Nicaragua Network

1. Archbishop Brenes now wears the biretta of a cardinal
2. Sandino’s death 80 years ago remembered
3. Caribbean Coast regional elections to be held Sunday
4. Titling of indigenous land on Caribbean Coast moves forward along with other programs
5. Nicaragua Network marks 35 years of solidarity
 

1. Archbishop Brenes now wears the biretta of a cardinal

On Feb. 22, Pope Francis gave Managua Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes and 18 others the ring and red biretta of cardinals of the Catholic Church at a ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  Among the new cardinals were archbishops from five Latin American countries (where the greatest concentration of Catholics can be found), including (along with Nicaragua) Haiti, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina.  Also named were bishops from other developing countries: Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Philippines, and Saint Lucia.

A delegation of ten people accompanied Brenes to Rome, including Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Baez, Brenes’ mother Lilliam Solorzano and other relatives, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Samuel Santos, National Police Chief Aminta Granera (a former Catholic nun), and other close associates of the archbishop.Brenes and Baez traveled on Feb. 17 and were received by Pope Francis in a general audience the next day.  However, later in the week, Brenes’ mother was on a flight to Rome that was delayed when a flight attendant became sick and the plane had to turn around.  Brenes reported that Pope Francis was concerned and ask him the night before the ceremony, “Has your mother arrived yet?”  She had not but she did arrive in time for the ceremony the next day.

Government spokesperson and First Lady Rosario Murillo congratulated Brenes saying, “We want to send a special greeting from President Daniel and all in the Nicaraguan government to His Eminence Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes.” She said that she was sure that the new cardinal “will continue to be the same Bishop Brenes, serving the people, among the most humble and advancing the faith and values in today’s Nicaragua.”  Brenes, who was ordained in 1974, served as pastor of many parishes and as bishop of Matagalpa before becoming archbishop of Managua.  He is known for being on the go visiting parishes, for his bushy gray hair, dressing in jeans, and driving and washing his own car.

On Sunday, Feb. 23, Brenes said mass in Rome’s Saint Lucia Church for the Nicaraguan community in Italy and those who had traveled from Nicaragua for the ceremony.  He said that the pope had told the cardinals that they were not princes of the church, as they have been traditionally called, but rather pastors who had to be out among the sheep. Foreign Minister Santos said that making Archbishop Brenes a cardinal was “very important for the church and for Nicaragua” and that it represents the efforts to make “a Nicaragua that is just for everyone.” He added that, “We have to continue the process of bringing together the church and the government; a church that concerns itself for the poor and a government concerned for the most humble and needy.”

Just in time to transmit the ceremony in Rome live, the Nicaraguan Catholic Church inaugurated its television station, Channel 51 on the local cable service.  The Managua archdiocese announced that the new cardinal will be welcomed back from Rome on Mar. 3 with a caravan from the airport.  On Mar. 4, Cardinal Brenes will celebrate mass in the cathedral with Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo and all the bishops of Nicaragua.  (El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 20, 21, 22; Informe Pastran, Feb. 22, 24; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 22, 23, 24; La Prensa, Feb. 21, 23)

2. Sandino’s death 80 years ago remembered

It was Feb. 21, 1934, when a firing squad of 13 National Guard soldiers, under orders from Anastasio Somoza Garcia and with the collaboration of US Ambassador Arthur Bliss Lane, shot national hero Augusto Sandino and his generals Francisco Estrada and Juan Pablo Umanzor at a Managua airfield.  The 80^th anniversary of the assassination was commemorated last week in Nicaragua with rallies, speeches, walks, and volunteer work. 

At the evening rally in honor of Sandino, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Antonio Jaua said, “How could we not come to commemorate the death of a follower of Bolivar like Augusto Calderon Sandino?  We feel honored to be in this plaza where we were so many times with our comandante Hugo Chavez and we feel an ocean of sentiment because of so much history, so many memories.”  President Daniel Ortega reiterated his support for President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and said that the government of the United States had misrepresented the struggle in Venezuela.  He called on President Barack Obama to “Concern yourself with Guantanamo [and] work to stop the killing of migrants on the border of the United States.”

The National Assembly held a special session in honor of the anniversary attended by cabinet ministers and members of the diplomatic corps.  Assembly President Rene Nuñez said that Sandino’s thought was rich and diverse, that he spoke of cooperatives, of Latin American unity, of foreign intervention, of patriotism, of sovereignty, of the working class and of peasant farmers.  Nuñez said, “It is important to study the thought of Sandino, who was not only a military fighter but also a political visionary and a forger of men.”  Historian Aldo Diaz Lacayo pointed out that Sandino’s struggle against the occupation of Nicaragua by US Marines was celebrated in all of Latin America, and even in Europe and Asia.

