TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2011
Nicaragua News Bulletin (October 18, 2011)
1. Eight dead in floods; rains continue2. Robert Callahan writes for Heritage Foundation
3. Observer teams arriving
4. PLI faction challenges 50 National Assembly candidates
5. Nicaragua reaches first MDG; challenges remain
6. EU donates for tourism development
7. Government won't raise ceiling for low cost housing
8. Mining accident claims lives
1. Eight dead in floods; rains continue
On Oct. 17, Nicaragua's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation System (SINAPRED) and the Civil Defense Corps announced an eighth death as a result of flooding in every part of the country except the Atlantic Coast Region. The government agencies reported that 25,000 people have been affected by the flooding with 2,000 families evacuated to 95 temporary shelters. Over 3,000 homes have been flooded, 300 destroyed and 1,000 damaged.
One hundred fifty miles of roads have been damaged. Transportation Minister Fernando Martinez estimated that US$6 million in repairs would be needed, especially in the Departments of Matagalpa, Jinotega, Esteli and Nueva Segovia.
Lake Xolotlan (Lake Managua) is rising to dangerous levels as it did during last year's rainy season. As of Monday, it had reached 138.4 feet above sea level, 20.8 inches less than last year's maximum of 140 feet. First Lady and Communications Council head Rosario Murillo said that if the waters continue to rise, the government would evacuate 3,000 people who live on the shores of the Lake. She said that even if the rains went back to their normal intensity, the Lake would probably pass its 1993 record level. Merchants with stalls at the Managua dock on the Lake expressed concern as they watched the waters rise to cover parts of the area. Emelina Sanchez said she was worried because sales have dropped just as they were picking up as the December holidays approached.
Twenty-eight people have died in weather related deaths during the current rainy season which began in May. Murillo said that President Daniel Ortega was closely monitoring developments. She noted that while the intensity of the rains had diminished, showers continued.
Meanwhile, in all of Central America, 80 have died and 150,000 have been affected by the heavy rains. International highways have been cut and harvests have been lost. In El Salvador 32 have died, in Guatemala 28, and in Honduras 12. Salvadoran Environmental Minister Herman Rosa Chavez said that six inches of rain had fallen in 12 hours in the mountains of his country with a record 47 inches falling in the week, a figure not seen in El Salvador even during Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared a “state of calamity” with 110,000 people affected.
Raul Artiga of the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD), part of the Central American Integration System (SICA), said that, “Climate change is not something that is going to come; we are suffering it [now]; this [weather] is more evidence of the vulnerability … with which our societies are going to have to live.” Rosa said that, in the 1960s and 1970s, there would be one event like this per decade; in the 1980s two events; in the 1990s four; and between 2000 and 2010 there were seven. He added, “In this new decade, we now have the first and we ask ourselves how many more will there be?” (El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 17; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 17)
2. Robert Callahan writes for Heritage Foundation
Former United States Ambassador to Nicaragua Robert Callahan, now retired from the US Foreign Service, writing in the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation's “Web Memo” with Ray Walser of the Heritage Foundation, said that, while President Daniel Ortega could win the Nov. 6 elections because of a divided opposition and a “robust campaign chest,” he may also “resort to electoral fraud on a massive scale.” Callahan and Walser add, “If he does, the U.S. should be prepared to challenge the legitimacy of the elections and potentially cut future economic assistance.” Now that Callahan is retired, he appears willing to show the colors he retains from when he was the right-hand man of John Negroponte running the contra war from Tegucigalpa, Honduras in the 1980s.
The article goes on to say that if there are allegations of fraud in the upcoming elections, “the U.S. should: Condemn clearly and by name the fraud and its perpetrators and announce that it will not recognize the results and thus Ortega's victory. … If a U.S. ambassador has been nominated, the nomination process should be halted. The charge d'affaires should continue to run the embassy.” Callahan and Walser say that the yearly waiver for progress in resolving property disputes should be withheld and the US should vote against Nicaragua's loan applications at the international financial institutions. The Nicaragua Network notes that this article could have an impact in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives headed by extreme right wing Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) who would be looking for a reason to further cut aid to Nicaragua. (La Prensa, Oct. 14; Heritage Foundation Web Memo, Oct. 13)
3. Observer teams arriving
Mendel Goldstein, European Union representative in Nicaragua, said that the first members of the EU electoral observer mission would arrive in the country on Oct. 13 in preparation for the Nov. 6 elections. He said that so far he had noted an electoral climate without great problems and “for that reason our delegation will respect the sovereignty of this country, doing our work of observation without pronouncements except for the chief of the delegation when that person arrives in country.” He said the 90 person strong delegation will meet with the political parties and national observers, adding that while he was happy to see accreditation for the EU and the Organization of American States (OAS), he hoped that more national observers would be accredited. He noted, “The presence of national observers is very important; we know that there are well qualified groups, non-partisan groups, and we hope that there will be at least one or two more groups that can be accredited, because, if not, the process will not be complete.”
