Nicaragua Network

1. Borge & Asociados releases new poll
2. United States in the news in Nicaragua
3. Acahualinca footprints museum closed for renovation
4. Summit of Latin American and Caribbean Women Leaders of African Descent held in Managua
5. Government highlights social programs completed in honor of July 19^th anniversary
6. Economic briefs: Government’s annual report, increasing irrigation, combating coffee rust
7. Nicaragua detains Costa Rican on Interpol warrant

1. Borge & Asociados releases new poll

Commenting about his firm’s most recent opinion poll in Nicaragua, Victor Borge of Borge & Asociados said, “What is noteworthy is that the government and its leaders come out well regarded and the opposition comes out badly and that is completely explainable, although internally the fights among the opposition have been decreasing.” He noted that, “The situation in Nicaragua is a little bit better than in the past; there is hope of finding a job; the situation has improved, not what people would like but it has improved somewhat.” The poll, which surveyed 1,008 individuals between May 15 and 24, indicated that 55% supported the Sandinista Party and 66% believed that it would be positive if the Sandinista Party remained in power. President Daniel Ortega received a 77.1% favorable rating and First Lady and Communications Coordinator Rosario Murillo a 67.8% approval rating. The Army and National Police were the institutions enjoying the highest ratings of credibility and trust with 83.8% giving a positive assessment to the Army and 63.5% to the National Police. The Judicial Branch received a 60.2% favorable rating, the Supreme Electoral Council 53.9% favorable rating, the Catholic Church 71%, the Protestant churches 68.7%, and the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) 51.7%.

Looking forward toward the 2016 presidential elections, 55.6% said that they sympathized with the Sandinista Party; 38% said that they were independents; while only 3.3% sympathized with the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) and 1.6% with the Independent Liberal Party (PLI). PLI president Eduardo Montealegre, who has said that he did not intend to run again for president, had a 73.1% unfavorable rating while other possible new candidates had either high unfavorable ratings or were unknown to most of the public. For example, Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of former President Violeta Chamorro, had a favorable rating of 31.5% and an unfavorable rating of only 20.5% but 41.6% said that they did not know about her. As for Rev. Saturnino Cerrato, who has expressed interest in running for president, over 69% said they did not know who he was.

Just over 32% of those polled said that unemployment was the principal problem for their family while 21.8% said the economic situation in general. When asked about gay marriage, 78.8% said that they opposed it but 57.2% said that, in a stable gay or lesbian union, a person should have the right to receive a partner’s health coverage under the Institute for Social Security. (Informe Pastran, June 23, 29, Nicaragua News, June 24)

2. United States in the news in Nicaragua

On June 26, representatives of five political groups formally signed an agreement to form the Democratic Union, looking toward to the presidential elections of 2016. Signers were Alfredo Cesar for the Conservative Party (PC), Moises Hassan for the Citizen Action Party (PAC), Pedro Reyes for the Historical Independent Liberal Party (PLI-H), Jose Esteban Gonzalez for the Christian Socialist Party (PSC) and Luis Medal for the Three Revolutions Movement. None of these parties have polled high enough in recent elections to have automatic ballot status and thus to run candidates will have to meet Electoral Law requirements for ballot access. Cesar said, “We have been working for some time to establish solid bases for this unity, proof of which was our presentation last year of a plan for the nation where we demanded just and transparent conditions for the 2016 elections.” He added, “There are two [international] organizations that have approved the primary election proposal and they have reserved resources amounting to US$160,000 of the US$300,000 total and there are efforts going forward with two other groups.” He said the names of the groups would be revealed before the primary elections but Informe Pastran said, “These organisms, presumably, are political institutions of the United States that support this new national political effort.” Nicaragua Network speculates that the US groups are likely the International Republican Institute (IRI) and its parent organization the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). In a June 23 statement, the organization Hagamos Democracia said that it had facilitated the formation of the Democratic Union coalition and the IRI and NED have funded Hagamos Democracia in the past.

Meanwhile, 21 young people graduated in Siuna, North Caribbean Autonomous Region, from a political leadership program sponsored by the US-based National Democratic Institute for International Relations (NDI) and George Washington University along with the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua (URACCAN) and the Institute for the Development of Democracy (IPADE). Karina Lopez, a young leader of a civil society group in Bilwi, said that the program will serve her as a tool to strengthen her organization. Marlon Garcia of the Sandinista Youth Association of Bilwi said, “We will be able to do more for our municipality and our work with young people.” So far 404 young people have graduated from the program in the Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regions.

