TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010
Nicaragua News Bulletin (May 25, 2010)
1. Conservative Party's legal status restored; new alliances form2. Accord with European Union signed in Madrid as centerpiece of EU-Latin American Summit
3. Ortega leads rivals in poll
4. Rama try to maintain their language
5. World Bank commits funds to Nicaragua
6. Managua Treatment Plant receives Global Water Award
7. Metamorphosis of the La Chureca garbage dump
1. Conservative Party's legal status restored; new alliances form
On May 20, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) ratified a decision by Constitutional Panel of the Supreme Court which ruled that Alfredo Gomez Urcuyo could be seated as an alternate deputy to former President Enrique Bolaños in the National Assembly (who has retired from politics and never occupied his seat) and that Alejandro Bolaños Davis could also take his seat as a deputy for the Conservative Party. Gomez Urcuyo had served as Vice-President under Enrique Bolaños after Jose Rizo resigned to run for president in 2006 and there was a dispute about whether he could take the seat because he had not been popularly elected to the vice-presidency. Alejandro Bolaños Davis' had been denied his seat because he held U.S. citizenship. The CSE also restored legal recognition to the Conservative Party, that status having been revoked in 2008 based on the party's inability to register candidates in enough localities in the 2008 municipal elections.
The Constitutional Panel ruling was signed by Justices Francisco Rosales, Ligia Molina and Rafael Solis. The participation of Solis was challenged by the opposition parties because he remains in his post although his term has expired based on a January decree by President Daniel Ortega which said that officials whose terms are running out can remain in their posts until their replacements are named.
Reactions were immediate. Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) Deputy Jose Pallais said, “The FSLN doesn't give anything away; it's in exchange for something. President Ortega is six votes away from reelection through changes in the constitution.” A supermajority of 56 votes is necessary in order to amend the constitution and Pallais maintains that the FSLN with its allies in the Assembly could now be close to 50 votes. He said that the missing six votes would not come from his party, the PLC, but in a demonstration of how disunited the Liberal parties are, he added, “but you'll have to ask Eduardo Montealegre [head of the ‘Let's Go with Eduardo' Movement].” Montealegre himself said that the CSE never should have taken his seat away from Bolaños Davis and he stated that he was sure Bolaños would never vote for the reelection of Ortega.
Deputy Victor Hugo Tinoco of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) had a slightly different analysis. He saw the decisions as another “element of pressure” to bring the PLC and particularly party leader former President Arnoldo Aleman to the table to negotiate with the Sandinistas the nominations of the 25 high level government officials whose terms are running out. President Ortega wants to renew the terms of the magistrates of the CSE, including the controversial president of that body Roberto Rivas. The opposition parties are opposed to giving new terms to any of them.
Luis Humberto Guzman, a former president of the National Assembly from the Social Christian Party, said that great flexibility will be required from all sides in the case of the CSE magistrates. He stated that the FSLN has shown signs of being willing to modify some of its positions and now it is the turn of the opposition to soften its intransigent position of not reelecting any of the current magistrates.
On May 21, Bolaños Davis announced the formation of a Conservative Party Bench in the National Assembly and said that Azalia Aviles would be the Party's “pre-candidate” for president in the general elections of 2011. He said that the Conservative Party would participate in a multi-party presidential primary if the opposition parties could come to an agreement about such an election.
At least two new movements in opposition to the reelection of Ortega were covered in the press last week. One is the Consortium for Primary Elections (Consorcio Pro-Elecciones Primarias) and the other is the Patriotic Alliance. The Patriotic Alliance is composed of the MRS, one faction of the Independent Liberal Party (PLI), the Nicaraguan Resistance (one faction), the Movement for Nicaragua [created by the US-based International Republican Institute] and the Nicaraguan Democratic Union, among others. And members of the Consortium include Hagamos Democracia [a recipient of National Endowment for Democracy grants], the Movement for Nicaragua, Citizen Crusade for Democracy, the Movimiento Puente, and individual members Alejandro Serrano Caldera, Carlos Tunnermann, Fabio Gadea, Mauricio Diaz and others. The group believes that citizens' groups, and not just political parties, should have a role in selecting candidates for president. (Radio La Primerisima, May 20, 21; La Prensa, May 17, 20, 21; El Nuevo Diario, May 19, 21)
2. Accord with European Union signed in Madrid as centerpiece of EU-Latin American Summit
On May 18, after a series of sessions that burned the midnight oil, representatives of the Central American countries and the European Union finalized the Association Accord that has been under discussion for three years. The accord was the centerpiece of a summit held in Madrid of leaders from the European Union and Latin America. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was the only Central American president who did not attend the signing of the accord, while Presidents Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Raul Castro of Cuba, and Ortega of Nicaragua did not attend the summit.
