Nicaragua Network

1. Celebration of 120^th anniversary of Sandino’s birth
2. Canal studies expected in June; CEJIL attorneys expelled; Maersk orders more giant ships
3. Seismic activity continues
4. Neighborhoods and rural areas suffering water shortages
5. Biomass energy advances
6. Obama names new US ambassador to Nicaragua; Navy hospital ship affected by high waves
7. Modifications to social security law benefit over 30,000 seniors
8. New meat plant inaugurated

1. Celebration of 120^th anniversary of Sandino’s birth

On May 18, celebrations were held marking the 120^th anniversary of the birth of national hero Augusto Sandino who, with his “small, crazy army” as Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral called it, held the US Marines at bay and forced them to end their long occupation of Nicaragua in January 1933. Sandino and two of his generals were assassinated 13 months later by members of the US-trained National Guard under orders of Anastasio Somoza Garcia, father of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, overthrown by the modern day Sandinistas in 1979. Events were planned for the occasion by the Nicaraguan Institute of Culture, including an art exhibit. A sculpture of Sandino was unveiled in Managua in the Plaza of the Revolution.

The main event on May 18 was held in Niquinohomo, where Sandino was born. President Daniel Ortega said, “Sandino was not only a fighter who raised his rifle and defeated the yanqui invasion, but he was a thinker, a philosopher, a creator of revolutionary thought, revolutionary thought that laid down the bases for the principle of sovereignty. A country without sovereignty is simply not a country.” Ortega went on to say that in the Port of Bilwi is currently anchored a US ship called the USNS Comfort, “which is not armed with cannons threatening Nicaragua but rather it comes with health services for the Nicaraguan people. That is what Sandino wanted from the United States—respectful relations.” He added that the US “is an empire but it has to learn to respect the countries on this planet whether they be small, medium or large.” (Informe Pastran, May 15, 18)

2. Canal studies expected in June; CEJIL attorneys expelled; Maersk orders more giant ships

David Blaha, principal representative of Environmental Resources Management (ERM), said last week that the Environmental and Social Impact Studies for the Nicaraguan shipping canal were expected to be released by the end of May or the first days of June. However, Informe Pastran said that its sources expected the release of the studies to be a week or two later in June. ERM is the British company hired by the HKND Group, which holds the concession for the canal, to carry out the environmental and social impact studies. Bernard Li, deputy director of public relations for HKND, said that the studies carried out by the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) indicate that the canal is technically feasible and added that ERM is among the companies with the best reputations in the world on environmental subjects. [The technical feasibility studies, however, appear not to have been released to the public and may not be completed.] Li said that the route chosen for the canal among the six possibilities was the one that minimized environmental impact and that HKND has met with international organizations including the Ramsar Convention, Wildlife Conservation Society, Fauna and Flora International and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with the goal of addressing potential effects on the environment.

The discussion continues about whether reforestation that would accompany the building of the canal would compensate for probable damage to Lake Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua). Norwing Torres of the Friends of the San Juan River Foundation said that, “The rate of deforestation now is 12% per year. In areas such as the Cerro Silva and Punta Gorda Reserves [near the canal route], the flora and fauna are going to disappear in eight years but with the canal that will not occur because the project requires water and for there to be water there has to be forest.” However, Victor Campos of the Humboldt Center in Managua said that the expected environmental impacts exceed the economic benefits that the canal could bring.

On May 15, representatives of the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) in Washington, DC, who were visiting Nicaragua at the invitation of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) to investigate human rights violations by the Nicaraguan government related to the building of the canal, were expelled from the country after landing at the Managua airport. Luis Carlos Buob, an attorney with the CEJIL, said that immigration authorities accused him of drug trafficking, threw him to the floor, and tried to handcuff him. His colleague, attorney Martha Gonzalez, had already gone through immigration but was called back and both were deported. Buob demanded an apology from the government and a full investigation. CEJIL is a non-profit organization that assists claimants before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States (OAS). It receives its funding from Danish, Swedish, German and US organizations; among the US funders are the Ford and MacArthur Foundations and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). On May 16, a number of Nicaraguan organizations, including the Autonomous Women’s Movement, Popul Na, the National Council in Defense of Our Land, Lake and Sovereignty, and CENIDH, released a communique protesting the expulsion of the CEJIL attorneys and asking for a visit to Nicaragua by the IACHR itself.

