Nicaragua Network

1. FSLN wins majority control of both autonomous regional councils
2. Half a million in loans will expand water and sewer in 19 cities
3. Government increases minimum wage
4. Women recognized for leading role in government
5. Forest protection bill and Bosawas updates
6. National Assembly approves foreign military visits
7. Senior citizens to receive loans from government
8. Fires on the increase
9. Economic shorts
 

1. FSLN wins majority control of both autonomous regional councils

The Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) announced on Mar. 15 that the alliance led by the Sandinista party (FSLN) won 58 of 90 seats in the Mar. 2 Caribbean autonomous regional council elections. In the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) the FSLN’s Nicaragua Triumphs United Alliance won 28 seats followed by the indigenous YATAMA party with 11 seats, the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) with five seats, and the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) with one seat.  In the two previous regional elections, the FSLN and YATAMA in coalition held a ruling majority. In the new regional council, the FSLN has a majority on its own.  In the South Atlantic Regional Council election, the FSLN-led coalition won 30 seats followed by the PLC with six seats, YATAMA with four, PLI with three, and the Multi-Ethnic Indigenous Party (PIN) with two.  Two National Assembly delegates are allocated to each autonomous region. An FSLN and a PLI delegate will represent each.

The CSE rejected an appeal from YATAMA to be awarded two more council members in the RAAN council. Voter turnout was reported by the CSE to be 48%, a number contested by La Prensa, which put it at 39.95%, calling it “very low participation” and a five percent increase in abstentions over the 2006 presidential election. YATAMA party head Brooklyn Rivera complained of “government abuses” in the election. YATAMA has been part of the FSLN bench in the National Assembly since 2006, an alliance that Rivera terminated following the Mar. 2 election. He has served as chair of the National Assembly Committee of Indian Affairs, but said that he has not talked with Ortega in two years and that Ortega has not responded to his letters. Before a gathering of 2,500 sympathizers, Rivera said that the break with the FSLN is “a relief” and said that it will enable him to work harder “to defend indigenous rights.” He said that the YATAMA regional councilors would boycott the swearing in ceremony on May 4 to protest what he called fraudulent elections. FSLN National Assembly leaders Edwin Castro and Alba Palacios confirmed that YATAMA deputies Rivera and Elizabeth Henriquez will not face a move to replace them. They will now be considered independent members of the National Assembly, joining two other deputies who don’t participate in any party caucus. (Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 15; El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 13, 14, 15; La Prensa, Mar. 15, 16)

2. Half a million in loans will expand water and sewer in 19 cities

The National Assembly approved an Ortega administration request for authority to borrow US$500 million to expand potable water projects in 19 cities and for emergency situations arising from natural disasters. The loans will come from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, and the European Investment Bank. The US$186 million IDB loan will be an emergency fund for natural disasters. Nicaragua is the second most highly affected country in the world by hurricanes and tropical storms. The additional $322 million from the other two banks will expand water and sewer accessibility to neighborhoods in Camoapa, Chichigalpa, Masaya, Nandaime Cárdenas, Acoyapa, Santo Tomás, La Trinidad, Malpaisillo, Managua, Nueva Guinea, El Rama, Rivas, Puerto Cabezas, Jalapa, and Bluefields. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 14)

3. Government increases minimum wage

The Nicaraguan government increased the minimum wage scale by 9.80% for small and medium-sized enterprises, 10.77% for the agricultural sector, and 10.27% for the other economic sectors. The adjustment will begin retroactively as of March 1, 2014. The government’s order to make the pay retroactive to March 1 was celebrated by the National Workers’ Front (FNT), which had originally called for a 14% increase. The head of FNT recognized that it was important that the government followed the law in setting the lower increase. The president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), José Adán Aguerri, meanwhile asserted that the realignment will increase unemployment, and said that businesses will not pay retroactively. And while the business sector agreed to the raise, they said that in the future they would pay only a “one-digit” raise.

