TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2010
Nicaragua News Bulletin (October 26, 2010)
1. San Juan River dredging causes incident between Nicaragua and Costa Rica2. Leptospirosis now in 14 departments and regions
3. Government sends 2011 budget to National Assembly
4. Valenzuela to visit Nicaragua and other US-related news
5. Bean shortage may be alleviated by second harvest
6. FAO and UE unite to improve yields for Nicaraguan small farmers
1. San Juan River dredging causes incident between Nicaragua and Costa Rica
On Oct. 18 Nicaragua began the dredging of the San Juan River which the government of President Daniel Ortega believes will improve navigation on the river. The World Court in 2009 confirmed that the southern banks of the river form the international boundary between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Eden Pastora, the former guerrilla comandante and the president's representative for the Department of Rio San Juan, pulled the lever that began the operation which he said would last two years.
In answer to allegations from Costa Rican authorities that the dredging would damage the fragile environment of the river, Nicaraguan Environmental Minister Juana Argeñal said that the appropriate environmental studies had been carried out and that the dredging would instead allow for the return of species in danger of extinction such as the common snook, the tarpon, and the bull shark.
However, on Oct. 20, the Costa Rican government sent a protest note to the Nicaraguan government saying that there had been incursions into Costa Rican territory and violations of Costa Rican sovereignty. Jose Maria Tijerino, Costa Rica's Minister of Security said that something “very serious” was occurring on the border adding that President Laura Chinchilla had ordered an over flight of the San Juan River area to verify protests by residents of the area that uniformed men had entered their farm. A communiqué said that “The dredging activities in the San Juan River are affecting Costa Rican sovereignty [with] deposits of sediments in our national territory.” The communiqué added that “these activities are generating unacceptable damage to the environment in a zone that is classified as a protected forest.”
Costa Rican farmer Marco Reyes said that he was going to file a complaint with the prosecutor in Limon, Costa Rica, against Pastora who, he said, trespassed on his farm on Isla Calero in the Sucio River accompanied by Nicaraguan troops and saying the area belonged to Nicaragua and that half of it would be dredged. Pastora answered saying that the swampy area was Nicaraguan territory. “What has happened is that they have not taken the trouble to read and study the Cleveland Award [of 1888] nor the Jerez Cañas Treaty [of 1858] nor have they taken the trouble to see where the San Juan River ran in 1855,” he said.
On Oct. 22, Costa Rica sent 35 officers of its Public Force to the region to investigate whether the dredging vessel was indeed depositing sediment in Costa Rican territory. President Chinchilla said, “We want to clarify and guarantee that the work that Nicaragua is doing with every right in its territory is not having a negative impact on our side.”
However, the Nicaraguan Army said that the supposed Costa Rican farmer Reyes and his family were actually Nicaraguans and were working with Honduran drug traffickers. The presence of Nicaraguan Army officers there was unrelated to the river dredging and was part of the ongoing fight against organized crime. And the Costa Rican Security Minister Tijerino said his country's force found no Nicaraguan military troops in Costa Rican territory on their visit to the area. He also said that there was no proof that the Nicaraguans had in any way blocked free Costa Rican travel on the river but that investigations were continuing on the issue of environmental damage from the dredging sediment. He did, however, insist that the area described by Eden Pastora as Nicaraguan was in fact Costa Rican and he said that Costa Rican forces had planted their flag there.
On Oct. 25, Costa Rican authorities said that they would help Nicaragua to capture a band of Nicaraguan drug traffickers known as “The Tarzans” who, besides drug trafficking, are also accused of arms trafficking, homicide, and robberies. Six Hondurans who worked with them in Nicaragua's south Caribbean region were captured early in October. (El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 19, 21, 23, 25; La Prensa, Oct. 21, 22, 23; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 22, 23)
2. Leptospirosis now in 14 departments and regions
According to a Health Ministry report on Oct. 24, with the addition of Rio San Juan and the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), cases of leptospirosis have now been confirmed in 14 of the country's 17 departments and autonomous regions. Cases were reported previously in Chinandega, Estelí, Matagalpa, Jinotega, Managua, Carazo, Granada, Madriz, Masaya, Boaco, Chontales, and León. Only Rivas, Nueva Segovia and the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) have reported no cases. The next day, the Ministry reported 413 confirmed cases with 16 hospitalized in stable condition. With no further deaths reported during the previous week after the 16 original fatal cases, Ministry officials said that they believed they had the disease under control.
