TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2012

Nicaragua News Bulletin (July 17, 2012)

1. Divided Liberals celebrate 119th anniversary; election participation undecided
2. Callahan urges Obama not to extend property waiver
3. Colombian spy sentenced
4. IMF Mission issues praise, concerns
5. Foreign aid continues to flow
6. Advances in health care
7. Nicaragua's Olympic hope
8. UN to fight teen pregnancy

1. Divided Liberals celebrate 119th anniversary; election participation undecided

Liberals celebrated the 119th anniversary of the Liberal Revolution led by Gen. Jose Zelaya with the laying of a wreath in a solemn ceremony at his mausoleum. Zelaya's political descendents continue to be divided into parties and movements unable to unite since the presidency of President Arnoldo Aleman (1996-2001). The disgraced former president's party, the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), only managed to garner 5.93% of the vote in last year's presidential election national party. Its party congress last week saw participation by only 620 delegates of the 953 expected.

Less than a month before candidates must be registered for the Nov. 4 municipal elections, Liberal factions continue to call for unity while strongly criticizing each other's leadership. A faction of the PLC, which calls itself the Ramiro Sacasa Guerrero Movement, is urging Liberals to boycott the elections. All Liberal factions are united around the claim that President Daniel Ortega's election last year to a second consecutive term was a violation of the constitution, which they say makes his administration illegitimate. Factional leader and PLC dissident Leonel Teller said, “To vote in the upcoming municipal elections is to vote for the bad sons of the nation that are helping Ortega and his party legitimize and consolidate their dictatorial project, and my principles will not allow me to do so.”

Meanwhile, other PLC factions and the rival Liberal Independent Party (PLI) are gearing up for elections while still deciding whether to participate. The PLI, a venerable Liberal Party that stood in opposition to the Somoza dictatorship, was taken over by supporters of Eduardo Montealegre in the run up to last year's presidential campaign after he was ousted by the party he founded, the Nicaragua Liberal Alliance (ALN). Montealegre, who is giving up his seat in the National Assembly due to recovery from a recent heart operation, said that on the 119th anniversary of the Liberal Revolution Liberals should be lamenting that “we are returning to strong-men leaders and individualism.”

Among opposition demands is that the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE), the fourth branch of government that is responsible for elections, be reconstituted with new magistrates. Terms for the magistrates ran out in President Ortega's previous term but each faction in the National Assembly was able to block any combination of other parties from electing new magistrates. In the current National Assembly, the Sandinista Party (FSLN) holds enough seats to elect magistrates without the support of any other party, but has been attempting to negotiate a consensus with the minority parties. So far that has proven impossible. Eleven right-wing youth gave up a 24-day hunger strike in front of the CSE claiming that the Ortega government didn't care if they died and lamenting the lack of public support for their action. An M&R poll released on July 16 showed that 42.4% of the population expressed “much confidence” in the upcoming elections under the current CSE, while 28.1% have “no confidence” and 27.2 have a “little confidence.” On the other hand, 88.5% of the interviewees considered that a real political opposition, to contribute to the well-being of the country "must organize to participate, discuss and negotiate with the government" and only 6.3% considered that it should be organized to confront and mobilize against the government. On the participation of the opposition in municipal elections, 71.6% of respondents answered that it must participate, whether or not changes to the Supreme Electoral Council are made and 18.6% replied that the opposition should not take part if there are no changes in the electoral system.

In other election news, outspoken right-wing Auxiliary Bishop of Managua, Silvio Jose Baez, stated that conditions do not exist for democratic municipal elections and that the Catholic hierarchy will meet soon to issue a pastoral letter to Catholics about the election. He did say that the bishops would leave to each citizen's conscience whether or not to vote. Edmundo Jarquin, the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) standard bearer in the 2006 presidential election who headed the MRS in its alliance with Montealegre (for which he was awarded the vice-presidency of the PLI Alliance), is calling for the elections to be suspended. The PLI is calling for demonstrations in all 153 municipalities. Finally, the Christian Democratic Union (UDC), and its leader Agustin Jarquin, which have gone into previous elections in alliance with the FSLN, are considering fielding an independent slate of candidates this year. This may be a negotiating position to gain Jarquin the FSLN nomination for mayor of Managua. (La Prensa, July 10, 11, 12, 13, 16; El Nuevo Diario, July 10, 11, 12, 13, 16)

