Nicaragua Network

1. Nicaragua ranks sixth in World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report
2. Weather improves after death toll from rains rises to 32
3. Nicaragua has lowest level of defense spending and smallest army in Central America
4. Canal protests raise concerns about racism
5. Nicaraguan prisons least violent in Central America
6. Systems installed to improve environmental footprint of coffee production
7. Sea turtles still need nest protection
8. Economic briefs: TPL, remittances, Petrocaribe, customs

1. Nicaragua ranks sixth in World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report

Last week, the World Economic Forum released its ninth annual Global Gender Gap Report for 2014 which measures national gender gaps in 142 countries on economic, political, education, and health criteria. The report listed Nicaragua as the “best performer in the region and the only country from Latin America and the Caribbean to make it to the top ten for the third consecutive year.” The report continued: “Since 2006, the country has recorded the highest improvement to date (absolute and relative). Nicaragua has come a long way to close the economic participation gap with one of the best improvements recorded since 2006. Nicaragua is also the country with the highest absolute improvement in ‘women in ministerial positions.’” Nicaragua rose four places from the previous study and is one of ten Latin American and Caribbean countries that appear among the top 50 countries. Argentina advanced from position 34 to 31; Peru from 80 to 45; and Chile from 91 to 66. Brazil and Mexico fell in the rankings.

Nicaragua’s overall ratio was 0.789 with 1.00 meaning that men and women were equal. Nicaragua thus ranked sixth in the world after the Nordic countries of Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Number seven was another developing country, Ruanda. While Nicaragua rated highest in the world in numbers of women holding ministerial positions with a ratio of 1.33 (54 women to 43 men), Ruanda rated highest in the world in numbers of women in the legislative body with a ratio of 1.76 (64 women to 36 men). Nicaragua ranked first in health and survival with a ratio of 1.08 for healthy life expectancy (countries with a low number would have high maternal death rates) and .95 for sex ratio at birth (countries with a low number could be aborting girl fetuses).

In the area of technical and professional workers, Nicaragua’s ratio was 1.05, meaning that the number of women in those fields exceeded the number of men. The ratios for enrollment in secondary and higher education were 1.14 and 1.09, also showing women’s achievements. However, when it came to wage equality for similar work, the score was only 0.61 and for earned income, 0.46, meaning that women have a long way to go to close the wage gap.

La Prensa quotes the BBC as pointing out that the study only compared the relative positions of men and women in each country, not the country’s level of development with relation to other countries. This means that while in Nicaragua more women than men attend the country’s universities and Nicaragua thus ranks higher than many developed countries, few Nicaraguans have that opportunity and a higher percentage of both men and women have access to higher education in industrialized countries.

Government spokesperson Rosario Murillo applauded the report which she said recognized the capability and work of Nicaraguan women, saying, “What a triumph this is for a small country in the center of the Americas!” she said. She added, “We know that they are spaces that we women merit, that they are not gifts. We have worked hard to occupy these spaces and we know how to fill them with efficiency, with responsibility, with intelligence and sensitivity.”

However, Reina Rodriguez, a leader in the Network of Women Against Violence, said, “Nicaragua is not the land of marvels for women who are victims of violence and abuse on a daily basis.” Ligia Briones said, “It’s not enough for women to hold posts in ministries; the big question is whether they exercise any real authority. They still work in a patriarchal and machista system.” Manuel Ortega Hegg, president of the Nicaraguan Academy of Science, said that, “While the 50-50 law [which mandated that political party candidate slates include equal numbers of men and women] was an advance, the elimination of therapeutic abortion made women more vulnerable to dying.” (http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2014/; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 28, 29; La Prensa, Oct. 29; Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 28)

2. Weather improves after death toll from rains rises to 32

The death toll from recent flooding rose to 32 by the end of last week, according to government spokesperson Rosario Murillo.  On Oct. 30, Murillo said that 12,728 families, a total of 63,640 people had been affected by the storms in 293 communities. She explained that the country had 28 active shelters supplemented by 82 “solidarity houses” that are providing a roof and food to 7,555 people who have lost their homes. “We hope to be able to help these people very soon with new houses,” she said. The government has maintained a yellow alert for the North and South Caribbean Regions, Jinotega, and Matagalpa, as well as the departments on the Pacific Coast. The latest victims were a 35 year old woman who was hit by lightning and a five year old girl whose body was found in a river.

Tropical Storm Hanna, which dissipated early last week when it hit the coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras, dropped less than two inches of rain in Waspam, in the North Caribbean Region while winds from the storm hit only 25 miles per hour. The following days brought milder weather to most of Nicaragua.

