Nicaragua Network

1. Vice-President Halleslevens attends inauguration of Solis
2. Protests mar swearing in of North Caribbean Regional council members
3. Nicaragua comes before UN Human Rights Council for periodic review
4. Russia and US express interest in shipping canal
5. International media showing increased interest in kidney disease
6. IMF mission in Nicaragua; bonds and de-dollarization up for discussion
7. Coffee news: renovation goes forward; two farms join Rainforest Alliance
8. Government approves “solidarity beans”
 

1. Vice-President Halleslevens attends inauguration of Solis

Luis Guillermo Solis was inaugurated as Costa Rica’s new president on May 8 in a ceremony attended by representatives of 80 nations.  Nicaraguan Vice-President Omar Halleslevens represented Nicaragua in what was seen as a good will gesture after Solis did not personally deliver an invitation to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega (as he did to the other Central American presidents). Ortega had a choice between ignoring the snub and attending the inauguration himself or sending a low-level delegation but instead he chose a compromise and sent his vice president. Relations between Nicaragua and Costa Rica have been cold since Nicaragua began dredging the San Juan River and the two nations have had a boundary dispute before the International Court of Justice (World Court) at The Hague over a small triangle of swamp at the mouth of the river. Solis did not mention the dispute with Nicaragua in his inaugural address, seen as a good sign. Instead, he said that the Costa Rican system was infected with corruption (a reference to the administration of former President Laura Chinchilla) and that the country’s economy was growing but wealth was becoming concentrated in a few hands.

Harold Rivas, Nicaragua’s ambassador to Costa Rica said, “Undoubtedly with the new government relations will improve because the new president is an intellectual who knows the common history of both countries very well.” Solis is a university professor from the Citizen Action Party (PAC), considered to be center-left.  He has said that he will accept whatever ruling is issued by the World Court and has stated that he wants to begin bilateral talks with Nicaragua about fighting drug trafficking, trade, border development, and undocumented Nicaraguans working in Costa Rica.  Halleslevens was well received in Costa Rica, invited to the lunch for heads of state and for the subsequent photograph with presidents, vice-presidents, presidents-elect and Prince Felipe of Spain. Other countries represented by their vice presidents were Venezuela and Peru.  (El Nuevo Diario, May 10; Informe Pastran, May 8; Radio La Primerisima, May 7)

2. Protests mar swearing in of North Caribbean Autonomous Region council members

Members of the regional governments of the North and South Caribbean Autonomous Regions were sworn in on May 5 by Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) President Roberto Rivas.  In the north, in Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas, the ceremony was disrupted by protests by the indigenous political party YATAMA whose leaders insisted that the party had won more council seats than those allotted it by the CSE. Riot police kept protesters from taking over the government building but, at the time of the swearing in ceremony, YATAMA party members inside began to boo Rivas and the proceedings were speeded up in order to finish quickly.  Yanera Allens was elected president of the council and Carlos Aleman was elected governor. However, YATAMA maintained that Eveling Taylor’ term as governor did not run out until 2016 making Aleman’s election illegal and that they had been “robbed” of the seat of council member Marina Bendles in District Seven.

Outside the building, one person suffered a gunshot wound from what police said was a rubber bullet.  Regional Police Chief Yuri Valle denied that forty people had been arrested.  He stated that police had received a call that some young people were out in a pickup truck shooting homemade mortars.  He said they detained four of them and only later found out that they were YATAMA sympathizers. 

On May 8, the Appeals Tribunal for the North Atlantic accepted an appeal by YATAMA against the ruling of the CSE that allotted two of the three council members in District Seven to the Sandinista Party.  YATAMA said that it should have won two of the three. The appeal will go to the Supreme Court. However, the tribunal did not, as YATAMA wanted, declare invalid the May 5 swearing in ceremony. As of May 11, 100 YATAMA women were still occupying the regional government offices in protest.  (El Nuevo Diario, May 5, 6, 8; La Prensa, May 7, 11)

3. Nicaragua comes before UN Human Rights Council for periodic review

On May 7, Nicaragua went before the United Nations Human Rights Council for its Universal Periodic Review, which is performed every four years for every member of the United Nations.  As part of this review, the government of the nation being examined presents a report, national organizations present their reports, and finally the 47 nations that are members of the council present their individual recommendations. The government’s report noted that extreme poverty decreased from 17.2% in 2005 to 8.2% in 2011 and that social inequality, measured through the Gini coefficient, fell from 0.41 to 0.37 in the same period. The report said that along with reestablishing free public education, the government increased the education budget by 35% from 2006. Speaking before the Council, Minister of Government Ana Isabel Morales said that the fight to stop violence against women is “government policy.”

