TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2010
Nicaragua News Bulletin (July 20, 2010)
1. Half a million people celebrate anniversary of the revolution in Managua2. Los Angeles judge rules against banana workers in Nemagon case
3. New poll shows some gains for FSLN and Ortega
4. Social groups condemn US troop agreement with Costa Rica
5. Business leaders disillusioned with opposition politicians
6. President unveils new health care facilities
1. Half a million people celebrate anniversary of the revolution in Managua
More than half a million people came out to a Managua plaza on July 19th to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Sandinista revolution, according to the Sandinista media, a figure that the opposition did not challenge. Invited foreign guests included Cuban Vice-President Ramiro Valdes, President Sergei Bagapsh of Abkhazia, and President Eduard Kokoiti of South Ossetia. Abkhazia and South Ossetia declared their independence from the Republic of Georgia and were recognized only by Nicaragua and a few other nations. Bagapsh and Kokoiti are on a good will tour of Latin America.
In his speech, President Daniel Ortega reviewed the achievements of his government for the past three years, saying that levels of illiteracy in urban areas had been lowered to 4% and in rural areas to 8%. He noted that Nicaragua had the smallest decline in economic growth between 2008 and 2009 of any country in Central America and predicted the economy would grow in 2010. He said that 300,000 Nicaraguan farmers and ranchers were actively producing, noting that the production of corn had risen 22.6%, beans 18.5% and rice 17%. He stated that his government had built 400 miles of new highways, and maintained and repaired thousands of miles of roads and streets. In foreign affairs, Ortega lauded the formation of a resistance movement in Honduras. He said that relations with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, installed after elections held by the coup government that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya, had improved and should normalize. He noted that Lobo had talked with Zelaya about the latter's return to Honduras.
Meanwhile, the opposition media published criticism of the expenditures made by the city and the national government for the celebration. Leonel Teller, a Managua city council member and Constitutional Liberal Party leader, said, “Some of the special guests of the dictator Daniel Ortega and his party had their airline tickets and hotels paid for with tax money from the people of Managua.”
Dissident Sandinistas held a celebration in Masaya on July 17. The event was organized by the Sandinista Rescue Movement, whose members include Monica Baltodano, Henry Ruiz and Onofre Guevara. It was attended by members of other parties and organizations also, including Victor Hugo Tinoco, Xanthis Suarez, and Saul Lewites of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), as well as representatives of the Nicaraguan Socialist Party and the Consumer Defense Network. The main speaker was veteran journalist Danilo Aguirre and music was provided by Carlos Mejia Godoy and Los de Palacagüina.
The Sandinista Rescue Movement was formed in 2000 after Daniel Ortega signed a political agreement with then President Arnoldo Aleman. The Sandinista Renovation Movement, which did not hold a celebration this year, was founded in 1994 by former Vice-President Sergio Ramirez, Dora Maria Tellez and others. In an interview with a Spanish new agency, Ramirez said that, “I don't see any light for Nicaragua. The opposition is disarticulated and under siege by a government that is trying to buy votes in the National Assembly for a reform that would permit continuous reelection of Ortega.” (Radio La Primerisima, July 20; El Nuevo Diario, July 17, 19; La Prensa, July 17, 18)
2. Los Angeles judge rules against banana workers in Nemagon case
Victoria Cheney, a Federal Court judge in California, on July 15 threw out a US$2.4 million judgment against Dole Foods in the case Tellez vs. Dole that had been won by six Nicaraguans who said they were made sterile by the pesticide Nemagon while working on Dole banana plantations. The judge said generalized fraud by American and Nicaraguan attorneys had tainted the trial and spoke of a larger conspiracy that included even the Nicaraguan legal system. The ruling overturning the November 2007 decision puts in question not only other Nicaraguan cases but claims against Dole by former banana workers from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and Honduras. Nemagon was banned in the United States in 1979 but was used after that around the world by banana companies.
In April 2009, Judge Cheney had thrown out similar cases (Mejia vs. Dole and Rivera vs. Dole) when secret witnesses for Dole said that the plaintiffs had never worked on the plantations and that laboratory exams had been falsified. Months later seven of those secret witnesses came forward to say that they had been bribed to testify for Dole against their fellow Nicaraguans.