During the previous months of drought, 2,000 head of cattle died in the Department of Leon, with many more suffering malnutrition and many cows aborting calves. Now, cattle ranchers in the department are worried about too much water in their pastures, according to Fabio Vasquez Lopez, head of the Veterinary Medicine School at the National Autonomous University in Leon. He said that there are more than 60,000 small and medium scale ranchers who have 250,000 head of cattle in the region. The recent heavy rains can cause serious health problems for cattle and horses. Vasquez said that the ground in the pastures is saturated and this provokes stress in the animals, causes disease and higher death rates, and lowers the production of milk and meat. Particularly common are skin diseases and parasitic infestations. Vasquez said animals should be protected under a roof, fed hay, and not allowed to spend long periods in flooded pastures.  (Radio La Primerisima, Oct. 30; La Prensa, Oct. 29; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 28)

3. Nicaragua has lowest level of defense spending and smallest army in Central America

The Latin American Network on Defense and Security (RESDAL) released a study last week that showed Nicaragua with the lowest level of spending on defense of any Central American country.  Nicaragua has only 10,358 men and women in its armed forces, the smallest number and lowest per capita in the region. With a total population of 45 million, Central America has 110,339 persons under arms and spends almost US$3 billion annually on defense. The size of the army of El Salvador is 24,799, while that of Guatemala is 22,326 with Honduras in third place with 15,550. Panama and Costa Rica officially do not have armies but Panama’s security forces personnel totals 23,105 and Costa Rica’s public force personnel totals 14,201. Panama and Costa Rica each spend more on security than El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua combined. Nicaragua spends US$83 million on defense each year, the lowest amount of any of the Central American countries. (http://www.resdal.org/ing/assets/atlas-2014-chapter_00_theregion.pdf; Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 2)

4. Canal protests raise concerns about racism

Concern was expressed last week by Chinese-Nicaraguan citizens about xenophobia among some Nicaraguans who have expressed hatred of Chinese in their protests over the concession given to a Chinese company for a shipping canal across Nicaragua.  Fabio Lau, a historian of Chinese ancestry who has written about the history of immigrants from China in Nicaragua, said that since the protests against the canal began in Rivas in September, the Chinese community in Nicaragua has felt uncomfortable hearing the slogans that say, ‘¿Qué queremos los campesinos? ¡Que se vayan los chinos!’ [“What do the peasants want? For the Chinese to leave!”] Even worse was heard on a call-in program on Radio Corporacion where a farmer from Nueva Guinea said, “We are going to do to the Chinese the same thing Pedron Altamirano did. The method was to cut off the heads of the invading gringos and put them on poles at the entrances to the towns.”

Lau, the historian, said that although the protesters are opposing the Chinese who came to do the studies for the canal and president of the company Wang Jing, their expressions about Chinese in general worry him. He said he is proud of his ancestry and that Chinese are honest and hardworking and have historically come to Nicaragua to generate jobs. In his book, Chinos en Nicaragua, Lau tells that the first recorded Chinese arrived in Nicaragua in 1884. The census of 1920 found 420 Chinese and in 1935 the number had risen to 610. The Chinese community now has more than 3,000 members but Lau said that many of them are “more Nicaraguan than Chinese” due to intermarriage. (La Prensa, Nov. 2)

5. Nicaraguan prisons least violent in Central America

Nicaraguan prisons are considered the least violent of Central America according to Alejandro Perez Tellez, inspector general of the National Prison System. He said Nicaraguan prisons have better security, governability, strong values, and trained personnel. Perez considers that Nicaraguan values and the generally better security in the country contribute to less dangerous jails. The inspector general did not report the number of people incarcerated but said they have received [presumably this year] 2,707,334 family visits, 238,791 criminal and health proceedings, and 19,256 visits by judges, lawyers, public defenders, human rights and religious representatives. Of the total population, 24,554 are receiving education and 23,174 work in the community or the prison. He said 77,646 prohibited objects such as weapons, cell phones, and drugs have been confiscated. New, modern prisons that are built to incorporate work, study, and sports are planned for Bluefields, Leon, Rivas, and Boaco, with the one for Bluefields scheduled for construction in 2015. Perez said the 2015 budget also includes money to repair water and sanitary systems at five prisons as well as money to improve food, health, education and training services. (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 3)

