TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
Nicaragua News Bulletin (September 13, 2011)
1. Candidates travel the country in full campaign2. Election observer update
3. Granera to remain as head of Police
4. El Bluff ad raises firestorm
5. US$40 million loan for housing
6. Victor Jara remembered
7. ALBA denounces NATO over Libya
1. Candidates travel the country in full campaign
The election campaign heated up last week with rallies and program statements by all the major candidates as the Nov. 6 voting draws closer. Arnoldo Aleman, candidate of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) Alliance, visited the towns of El Sauce, Malpaisillo, Telica and Leon where he repeated his challenge to the other opposition candidates to hold a public debate. He did not challenge President Daniel Ortega, candidate of the ruling Sandinista party, saying to Ortega, “You cannot be a candidate because you have violated the Constitution and laws of Nicaragua [in seeking another term in office].” As for his program, Aleman said, “We've heard enough stories; let's say what the people need, that is jobs and only the PLC can provide them.”
Fabio Gadea, candidate of the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) Alliance, held a rally on Sept. 11, in Camoapa, in the Department of Boaco, where he remembered the attack ten years ago on the United States. “It was a deplorable act that all democracies of the world must condemn,” he said, adding, “Terrorists do not condemn it but we who are democrats must do so.” He stated, “The president we have, who says he is a democrat and with the poor, has not said a word against terrorism; why would that be?” He also said that he doubted Ortega's promises to respect the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to dignity.
In an interview with El Nuevo Diario, Gadea said in answer to the question of whether he believed it was possible to defeat Ortega, “They can steal 5% [of the vote] but they can't steal 20% or 30% and we are going to put ourselves on top.” As for program, Gadea promised that if he were to win the elections, he would appoint only honest government officials and would continue with Nicaragua's membership in ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for Our America). He said, however, that “[President Hugo] Chavez is helping Ortega in other ways and he will not want to help us in that way because we do not agree with his ideology.” As for differences within the PLI Alliance, particularly with the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) which is part of the Alliance, Gadea said, “We don't have a conservative mentality, but rather we are all liberals, liberals who allow dissent.” He added, “I am pro-life and that question of therapeutic abortion I believe we can deal with later with specialists.”
President Daniel Ortega, candidate of the United Nicaragua Triumphs Alliance headed by the Sandinista Party, presented his program of government for the next five years at a rally in Matagalpa where the massive traffic jam of vehicles bringing people to the event held the program up for two hours. In his speech, Ortega promised to continue with improvements in roads and highways and with the issuing of land titles. He said that Plan Roof which distributes roofing materials would be expanded along with low income housing construction, electrification, potable water networks, telephone lines and towers, sewage lines and latrine construction. He promised renovation of health centers and hospitals, more credit for farmers, the continuation of the Zero Hunger and Zero Usury Programs, along with the school meal program and university scholarships, citing the advances his government had already made in those areas.
Meanwhile, a new CID-Gallup poll showed Daniel Ortega with the support of 44% of those polled (up from 41% in July), Fabio Gadea with 32% (down from 34%), and Arnoldo Aleman with 13% (up from 11%). The survey, carried out between Aug. 28 and Sept. 4, polled 1,000 people in the entire country with a margin of error of 3 points and a confidence level of 95%. The number of undecided voters dropped from 14% to 10%. (El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 12; La Prensa, Sept. 11; Radio La Primerisima, Sept. 12)
2. Election observer update
On Sept. 9, the Carter Center issued a statement saying that it was “pleased to see the reports about the conditions negotiated by the European Union to observe the Nov. 6 elections” which it said were in line with a 2005 declaration of principles signed by observer organizations. But it urged the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) to make public the terms of that accord and “officially extend the same terms to other experienced international and national observer organizations.” Also, the Carter Center urged that the regulations on election observation released on Aug. 16 by the CSE should be “repealed or modified to clearly elaborate the provisions of access, freedom of movement, and freedom of speech.” If acceptable conditions are established and extended to all, the statement said, the Carter Center would send a “limited experts mission” to observe the voting on Nov. 6.
The Organization of American States announced on Sept. 9 that it would send a mission to observe the elections. According to an OAS communiqué, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza will come to Nicaragua in the next few weeks to meet with President Ortega and sign the memorandum of understanding for the mission.
