Nicaragua Network

1. Nicaragua celebrates Independence Day and anniversary of Battle of San Jacinto
2. National Police celebrates 35th anniversary of its founding
3. Experts to study whether explosion was due to meteorite
4. Academy of Science holds conference on canal
5. Businesspeople make proposals on National Day of Entrepreneur
6. National Assembly to address mining regulations
7. Cattle industry works to create a “brand name” for Nicaraguan beef
8. Nicaragua presents “sustainable schools” program at FAO regional conference

1. Nicaragua celebrates Independence Day and anniversary of Battle of San Jacinto

On Sept. 14 and 15, Nicaraguans celebrated the 158^th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto at which the forces of US filibuster William Walker were defeated and the 193^rd anniversary of Central America’s declaration of independence from Spain. Under the constitution, Sept. 14 and 15 are national holidays and so, because the 14^th fell on a Sunday, Nicaraguan workers were given a day off work on Sept. 16^th as well. Over 800,000 students marched in school parades on Sept. 14 although the march in Managua of the ten best marching bands of all the country’s schools was postponed because of rain.

Congratulations were received by all the five Central American countries, including from Google which prepared five doodles, one for each country, for Central American users. The doodle for Nicaragua was the national flower, the Sancuanjoche (plumeria alba). To view the doodles, go here: http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/imprimir.php/329968. US Secretary of State John Kerry sent a messages in which he said that that he had felt the spirit of independence when he visited Nicaragua as a new senator [in 1985]: “I met Nicaraguans from all sectors—business people, priests, mothers, and government officials. The experience left a lasting impression. Nicaraguans are strong, proud, and committed to a future of peace and prosperity—from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Coast.”

On Sept. 12, President Daniel Ortega received the Torch of Central American Independence in the Plaza of the Revolution in Managua. The torch is carried each September by student runners from Guatemala City to San Jose, Costa Rica, to commemorate the declaration of independence in 1821. Ortega said, “Today we live moments of great tranquility, stability, and peace in this land of Dario and of Sandino and this permits us to use our resources for education to develop our country.” He sent greetings to the four other Central American countries and their presidents, noting that while Panama has joined the Central American Integration System (SICA), in 1821 it was part of Colombia. He said that in South America the people, led by Simon Bolivar, fought bloody battles to gain their independence as did the people of Mexico, but the struggles in Central America were thankfully less painful. (Radio La Primerisima, Sept.12, 15, 16; El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 15)

2. National Police celebrates 35th anniversary of its founding

The National Police celebrated its 35^th anniversary last week with several public events.  Chiefs of police from 15 countries attended a gala at the Ruben Dario National Theater after a special meeting of the Central American and Caribbean Police Forces Commission held earlier that day. President Daniel Ortega was the main speaker at a rally in the Plaza of the Revolution at which a number of officers were raised to higher rank. In his speech, Ortega said that visitors from other countries who come as tourists, to work or to invest, find in Nicaragua a zone of peace and stability.  He said, “This framework of security is fundamental” and maintaining it “is our great challenge.”

Head of the Police First Commissioner Aminta Granera said that the police have a constant commitment to the security of all Nicaraguans and to the prevention of crime. She said that Nicaragua’s homicide rate dropped last year to 8.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, the lowest in Central America and the second lowest in Latin America as a whole, based on figures from the United Nations Development Program. She stated that there are now women’s and children’s police stations in all of the country’s 153 municipalities and noted that while the murder of women has dropped by 14%, rapes have not dropped. The rate of auto theft in Nicaragua is 6.7%, the second lowest in Latin America. Campaigns continue to lower the rate of traffic deaths.

In related news, two new prisons, one for women and a maximum security prison for men, built with part of the US$9.2 million confiscated from the drug traffickers arrested in the TELEVISA case, were inaugurated on Sept. 8. The women’s prison, built with an investment of US$1.8 million, will house 250 women 16 kilometers southeast of Managua. The prison has workshops for handicrafts, sewing, and a bakery along with a vegetable garden and places to raise chickens and pigs. The men’s prison, built at a cost of US$2.1 million, will house “highly dangerous” prisoners, convicted of drug trafficking, organized crime and money laundering, according to Vice-Minister of Governance Carlos Najar. Some US$2.1 million of the TELEVISA money is also being used to build a new prison in Bluefields for 200 prisoners.  Governance Minister Ana Isabel Morales said that all of these prisons will offer better conditions. (Informe Pastran, Sept. 9; Radio La Primerisima, Sept. 10, 11; El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 9, 11)