6. Systems installed to improve environmental footprint of coffee production

Eight Nicaraguan coffee farms have been outfitted with wastewater treatment systems and plants for solid waste management. Treating and reusing much of the water used in the coffee processing on these farms results in a savings of 50% in water usage.  Solid waste from the coffee processing plants on the farms now produces biogas to generate energy. Contaminated water is no longer dumped into streams, turning them red. The systems were promoted by UTZ Certified Coffee to mitigate climate change and protect water resources. The publication Energia Limpia XXI, wrote that the project began in 2010 to address environmental and health problems caused by wastewater from coffee processing.  Besides creating cleaner water, the use of biogas (methane) powers the coffee processing plants themselves and, used domestically, reduces deforestation and protects the health of family members, especially women, who previously breathed the smoke generated by wood cooking fires. (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 1)

7. Sea turtles still need nest protection

The Pacific Star Cooperative released 2,500 hatchlings into the sea on Oct. 31 at Poneloya and Las Peñitas, two endangered sea turtle nesting grounds on the Pacific Coast. Pacific Star’s mission for the past five years has been to protect the nesting grounds from egg poachers with help from the Army. Dionisio Suarez, vice-president of the cooperative, called for even more help from the Army “because the eggs are still being stolen.” Endangered turtles, in particular leatherback sea turtles, have laid 300,500 eggs this season.

Five women and a man were arrested by police in two egg theft operations in San Juan del Sur. In the first operation, two women and a man were arrested in possession 900 dozen Olive Ridley sea turtle eggs apparently destined for markets in Managua and Rivas. The judge confined them to house arrest during their trial. In the other case, two sisters were arrested with 412 dozen eggs. They had traveled from Managua to steal the eggs.  (La Prensa, Oct. 31; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 1)

8. Economic briefs: TPL, remittances, Petrocaribe, customs

The government of Nicaragua and the business community are looking for alternative markets for garments produced in Nicaragua if the United States Congress does not extend Tariff Preference Level (TPL) legislation. TPL allows garments assembled in Nicaragua to be exported to the US duty free even if they are made with cloth or thread imported from countries outside of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). The TPL will expire Dec. 31 and such garments will then pay duty of 30% to 40%. Presidential economic advisor Bayardo Arce said that if the United States does not extend TPL, Nicaragua would find other markets. Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), said, “We are going to look to the south to sell products like chia and peanuts; we are going to look to Mexico and Europe to sell products from the assembly factories.” (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 1)

According to the Central Bank, foreign currency in the form of remittances received by Nicaraguans from family members working abroad increased in the first eight months of 2014 by 6.1% compared to last year. In the first eight months of 2013, the total was US$696.8 million while the figure announced last week for this year was US$740 million. Studies by non-governmental groups indicate that Nicaraguans spend 75% of the money they receive from abroad on food, 6.7% on school-related expenses, 5.8% on clothing, and 3.8% on investing in businesses. Family remittances come principally from the United States, Costa Rica, Spain, Panama, El Salvador, Canada and Mexico. Remittances have become an important source of foreign exchange for Nicaragua’s balance of payments. Residents of Managua receive 30% of the total value of remittances, followed by Chinandega with 10.3% and Leon with 7.6%. (El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 31)

Javier Arrue, Venezuela’s ambassador to Nicaragua said last week that the Petrocaribe program, under which Venezuela sells oil to a number of countries in Central America and the Caribbean under favorable conditions, would continue and would in fact be expanding because, he said, “there are more countries that want to join.” Arrue said that, while the current drop in the price of oil on the international market could temporarily affect some aspects of the program, “Petrocaribe will continue; it is the essence of Venezuela’s solidarity. It is not a gift but it is an easing of the payment of the petroleum debt.” Venezuela’s assistance to Nicaragua since 2007 has been US$3.8 billion, mainly in the form of oil on especially favorable terms which allow for funds to be invested in social and economic programs that benefit poorer sectors of society but that also in many cases generate revenue to pay back the loans. (El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 31; Informe Pastran, Oct. 30)

The government resolved last week at a three hour meeting most of the cases of merchandise held up in Customs that had been demanded by the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP). The meeting was held at the Ministry of the Treasury with the participation of officials of the General Directorate of Customs and the General Directorate of Revenue. The retentions had been appealed to administrative tribunals and even to the Supreme Court but rulings favorable to the importers had not been obeyed by Customs. COSEP President Jose Adan Aguerri said that at the meeting commitments had been made to establish mechanisms for exonerations from duties and for reimbursement of overcharges but that it would be a process that could take six months. Four cases remained unresolved. (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 1)