Speaking of the agreement, Ortega said it was a long-term agreement and that Nicaragua needed to “work to develop its productive capacity in quantity and quality” in order to take full advantage of it. He said that from the beginning the Nicaraguan government included the full participation of workers and business people in the negotiations. He committed the government to holding assemblies with agricultural producers and other sectors to explain the details of the agreement.
Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), said he was “pleased” with the agreement, adding that the efforts of Nicaragua to achieve Central American unity were fundamental. He said that the Compensation Fund (which will have US$5.2 billion for infrastructure and other development projects) will help private sector producers gain access to the benefits of the accord.
Under the terms of the agreement, Nicaragua will be able to export to Europe 2,000 metric tons of beef with a 5% increase each year. The tariff on bananas will drop from US$175 per ton to US$75 with a maximum quota of 11,000 tons annually. In the case of sugar and powdered milk, the Central Americans did not get everything they wanted. Nicaragua will be able to export 30,000 tons of sugar yearly to the EU with an increase of 3% per year but the total for Central America will not be more than what those countries already had under the World Trade Organization. In the case of powdered milk, Europe will be able to export 1,900 tons to Central America each year (200 tons to Nicaragua), which was less than the Europeans wanted but more than what the Central Americans wanted.
It will take from two to five years for the agreement to go into force because it has to be translated into the 23 languages of the EU and then be approved by the Council of Ministers of the 27-member EU as well as the five Central American governments. Because the Central American Integration System (SICA) will have a central role in the accord, Panama will join the regional grouping before the agreement goes into effect. (Radio La Primerisima, May 21; La Prensa, May 21)
3. Ortega leads rivals in poll
A new CID-Gallup poll matched Ortega against two possible opponents in next year's presidential election, former President Arnoldo Aleman and Liberal factional leader Eduardo Montealegre. The poll of 1,218 people presented three match ups: Ortega-Aleman, Ortega-Montealegre, and former FSLN Managua Mayor Dionisio Marenco-Aleman. Ortega beat Aleman 37-12% and Montealegre 37-21%. Marenco showed 38% support against Aleman's 11%. In each match-up a plurality were undecided or refused to answer. Curiously, the poll did not pose a three-way contest of Ortega, Aleman, and Montealegre, the most likely scenario given the inability of the Liberal factions to consolidate, which has hampered them since 2001.
A Barometro Iberoamericano poll, conducted in Nicaragua April 5-11 by the polling firm Borge and Associates of 300 people with telephones found that the economy and unemployment headed the list of citizen concerns. Of the respondents, 29.3% named the economy as their principal concern, 28.7% named unemployment, 9.3% listed political instability, 9% said corruption, 7.7% called it drug trafficking, and 2.7% said lack of personal security. Rating President Daniel Ortega's job approval, 6.0% rated him “very good,” 26% “good,” 28% neither good nor bad, 24.3% “bad,” and 12.7% “very bad.” That's an improvement from his ratings soon after taking office in 2007, but a slight drop over last year. Sixty-four percent of respondents do not believe that elections are transparent.
Overall satisfaction with officials is pretty high with 58% satisfied with their mayor, 60.3% satisfied with the water service, 56.3% satisfied with security, 50% with the environmental quality, and 66.7% with trash collection. The Catholic Church ranked highest in credibility with 76.3%, NGOs next with 56%, while the political parties and the National Assembly's negatives were about four times their positives. The Armed Forces ranked 48.7% on the credibility scale outranked by the Police at 56%, 51% for the press and the Supreme Court was at 32.3%. Private businesses outranked unions in credibility 54.3% to 29.7%. Banks ranked at 53.7% and television news won 64.7%.