Members of Sandino’s family, Army Chief General Julio Aviles, and other high military and police officials, laid wreaths at a monument to Sandino at the Battalion of Mechanized Infantry.  Aviles said, “The example of General Sandino is in our hearts and on this day… we repeat our commitment to our people to continue doing all that we can for the building of the just, dignified, and prosperous country that Nicaraguans deserve.”

Demonstrators tied up traffic on several days last week. On Feb. 20, the crowd at the Sandinista Youth rally and march, estimated by its organizers at 50,000 and by El Nuevo Diario at 35,000, tied up traffic all around the city as it wound from the Central American University to the Hugo Chavez Circle in commemoration of Sandino’s life and death.  Earlier in the week, a group of veterans known as the “Cubs of Sandino” caused traffic jams on the North Highway when they marched to demand the benefits they were granted by a 2013 “Special Law for Attention to War Veterans.” They went to the National Assembly where they met with Sandinista Deputy Jose Figueroa who told them that, while the Assembly had passed the law, writing up the regulations and providing the benefits corresponded to other government offices. He said he would take up their claims with President Ortega.  One of the group’s leaders, Francisco Cuadra, said that the men each wanted eight acres and a little house and that many of them were without work. 

Meanwhile, assemblies were held, films shown, exhibitions opened, streets paved, and patients treated by special medical brigades, all in honor of Sandino.  At the Palace of Culture (formerly the National Palace), an exhibit opened of paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs entitled “Sandino in Latin American Art” and containing works from Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, France, and Nicaragua.  (Informe Pastran, Feb. 21; El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 19, 20, 22; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 17, 20, 21; La Prensa, Feb. 19, 21)

3. Caribbean Coast regional elections to be held Sunday

Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) magistrate Jose Luis Villavicencio said last week that voter lists, ballots and other materials for the March 2 elections for regional and municipal councils were ready to be sent by air to Bilwi (Puerto Cabezas) and Bluefields on Feb. 25.  From there they will be taken to 417 precincts where over 300,000 residents of the North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions (RAAN and RAAS) are registered to vote.  Villavicencio said that the previous week he had visited the RAAN and RAAS to meet with political and religious leaders urging them to motivate the population to come out to vote.  Voter abstention in non-presidential elections has been high in recent years, reaching 50% in the last regional elections.  But Villavicencio denied that people stayed home because they did not trust the CSE, as some in the opposition have asserted, but rather because the candidates did not motivate them to come out to vote. Seventeen parties are participating in the election but not all parties are running candidates in all districts as many are local parties.

Jorge Irias, a leader in the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), said he was concerned that the nearly 4,000 members of the Army, sent to the region to assure a peaceful election, would vote and move the balance in favor of the Sandinistas and he said that they would work to prevent Army members who do not live in the region from voting.  Independent Liberal Party (PLI) leader Eduardo Montealegre visited Bluefields, Pearl Lagoon, Corn Island and other El Tortuguero telling voters to resist pressure from the Sandinistas and, in the privacy of the voting booth, vote for the PLI.

Meanwhile, in Siuna, former mayor and PLC leader Denis Flores Obando called on the PLI to ally itself with his party in spite of the vow of PLC leader and former President Arnoldo Aleman that the PLC would run alone. The two Liberal parties would decide which candidates to ask all of their members to support “alternating in the form of a braid” instead of splitting the Liberal vote.  “I prefer to divide the pie among us rather than have the Sandinistas eat it,” said Flores Obando. The campaign ends on Feb. 26 with only government “get out the vote” messages allowed on the last days before the election.  (Informe Pastran, Feb. 24; El Nuevo Diario, Feb. 20, 22, 24; La Prensa, Feb. 21, 23; Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 24)

4. Titling of indigenous land on Caribbean Coast moves forward along with other programs

According to a recently released report, the government has demarcated and titled 21 indigenous territories which include within their boundaries 301 indigenous and Afro-Nicaraguan communities with a total of 211,041 people and 14,050 square miles of territory. Fifteen of these titles have been registered and turned over to the inhabitants.  The areas that have not been titled include the Miskitu territories Tasba Pri and Tasbaika Kum and the Mayangna Sauni Bu and others.  The Mother Earth Program has as its goal the further demarcation and titling of 22 territories of the Miskitu, Mayangna, and Rama indigenous communities as well as Garifuna and Creol/Kriol communities. These include 329 communities in the North Atlantic Autonomous Regions (RAAN and RAAS), and the Departments of Jinotega and Rio San Juan.  The titling of the land has permitted an advance in the institutionalizing of self-government among the indigenous with resulting advances in providing services and managing resources.