Vilma Nuñez, president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), told the Council that there had been in recent years “a progressive deterioration of human rights,” listing the lack of transparency in recent elections including the exclusions of national electoral observers, poor conditions in the jails, the judicial branch’s lack of independence, what she called “a duopoly” in the ownership of national communications media, and a lack of fulfillment of commitments to indigenous peoples.

Among the recommendations were that of Australia which said that Nicaragua should protect the rights of freedom of expression and assembly and that of the United States which said that access to public services should be assured to all citizens independent of political affiliation.  Uruguay urged Nicaragua to consider the possibility of reinstituting legal therapeutic abortion when the life of the mother is in danger or where the pregnancy is the result of rape.  The reports can be read here: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/NISession19.aspx.  As the News Bulletin went to press the recommendations had not yet been posted.  (Informe Pastran, May 7, 8; El Nuevo Diario, May 8; La Prensa, May 7)

4. Russia and US express interest in shipping canal

Both Russia and the United States expressed interest in participating in Nicaragua’s shipping canal project (known in Nicaragua as the Grand Canal) if it goes forward. Russian Vice-Foreign Minister Sergei Raibkov said, “We have discussed this on more than one occasion with our Nicaraguan partners” and that Russia is looking for “convenient” ways to participate. US Ambassador to Nicaragua Samantha Powers said US-based investors are waiting for the completion of the economic feasibility and environmental impact studies, and the regulations under which foreign investment will operate, before deciding. Presidential Advisor Paul Oquist said the studies would be completed by June or July.  Some national and international commentators see the Russian interest in the project through geopolitical eyes, saying Russia is sending a message, “If you are getting into our back yard, we will get into yours.” The primary investor in the inter-oceanic canal, which would use parts of Lake Cocibolca [Lake Nicaragua], is the Chinese company HKND. It is estimated that the megaproject will cost US$40 billion.

A Nicaragua Network/Alliance for Global Justice delegation, Aug. 3-12, 2014, will examine climate change issues, including the Grand Canal. If you are interested in more information and an application, send an email to Chuck@AFGJ.org. (Radio La Primerisima, May 6; La Prensa, May 9)

5. International media showing increased interest in kidney disease

International media is showing increased interest in Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) among sugar cane workers in Central America where it has grown to epidemic levels in the past decade. US National Public Radio did a report based in Nicaragua two weeks ago and last week the New York Times and the Cuban peer-reviewed journal, “Medicc Review,” published a special edition on the disease with 16 articles, reporting that one out of three hospital deaths in El Salvador are due to CRF. The problem is most acute in Central America, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Egypt, and India. In one article in the Medicc Review, Saroj Jayasinghe proposes renaming the disease chronic agrochemical nephropathy because the author believes that it is caused by insecticides and other agrochemicals.

Following are links to the “Medicc Review” article and a New York Times blog on the subject. The New York Times article is available only to subscribers. http://www.medicc.org/mediccreview/index.php?issue=28 and http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/making-pictures-finding-solutions-in-nicaragua/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0(Informe Pastran, May 9; Radio La Primerisima, May 9)

6. IMF mission in Nicaragua; bonds and de-dollarization up for discussion

A technical mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Nicaragua on May 6 and will remain until May 14, meeting with government officials.  In meetings with the Central Bank, IMF officials examined the execution of the country’s Monetary Program for 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, the totals of foreign debt and international currency reserves, along with the growth in GDP and levels of inflation.  IMF officials have held meetings with the Ministry of the Treasury, Internal Revenue, Customs and the Social Security Institute (INSS), among others.  Of particular interest to the IMF is Social Security because last year the INSS took measures both to strengthen the system and take on more obligations for more senior citizens.  The IMF expects Nicaragua to grow by 4% in 2014 and 2015, according to recently released projections for the Latin American region.  The average for the entire region for 2014 is expected to be 2 ½ %.