Meanwhile, the Carter Center announced that it will send a small informal delegation of notables to Nicaragua for election day that will not observe polling places but will meet with the political parties and other actors in the process and will release a report. In Sept. the Carter Center announced that it wanted certain changes in the Supreme Electoral Council's (CSE) regulations governing observation (or accompaniment as it is described by the CSE), which the Nicaraguan government did not make. Francisco Aguirre, former foreign minister and currently Arnoldo Aleman's vice-presidential running mate, said, “The great loser in all this is Nicaragua because there is no arbiter of elections as professional and experienced as the Carter Center.” But Roger Guevara, presidential candidate of APRE (a small political alliance), said, “What the Carter Center will issue will be opinions, not a global vision from observations but a partial vision, second hand and not first hand.”
The head of the observer mission of the Organization of American States, Dante Caputo, met with political party leaders and members of civil society groups last week, hearing complaints about slowness in processing voter identification cards, political violence, and attempts to have certain candidates declared ineligible to run for the National Assembly. He met with Arnoldo Aleman, presidential candidate of the Constitutional Liberal Party Alliance; Fabio Gadea, presidential candidate of the Independent Liberal Party Alliance; Roberto Rivas, president of the Supreme Electoral Council; Foreign Minister Samuel Santos; and Ethics and Transparency head Roberto Courtney and others. He did not meet with President Daniel Ortega, who is running for reelection. Caputo, a former foreign minister of Argentina, recommended a dialogue among the political parties and between the parties and the CSE about subjects of concern. “I believe that it is not good for there to be such a level of uncertainty [about the elections],” he said. (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 12; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 13, 15; La Prensa, Oct. 12, 13, 14)
4. PLI faction challenges 50 National Assembly candidates
The Constitutional Panel of the Supreme Court will decide the fate of 50 candidates for the National Assembly for the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) Alliance possibly by Oct 21. The 50 candidates, members of the “Let's Go with Eduardo” Movement (MVE) of Eduardo Montealegre, have been challenged by the dissident faction of the PLI led by Pedro Reyes who claimed that these candidates had not been members of the PLI for three years and thus were ineligible to run. Reyes maintained that the remainder of the 220 candidates of the Alliance are from the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) and the Citizen Action Party and are covered by the norms of those parties. The MRS, similar to the MVE, is not a legally recognized party thus the headline of La Prensa “They're going for Eduardo” appears accurate.
The Court will also decide the challenge from September by historical PLI leader, former Vice-President Virgilio Godoy, and his ally Rollin Tobie which seeks to “invalidate the complete slate of all the candidates that are participating in the PLI Alliance, as usurpers and for violating the internal rules of the party.” The Supreme Electoral Council had, in February, given control of the deeply divided PLI to the faction headed by Indalecio Rodriguez which is running Fabio Gadea as its candidate for president at the head of an alliance of several parties but the divisions in the PLI remained unresolved.
The media was full of the controversy. Former education minister Carlos Tunnermann said that it would not be to the advantage of anyone to annul the candidacy of Fabio Gadea or of the 50 National Assembly candidates. But, he said, the actions of the several PLI factions had the goal of creating confusion and uncertainty and in that way lowering the vote for Gadea and he said that in his opinion they were maneuvers sponsored by the Sandinista Party of President Daniel Ortega, an allegation which he did not explain in detail. (La Prensa, Oct. 11; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 12; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 13)
5. Nicaragua reaches first MDG; challenges remain
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations said that Nicaragua has already met the first United Nations Millennium Development Goal by reducing its malnourished population by half. Nicaragua's government programs along with the projects of international and national organizations helped the country reach this goal. The goal had initially been set for 2015, but through various programs focused on food security, including the Zero Hunger program, poverty has been greatly reduced especially in the rural population. The FAO has worked with Nicaragua to finance the improvement of seeds and agricultural production.
