TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2011
Nicaragua News Bulletin (August 16, 2011)
1. Tragedy mars Santo Domingo celebration2. Opposition parties protest on electoral issues
3. Dole to compensate some banana workers
4. Turtle refuge threatened by drug trafficking
5. Indigenous Peoples Day celebrated
6. Nicaragua approved for ALADI
7. More people get electricity
8. School repairs move forward
1. Tragedy mars Santo Domingo celebration
The traditional Aug. 10th procession carrying the statue of St. Dominick of Guzman from central Managua back to its home in a church in the hills outside the city was marred by tragedy. Jose Almendarez was shot in the spine (and now lies in a Managua hospital paralyzed from the waist down) and Erick Canales was shot in the shoulder during a street battle between political forces in the Colonia Centro America that began with the throwing of bags of water, progressed to the throwing of rocks, and further degenerated when shots were fired.
Presidential candidate Enrique Quiñonez of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) had set up a platform from which he and his supporters were distributing caps and other campaign materials to the passersby. Canales (one of the wounded) says that the ALN supporters were the first to throw bags of water, which were evidently answered by stones from Sandinista supporters of the candidacy of President Daniel Ortega. Canales maintains that it was Quiñonez' body guards who fired the first shots. Almendarez, however, says it was members of the Sandinista Youth who began the fighting.
Marcos Carmona of the Permanent Commission on Human Rights (CPDH) said that the police should have stopped the fight the moment the first water bags were thrown. The government's criminal laboratory reported that shells from at least ten bullets had been found. La Prensa reported that five people had fired shots. A total of 57 people were reported detained, most of whom were released after a few hours.
One person accused of firing a weapon, Quiñonez bodyguard Edwin Altamirano, was arrested but was released after 48 hours without charge when Prosecutor General Julio Centeno Gomez returned the police report to the National Police saying that it was incomplete. The use of a firearm in a situation where third parties can be wounded is punishable with from three to five years in jail. It also violates the prohibition against carrying firearms during a religious procession. (La Prensa, Aug.11, 13; El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 11, 15; Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 10, 11)
2. Opposition parties protest on electoral issues
On August 9, lists of registered voters were posted on the walls of polling places around Nicaragua and sent to the offices of all the political parties for them to review and report errors to the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE). CSE President Roberto Rivas said that citizens who have registered changes of address can check to make sure they appear on the correct list and report errors to their local electoral offices.
A major kerfuffle resulted, however, later in the week when the CSE announced that the political parties could not publish the voter rolls and would be “subject to sanction according to the law” if they did. The CSE notification referred to Articles 33 and 37 of the Electoral Law which it said provided that the lists were for the exclusive internal use of the political parties. According to El Nuevo Diario, the notification said that the list was “the intellectual property of the CSE and no political organization can publish, divulge, or broadcast it by any electronic, print, television, radio or other media.”
The reaction was immediate. Eliseo Nuñez, spokesman for the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) Alliance, said it was censorship on the part of the CSE to avoid any questioning of the lists. “In Managua, you can see at first glance that more than half the precincts have more than the 400 voters [allowed for one precinct],” he noted, adding “what I am saying could constitute an electoral crime because they forbade talking about the list.”
In another announcement, the CSE confirmed that, on Aug. 16, it will publish the regulations for “National and International Accompaniment” of the electoral process.