An estimated 160,000 Nicaraguan workers earn the minimum wage. The new minimum salaries still do not allow workers to cover the cost-of-living, calculated in Nicaragua by the cost of a “basic basket” of food and products. A farm worker at the lower end of the range will only be able to cover 24.5% of the cost of an average week’s shopping with their minimum pay; a construction worker will achieve buying power of some 55%.

The government mandated the minimum wage increase after unions, business and the government were unable to reach a collective consensus. Representatives from various sectors lamented the breakdown of the tri-partite agreement and the end of this vaunted five-year period of consensus and unprecedented labor stability. Labor Minister Alba Luz Torres said that the minimum pay was decided based on the accumulated inflation rate (5.7%) and the country's economic growth (4.6%) in 2013. (Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 18; La Prensa, Mar. 18; El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 18)

4. Women recognized for leading role in government

Arlen Vargas, Minister of Women, on Mar. 12 referred to a report by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an organization of some 163 nations, which cites Nicaragua as one of the countries with the greatest participation of women in ministerial cabinets. In the report’s ranking, this country outperforms countries such as Sweden, Finland, France, Cape Verde and Norway. Noting the broad participation of women in Nicaragua, she said women should take full advantage of the favorable atmosphere for leadership created by the Ortega administration. Rosario Murillo, coordinator of the Council of Communication and Citizenship, said that the appointment of two more women to head governmental institutions, as well as two new deputy ministers, would be announced in coming days. Currently, women hold almost 50 percent of positions of power in the Cabinet, and occupy 42 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. (Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 12)

5. Forest protection bill and Bosawas updates

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega sent a bill to the National Assembly to centralize administration and protection of forests, devastated in an “extraordinary” way in the last 20 years, an official source said on Thursday. Ortega seeks the authority to control requests for forestry exploitation, supervise logging businesses, and promote “the rational and sustainable use of the forests,” according to the bill. According to the proposed reform, the “presidency will assume control of the forestry administration in the entire territory of the nation.”

“In the last 20 years, 80 percent of [Nicaragua's] forest has been lost. There is an extraordinary deterioration,” said geologist William Martínez. Sixty-one percent of deforestation in the country has occurred in the Bosawas, a reserve almost the size of El Salvador, which was declared a UNESCO Biosphere in 1997. [It is unclear if this figure includes the Bosawas buffer zone or refers only to the nucleous of the Reserve.] Among government responses to the crisis are the creation of an Ecological Battalion of the army to protect the reserve, and a reforestation plan.

Indigenous communities with communal title to land in the Bosawas once again went to Managua to demand that the government crackdown on illegal mestizo colonizers who are deforesting the preserve, primarily for cattle ranching. (As mentioned in past Bulletins, a permanent dialogue has been established between the government and the Mayangna Sauní Bu nation to work against further expansion of agriculture into indigenous territory.)

Mayangna representatives said that along with the colonists has come a wave of violence, drug trafficking, and wood trafficking. An article in La Prensa comments on involvement in wood trafficking among local, regional, and national authorities as well as attorneys and landlords who work to partition and sell land, and attract colonists to Bosawas.

According to Marcos Hoppington of the National Demarcation and Titling Commission, “[Mayangna indigenous] community members point out the existence of a legal wood monopoly through Alba Forestal [a Nicaraguan and Venezuelan company], through which the Nicaraguan Forestry Institute gives permits rapidly and securely” to logging companies, while indigenous people have difficulty obtaining permits.

Mayangna representatives stated that tensions mount daily. A Mayangna leader, who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals, spoke of a climate of fear, violence, and intimidation. “We hear helicopters and other aircraft passing overhead. [The colonizers] are making our lives impossible.” Four Mayangnas were killed in 2011; some indigenous families are fleeing in fear. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 12, 14; La Prensa, Mar. 12, 13, 14)

