranking of “Presidential” in the internationally judged Cup of Excellence competition, the first time Nicaraguan coffee has won so many top places in the competition. According to the Cup of Excellence web page, Nicaragua holds second place to Brazil in the Cup of Excellence sale price at US$47.06 per pound in 2007 to Brazil's $49.75 per pound in 2005. The highest prices for other competitors which include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Colombia have been in the $20 range. (La Prensa, May 2; El Nuevo Diario, May 2; Radio La Primavera, May 3)
6. Nicaraguans elected to fill three UN positions
Nicaragua's Permanent Mission to the United Nations announced that Nicaraguans were elected to three positions within the Economic and Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC).
Doctor Mirna Cunningham, an indigenous Miskita, former member of the National Assembly of Nicaragua and former Minister of Health, was elected to represent Nicaraguan indigenous communities in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for a three year period. ECOSOC selected her from a pool of eight highly-qualified non-governmental candidates from the seven socio-cultural regions of the world.
Nicaragua was also elected as a member to the Commission on Sustainable Development for a period of four years. As a member of this Commission, Nicaragua will participate in the examination of the progress of international, regional and national plans pertaining to the environment and development. The position will also entail the formation of policies, promoting dialogue and creating associations for sustainable development with governments and the principle actors of civil society.
Moreover, Nicaragua was elected as a member of the Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations, where they will participate in the evaluation of proposals by non-governmental organizations for consultative status within the UN system.
These elections were seen by the Ortega administration as an affirmation of its commitment to working to strengthen multilateralism and unity on the issue of sustainable development. (El Nuevo Diario, Apr. 29; Radio La Primerísima, Apr. 29)
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