Lawyers representing the Nicaraguans in the Tellez case last week presented videotapes and sworn affidavits that revealed bribes and false testimony by the secret witnesses recruited by Dole but the judge did not take the evidence into account. Attorney Steve Condie said, “We had a judge who had already decided that my clients and every American attorney opposing Dole in Nicaragua were part of a vast conspiracy.” He said that he would appeal the decision. Nicaraguan lawyer Antonio Hernandez said a few days before the July 15 decision, “The judge hit us hard [in 2009]; she's an insensitive and racist woman who sees Latin Americans as a blight, but even so we are going to continue to fight this monster [Dole].”
Meanwhile, the government has begun clearing the land for 400 homes for those former banana workers who have been camped out in Managua demanding compensation for damage to their health from pesticide exposure. The houses, which will be built in a grove of eucalyptus trees in the old center of Managua, are part of the Houses for the People Program. Engineer Sergio Guzman said that no trees will be cut down and the houses will be built among the trees. Altagracia Solis, a leader in the camp, said that since 2007 the government has been providing health care and food packets to the workers camped out in Managua. Also in 2007, the Health Ministry set up a department in the Chinandega Hospital for dialysis and other attention to victims of pesticide poisoning. (Radio La Primerisima, July 16; El Nuevo Diario, July 4, 6, 8; La Prensa, July 8,)
3. New poll shows some gains for FSLN and Ortega
According to a new poll by M&R Consultants, the Sandinista Party (FSLN) continues to be the largest political party enjoying the support of 32.6% of Nicaraguan voters. However, those who declare themselves independent outpoll the FSLN by nearly 10 percentage points at 42.3%. Far behind are former President Arnoldo Aleman's Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) with 14.8%, and former presidential candidate Eduardo Montealegre's “Let's Go with Eduardo” movement at 7.8%. The Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) has the support of 1.7% and all other parties polled less than one percent. These figures represent a 5.4% growth in popularity for the FSLN and 3.7% increase for the PLC from M&R's last poll.
While a bare majority of voters view the government of President Daniel Ortega as “authoritarian,” 67.1% believe education has improved and 62.3% say that health care has improved under the Ortega government. His government's overall approval rating is 31.9% compared to 43.7% disapproval.
Aleman continues to be viewed as the leader of the opposition with 29% naming him. He was followed closely by Montealegre who was named by 25.3%. MRS's Edmundo Jarquin was seen as the opposition leader by 2.5% and former Sandinista Managua Mayor Dionisio Marenco by 1.7%. However 25.5% don't see any of them as the leader of the opposition, reflecting the continued disarray of the opposition. 81.1% view the work of the opposition as “negative” while only 13.6% see it as “positive.” The poll showed no current pairing of opposition politicians beating Ortega if the vote were held today.
National Police Chief Aminta Granera, as she has in past polls, leads as the public figure with the highest positive regard by voters at 68.2%. This compares to 47.2% positive for Ortega and 28.3% positive for Aleman. Aleman had the highest negative public opinion with 64.3%. An interesting finding of the poll is that 56.1% of the respondents have “no problem” with an Ortega re-election bid if he permits a total replacement of the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) with magistrates that “inspire confidence and credibility.”
The poll was carried out between June 19-28, and has a margin of error of 2.5%. A total of 1,600 residents over the age of 16 were interviewed nationally. The Nuevo Siglo agency also released a poll last week. The poll reported that, in answer to the question of who the respondent would vote for if the election were held today, 45.5% said they would vote for Ortega (who was elected in 2006 with 38%). Coming in second was Montealegre with 8.2% and Aleman with 5%. Other candidates fared even worse. 32.3% were undecided. (La Prensa, July 13; Radio La Primerísima, July 13)
4. Social groups condemn US troop agreement with Costa Rica
Central American and Caribbean social groups, meeting in Managua, condemned Costa Rica's recent agreement to allow US military ships and troops entry into that country saying that it was done “behind the backs of the Costa Rican people and is a threat to the nation's sovereignty.” The statement came during a meeting of 80 representatives of social movements, unions, and left organizations meeting in Managua on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution. The final session of the meeting also condemned political interference, dictatorial actions and anti-union actions by the governments of Honduras, Costa Rica and Guatemala. The gathering also condemned repressive actions by the government of Panama against social and labor leaders and demanded the retraction of Law 30 which criminalizes popular protest.
