TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012

Nicaragua News Bulletin (March 27, 2012)

1. Drug war under discussion in Central America
2. Montealegre ready to talk with Ortega; Aleman still under attack
3. Foreign investment in Nicaragua reaches record
4. New Family Code approved
5. Goal is to register 1.66 million students by March 31
6. Geothermal plant inaugurated
7. Rama community struggles to survive
8. Proposed gold mine draws opposition

1. Drug war under discussion in Central America

Central American presidents and other high level officials met in Antigua, Guatemala, on Mar. 24 to discuss the fight against drug trafficking in their countries, including the subject of legalization. Guatemalan President Otto Perez called the meeting which was attended by President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica, President Ricardo Martinelli of Panama, Honduran Vice-President Samuel Reyes, Salvadoran Justice Minister David Munguia, and Nicaraguan Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel Coronel. Perez had said in his invitation to his colleagues that he wanted to consider alternatives to waging violent war on organized crime. The Central American leaders agreed to meet in Honduras before the April 14-15 Summit of the Americas in Colombia to discuss reorienting the fight against drug trafficking in a number of ways, including: legalization of certain drugs in certain cases, creation of a regional court to deal with drug crimes, and economic compensation from consuming countries (principally the United States) for the drugs intercepted and confiscated. The presidents of Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras decided at the last minute not to attend the summit and sent other officials to represent them.

Instead of going to Guatemala, President Daniel Ortega met in Managua with the leadership of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) to discuss the fight against drug trafficking as well as regional integration. One of the proposals, according to PARLACEN President Manolo Pichardo of the Dominican Republic, was to make all air flights within the region national rather than international flights and thus reduce fares for consumers. PARLACEN is promoting a similar initiative for telephone calls. Pichardo said that Ortega expressed support for both proposals. On the subject drug legalization, Ortega told the PARLACEN leadership, “Legalization doesn't make sense; it's as if we were to say ‘we're beaten;' it would be to legalize crime.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. government sent Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs William R. Brownfield to Honduras and Guatemala (although not at the time of the meeting in Antigua) to urge patience in fighting organized crime in the region. He emphasized the role of the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) which has a fund of US$300 million for anti-gang and community development work in the countries of the violent northern triangle of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) but which leaves out Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

M&R Associates released a poll last week that showed Nicaraguans divided with 50% believing that legalization would not contribute to lowering the violence from drug trafficking. Sixty percent of Nicaraguans, according to the survey, believed that drug legalization would lead to increased use but 56.5% felt that legalization would free up other resources for other urgent public needs. But, 55.5% stated that “under no circumstances” should the government legalize drugs in Nicaragua.

Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua, said that the Nicaraguan bishop's conference believed that “the legalization of drugs in the different countries [of Central America] would be dangerous.” He also referred to a March 12 statement by Bishop Rene Sandigo, head of the conference, in which Sandigo said that legalization “would increase, facilitate and, in the end, expose people to deterioration in their health.” (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 24, 26; Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 24, 25; Informe Pastran, Mar. 23; La Prensa, Mar. 25)

2. Montealegre ready to talk with Ortega; Aleman still under attack

National Assembly Deputy and former presidential candidate (in 2006) Eduardo Montealegre said that he was ready to sit down and talk, as the representative of the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) Alliance, with President Daniel Ortega about new appointments to the high level government posts, including the Supreme Court and the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE), whose terms have run out. Montealegre said that the talks do not mean that he is legitimizing the November election victory by Ortega, a victory challenged by the PLI. “This is a question of looking forward,” he said. He emphasized that the dialogue should include business and church leaders. He also said “What we are trying to see is if we can achieve change [in the electoral system] before the [November municipal] elections or try to change some things and later agree on what we have to change after the elections.” He added that at least some of the CSE magistrates needed to be replaced.