In related news, on June 25, the United States Department of State released its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014 in which it critiques the human rights record of every country except the US. The report on Nicaragua says, “Nicaragua is a multi-party constitutional republic, but in recent years political power has become concentrated in a single party, with an increasingly authoritarian executive branch exercising significant control over the legislative, judicial, and electoral branches.” The report can be read here: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper. While noting that, “There were no reports of politically motivated or other disappearances,” the document says that although Nicaraguan law prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, “there were reports that police frequently abused suspects during arrest, used excessive force, and engaged in degrading treatment.” [Interestingly, while the above is certainly a case of “the pot calling the kettle black,” the US does now submit a rather scrubbed evaluation of its own human rights record to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights every 4½ years under the Universal Periodic Review established by the UN General Assembly in 2006: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/upr/2015/237250.htm ] (El Nuevo Diario, June 25, 26, 29; Informe Pastran, June 25, 26)

3. Acahualinca footprints museum closed for renovation

The museum surrounding the ancient footprints of Acahualinca will be closed for the rest of the year for repair and renovation after being severely damaged by the heavy rains that fell at the beginning of June. The rains caused the collapse of a 12 to 14 foot long wall on top of one of the sets of footprints. The Directorate of the Historical Patrimony of the Municipality of Managua said that the renovations will include a redesign of the museum area in order to protect the footprints left by humans and animals in the mud and volcanic ash on the shores of Lake Xolotlan (Lake Managua). El Nuevo Diario states that the footprints were made 6,000 years ago; however, an article in the Bulletin of Volcanology of July 2009 dates the footprints to 2,150 years ago based on an eruption of the Masaya Volcano. The legend that the footprints are more than 5,000 years old may not be true but the volcanologists substantiate another traditional belief about the footprints—that a family was running to escape from a volcanic explosion. According to the Bulletin of Volcanology, “The interpretation of the footprint layer as the initial product of a powerful eruption at Masaya volcano followed without erosional breaks by additional layers of the same eruptive phase is strong evidence that the group of 15 or 16 people tried to escape from an eruption.” (El Nuevo Diario, June 27; Bulletin of Volcanology, July 2009)

4. Summit of Latin American and Caribbean Women Leaders of African Descent held in Managua

The first Summit Meeting of Latin American and Caribbean Women Leaders of African Descent was held in Managua last week with the attendance of 270 women from 22 countries. The goals of the meeting were to combat the exclusion and marginalization of African descended women and to seek mechanisms to support their right and the right of their children and grandchildren to a dignified life. Gloria Nuñez of Guatemala said that this was the first international summit of black women in Latin America and the Caribbean. On the meeting agenda were discussions of health issues, domestic violence, rescuing of black women’s cultural patrimony, their inclusion in national censuses and statistics, access to natural resources and economic resources, and food sovereignty. A political platform was adopted that will serve as the basis for organizing in each individual nation within the framework of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent which will run from 2015 to 2024.

The summit meeting was organized by the Network of Women of African Descent of Latin America, the Caribbean and the Diaspora. Nicaraguan Dorotea Wilson, general coordinator of the Network, said that in all the countries of the region there are legal frameworks to support women’s rights but the resources to implement those frameworks are not made available. Wilson said, “The states must acknowledge the existing gaps and address women’s specific demands.” (El Nuevo Diario, June 28; Nicaragua News. June 26)

5. Government highlights social programs completed in honor of July 19^th anniversary

Government communications coordinator Rosario Murillo said on June 29 that local mayor’s offices are advancing in the building of 137 new child development centers, many of which will be completed in time for the July 19 celebration of the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution.  This is in addition to the more than 40 combination pre-school—child development centers that will be inaugurated for the 19^th. Murillo said that 85 maternal wait homes (casas maternas) are also under construction and expected to be completed this year.

On June 24, Murillo highlighted the success of technical education around the country saying, “We have 9,992 students in the municipal technical schools … studying for jobs in computers, English, as electricians, as bakers and cooks, as carpenters, as beauticians, in motorcycle repair, jewelry making, and others. More than 4,000 are studying computers and English; 65% of them are women and 34% men.”