6. National Assembly approves foreign military visits

The National Assembly approved the entry into Nicaragua of the militaries of 10 countries through June 2014 for interchanges and training, including Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, and the United States. Also included were China, Taiwan, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.  Russian Minister of DefenseSergei Shoigu set off a minor firestorm when he said that Russia is negotiating with Latin American countries, including Nicaragua, to use national ports and possibly to install a Russian military base. Nicaraguan Army Chief Gen. Julio Aviles and Vice-president Omar Halleslevens (former Army head) both denied that negotiations for a Russian base on Nicaraguan soil are taking place. The Nicaraguan constitution bans foreign military bases on national territory. On Thursday, after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian high command to discuss events in Ukraine and relations with Latin America, Shoigu clarified that Russia is negotiating in Latin America for permits to use ports for its warships and air bases for refueling its long-range bombers. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 16; La Prensa, Mar. 16, 17)

7. Senior Citizens to receive loans from government

Porfirio Garcia, president of National Unity of Senior Citizens, said the government of President Daniel Ortega has agreed to make low-interest loans to senior citizens who receive partial pensions. [Last year, over IMF objections, the government began to pay partial pensions to people over age 60 who did not have enough years of formal sector work to qualify for full social security.] Garcia made his remarks to the press after a meeting with the government committee that has been tasked with follow-up on agreements made to end last year’s protest actions by senior citizens. People receiving partial pensions will qualify for loans equaling up to three months of their pension. They can use the loans to start a business, repair their homes, or for personal emergencies. Fidel Moreno, a representative of the government committee, said the money for the loans will be released by the end of March. Garcia said 25,000 people are receiving partial pensions and 100 of them have already submitted loan applications. (Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 15)

8. Fires on the increase

So far in 2014, Nicaragua’s Civil Defense has registered 3,065 acres of forest and pasture land affected by 74 fires. Despite a permanent nationwide campaign initiated last December to prevent fires, this number represents a 24.3% increase in fires compared to the same time last year. The increase in fires, the majority of which are agricultural, was also seen in 2012-2013. Civil Defense chief Colonel Rogelio Flores asserted that if this tendency continues, the incidence of fires could increase by over 50% nationally by the end of the dry season next April. The government’s 2014 contingency plan regarding forest and agricultural fires has two directions: control and prevention, with greater emphasis on prevention. Flores mentioned “bad use of soil [and] forest, inadequate agricultural practices, poachers, lack of environmental consciousness, temperatures and climate that favor fires.” (La Prensa, Mar. 12)

9. Economic shorts

Plan Summer anticipates Holy Week tourism will involve 200,000 tourists including 53,000 foreigners, 5% of the total tourists for the year. Most would visit Nicaragua’s beaches. At a cost of US$800,000, 14,000 police and 1,868 health volunteers at 408 beaches and tourist attractions around the country will provide security and emergency health care. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 13)

Nicaragua has been awarded a regional training center for broadband communication funded by the Inter-American Development Bank and South Korea. The center will graduate 200 people a year from Central America and the Dominican Republic. Nicaraguans will study for free. (Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 14)

International coffee prices soared by 24.4% in February, the biggest jump since 1997, over market fears of a drought in Brazil. Still the price is only up to 2012 levels which were lower than the record year of 2011, so many producers are still having trouble. The volatile market benefits neither producers nor consumers. (El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 14)

Nicaragua and Cuba signed a trade agreement relieving each other of tariffs on many products in order to strengthen bilateral trade. (Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 14)

The secretary general of the Spanish Confederation of Fishers and the Nicaraguan ambassador to Spain met to discuss technical aid and investment for Nicaragua’s artisanal fishing industry. (Radio La Primerisima, Mar. 13)

The president of the Nicaraguan Association of Manufacturers and Distributors of Agrochemicals demanded the withdrawal of a presidential decree last week that will regulate toxic chemicals. The agricultural producers association, UPANIC, joined him in warning that the decree will make illegal the use of pesticides that have been in use for over 30 years. (La Prensa, Mar. 12)

The Nicaraguan Central Bank acknowledged that lower world prices for Nicaragua’s primary exports held Nicaragua’s economic growth to 4.6% in 2013, short of the goal of 4.7-5%, but ahead of the IMF’s prediction of 4.2%. Nicaragua’s Gross Domestic Product grew byUS$11.225 billionin 2013. (La Prensa, Mar. 12; El Nuevo Diario, Mar. 12)