In related news, Maersk, the largest container ship operator in the world, announced that it has ordered six 20,000 container ships from South Korean ship building company Daewoo. In 2011, Maersk ordered twenty 18,270 container ships from the same company of which the last three will be delivered in the next two months. All of these ships are too big to pass through the enlarged Panama Canal but would be able to use the Nicaraguan canal if it is built.

Meanwhile, Nicaraguan builder Benjamin Lanzas told the Honduran daily El Heraldo that construction companies in Central America would benefit from the building of the canal. “HKND is committed to first call on Nicaraguan companies…, and second call on the Central American companies; it’s a verbal agreement.” He added that HKND first has to [complete the studies] then obtain financing, and then call for bids from the companies that would carry out the various parts of the canal project. But, he said, “If all of the construction companies of Central America were to unite into one mega-company they could only build 10% of the canal.” However, he said that there will be other needed services that Nicaraguan companies can provide such as food, hotels, and hospitals. (Informe Pastran, May 13, 15, 18; La Prensa, May 15)

3. Seismic activity continues

The Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (INETER) reported continued seismic activity in the country. On May 18, six tremblers were registered near the Concepcion Volcano on the Island of Ometepe in Lake Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua) along with a quake registering 4.1 on the Richter scale in the Gulf of Fonseca, shared by Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. On May 16, INETER reported that over the previous 24 hours, Concepcion had experienced 85 expulsions of gas while at the Telica Volcano in the Department of Leon there were 39 expulsions of ash and gas. INETER said that it had both volcanoes under observation and for the moment they presented no danger to the population. Diana Roman, a volcanologist from the Carnegie Institute of the United States is working this week with INETER in the areas of data compilation and interpretation, maintenance of seismic stations, and measurement of gas expulsions from Telica. Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said that there have been more than 245 expulsions at Telica including 400 foot columns of ash and gas since it entered into a period of activity at the beginning of this month. (Informe Pastran, May 15, 18; El Nuevo Diario, May 17)

4. Neighborhoods and rural areas suffering water shortages

Water shortages are a growing problem in Nicaragua due to deforestation, contamination, and global warming. Erwin Barreda, president of the Nicaraguan Aqueducts and Sewers Company (ENACAL), said that the problem on a national level is serious. As the country waits for the entry in force of the rainy season, he urged water users who live in low neighborhoods to use water sparingly so that those at higher elevations in towns and cities can also have water available. He said that families in at least thirty municipalities and neighborhoods at higher elevations or at greater distance from water pumping facilities are having difficulty getting water in their homes. He added, “We prepare for each dry season with forty cisterns spread out over the entire country and we install valves to control water distribution so that all the population can get some of this vital liquid in their houses.”

A 2014 study by the Humboldt Center indicated that more than two million people in 96 of the country’s 153 municipalities, representing 46% of the nation’s population, confront some level of water scarcity. That figure could reach 85% of the population by 2050, the study predicted. Water scarcity is greater in the countryside in areas around Villanueva, Somotillo, Cinco Pinos, Mateare, Murra, Ciudad Dario, Bonanza, Nueva Guinea, and San Jose de Bocay. Along with climate and environmental causes, the scarcity is aggravated by the limited amount of investment in distribution infrastructure, a situation particularly serious in Managua where the population growth is greatest. In Rivas, the mayor’s office and the fire department are sending out tanker trucks to provide water to the city’s neighborhoods because a pump is not working and a new one has to be purchased. People who have wells sell water to their neighbors but some say that their wells are going dry due to climate change.

On May 12, the government announced that, in 2015, it plans to carry out 900 infrastructure projects to improve water and sanitation services for 260,000 families in 144 municipalities and four indigenous territories. Government spokesperson Rosario Murillo said, “A fundamental element is attention to rural aqueducts of which we have 4,604 in the country.” She said that a system will be set up under which the water in those systems will be analyzed every six months and “This will have an enormous impact on the health of families and communities.” (El Nuevo Diario, May 14; Informe Pastran, May 12)

5. Biomass energy advances

The company Viaspace announced at the recent International Biomass Conference in Minneapolis that it had completed a 12 megawatt biomass plant near El Zapote in the department of Boaco. The plant is contributing 11% to the electricity production of Nicaragua and selling some electricity to the Central American grid. Chief executive officer Carl Kukkonen said that the company is satisfied with the results of this project and has plans to continue to grow in Nicaragua over the next 15 years. The plant uses as biofuel a plant known as giant king grass along with rice husks and rice straw.