2. Callahan urges Obama not to extend property waiver

Former US Ambassador to Nicaragua Robert Callahan and Ray Walser wrote an incendiary piece posted on the Heritage Foundation website http://www.heritage.org/places/north-america/nicaragua calling on the Obama administration to refuse to grant a crucial waiver for a US law that prohibits the US government from giving aid to any country involved in property confiscations of US citizens. The absence of the waiver would result in US vetoes for loans and grants to Nicaragua from international financial institutions and a cut-off of US aid. The suspension of the waiver, according to Callahan and Walser, could be the impulse to make the “democratic opposition,” which they strongly criticize for being "unable" to join "around a person, plan or idea,” to put aside their differences and work together to “restore transparency, accountability and the rule of law in the country.” Businessman Cesar Zamora, vice-president of the Association of Latin American Chambers of Commerce, called the Callahan article “disinformation,” specifically referring to the part in the piece that mentioned “defacto confiscations” in the past year of property owned by US citizens. Zamora said there have been five peasant occupations, but that these are not the same as confiscations by the State. The waiver deadline is fast approaching. Go to http://www.nicanet.org/?p=1141 for more information and then call the State Department and your elected officials to demand that the property waiver be extended. (La Prensa, July 13; El Nuevo Diario, July 14; Radio La Primerisima, July 14)

3. Colombian spy sentenced

Convicted Colombian spy, Luis Felipe Rios Castaño, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage and disclosing State secrets. His military confederates, Lt. Alvarez Granera and Captain Leonidas Castillo Ruiz, were dishonorably discharged from the army and sentenced to 17-1/2 years each. Rios obtained information about Nicaraguan defense strategies and military relations with Venezuela and Russia, which he passed on to the Colombian military. While it was not brought up in the sentencing hearing, the Colombian military is increasingly being used as a surrogate for the United States training police and military in countries such as Honduras. It is extremely unlikely that Colombia would withhold the intelligence obtained by Rios from the US. (La Prensa, July 10, 13; El Nuevo Diario, July 10, 13)

4. IMF Mission issues praise, concerns

An IMF technical mission, currently negotiating a new multi-year loan agreement with Nicaragua, described as positive Nicaragua's economic performance and recommended that the government do more to control spending and improve its fiscal position by increasing taxes and reducing exemptions. The IMF recognized that macroeconomic development has been generally positive since 2010 and that “consumption and investment have been robust.”

However, the mission report criticized public employee salary supplements and electricity subsidies and called for reforms to the pension system. Bayardo Arce, chief economic advisor for the Ortega administration, acknowledged that without ALBA oil subsidies from Venezuela, which fund the approximately US$32 per month public employee salary bonus, Nicaragua would be unable to fund the bonus for 165,515 public employees as well as the lower electricity rates. Arce recognized that there is a serious need to either find alternative support funds in case Venezuelan oil aid were to cease, or to slowly phase out the subsidies. In terms of the electricity subsidies, “what should be clear to the population is that if we were to lose this [Venezuelan] support and the price of oil continues to rise, we will all face higher energy prices”, said Arce

Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) President Jose Adan Aguerri, said that the entire range of subsidies and IMF recommendations on taxes and deductions need to be discussed as part of the ongoing negotiations over a tax reform law. (El Nuevo Diario July 13; Radio La Primerisima July 13; La Prensa, July 13, 14 )

5. Foreign aid continues to flow

As part of a Central America-wide program to which the European Commission has allocated US$ 3 million, Nicaragua disaster relief agencies and at risk communities will receive funding to prepare for a range of natural disasters. Nicaragua will benefit from five projects nationally, one of which will include the Caribbean Coast region of Honduras. The rest of the funding will go to three projects that cover all of Central America. Also last week, Attorney General Hernan Estrada signed an agreement with Switzerland for a US$2 million grant to fight corruption and strengthen public administration. The Office of the Comptroller General will administer the grant. And finally, Spanish Ambassador Leon de la Torre Krais and Managua Mayor Daysi Torres participated in a ceremony closing out the first phase of a US$48 million Spanish-funded project to close Managua's La Chureca, Latin America's largest human inhabited dump. To date, 40 hectares of the dump have been sealed and 258 homes have been built to house the 1,500 former residents of the dump. Managua garbage coming to the area will now be either placed in controlled deposits or channeled to a modern recycling plant that will employ around 2,000 people, many former residents of the dump. (Radio La Primerisima, July 10, 13; El Nuevo Diario, July 13)