In other campaign news, members of opposition parties united in Siuna to block area highways in protest against what they said was the refusal of the local electoral council to process voter registration cards for opposition party sympathizers. Felipe Castro, a leader of the demonstrators, threatened to carry out “more drastic actions” if the voter cards were not distributed, including breaking into the local electoral council office and taking the cards. They were visited on Aug. 13 by representatives of Ethics and Transparency, a Nicaraguan electoral observation organization [partially funded by the United States government] who met with the demonstrators and compiled a list of their complaints. An agreement had been reached on Aug. 9 to speed up the issuing of the voter cards, but the protestors evidently were not satisfied. Aug. 8 was the last day to apply for a new card but voters can pick up their cards at local offices until election day, Nov. 6, and all old expired cards are still valid to vote. (La Prensa, Aug. 9, 13, Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 9; El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 11, 15)
3. Dole to compensate some banana workers
Dole Food Company signed an agreement on Aug. 11 to compensate 3,153 Nicaraguan banana workers for exposure to dibromochloropropane (DBCP), better known as Nemagon, used on plantations in the departments of Chinandega and Leon in the 1970s and 1980s. Humberto Hurtado, Dole spokesman, said, “Dole Food Company reiterates that there were no damages from exposure or evidence to support injuries to health, but for the sake of our social responsibility we have taken this important step, although it shouldn't be interpreted as an economic foundation for other groups to claim compensation.” The amount of the settlement was not revealed but attorney for the workers Jacinto Obregon said that it would be distributed according to the severity of the damage suffered by each worker.
The attorneys from the firm of Provost Umphrey said that the struggle was “arduous” and that they had presented for each worker “two sperm tests, two psychological evaluations along with innumerable other documents.” Obregon added that at least 300 of the original group of workers had died during the extended process. “Dole was a monster but we have reached an historic agreement,” he said. He said that the settlement should serve as an incentive for further cases against the chemical companies that produced DBCP, including Dow Chemical and Shell Chemical. He cited an internal Dow Chemical memo in which Dow accepted that the chemical was toxic but said that the product could be sold in Latin America as long as the expected earnings were more than would be lost in law suits.
Mark Sparks, with Provost Umphrey in the United States, said that the accord will benefit workers in other countries as well, including Honduras and Costa Rica. Given that there are 14,000 former workers not covered by the settlement, union organizer Roberto Ruiz admitted that the accord “maybe isn't of great satisfaction,” but it still “means something for those affected.” [For background on this story visit http://www.nicanet.org/?cat=3#038;paged=1 .] (El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 11, 12; Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 11)
4. Turtle refuge threatened by drug trafficking
Every year, more than 30,000 turtles arrive at the Chacocente Wildlife Refuge to lay their eggs. Unfortunately, the beach and the nearby forest area have also become a key route for drug trafficking and for the thieves that prey on the traffickers, according to police officials. The Chacocente Refuge includes over 11,400 acres of tropical dry forest that borders the Astillero, Huehuete, Casares and La Boquita beaches. Environment Ombudsman Pablo Morales said that even though the area has not yet been declared a site of world importance, it should be treated as such.
Currently, there are only five guards supplied by the Nicaraguan Army and five park rangers on duty covering all the protected land. This level of personnel has proven to be insufficient for addressing the drug problem. In addition to this challenge, the roads within the refuge are in poor condition, making tips about drug traffickers difficult to address in a timely fashion. "[W]e can't deny that the zone has become a key point for drug traffickers, but it has been difficult to respond as we should due to the lack of financial resources and personnel," said a policeman specializing in narcotics. (La Prensa, August 9)
5. Indigenous Peoples Day celebrated
The Miskito Nation of Nicaragua and Honduras celebrated Sihkru Tara, its most important ritual, in recognition of International Indigenous Peoples Day Aug. 6-9. But the opening ceremonies had to be postponed due to a power failure. Organizers called for a massive demonstration against Puerto Cabezas Power. The event, called Sihkru Tara, was organized by the indigenous political party YATAMA, the Regional Council of the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), and the local governments of the region, along with the Traditional Medicine Institute of URACCAN, the major Caribbean Coast university.