The conference was called to strengthen communication and collaboration between social movements in the region. At the same time, youth and students from Central America, the Caribbean and countries of the Bolivarian Alliance of the People of Our Americas (ALBA) met to consider the project of higher education as a transformative process for the people. Aily Labañino, daughter of Cuban anti-terrorist hero, Ramón Labañino, who has been imprisoned in the United States for 12 years, attended the youth conference and met with President Daniel Ortega. Ortega called on the youth from 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries, when they return home, to intensify their campaigns to free the Cuban Five as Labañino and his four fellow US political prisoners are known.
During the social movement meeting, Edgar Morales Quesada, secretary general of the National Association of Costa Rican Public Employees said, “We are gathered in a difficult meeting as the United States and big national and international capital are trying to reestablish their hegemony in the region. On the one side is the militarization of our territory and on the other the repression of social protest and attacks on labor, trying to dismantle the movement's gains.” He said that the process of militarization in Central America has risen to levels that are causing great concern with the presence of military bases in El Salvador, Honduras and Panama, the activation of the Fourth Fleet, and new military installations in Honduras and Panama.
According to speakers at the meeting, the intervention project of the United States coincides with the interests of the power groups of Central America and of transnational capital, with fighting drug traffickers serving as the modern Trojan Horse to penetrate the region. Onidia Gomes, president of the Central American Common Labor Platform, explained, “There is a well defined strategy to maximize insecurity and create fear in the population, using drug trafficking as the justification for militarization and repression. They create terror and in this manner obscure the true objective which is the demobilization and criminalization of social protest and the labor movement, favoring the interests of big capital.” (Radio La Primerisima, July 18)
5. Business leaders disillusioned with opposition politicians
On July 16, Cesar Zamora, manager of AEI Energy in Nicaragua and vice-president of the American Chambers of Commerce (AMCHAM) of Latin America, said in a television interview that the opposition to President Daniel Ortega's government “doesn't have a product to sell to society [and] doesn't have a program of what it would want to do for the country.” He went on to ask, “What is the Liberal Party planning for the government that would generate enthusiasm among the people? What is Eduardo Montealegre proposing today for governing that would generate enthusiasm? What is the MRS [Sandinista Renovation Movement] as part of a coalition proposing that would generate enthusiasm among the population? There is nothing!” He said that, on the other hand, the Sandinista Party now in power, has captured what people need and want and has provided free education and health care “while previous governments, stupidly, had charged fees for these services.” He noted that some of the services might be bad but “the poorest citizens in this country are thankful for them.”
He said that business leaders have told the opposition if they don't offer plans for governing, they will have no other alternative than to tie their wagons to the Sandinista government. He indicated that given that the opposition is not working on the topics that are important for the citizenry, what the business community would do is to lay out the minimum requirements that they want in a government for the country to grow and prosper and present those to the political parties. (Radio La Primerisima, July 16)
6. President unveils new health facilities
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega will inaugurate 15 public health facilities this week that were remodeled or built to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution. Perhaps most impressive among these medical facilities is the new Solidarity Hospital in Managua. It is considered one of the most modern medical facilities in Latin America with cutting edge technologies. Solidarity Hospital will have 240 beds and is expected to serve some 100,000 Managuans with its specialties in surgery, pediatrics, internal medicine, gynecology, urology, orthopedics and intensive care.
General hospitals will also be dedicated in El Sauce (in the Department of Leon), San Juan del Rio Coco (in Madriz), Muelle de los Bueyes (in the RAAS), in Tipitapa and in Managua. The ophthalmology center of Matagalpa will become part of Operation Miracle (a program run by Cuban doctors who perform eye surgery for needy patients), joining similar institutions in Ciudad Sandino, Bluefields and Puerto Cabezas.
These works are products of the effort of the Sandinista government over the last three years to improve the health of the population. The government has said that health care is a fundamental right of all Nicaraguans, and that it is the responsibility of the government to provide quality health services. (Radio La Primerisima, July 14)
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