Hundreds of health brigades are visiting homes throughout the country providing people in greatest risk with preventive antibiotics. So far 897,675 people have received a first dose and 25,763 have received a second dose. At the same time specially trained teams are applying Biorat, a biological rat control product from Cuba, around the country in public markets and around homes. Leptospirosis is caused by standing in water contaminated by animal (particularly rat) urine. It appears after flooding such as Nicaragua has seen during this rainy season.
Health authorities from the governments of Nicaragua and Honduras met in Chinandega on Oct. 20 to agree on joint strategies to fight the leptospirosis epidemic in the border region between the two countries. They agreed to ask the Pan American Health Organization for its support in setting up cross border technical cooperation and agreed to exchange information about their control efforts in the border zones. They agreed on a goal of establishing a “healthy border zone” combining disease control efforts and media campaigns to reach the public. Dr. Edmundo Sanchez of Nicaragua's Health Ministry said that Honduran officials had expressed interest in learning about Nicaragua's model based on health brigades that visit neighborhoods and homes. The Honduran model, he explained, is centered on local public health clinics.
On Oct. 24, Hurricane Richard, which formed off the Caribbean Coast border between Nicaragua and Honduras brought more rain to Nicaragua but did no damage as it moved toward Belize and Mexico. The North Atlantic Autonomous Region received light rain and some thunder and lightning. Authorities in the entire Central American region had been following the development of the hurricane for several days.
Meanwhile, construction on 1,500 houses for families who lost their homes in the recent flooding has begun. Nine houses have been finished in Sabana Grande in the Department of Managua. (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 20, 22, 25; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 24, 25; La Prensa, Oct. 23)
3. Government sends 2011 budget to National Assembly
On Oct. 20 Minister of the Treasury Alberto Guevara presented the 2011 budget proposal to the National Assembly saying that the government of President Daniel Ortega would continue to make investments in key sectors such as education, health, housing, water and sanitation that are necessary for the struggle against poverty without damaging macroeconomic stability. The proposal was sent to the economy committee and must be debated and voted on by Dec. 15. The budget total is US$1.65 billion, up by 10.8% from 2010. The fiscal deficit will be about US$278 million and will be partially filled by foreign assistance. Opposition deputies protested the fact that loans and other assistance from Venezuela and the ALBA were not included in the budget. The Assembly is also considering new legislation to regulate credit cards. (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 20; La Prensa, Oct. 20)
4. Valenzuela to visit Nicaragua and other US-related news
US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela will make a two day official visit to Nicaragua Oct. 27-28. He will meet with government officials, political parties, and civil groups. This will be his first visit to Nicaragua since his appointment over a year ago. According to the US embassy press release he will discuss “security cooperation, democratic governance, prosperity and economic competitiveness.” He is the highest State Department official to visit Nicaragua under the Obama administration. He will also be visiting Costa Rica.
On Oct. 20, the Washington Post published an editorial comparing Nicaraguan democracy unfavorably with that of Honduras. The focus of the editorial was to pressure the Obama administration to do more to win Honduras' readmission into the Organization of American States (OAS). The conservative newspaper La Prensa covered the editorial and focused on the Post's criticism of President Daniel Ortega's “violation of the constitution” by seeking re-election, and the Post's criticism of OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza for condemning the coup in Honduras while not condemning Ortega's alleged threats to Nicaraguan democracy. The Nicaragua Network/Alliance for Global Justice issued an alert with talking points for letters to the editor to contest the Washington Post's lies and disinformation about Honduras and Nicaragua. You can read them at http://afgj.org/?p=780.