On the international front, the IMF is seen positively by 62.7%, the OAS by 69%, the European Union by 73%, the US by 57.7%, the UN by 68% and the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our Americas (ALBA) by 43%. Latin American leaders received favorability ratings as follows: Chavez, 47%, Raul Castro, 48.3%, Fidel Castro, 51.7%, Evo Morales, 53%, Luis Ignacio Lula, 74.7%, and Alvaro Uribe, 69.7%. Polls conducted by telephone in Nicaragua tend to over represent urban areas and higher income citizens. (El Nuevo Diario, May 21; Radio La Primerisima, May 21)
4. Rama try to maintain their language
Walter Ortiz, now 70, has been teaching the Rama language for 21 years on Rama Cay off the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. The study of the language is due to Eleonora Rugby Daniel who was born in 1924 and died nine years ago. She was the linguistic informant for Dr. Collette Grinewald, a French linguist who helped to revitalize the language. Rugby taught Ortiz and now he teaches the students of Rama Cay. Every school day the students receive two hours of instruction in their native tongue from Ortiz who says that students have the most difficulty in the first and second grades but, after that, “It is easy.”
Rama Cay is an island of only 3.4 acres located in the Bay of Bluefields. It is part of Rama Territory which includes Sumu Kaat, Tiktik Kaanu, Wiring Cay, Bangkukuk and Indian River. Rama is spoken in those communities while in the other communities where Rama live, such as Monkey Point, Corn River and Graytown, the more common tongue is Creole English. According to Allen Duncan, communal president of Monkey Point, there are 5,800 people in Rama-Creole territory, with about 1,600 pure Rama. The only place where Rama is spoken without modification and as the first language is the island of Bangkukuk, known also as Punta de Aguila. The Rama language is classified by UNESCO as belonging to the Voto-Rama group, which is a sub-group of Phillum-Chibcha of South America. To learn more about the Rama language, visit www.turkulka.net. (El Nuevo Diario, May 23)
5. World Bank commits funds to Nicaragua
The Operations Chief for the World Bank Nicaragua, Coleen Littlejohn [who is a former Nicaragua Network in-country coordinator], announced on May 21 that the World Bank will fund US$40 million in sustainable development projects including roads, potable water, sewers, and telecommunications through the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. She said that the World Bank has committed loans of between US$50-$60 million per year and is satisfied with the Nicaraguan government's use of the funds. Her announcement was made during a seminar on modernizing commercial regulations to contribute to equitable development. She expressed satisfaction that exports in the first quarter of 2010 have exceeded projections and are above the level for the same period the previous year. She attributed the increase to “joint efforts between the government and private sector.” (Radio La Primerísima, May 21; La Prensa, May 19)
6. Managua Treatment Plant receives Global Water Award
The construction of the Managua Sewage Treatment Plant and its environmental impact were recognized on a global level last week. At an event held in Paris, the project was the recipient of the Global Water Award in the category of "Environmental Contribution," one of 12 categories. The award was presented by Queen Noor of Jordan.
The award is sponsored by the technical journal Global Water Intelligence and the International Desalination Association. The award recognized the project's innovative design (that incorporated solar power) as well as its contribution to avoiding greater contamination of Lake Xolotlan (Lake Managua). The final product of the processing plant can eventually be used as fertilizer or burned to produce energy. The plant, which has a capacity to process 182 million liters of sewage daily, was designed and built by the German company Fichtner W&T and Great Britain's BiWater, utilizing Germany's innovative technology. The project was financed by the German Development Bank (WfK). It was inaugurated by the Nicaraguan Water and Sewerage Company (ENACAL) in Feb. 2009.
Helge Jahn, Director of the German Development Bank said, "For Germany, it is very gratifying to contribute to the development of innovative projects that take into account environmental protection. For Nicaragua, it is a great advance that this grand project uses renewable energy, has lower operation costs, and, moreover, is sustainable. This is a great example at a global level for other countries with similar conditions." (Radio La Primerisima, May 18; El Nuevo Diario, May 19)
7. Metamorphosis of the La Chureca garbage dump
For more than 30 years Managua's garbage has been dumped without processing at the enormous La Chureca dump. Thanks to cooperation from Spain, today the landfill is being transformed. Twenty-four hectares of the 41 hectare plot have already been leveled and covered with about 20 inches of earth. Pipes have been installed to vent the methane gas produced by decomposition of the buried garbage. Seventeen hectares of the dump will continue to receive municipal garbage until August 2011 when a processing plant, built by the Spanish company Tragsa, together with national companies, will process the trash and allow the closing of the landfill.
Compensation for the Martinez family, which owned the land, is stalled in the constitutional panel of the Supreme Court. City Council members indicated their desire to conclude the case as soon as possible. (La Prensa, May 19)
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