TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2011
Nicaragua News Bulletin (December 27, 2011)
1. Costa Rica denies jurisdiction of Central American Court2. Christmas celebrated in the rain
3. Small and medium businesses produce 35% of exports
4. "I don't eat turtle eggs" campaign
5. 6,000 farmers to receive bio-digesters
6. Second phase of Coffee Route funded
1. Costa Rica denies jurisdiction of Central American Court
The government of Costa Rica announced last week that it would not recognize the jurisdiction of the Central American Court of Justice in the case regarding its building of a road beside virtually the entire length of the southern bank of the San Juan River, a road which Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega has called “a crime against nature.” Enrique Castillo, Costa Rican Foreign Minister, said that the Court “is totally foreign to Costa Rica; Costa Rica has never ratified its adhesion to the Court; it does not recognize the competence of the Court and for that reason the Court has no business in Costa Rica.” After learning that members of the Court would visit the area in question, Castillo said, “We are not going to permit them to come here…, in fact we could deny them visas or deny them entry into [our] country.”
Francisco Dario Lovo, president of the Court, responded that Costa Rica signed the treaty establishing the Court and is obliged to obey its rulings. He said that, if Costa Rica has not replied to Nicaragua's claim in ten days, the Court will mandate probationary period of another ten days after which it will hold a public hearing. He added, “But, we have decided that, on January 12, the full Court will be on the site of the dispute in order to directly find out what is occurring.” The Central American Court was created by the Protocol of Tegucigalpa in 1991and signed by all the countries of the isthmus. The legislatures of Costa Rica, Panama, and Belize have not yet ratified the treaty, however, and have no judges on the Court.
On Dec. 22, the International Court of Justice (World Court) at The Hague announced that it had received from the government of Nicaragua a claim against Costa Rica for “violations of Nicaraguan sovereignty and major environmental damage to its territory.” Nicaragua asked the Court to order Costa Rica to reverse all damage caused and pay for the same, while promising not to carry out any similar unilateral projects in the future. Nicaragua's note said that among the damages caused by Costa Rica was the “dumping into the river of substantial volumes of sediments, soil, uprooted vegetation and felled trees produced by the clearing and the leveling of the land that now serves as the roadbed.” The claim went on to say, “The sedimentation of the River poses a clear and imminent danger to water quality, to aquatic life (including several endangered species), and to rare and diverse fauna and flora that populate the river banks on both sides, especially those areas that form parts of the Biosphere Reserve Indio Maiz, forming one of the most extensive biological nuclei of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.” Nicaragua added that the road building project is in violation of the Ramsar Wetlands Convention [1971], the Convention on Biological Diversity [1992], and the agreements establishing wildlife preservation sites in Central America. The press release by the Court can be read at: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/152/16857.pdf
On Dec. 26, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said that she was not concerned about the World Court claim by Nicaragua, adding that the highway was “indispensible, not only from the point of view of our sovereignty, but also from the point of view of protection.” Her foreign minister, Castillo, said he was sure that the World Court would reject Nicaragua's argument. He said that while it was “possible” that the road had caused damage to the environment, Nicaragua had not demonstrated exactly where the damage from the project was located. According to Castillo, if Nicaragua can demonstrate this, “we will be well disposed to carry out the necessary preventive measures.” Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Roverssi said that Costa Rica would present its side of the case to The Hague but it would not suspend the road building project.
Meanwhile, a group of Costa Rican legislators will accept an invitation from the Nicaraguan Evangelical Alliance to visit the River on Jan. 5, according to Rev. Mauricio Fonseca, president of that group. Nicaraguan Environmental Minister Juana Argeñal announced that representatives of the Ramsar Wetlands Convention would also be visiting in answer to a request from Nicaragua. No date has been set for that visit. (Informe Pastran, Dec. 21; Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 20, 22, 26; El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 20, 22, 26; La Prensa, Dec. 22, 23, 25, 26)
2. Christmas celebrated in the rain
The northern tropics has already entered into the dry season but, in spite of that, rain fell all over the country as Nicaraguans welcomed Christmas Day at midnight with the usual fireworks. Rains were heavy on the Atlantic Coast, where it can rain any time of year, but residents of the Pacific region were surprised by wind, rain and temperatures that dropped down into the high 50s F. Rivers in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) overflowed their banks and several communities had to be evacuated. One young man, heading to Puerto Cabezas to spend the holiday, was carried away to his death by the Luku River. The Siempre Viva hydroelectric dam was in danger of bursting provoking visits from regional authorities but the danger passed without major incident. With the collapse of a bridge over the Wani River, the towns of Siuna and Rosita were left incommunicado.
The Red Cross and the National Fire Department announced that no children suffered burns from fireworks during the holiday, pronouncing Plan Bethlehem a success. The Red Cross attended to 112 incidents, 59 fewer than last year. Seventeen people died, six of those from violence, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A total of 80 people died in Central America over the holiday, 43 of those in Honduras.
Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans made their way home from other Central American countries with almost 40,000 entering before the holiday from Costa Rica. Migration authorities also reported thousands of tourists entering Nicaragua to spend the holidays.
In the Department of Carazo, the tradition of visiting Nativity scenes has been preserved with crèches in churches, parks and homes. Erick Valdivia of Jinotepe has been perfecting his manger scene for years and places it at the entrance to his house. “The Nativity scenes are a way of preserving our traditions… . It is lamentable that in some homes the first thing one sees upon entering is a Christmas tree or a Santa Claus.”