On Sept. 7, the CSE and the National Council of Universities (CNU) signed an accord for the accompaniment (as the CSE calls it) of the elections. CNU president Telemaco Talavera said that some 20,000 students would participate in the process, including holding candidate debates. CSE president Roberto Rivas said that advantage of accompaniment by the CNU is that the CNU includes members of all social classes and political parties.
Among the other national groups that have presented requests to the CSE for accreditation as observers are Hagamos Democracia and IPADE (Institute for Development and Democracy), both of which have been funded by US “democracy promotion” programs . On Sept. 12, members of Hagamos Democracia blocked the street in front of the CSE for a period of time to demand accreditation. The organization turned in its documentation on Sept. 5, but has been told that the documents were incomplete. IPADE director Mauricio Zuñiga announced that his organization requested observer credentials on Sept. 8. Zuñiga stated that the European Union was ready to finance 3,000 IPADE observers with a donation of 500,000 Euros.
Meanwhile, on Sept. 8, the CSE invited the diplomats serving in foreign embassies in Nicaragua to “accompany the electoral process.” The United States on Sept. 12 submitted a request for the accreditation of an observer mission made up of US diplomatic personnel from the US Embassy. The press release issued by the Embassy said that the US would only participate, however, if national observer groups were accredited under the same rules which it said should be based on international agreements. (Carter Center, Sept. 9; El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 8, 10, 12; La Prensa, Sept. 8, 9, 12; Radio La Primerisima, Sept. 6, 7, 8, 9; US Embassy, Sept. 12)
3. Granera to remain as head of Police
As part of ceremonies celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the founding of the National Police, First Commissioner Aminta Granera turned her chief's baton over to President Daniel Ortega, marking the end of her term of office. A few minutes later, Ortega returned it to her, naming her to another five year term, issuing a decree overriding an article in the law governing the Police which mandates that the officers that form the directorate of the force, after serving one five year term, must pass into retirement. Granera, possibly the only former nun ever to lead a Latin American police force, has been in the force for all of the 32 years of its existence. Granera emphasized that Nicaragua's police model is “preventative and communitarian,” working with 248,500 at risk young people and their families to prevent them from becoming delinquent. She said that domestic violence was one of her principal concerns and noted that 34 of the 59 Women's and Children's Police Stations were begun under her watch.
National Assembly Deputy Jose Pallais, chair of the Justice Committee, said that the law was clear and the new term was illegal. Azalia Solis of the Autonomous Women's Movement said that while Granera had been key in the struggle to end violence against women and had overseen many improvements in the police force, it was “a shame” that she had accepted a second term. On the other hand, former head of the National Police Rene Vivas said, “We should review this situation because we are sending into retirement people ready to work, who have long experience, and who can fulfill their duties for another 25 years.” He added that Ortega's decision to name Granera for another term was in answer to a situation in which there are not enough experienced officers coming up to fill the highest positions in the institution. (El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 6; Radio La Primerisima, Sept. 6)
4. El Bluff ad raises firestorm
A short article in La Prensa, reported in last week's Nicaragua News Bulletin, about an online advertisement offering the island of El Bluff for sale, set off a firestorm of protest this past week. El Bluff is three kilometers from Bluefields, capital of the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS). It was a major port for the RAAS seafood industry until 2000, when the industry collapsed, throwing the island's population into an economic crisis. The populated island is being offered on the internet at www.casanica.com for US$5 million.
“I can't believe this is happening. This land is ours, the Costeños, and no one has the right to take it from us; but if that happens we will defend it,” said El Bluff community leader Nancy Ramos who is a member of the Bluefields municipal government. National Assembly Deputy Agustin Jarquin, chair of the Committee of Population and Municipalities, started an investigation of Discovery Real Estate which runs the casanica.com website. He sent a letter to Carlos Amador Torres, the company's executive director demanding answers. Jarquin said that the island could not be sold because all coasts in Nicaragua are publically owned by the State or administered by the National Commission of Demarcation and Titling (CONADETI) headed by Rev. Rayfield Hodgson in the Caribbean Autonomous Regions. Islands and shorelines in the Autonomous Regions fall under Nicaragua's Autonomy Law which guarantees communal ownership by the peoples of the Caribbean Coast.