Events included forums on traditional medicine, intercultural education, and revitalization of the indigenous culture through dance and other traditions. The European Union and foreign aid agencies, including a US$3,000 donation from the Taiwanese Embassy, provided funding. According to historian Avelino Cox, this traditional gathering was renewed some years ago after being banned by the Moravian Church in 1935. (La Prensa, Aug. 9; Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 15)
6. Nicaragua approved for ALADI
At a meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay, the Council of Ministers of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), on Aug. 11, approved Nicaragua's participation in the common market and awarded it “special treatment” toward full membership. The organization has the shared objective “to obtain the economic and social development of Latin America.” Nicaraguan Trade Minister Jesus Bermudez said, “The objective of the Nicaraguan government is to increase and diversify our commercial relations in a just and equitable form with all the countries of the region.” He added, “In the future we will be able to access half a billion consumers [in the ALADI member states] and that is very important to Nicaragua's development.” Nicaragua applied in April 2009 for membership in ALADI which was formed by the Treaty of Montevideo in 1980. Nicaragua will have to make some statutory changes to qualify for full membership.
Member countries of ALADI are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Panama is in the final stages of approval for full membership. Interim Secretary General Oscar Quina said that he hoped that the other countries of Central America would follow in Nicaragua's footsteps. Argentine Carlos Alvarez was elected ALADI's new Secretary General at the meeting. (Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 11; El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 11)
7. More people get electricity
Minister of Energy and Mines Emilio Rapacciolli announced on Aug. 9 that the Sandinista government of President Daniel Ortega has electrified 67% of the country and he said that percentage will rise to 70% by the end of the year. In 2006, at the end of the administration of President Enrique Bolaños, only 53% of the country had electricity. Rapacciolli said that the government expected to extend electricity to 86-87% of the country by 2015. A total of 908 communities, with a population of 270,000 people, received electricity between 2007 and 2010 at a cost of US$230 million, including the running of 2,000 kilometers of wire.
The Ortega government inherited a severe deficit in electricity-generating capacity causing long daily rolling black-outs in the early months of his presidency. Rapacciolli said that generating capacity has been increased by 343 megawatts over the last four years. A growing percentage of generation is from renewable energy sources.
Rapacciolli also said his ministry has begun a detailed assessment of the rural service and installations of the international company Union Fenosa, which was awarded the concession to distribute electricity during the privatization of services under the post-1990 neoliberal governments. After complaints about service and investment, the distribution company was split into two and is called DISNORTE and DISSUR. Rapacciolli said the ministry is evaluating how many customers are hooked into the grid, and how many are paying for the electricity. Rapacciolli said that the fact that thousands of Nicaraguans do not pay for the electricity they use is a “social phenomenon” which developed over the years. [In the rural areas it grew out of how those areas were electrified. During the years of the revolutionary government, many communities were electrified through solidarity projects by people in the US and other countries, and electricity was seen as a right won by the revolution. Those solidarity donations were privatized to the benefit of the transnational company by the later neoliberal governments.] (Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 9)
8. School repairs move forward
In departments around Nicaragua, scores of schools are being repaired. In Diriamba, Carazo, 28 schools will be repaired with funding from the government's Emergency Social Investment Fund (FISE) and the mayor's office. Noelia Montenegro, municipal delegate for the Ministry of Education said that four elementary schools will be repaired along with the La Salle high school with 1,200 students. In the second stage of the repair efforts, another elementary school and the Diriangen high school will be repaired. Diriamba Mayor Dr. Bismark Perez said, “[All] must work to share public goods and take care of them so that there will be less inequality in our society.”
Twelve schools with 200 classrooms serving 11,000 students in Ciudad Sandino will be fixed up in the next few days, according to Mayor Cecilia Altamirano. Among them are Nueva Vida, Salomon Ibarra, Juan Batista Arrien, Villa Soberana and Jose Artigas for a total expenditure of US$140,000.
Finally, in the Department of Leon, 157 schools have been repaired. According to Ariel Largaespada, the engineer who coordinated the project in the municipalities of Achuapa and Telica for the Ministry of Education, “The work carried out ranged from interior and exterior painting, roof painting, ceiling repair, new doors and windows, to new electrical systems.”
In the entire country this year, 427 schools have been repaired for a total cost of US$18 million. (El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 11; Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 11, 13)
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