The Nicaraguan government is asking the IMF for assistance with several proposals.  The first is a discussion of whether Nicaragua could at this point sell public debt bonds on the international market.  According to Central Bank President Ovidio Reyes, Nicaragua has been preparing since last year to issue bonds in order to expand its sources of financing and obtain loans with longer terms. The offer would be for US$250 million at a minimum.

The government is also looking for advice on the possible de-dollarization of the country’s economy. Presidential economic advisor Bayardo Arce said on May 7 that the government would begin adopting measures to strengthen the Nicaraguan Córdoba and work toward a time when most commercial exchanges would be in that currency.  Juan Chamorro of FUNIDES said that for de-dollarization to work, low inflation and macro-economic stability are necessary and Nicaragua currently has both.  But, he noted that Chile and Peru were successful with their de-dollarization programs because of two important factors—exchange flexibility and a massive influx of foreign exchange from exports which Nicaragua does not yet have.  He said that rather than a sudden decree, a process in which Nicaraguans utilized the Córdoba more and the currency gained in confidence without losing buying power would work better. Reyes of the Central Bank appeared to agree, saying that a strengthening of the national currency would come as a result of voluntary acceptance by economic actors, “and you can’t force that, or even less decree it.” He added that the free convertibility of the Córdoba with respect to the dollar would be maintained.  Over 70% of the deposits in Nicaragua’s banking system are currently in dollars. (Informe Pastran, May 7, 8, 9, 11, 12; El Nuevo Diario, May 8, 10; La Prensa, May 7; Radio La Primerisima, May 6)

7. Coffee renovation goes forward; two farms join Rainforest Alliance

Agriculture Minister Edward Centeno said last week that the National Commission for the Transformation of the Coffee Sector had begun work and that the efforts for the renovation of Nicaragua’s coffee groves will require public, private and cooperative sectors to work together with space for dialogue and reaching consensus. The Commission met with the representative of the National Alliance of Coffee Growers returning to the table after a dispute over how many members the Alliance could name to the commission was resolved. Treasury Minister Ivan Acosta said that the government will provide US$10 million in financing at the state-owned Banco Produzcamos for small growers with less than five acres in coffee and who cannot obtain credit from the private banking system.  Medium and large scale growers can receive funding through the recently created Coffee Fund within the private banking system.  Acosta said, “With coffee providing 300,000 jobs, we must provide important levels of resources to benefit our population.”  The plan under the “Program for the Transformation and Development of Coffee,” is to increase the yields of growers with fewer than 35 acres (97% of Nicaragua’s coffee farmers) from three hundredweights per acre to seven per acre. The goal is to help 30,000 small growers in four years to renovate and improve their coffee farms.

In related news, Rainforest Alliance ranked two specialty coffee farms, Las Morenitas and El Molino, in northern Nicaragua as 5^th and 6^th among 60 competing farms in Latin America. Farms were ranked on their farming practices, environmental impact, and on some external factors such as whether they provide schools for workers’ children. Included were both individually owned and cooperatives or association-owned farms. Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee represents 5.2% of world production.  Rainforest Alliance Certification, not to be confused with Transfair’s global fair trade certification, certifies 46 coffee farms in Nicaragua. In 2013, those farms produced 454,962 metric tons of coffee, a 20% increase over the previous year.  (Informe Pastran, May 8; El Nuevo Diario, May 8)

8. Government approves “solidarity beans”

While inflation for the first quarter only reached 1.83%, lower than last year’s 2.58%, the principal increases came in the price of food staples like beans which increased to almost US$0.90 per pound in spite of assurances that there is no scarcity. Luis Humberto Guzman, president of Pro Competencia, a consumer group, said that his organization was going to investigate.  In light of this, the government announced last week that President Daniel Ortega had approved a program that would sell beans at a favorable price by means of “mobile stands” that would visit all the neighborhoods of the capital and the rest of the country.  Government spokesperson Rosario Murillo said, “We will go neighborhood by neighborhood reaching the families and the communities so that we can support the family budget.” Eduardo Fonseca of the Chamber of Commerce and Services said, “There is no scarcity of beans; we did not export more than last year and the same amount was grown in the third [Apante] harvest.”  (La Prensa, May 7; Informe Pastran, May 7; Radio La Primerisima, May 7)