3. Experts to study whether explosion was due to meteorite

On Sept. 8, Bill Cooke, lead scientist at the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office, told El Nuevo Diario that it was unlikely that the explosion heard throughout Managua on the night of Sept. 6 was a meteorite. “We believe that the explosion more likely was from a ton of TNT, a ton of dynamite,” he said. The explosion at 11:05pm occurred in a forested area 300 meters from the Camino Real Hotel next to an Air Force base and near the Managua International Airport. However, the inspector general of the army, Major General Adolfo Zepeda, said that the explosion was not a bomb. “There was absolutely nothing there related to a bomb; that was an object that came out of the sky and fell there,” he said.

Paul Chodas of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said that it was “highly improbable” that the crater in Managua was related to a piece of the asteroid that passed near the earth that same weekend. He added that no one had seen the brilliant light characteristic of meteorites. But, Nicaraguan scientist Jaime Incer Barquero said that it would be unlikely that anyone would see the light of a meteorite as it was close to midnight, cloudy, and raining.

William Strauch, scientific advisor to the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (INETER), said, “Our hypothesis continues to be a meteorite” although he did not discard the possibility that it could be “space junk,” old satellites or other materials fallen to earth.  He said that the government was contacting scientists in Germany, the United States, Mexico, Uruguay, and other countries to study the crater which measures 12 meters in diameter and 5.5 meters in depth.

Incer visited the site with specialists from INETER and the National Autonomous University and said that the certainty of the hypothesis that the explosion was caused by a meteorite “will depend on the analysis that is done on what is found under this crater.” He added, “Look at how these crystals have formed in what is porous rock. Why are these mini-crystals here? They could have formed at the moment of impact under high temperature.”

Politics, of course, had to be involved.  The opposition Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) released a statement saying that “The usual secrecy with which the event was handled for more than 12 hours, the fierce military vigilance and the declarations of the government that it was a meteorite have given rise to a wave of incredulity, speculations, jokes, and irritation in wide sectors of society.” The statement added that “Even if we never know what caused Saturday’s explosion, what we do know is that it finishes off the little credibility that the Ortega regime retained.” Communications coordinator Rosario Murillo said the government was closely following the scientific investigations, noting, “Some discard the possibility [of it being a meteorite]; others say it could be. It is important for the investigation to continue.” (El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 9; La Prensa, Sept. 10; Radio La Primerisima, Sept. 9; Informe Pastran, Sept. 9)

4. Academy of Science holds conference on canal

The Nicaraguan Academy of Science (ACN), the Institute for the History of Nicaragua and Central America (IHNCA), and the Department of Culture of the Central American University (UCA) held a three day conference last week on the proposed interoceanic shipping canal across Nicaragua. A forum on Sept. 11 included panelists Telemaco Talavera of the National Council of Universities, Victor Campos of the Humboldt Center, agricultural engineer Michel Merlet, and Maria Luisa Acosta of the Center for Legal Assistance to Indigenous Peoples (CALPI). Acosta said that, while the indigenous peoples in the regions to be affected by the canal have been informed, the consultation carried out by the company with the canal concession was not a process that was “free, previous, and informed” as required by International Labor Organization Convention No. 169 on the rights of indigenous peoples which was signed and ratified by Nicaragua. She said that, since the law approving the canal was approved in June of 2013, thirty-two challenges have been brought before the Supreme Court, one of which was by the Rama and Kriol Territorial Government through whose territory the canal would pass.

Talavera, spokesperson for the National Canal Commission, said that the HKND Company had raised the expected cost of the canal and related projects to US$50 billion and expected to have all the studies of the territory to be affected by the canal finished by Oct. 15. He said that the system for compensating property owners along the canal route is being worked out and the amounts will vary depending on each case. He denied that Russia would be providing military protection for Nicaragua during the building of the canal. He said that the only protection would be Nicaraguan, adding, “We are not going to reinvent the Southern Command of the United States with the Panama Canal.” (El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 13; La Prensa, Sept. 13)