6. Advances in health care

Boasting 429 new doctors, Nicaragua will have the second highest number of non-Cuban students receiving Doctor of Medicine degrees this month from Cuban medical schools, surpassed only by Bolivia in the number of foreign graduates. Cuba's commitment to health care for the world's poor is shown by the fact that 5,694 foreigners will graduate this month after receiving free medical education. Students from 59 countries will graduate. The new doctors will join government health programs that have already benefitted hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans with free health care. Communication Council and Citizen Power Coordinator Rosario Murillo said last week that the advances have been possible because health care is an interagency project incorporating the Councils of Citizen Power, volunteers, health brigades and citizens.

Among the various successes of the government's health programs are the vast numbers of free doctor visits and surgeries given throughout the country. The “All with Voice” program for the disabled has already provided for 132,906 medical visits. Just in the past months, 115,000 dental exams and 12,666 dental surgeries took place while 715 people have had cataracts removed in the department of Rio San Juan. In total, 6,809 cataract surgeries have been completed throughout the country, bringing the back-log of surgeries down significantly. In the area of cancer prevention, 150,000 pap smears and 3,784 colonoscopies have been executed. The free health care system has also administered 214,211 breast exams and mammograms, as well as 95,000 gynecological ultrasounds for women, in addition to 9,000 ultrasounds for detection of prostate cancer in men. The health ministry has visited 1,817,425 homes for dengue control and other preventative health care purposes. On July 14, the third conference on prevention of childhood blindness at La Mascota Childrens Hospital is expected to treat 300 children with eye problems from around the country. (Radio La Primerisima, July 10, 11, 13; La Prensa, July 13)

7. Nicaragua's Olympic hope

Nicaragua's Olympic hopes lie in the hands of boxer Osmar Bravo, the only Nicaraguan athlete to qualify for this year's Olympics in London, UK. Bravo departed for Cardiff, Wales on July 4 to continue his training and described himself as psychologically and emotionally in his best moment. His dream is to become Nicaragua's first Olympic champion. In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Nicaragua's baseball team narrowly lost to the US, ending up in fourth place just shy of the bronze medal. To Nicaragua's chagrin, this year's Olympic committee inexplicably eliminated baseball and softball, replacing them with the elite and exclusive sports of golf and rugby. While Chinandega-born Bravo was the only Nicaraguan to qualify, five other Nicaraguan athletes will compete in four categories thanks to invitations, based on the principle of “universality”, from the International Federations of each athlete's respective sport.

In other sporting news, the first internationally sanctioned surfing competition began in Nicaragua on Sunday, organized by the International Surfing Association. Great enthusiasm and hope for increased tourism greeted the 200 internationally ranked competitors at Colorado Beach in Rivas. (Radio La Primerisima, July 10, 16; El Nuevo Diario, July 16; La Prensa, July 16)

8. UN to fight teen pregnancy

UN Population Fund (UNPF) Nicaragua deputy representative Osca Vizcar acknowledged that the ministries of Health and Education have “made great efforts” to educate and disseminate information on contraceptive methods but warned that 25% of pregnant women in Nicaragua are between the ages of 15-19. In rural areas, the level of pregnant adolescents is closer to 30%, which Vizcar attributes to “poverty and poor education.” However, Vizcar said, the issue is complex; teenage sexual activity is not necessarily a problem. Vizcar emphasized that the issue is one of lack of information and health services for older teenagers that are trying to live out their sexual lives. However, what is a major problem, Vizcar noted, is that Nicaragua has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Central America, with pregnant girls as young as 10 or 11 years old. When girls this age are getting pregnant it is not an issue of health and education anymore but one of “sexual, physical and physiological violence,” Vizcar affirmed. He made the remarks while announcing a UNPF program of education in 43 of Nicaragua's 53 municipalities. (Radio La Primerisima, July 10; La Prensa, July 10; El Nuevo Diario, July 13)
Labels: Archives