Hodgson stated that regional authorities are not against investment in El Bluff, but that it had to be through legal channels. The El Bluff article also raised the long-standing conflict over the illegal sale of the Pearl Cays by US businessman Peter Tsokos over 10 years ago. Those sales to foreigners have been declared illegal and Hodgson said that CONADETI is ready to begin demarcating and titling the islands as communal property. “All who purchased them will have to demonstrate how they were acquired and who was paid to buy or improve communal land,” Hodgson said. (El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 6, 8; Radio La Primerisima, Sept. 8,)
5. US$40 million loan for housing
Last Friday, officials announced that the Inter-American Development Bank (BID) and Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) will each extend to Nicaragua loans of US$20 million for a total of US$40 million. The money is to be used for the construction of housing and home repair for low income sectors. Additionally, the Dutch International Guarantees for Housing Foundation is expected to announce supplementary funds and the Nicaraguan government will also contribute.
The loans will be extended over a three to four year period by the Nicaraguan Institute for Urban and Rural Housing (INVUR). The agency will administer micro-credit loans directly to Nicaraguans rather than overseeing projects and it will also work to improve coordination between non-profits, government bureaucracies and private companies working on the issue of housing.
The funds are expected to help improve 4,250 homes, construct 4,000 new homes and give land titles to 5,000 families. (Radio La Primerisima, Sept. 8; El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 8,)
6. Victor Jara remembered
Nicaraguans held the Tenth Music Festival on Sunday, celebrating the music of Chilean Victor Jara and commemorating the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 1973, coup that, with US support, overthrew elected President Salvador Allende resulting in the death of thousands. Victor Jara, father of the New Music Movement songs of resistance and struggle, was tortured and killed in the capital city stadium where Allende supporters were held by the Chilean military led by Augusto Pinochet.
The music festival, held at CIPRES, featured many free activities, especially for children, in the morning, and an inexpensive afternoon concert featuring many of Nicaragua's musicians including former Nicaragua Network staffer, Paul Baker. CIPRES is the non-governmental organization founded by Orlando Nuñez Soto to promote methods to improve peasant agriculture. The CIPRES model became the core of the Sandinista government's Zero Hunger program.
The festival was named “Victor Jara Always Sings” and was organized by the Victor Jara Cultural Movement to keep alive the memory of the struggle for democracy of the Chilean people and the revolutionary music of Victor Jara. Adolfo Taleno, a member of the group, said the festival seeks to build respect for the human rights of peasants and original peoples as well as a better relationship between humans and the earth. (El Nuevo Diario, Sept.10)
7. ALBA denounces NATO over Libya
The meeting of foreign ministers of the ALBA countries (Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our Americas) meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 9, passed a resolution condemning the NATO bombing and intervention in Libya and refusing to recognize the rebel government. Nicaraguan Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Valdrack Jaentschke said in his address to the meeting that Nicaragua would not recognize the new Libyan council supported by NATO and he called for a political dialogue to resolve the conflict there.
The ALBA foreign ministers denounced the NATO mission and condemned NATO for disregarding persistent efforts by the African Union to find a diplomatic solution to the internal conflict. The ALBA resolution also condemned the international media for colluding with NATO and spreading disinformation about the conflict. The resolution expressed concern that the Libya intervention would create a precedent for intervention in Syria and rejected efforts to turn Libya into a foreign protectorate while reiterating ALBA's firmest commitment to the right of self-determination of the people of Libya and Syria.
The resolution committed the ALBA countries to promote a discussion in the UN General Assembly, to establish a General Assembly Working Group to investigate and monitor the use of Libya's frozen funds, to call on the international community to investigate crimes committed in Libya by NATO including deaths and destruction of infrastructure. In addition, the resolution supported the primacy of the African Union to promote peace in Libya and stated that the Libyan seat in the UN must be held open until such time as a government that is a “free and sovereign expression of the Libyan people is established in a legitimate manner without foreign intervention.”
In other actions, the ALBA foreign ministers passed a resolution of support for the proposal in the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestine as a State based on pre-1967 borders. ALBA countries include Antigua and Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Venezuela. (Radio La Primerisima, Sept. 9, 10)
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