Nicaragua continues to diversify its energy production with the organization Trees, Water, People and the Proleña Company announcing the founding of the National Center on Biomass Energy and Climate Change in the department of Leon. The project includes classrooms and a solar energy plant and will offer for sale energy efficient light bulbs and cooking stoves, along with solar chargers and other items. (Nicaragua News, May 13; Informe Pastran, May 12; Energia Limpia XXI, May 13; Update on 12MW Giant King Grass Biomass Power Plant in Nicaragua www.viaspace.com)

6. Obama names new ambassador; Navy hospital ship affected by high waves

On May 13, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Laura Farnsworth Dogu as his next ambassador to Nicaragua to replace Phyllis Powers who has served in that post since 2012. Dogu is a career member of the US Foreign Service, currently serving as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Mexico City. She has served in mainly consular posts in Mexico, Turkey, Egypt, and El Salvador. She has a master’s degree in national resource strategy from the National Defense University and an MBA degree from Southern Methodist University. Her only previous service in Central America was as a consular officer at the US Embassy in San Salvador from 1991 to 1993. She must now be confirmed by the US Senate. (Informe Pastran, May 14; Diplopundit, May 14)

The USNS Comfort, a US Navy Hospital Ship, with a crew of 1,050, is now anchored four miles off the Port of Bilwi, Puerto Cabezas. But the transfer of its first patients to the ship was made by helicopter rather than by boat because of high waves. The ship will treat patients and hold workshops during the nine days it will be in Nicaragua. Patients were transferred to the ship and donated materials were brought to Bilwi by helicopter on May 17 and 18. Ivania Lopez, director of the Bilwi Local System for Integral Health Attention (SILAIS), said that, besides performing surgeries on the ship, doctors will examine patients at two clinics set up in schools in the city. There is also a group of veterinary doctors on the ship who plan to visit neighborhoods and train residents in animal care. Fifty-eight interpreters are helping with the effort, including 45 who are trilingual in Spanish, Miskito, and English.  (El Nuevo Diario, May 18)

7. Modifications to social security law benefit over 30,000 seniors

On May 12, the National Assembly voted into law by a vote of 90 to zero the decree issued by President Daniel Ortega two years ago granting small social security pensions to those seniors who had not paid into the system for the required 14 years but had made at least five years of contributions. As for those who expressed fears that the extra payments threatened the solvency of the social security system, Sandinista Deputy Edwin Castro said that the system will not have a problem paying the additional pensions and is solvent for “thirty or forty years.” Porfirio Garcia, president of the National Union of Older Adults, said that they had won a battle that would benefit more than 31,000 seniors. The next day the seniors began negotiations with the National Institute of Social Security in an effort to increase the numbers of levels of the pensions from the current three to five. The largest of the small pensions is approximately US$100 per month. (Informe Pastran, May 12; El Nuevo Diario, May 12, 13)

8. New meat plant inaugurated

On May 13, the Mexican company SUKARNE inaugurated a beef processing plant in Managua. Jesus Vizcarra, SUKARNE president, said that the company will provide 600 jobs and that Nicaragua will be its headquarters in Central America as it is the first plant the company has built outside of Mexico in its 46 year history. President Daniel Ortega said that the Tripartite Alliance Model between government, employers and labor is helping to attract new investments, create more jobs, and is contributing to the fight against poverty. “The main challenge in Nicaragua is poverty eradication and this can be achieved only by working together. We have a steadfast political purpose to work with all sectors and to strengthen this great Alliance against poverty,” he stated. He said that the plant was good news for ranchers because the price that they get for their milk and meat is not just. He said that the cattle are transported [illegally] to Honduras because they get a better price there and added that if there is a better price offered in Nicaragua the contraband to Honduras will end.

Alvaro Fiallos, president of the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers (UNAG) said that if ranchers get better prices they will be able to make improvements on their ranches and improve their herds, adding that SUKARNE will be buying directly from ranchers, leaving out the middlemen. Economist Francisco Mayorga told Informe Pastran that the government had begun “a new strategy oriented toward making productive leaps in the agriculture sector bringing together investment, modern technology, foreign financing, and small and medium scale producers.” “This combination,” he went on to say, “will generate greater prosperity in the countryside and will be one of the major factors in the eradication of extreme poverty.” (Nicaragua News, May 15; El Nuevo Diario, May 14; Informe Pastran, May 15)