Despite these major gains in the fight against hunger, the FAO estimates that nearly a million people still suffer from malnutrition. Gero Vaagt, FAO's representative in Nicaragua, explained that such hunger persists due to a number of factors. He said more credit and support for farmers was needed and he also cited rural unemployment and low levels of education as factors that have left 19% still suffering from hunger in the country. He said that in order to continue to address issues of hunger, Nicaragua will need to increase agricultural production. (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 13; La Prensa, Oct. 11)
6. EU donates for tourism development
The European Union last week donated US$9.6 million toward an US$11 million sustainable tourism project to develop both a “Colonial Route” and a “Volcano Route” focusing on rural development. The project is projected to benefit 200 micro, small, and medium-sized businesses. “The activities we anticipate carrying out will principally develop the rural zones where there is the most need for social and economic development,” said Mendel Goldstein, the chief of delegation of the European Commission to Central America and Panama. The project will encompass areas of the departments of Chinandega, Leon, Managua, Masaya, Granada and Rivas. Goldstein said the projects, which in some cases include protected areas, would “promote respect for the environment.” The government of Nicaragua will provide the US$1.4 million needed to fully fund the project. The government announced a “master plan” for development of the two routes.
The Colonial Route will include Granada and Leon, the two sites first settled by Spanish conquistadors in 1524. The Volcano Route will include Cosiguina, San Cristobal, Telica, Cerro Negro, El Hoyo, Momotombo, Apoyeque, Masaya, Mombacho, Concepción and Maderas. Goldstein called the project a “motor of economic growth and poverty reduction.” (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 13; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 13)
7. Government won't raise ceiling for low cost housing
Following a meeting with the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), presidential economic advisor Bayardo Arce announced that the government would not increase the housing price ceiling for subsidies under the “social interest” (affordable) housing program. COSEP wanted to increase the ceiling from US$20,000 to US$26,500. Arce said that the government of President Daniel Ortega decided not to increase the ceiling on the program which is intended to promote home ownership for low income citizens because the banks have already shown that they are giving preference to the highest end of the subsidized housing market rather than the low end as the government had intended. While recognizing the “validity” of COSEP arguments that cost of construction is rising, the Sandinista government wants to keep up pressure to insure financing for homes in the US$14,000-US$16,000 range.
The Housing Law recognizes as social interest housing homes that are 390-750 sq. ft. with basic services. Housing that meets that definition qualifies for low interest financing on generous terms so that teachers, fire fighters, and other low paid public workers and others can afford to own their own home. The government has financed the construction of 8,000 social interest homes to date and will fund an additional 5,000 homes over the next year. COSEP warns that construction companies will have to reduce the size of new houses without the requested ceiling increase. But Arce said that there is still a margin for the companies to offer houses with prices in the US$12,000 to US$19,000 range to families with incomes of less than US$5,200 per year. (La Prensa, Oct. 13; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 14)
8. Mining accident claims lives
A mining accident at the La India gold mine, 60 miles northeast of Managua in the Department of Leon, has produced somewhat different press reports of the incident. According to Radio La Primerisima, there was one fatality and 15 injured when heavy ore boxes that the workers were loading fell on them as a scaffold collapsed. Government safety inspectors are investigating. In the La Prensa version, there was a cave-in caused by rains which killed three miners and has buried an unknown number of others. El Nuevo Diario reported one dead and two gravely injured. Which version is correct is unknown at this time. With gold fluctuating at all time record prices, mining has increased in Nicaragua with a corresponding increase in miner deaths. A miner died in a collapse at the Santa Pancha mine in Chontales in June.
In related news, residents of the town of Rancho Grande in the Department of Matagalpa, say they are united in asking for the suspension of concessions for mining exploration in their area, saying “no to mining exploitation, no to destruction, and no to contamination.” City authorities, the Catholic Church and Protestant churches have all signed on to the demands. They are asking the government to stop serving as an “accomplice to the transnational mining companies.” This article in La Prensa from a “citizen reporter” came out a day before the news of the mining accident at La India. (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 14; La Prensa, Oct. 13, 14; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 14)
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