Some of the principal reserves of biodiversity in the country are found in indigenous territory.  Among those areas are the Reserves of Bosawas and Indio Maiz along with the Pearl Cays and the Miskito Cays.  The areas are highly susceptible violent weather patterns such as hurricanes and to the effects of climate change motivating the government to establish procedures for the management of these areas including Guides for the Management of Protected Areas and the Ecological Norm for the Kipla Saint Tasbaika Kum Indigenous Territory. A National System for Protected Areas (SINAP) has been set up with a Management Plan for the Bosawas Reserve and the updating of the Strategy for Biodiversity Conservation. A permanent dialogue has been established between the government and the Mayangna nation to put a brake on the expansion of the agricultural frontier into indigenous territory.  This year 90 volunteer community rangers have been trained and equipped and 250 key community members have received classes in climate change, adaptation and mitigation. 

Meanwhile, plans for the sustainable use of forests have been implemented in the RAAN, RAAS, and other departments. Eighty-nine tree nurseries with a production of 1.77 million plants have been established with the training of 456 workers.  Seed banks in Bilwi and Alamikamba are collecting the seeds of precious hardwood trees and other plants. Last year, 69 indigenous communities were introduced to the model of community forestry and four lumber mills and four cabinet making shops were put in operation generating 3,580 jobs. Three centers in Siuna, Bonanza, and Rosita have been set up where farmers can sell their harvests of cacao and coconuts and 2,000 small farmers are growing African Palm.  

In the area of food security, 890 indigenous and Afro-Nicaraguan families have benefitted from a program for the production of basic grains and other foods including corn, rice, beans, plantain, taro root, and fruits.  The program, titled Productivity, Food and Nutritional Security on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua (PAIPSAN), promotes a model that is culturally appropriate to the different agricultural zones with the goal of benefitting 10,000 small farmers.  (Radio La Primerisima, Feb. 21)

5. Nicaragua Network marks 35 years of solidarity

Thirty-five years ago, on Feb. 24 and 25, 1979, a conference was held in Washington, DC, to support the Sandinista forces gathering to overthrow the US-backed Somoza dictatorship.  Among the sponsors of the conference were leaders of important national organizations such as the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the National Lawyers Guild, the National Council of Churches, the US Catholic Conference, and the United Auto Workers, among others.  There were Nicaraguan solidarity committees with members made up of Nicaraguan and US citizens already functioning in cities around the United States, including in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Washington, DC, and the invitation to the conference said that, “One of the greatest problems we face is lack of coordination of our work, duplication of efforts, scarcity of information, overlapping campaigns.”  The conference decided to establish a network of solidarity groups and religious organizations to be coordinated through a national center which in a few weeks would be named the National Network in Solidarity with the Nicaraguan People, later shortened to Nicaragua Network.  The closing declaration of the conference declared that the US government “bears a direct responsibility for the long suffering of the Nicaraguan people, having established and supported the Somoza dictatorship since its inception.”  The declaration emphasized that Nicaragua’s sufferings were not caused by one man, but rather by a “repressive social and economic system” which must be “completely rooted out if true democracy is to come to Nicaragua.”

In the following years, the Nicaragua Network and its solidarity committees (which grew to over 300) around the US supported the Sandinista revolution by sending tens of thousands of US citizens to Nicaragua to pick coffee and cotton, by raising money for the literacy crusade, campaigning against aid to the contras, and organizing information and civil disobedience campaigns that helped to prevent a US invasion of Nicaragua.  After the Sandinista electoral loss in 1990, the Nicaragua Network supported projects which kept alive the vision of the revolution, campaigned for debt relief, worked against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and continued to bring Nicaraguan speakers to the United States and take people from the US to Nicaragua.  Since Daniel Ortega was returned to the presidency in 2007, the Nicaragua Network has supported the efforts of the Sandinista government to provide free public education and health care, reduce poverty, achieve food security, expand renewable energy, demarcate indigenous land and preserve the environment.  The Network continues to provide balanced progressive information about Nicaragua through its weekly Nicaragua News Bulletin and web page at www.nicanet.org and sponsor educational trips to Nicaragua such as the indigenous rights delegation scheduled for next month.  (Nicaragua Monitor, Jan. 2004, Feb. 2004)