However, leaders of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), part of the PLI Alliance, questioned the talks. In a statement, party leaders, including Enrique Saenz, Dora Maria Tellez, Victor Hugo Tinoco, and Hugo Torres, said, “The Independent Liberal Party made known last week its decision to begin negotiations with the illegitimate government of Ortega. The regime for its part has not given any signs of interest in negotiating constructively about fundamental aspects of reestablishing democracy in Nicaragua and there are no credible reasons to think that they have that interest.”

Business leaders in general supported talks between the government and the opposition. Leaders of the Nicaraguan-American Chamber of Commerce (AM-CHAM), after meeting with Montealegre, and former PLI Alliance candidates Fabio Gadea and Edmundo Jarquin, said that the dialogue should work to bring democracy and peace to the country and invited the Superior Council on Private Enterprise (COSEP) to join while urging the government to sit down and talk in a sincere dialogue. COSEP leader Jose Adan Aguerri, after a similar meeting with PLI leaders, said, “We want the persons [appointed] to have the qualifications, the professionalism… even if no one from COSEP is named.”

Meanwhile, former President Arnoldo Aleman, honorary president of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), continued under attack from members of his own party, which won only two seats in the National Assembly in the November elections. But Aleman is not going to fade into the twilight easily. He has been traveling the country meeting with local party leaders in places such as Carazo, Granada, and Rivas, while party dissidents remain in Managua plotting his overthrow. The PLC plans a party convention April 29. (Informe Pastran, Mar. 20, 23, 26; La Prensa, Mar. 20)

3. Foreign investment in Nicaragua reaches record

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nicaragua reached a record US$967.9 million in 2011, according to the Agency for the Promotion of Investment in Nicaragua (ProNicaragua). This was an increase of almost 91% over 2010 when FDI reached US$507.9 million. Investment in 284 projects in14 economic sectors, including energy, telecommunications, free trade zones, retail, services, mining, and manufacturing, came from a record 41 countries. Nicaragua had the highest rate of foreign investment in Central America, at 14.1% of gross domestic product, the fourth year in a row that Nicaragua has held this position. Alvaro Baltodano, presidential delegate for investment, said that the record numbers “are a result of the constant efforts of the government of Nicaragua to work hand-in-hand with the private sector and the workers to achieve macro-economic stability in the country.” He added, “Poverty reduction and changing our energy matrix, among other things, are primary elements that have given Nicaragua the social peace we enjoy.”

Economist Francisco Mayorga said that Nicaragua “is opening to the world,” depending less on the US market, while strengthening trade relationships with Europe and Latin America. He added that these new figures put the country in a good place for its upcoming talks with the International Monetary Fund. The largest amount of investment last year came from Canada, the US, Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Korea, and Brazil. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 22; Informe Pastran, Mar. 22; Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 24; La Prensa, Mar. 22)

4. New Family Code approved

The National Assembly approved on first reading what is Nicaragua's first Code of the Family on Mar. 22 with 88 votes (all of those present) in favor. A second vote on each article separately is expected within a couple of weeks. The code establishes shared responsibilities between parents and children, and between siblings. Under the law, parents will be economically responsible for their children up to the age of 24 if necessary and children responsible for their parents if they need economic help after the age of 60. Marriage before the age of 16 will be illegal even with the consent of the parents. The code also recognizes the broader definition of family prevalent in indigenous communities. It establishes family courts to resolve conflicts and defends the rights of women, children, seniors, and the handicapped, according to its sponsors. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 22; Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 22; La Prensa, Mar. 22)

5. Goal is to register 1.66 million students by March 31

Nicaragua has registered more than 1.6 million children this school year and continues to recruit more students before the end of registration at the end of this month. “We have enrolled 97 percent of the potential student population and we hope to increase the total to 1.66 million by March 31 when registration ends,” said Rosario Murillo, Coordinator of the Communication and Citizenship Council.

Jose Treminio, Vice-Minister of Education, explained how government institutions and civil society organizations are carrying out home visits in order to ensure that as many children as possible register for school. On February 13, 2012, Nicaragua launched the new school year under comparatively better conditions, with repaired schools, free school meals, and school supplies and shoes for low-income students. In 2007, the government abolished school fees but without the simultaneous development of these diverse social programs, there would not have been much of an improvement in attendance, according to Treminio.