The Ministry of the Family and Community Economy will be turning over almost 10,000 property titles to as many families in honor of the 36 anniversary of the Sandinista revolution. Also in honor of the July 19^th celebrations, 4,000 families in Boaco, Carazo, Chinandega, Chontales, Estelí, Granada, Leon, Madriz, Managua Masaya, Nueva Segovia, Rivas, and the North Caribbean Autonomous Region will receive Zero Hunger Production Packages. “This way we will strengthen the capacity to produce food of 4,000 families in the month of July,” spokesperson Murillo said. (Informe Pastran, June 24, 26, 29)

6. Economic briefs: Government’s annual report, increasing irrigation, combating coffee rust

President Daniel Ortega sent a report on the nation’s progress in achieving economic and social goals to the National Assembly on June 26. Treasury Minister Ivan Acosta explained that the government’s efforts were focused on such areas as health, education, infrastructure, poverty reduction, and economic development. He said that electrification was extended to 350,000 families in 2014, an increase of 3.8% over the previous year. With this increase, 80% of Nicaraguan homes now have access to electricity. The goal is to reach 90% by 2017. Acosta said that 1,400 kilometers of roads had been repaired or rebuilt and more than 7,000 blocks of city streets had been paved with cement blocks in collaboration with local mayors. He stated that 95% of public investment projects budgeted for 2014 were completed. Acosta explained that while Nicaragua has the highest relative growth rate in Latin America and an unemployment rate of 6%, the great challenge of the government is to reduce underemployment and informal employment. Acosta reported that 10,000 units of affordable housing had been built and more than one million children were receiving a daily school meal. In terms of production, he stated, “We expect a rebound in agriculture after the effects of last year’s drought; that is to say that almost all the planned areas are being planted to crops now and this will have an impact by the end of this year.” National Assembly Deputy Enrique Saenz of the Sandinista Renovation Movement said that he doubted that all the education projects had been completed and added that only 3% of the Gross Domestic Product was being allocated for education when it should be 7%. (El Nuevo Diario, June 26; Informe Pastran, June 26)

Nicaragua is moving forward with the design of a pilot irrigation project that would benefit small and medium scale farmers in what is called the Dry Corridor (an area of low rainfall that includes much of Chinandega, Ocotal, and Somoto). According to Treasury Minister Ivan Acosta, the government is seeking funding for the project, which would cost US$1 million, with the Inter-American Development Bank. Members of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPANIC) asked President Daniel Ortega to follow through immediately with his plan to increase the number of irrigation systems. UPANIC President Michael Healy said, “We asked the government to set up a working roundtable with the banks and with farmers so that we can evaluate which irrigation projects will be feasible and which will not.” On June 23, Ortega had said that irrigation systems had to be expanded given that only 4% of Nicaraguan farms had access to it with the remaining 96% subject to the whims of the weather. (Informe Pastran, June 29; El Nuevo Diario, June 26)

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Starbucks have agreed to create a US$30 million fund to combat coffee rust in Nicaragua and to produce new varieties of fungus resistant coffee. The loan will benefit 500 producers who are cultivating 5,000 hectares of coffee in the country. (Nicaragua News, June 25)

7. Nicaragua detains Costa Rican on Interpol warrant

Relations between Nicaragua and Costa Rica continued tense last week over the case of Jose Daniel Gil Trejos, a Costa Rican citizen detained in Nicaragua on May 26 on a 2013 International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) arrest warrant accusing Gil of commercial fraud in Mexico. Police Commissioner Magdalena Fonseca, head of the Interpol Office in Nicaragua, said on June 22, “From the first moment of his detention Interpol was notified and, as a result of steps taken by the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry, Jose Daniel Gil Trejos was visited by Vice-Consul of the Costa Rican Embassy in Nicaragua Alvaro Herrera Martinez on June 8 and 20 where Mr. Herrera was able to see the conditions under which Jose Gil Trejos was being held.” She added, “In compliance with international procedures, Nicaragua is preparing the requisite extradition documents.” Gil is the husband of Marcela Chacon, former vice-minister of Security in Costa Rica. Manuel Gonzalez, Costa Rican Foreign Minister, said that Gil Trejos had not been brought before a judge to hear the charges against him and is being held at the El Chipote prison under deplorable conditions in a cell where he receives no sunlight. On June 22, Costa Rica took the case to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC) in Washington, DC, alleging that the conditions under which Gil Trejos was being held had damaged his health. The IAHRC acted promptly giving the government of Nicaragua seven days to respond to the allegations.

The Nicaraguan Chamber of Tourism expressed concern about the impact of the case on tourism travel of Costa Ricans to Nicaragua, noting that each year about 146,000 Costa Ricans travel to Nicaragua for work or pleasure with the number increasing in recent years. The Chamber planned to meet on June 29 to analyze the issue. (Informe Pastran, June 22, 23, 24, 26; El Nuevo Diario, June 21, 22; Nicaragua News, June 23)