Ranchers blamed the rise in the price of meat for Christmas dinner on merchants while consumer groups called on the government to punish speculators. Rene Blandon, president of the National Cattle Commission, said that the market was establishing the price and the price increase was not because too much beef was being exported. He insisted that farmers were not getting more for their cattle from the slaughterhouses. Consumer advocate Marvin Pomares said, “Law 182 specifies that if there is speculation with prices, then the Industry and Trade Ministry has the power to sanction the seller.”
Speaking on Christmas Eve, Auxiliary Bishop of Managua Silvio Baez said that he could not agree with a petition from a group of Nicaraguans living in the United States who are asking Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) to introduce legislation in the US Congress to limit travel and remittances to Nicaragua. Baez said, “I do not believe that the problems of Nicaragua have to be fixed by a foreign country. Our country is poor but dignified.” He added, “We have to follow our faith which asks us to think of the people who are the poorest so we cannot accept this type of proposal because it is always the dispossessed classes who suffer the consequences.”
Also on Christmas Eve, Managua Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes lamented the violence that followed the recent elections. He advocated a period of reflection about the common welfare and that it not be merely a slogan but “a reality for all, without giving importance to our differences, principally the political ones.” He also spoke in his Midnight Mass sermon in favor of dialogue between Nicaragua and Costa Rica to resolve the dispute over the road Costa Rica is building beside the San Juan River. (El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 20, 26; Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 23, 26; La Prensa, Dec. 21, 23, 25, 26)
3. Small and medium businesses produce 35% of exports
Nicaragua's small and medium producers accounted for 35% of Nicaragua's total exports this year, some US$700 million, according to the Sandinista government. The sector grew 5.5%. Small and medium producers exported primarily agricultural products, garments, wood and furniture with the bulk exported to the United States, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Canada. Martha Briones, executive director of the Nicaraguan Institute to Support Small and Medium Businesses (INPYME), attributed the growth to increased trade with Venezuela under the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA) cooperative trade agreement. She said more than 10,000 small and medium companies this year received government assistance to improve the quality of their products, comply with norms of hygiene, and access domestic and foreign markets, although she noted that more government help is needed.
Gilberto Alcocer, president of the Nicaraguan Council of Micro, Small and Medium Businesses stated that in 2011, 15,000 new businesses were created and he said he expected a growth of 6% next year resulting in more employment and poverty reduction. Marvin Marenco, representative of the Independent Workers Confederation of Nicaragua, praised the government's support for small and medium businesses and said 56,000 self-employed workers are members of the confederation. He said there are over a million Nicaraguan workers pursuing the precarious path of independent labor and that they benefit by joining unions through which they can receive training, loans, and help from the Ortega administration. (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 21)
4. "I don't eat turtle eggs" campaign
Since 2005, Flora and Fauna International has worked to protect Nicaragua's sea turtles by implementing the yearly campaign entitled "I don't eat turtle eggs, or use tortoiseshells, or sell them."
This year, with the support of Denmark's Embassy in Managua and in coordination with the Ministry of the Environment (MARENA) and a group of allied organizations in departments along the Pacific among others, the campaign will continue. The main objective of the project is to reduce the sale and consumption of marine turtle products through education. It relies largely on young volunteers and the distribution of various promotional materials.
Of the seven marine species of turtles that exist in the world, five live along the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and come there to lay their eggs. Among these are the Olive Ridley, Green Sea Turtle, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Loggerhead Sea Turtle and Leatherback Turtle, all of which are in danger of extinction. Two of the seven eastern Pacific turtle nesting sites are in Nicaragua, namely the La Flor Wildlife Refuge and Chococente Beach.
By the 1950s, turtle eggs began to be extracted not only for food but for commercial sale and this soon reached an intolerable rate. Egg extraction was unfortunately accompanied by development of the coast and heavy fishing which further strained the turtle population. However, through education this campaign against the harvest of turtle eggs and killing of turtles is working to combat the decline of these special species. (El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 25)
5. 6,000 farmers to benefit from bio-digesters
Six thousand farmers will benefit from small-scale methane gas production on their properties thanks to a US$6.3 million project funded by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Nordic Development Fund, and two Dutch nongovernmental organizations. Nicaragua is the first country in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean approved for this world-wide program to enable small farmers to convert agricultural waste into methane for cooking, electricity, and heat. MIF Project Chief Zachary Levey said the project is intended to bring the low-cost technology, which is wide-spread in Asia, to marginalized agricultural zones in other parts of the world.
Use of methane gas reduces smoke pollution in the home, a major benefit for women and children who suffer disproportionately from respiratory illnesses caused by smoke from cooking fires. As one of the least electrified countries in Latin America, cooking with methane gas will also reduce deforestation by cutting the demand for firewood. The project will work with rural organizations to increase the use of bio-fertilizer from the bio-digesters. Initially the project will focus on small and medium dairy farmers in the departments of Boaco, Matagalpa, Chontales, Rio San Juan, and Leon. [The use of bio-digesters was pioneered in Nicaragua by the non-governmental organization CIPRES.] (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 23)
6. Second phase of Coffee Route funded
Luxemburg will invest US$7.2 million on top of US$1.4 million of local investment funds in tourist development on what is known as the Coffee Route in the departments of Jinotega, Matagalpa, Esteli, Madriz and Nueva Segovia. Thirty-one tourism projects including museums, parks and culture centers benefited from the investment in the first phase of the tourism project begun in the 2007-2011 Ortega administration. (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 22)
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