Treminio explained that programs such as the Zero Hunger Program (which provides animals and supplies for low income families in rural Nicaragua) benefit children and youth in rural areas where access to free education would not be sufficient because poverty obliges many families to have their children work instead of sending them to school. “A low-income family is forced to decide which of their children to send to school and which have to work; a conflict that only gets worse when they continue to secondary school and the university,” Treminio stated. (Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 20)

6. Geothermal plant inaugurated

The first phase of the San Jacinto-Tizate geothermal electricity production mega-project will be inaugurated on March 27. The plant has been producing 36 megawatts of electricity since January. The second phase, when completed by the end of the year will increase total production to 72 megawatts, enough to provide for the needs of 540,000 households or 24% of Nicaragua's energy needs. The plant, located in Leon is touted as being the “crown jewel” of renewable energy production because unlike wind and water, geothermal energy does not fluctuate. Built by the Canadian transnational Polaris Energy, the plant is expected to save Nicaragua US$90 million a year in fossil fuel expenditures. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 26; Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 26)

7. Rama community struggles to survive

El Nuevo Diario reporter Heydi Salazar wrote an interesting feature on the Rama village Bangkukuk Taik, also known as Punta de Aguila, in the South Atlantic Autonomous Region. It is worth reading in its original form. The community is one of only six remaining communities of the indigenous Rama people. She reported that there are only seven elders who still speak the Rama language. UNESCO predicts that half of the world's 6,000 languages, among them Rama, will have disappeared by the end of this century. Salazar revisited Bangkukuk Taik more than a year after her first visit. She found the community of 80 families had shrunk to 40 families during that time. The community primary school stands vacant since the teachers were denounced by the community to the Ministry of Education as unqualified and often absent. Santiago Thomas, president of the Rama-Kriol Territorial Government promises that for this current school year there will be a teacher in the community. If not many families will probably leave to enroll their children in schools in Rama Cay or Bluefields.

James Wilson, one of the few remaining Rama speakers, is dying of cancer, no longer able to make the five hour boat trip to Bluefields for health care. Angela Benjamin, another Rama-speaking elder, laments that the linguists who in the past expressed interest in the conservation of the Rama language have not returned. The community, which lives by agriculture and fishing, is, however, excited about the construction, with funding from the World Bank, of a guest house for visitors in the village center. The hospedaje has solar power electricity, unlike the rest of the community which is not electrified, does not have potable water, a health center, or government presence. The territorial government hopes to open an access road to the community in May. To learn more about the language and culture of the Rama, visit http://www.rama-territory.com/or http://www.turkulka.net/. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 19)

8. Proposed gold mine draws opposition

With the slogan, “We want to inherit a habitable planet, not a contaminated world,” more than 2,000 people attended a Catholic Church-sponsored environmental forum in the Matagalpa municipality of Rancho Grande, organized to oppose gold mining in the municipality. The group marched to the headquarters of the gold prospecting company Minera MINESA. Canadian gold mining company B2Gold, announced that after six years of exploration in partnership with Minera MINESA, it had discovered “an important potential” in the Rancho Grande zone and proposes a mining project with the name Pavon.

Peasant farmers in the municipality fear that the gold mining project will destroy their smallholdings of coffee, organic cacao, and cattle ranching. They also fear damage to the small forests they have nurtured in order to conserve their water sources.

They oppose the Pavon project in spite of B2Gold's claims that it will comply with all national laws, will operate in harmony with the environment, and will bring tangible benefits to the community. A B2Gold spokesman said they are consulting with the local community and government officials. He emphasized that the gold ore will not be processed onsite but instead trucked to El Limon where the company already has processing facilities. He said cyanide will not be used on the Pavon site. Data from ProNicaragua, the government agency that promotes foreign investment, shows that investment in the mining sector rose from US$25.27 million in 2010 to US$114.3 million in 2011. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 24)
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