5. Businesspeople make proposals on National Day of Entrepreneur

Nicaragua’s business community celebrated the National Day of the Entrepreneur on Sept. 9^th.  In an extensive speech at a gathering that included major business, labor, and political figures, Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), lauded the multi-million dollar investment in the energy sector which has enabled the change to renewable energy.  At the same time, he listed the challenges in the energy sector which include bringing electricity to more communities and improving service, decreasing illegal connections, while lowering the price of electricity and increasing investment in new projects so as to convert Nicaragua into a net exporter of energy. Aguerri listed the successes that the private sector had achieved in dialogue with the government which included the naming of board members to state agencies and a new affordable housing law, among others. At the same time he said that the business community continues to insist on electoral reform, particularly amendments to the current election law, credible election officials, and independent national and international election observation. (Informe Pastran, Sept. 9; La Prensa, Sept. 10)

6. National Assembly to address mining regulations

Deputy Alberto Lacayo, chair of the Labor and Trade Union Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, called a committee meeting for next week to revise the country’s mining law in light of the tragedy in Bonanza two weeks ago that trapped 27 artisanal miners in the abandoned Comal mine, costing five of them their lives. Lacayo asked, “Why is work in a mine that dangerous permitted?” He added, “Those are the situations that need to be regulated in the law. The abandoned mines are a mortal danger; conditions don’t exist to work there.” He said that more controls were necessary to reduce risks to artisanal miners. After the tragedy, President Daniel Ortega called for solutions to prevent future tragedies.  On Sept. 10 Minister of Energy and Mines Emilio Rapacciolli said that supervision and monitoring of the artisanal mines would be done by municipal authorities, his ministry, and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in order to avoid future accidents. Roberto Gonzalez, general secretary of the Sandinista Workers Central said that there are some 50,000 people involved in artisanal mining and that there have been 150 deaths due to poor conditions, security and control. Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) Deputy Victory Hugo Tinoco called for an investigation by the National Assembly to determine who was responsible for the tragedy. He said that, although the miners worked on their own, the big mining companies bought gold from them and thus have some responsibility along with government regulators. (La Prensa, Sept. 10; Informe Pastran, Sept. 10)

7. Cattle industry works to create a “trade mark” for Nicaraguan beef

The change in preference of world beef consumers toward leaner meat with great flavor is creating an opportunity for Nicaraguan beef exporters to market “Made in Nicaragua” beef on the world market. Onel Perez, executive director of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Beef Exporters (CANICARNE) said, “99% of our beef production comes from animals fed solely on free range pastures, water, and salt, which makes for healthy meat.” Nicaragua is well positioned in Central America to market its “brand.” With 4.2 million head of cattle, it already has an 80% market share of the beef exported from Central America. Last year beef ranked second among Nicaragua’s exports with earnings of US$389 million.

Rene Blandon, president of the National Ranchers Commission stated, “A trade mark of our own, whether it is an icon, a logo, or whatever, would say much about us – the kind of people we are, the kind of country we are, what we produce, the security we have – all those things.” And the “Nicaragua trade mark,” also known as a “geographical indication,” could extend to the rest of Nicaragua’s products. According to Sonia Somarriba, director of Sales and International Relations for the Association of Nicaraguan Producers and Exporters, only Costa Rica in Central America has developed a “trade mark for itself.” She explained, “What we want is to be perceived internationally as a country that produces quality goods and services attractive to investment and tourism.” All of the organizations involved in the cattle industry and the National Agrarian University, met for the third time on Sept. 12 to reach a consensus on a strategy to create a Nicaraguan “trade mark.” Once the strategy is developed, hopefully by December, the cattle industry intends to take it to the National Assembly to write it into law to be put into practice in 2015. (El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 13)

8. Nicaragua presents “sustainable schools” program at FAO regional conference

Nicaragua presented its successful experience in purchasing food for school meals from family farms at a workshop on “sustainable schools” held by the Mesoamerican Sub-regional Office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in San Juan, Costa Rica. The other countries that presented their programs, which the FAO called models for other countries, were Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, and the Dominican Republic. The FAO news release described sustainable schools as a feeding program based on community education and participation, healthy school lunch menus, school gardens for teaching and nutrition, reform of kitchens, popular restaurants and food booths, and the purchase of family agriculture by the State. The report said the purchase of family agriculture for school lunches “in addition to strengthening family farming and the local economy, contributes to the diversification of school children’s diets with fresh and health food.” In Nicaragua the sustainable schools program began with 15 elementary schools in the municipality of El Tuma-La Dalia benefitting 1,600 boys and girls. Now all the schools in the country serve school meals and most have their own gardens. (El Nuevo Diario, Sept.  1)