Radio La Primerisima picked up a rather inflammatory story written by a Canadian and published on aporrea.org, an international listserve for Venezuela solidarity activists, which claims that President Obama has a new force of Contras training in Honduras to destabilize the Nicaraguan government. The author of the report, Wayne Madsen, is a former employee of the National Security Agency. On his web page he styles himself as a journalist in the tradition of Drew Pearson, Jack Anderson, and I.F. Stone. His reports are only available for purchase so it is unknown to what degree the article by Jean Guy Allard reflects what Madsen reported.
The article claims the new Contras have been training since the coup against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and weaves US Ambassadors Hugo Llorens and Robert Callahan, as well as the CIA, Mosad, George Soros, and various other characters into the plot. We have seen no other evidence to confirm the report. It is our analysis that the US government has accepted, reluctantly, the possibility that Ortega will win a second term in the 2011 presidential election. This does not mean, of course, that the National Endowment for Democracy and other US government-funded agencies will end their support for conservative groups in Nicaragua. (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 19, 25; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 25; La Prensa, Oct. 20)
5. Bean shortage may be alleviated by second harvest
Agriculture Minister Ariel Bucardo announced on Oct. 23 that the price of beans will be forced to fall now that the second harvest is coming in. Some parts of Nicaragua are able to harvest three crops a year. The second harvest accounts for about one quarter of Nicaragua's annual bean production and the third harvest for about half. Bucardo said that in spite of the rains that have not let up since May, one million hundredweights of beans will be harvested, some of which are arriving in the markets now. They will continue to come on the market through November and December. He also hopes for a record rice harvest due to the fact that a record 136,000 acres were planted.
But, as of now, Nicaragua's traditional red beans, if they can be found at all in the markets, are both expensive and of low quality. Consumers are being forced to buy black beans which are normally exported. Black beans are high in iron, which is positive, but even they are selling at double the normal price. The government announced a month ago that it would import red beans, but so far those have not arrived, and may not be necessary now that the second harvest is about to come on the market. The excessive rains caused the loss of almost 40% of the first harvest of red beans and have driven their price to nearly triple the normal cost to consumers.
Bucardo said that the government is already prepared for the third harvest (which is planted in December and harvested in March). Rice plantings will total 102,000 acres, beans 255,000 acres, and corn 170,000 acres. “This is going to guarantee sufficient grains, sufficient production including a record production of rice, to guarantee gallo pinto (the traditional Nicaraguan rice and beans dish), tortillas, and additionally beef and milk production has grown by 10%,” he said. (La Prensa, Oct. 19; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 19; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 23)
6. FAO and UE unite to improve yields for Nicaraguan small farmers
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Union (EU) have teamed up with the Nicaraguan government with the goal of improving agricultural yields in the country. FAO and EU representatives hope that by doing so, they will decrease rural poverty.
The FAO has announced that it has started a two year program using funds from the EU's Food Facility that will focus on improving the productivity in basic crops such as beans, corn and rice. The organization will provide quality seeds, create the necessary storage infrastructure and provide technical assistance with regard to both cultivation and the marketing.
Last planting season alone (between May and June), the FAO provided improved bean, corn and rice seeds for the planting of 12,000 acres by 4,000 peasant farmers, said Leonard Fagot, coordinator of the FAO project.
According to the FAO, high food prices and the world economic crisis are the principal causes of regional food insecurity. Despite the advances that have been made in the fight against hunger and poverty, Nicaragua is still the second poorest country in Latin America (behind only Haiti). In fact, two out of every three rural people live on less than a dollar a day. "There are 52.4 million people suffering from hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean," said Alan Bojanic, a FAO representative.
In a country like Nicaragua, in which 80% of small farmers are organized into cooperatives, the focus of the EU and FAO is to work with the government to increase yields, said Maria Dolores Monge, an advisor with the European Commission in Central America. And Nicaraguan Agriculture Minister Ariel Bucardo added that the primary objective is to help Nicaragua reach the point where the country is able to feed itself. (El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 25)
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