Nicaragua Network

1. Nicaragua affected by climate change
2. Judith Silva elected to Supreme Electoral Council
3. Sandinistas mark 36th anniversary of the “repliegue”
4. Fourth of July celebrated at US Embassy in Managua
5. Nicaragua achieves UN Millennium Development Goal of reducing hunger by half
6. Economic briefs: consumer prices, commodity prices, trucker strike, coffee, electricity
7. Nicaragua implements second phase of Better Work Program in FTZs
8. Ortega sends message of support to Greece

1. Nicaragua affected by climate change

Large extensions of the Central American countryside appear desolated with dry pastures, thin cattle, and soil damaged by chronic drought that threatens food production and puts 2.5 million people along the length of what is called the “Dry Corridor” in danger of food shortages. National weather bureaus are predicting another dry year along that corridor and governments are taking emergency measures. Costa Rican agriculture official Felipe Arguedas said, “We are concerned because we may have two years of drought and we believe that 2015 could be worse than 1997 which was the driest year on record.”

In Nicaragua, government communications coordinator Rosario Murillo said, “Our obligation is to make plans and be ready, be prepared, with water in places where we could have difficulties with the supply of potable water and prepared also to assist the small farmers and large growers with their crops. That’s what we are working on.”

Lack of rain in the Leon area has resulted in dust storms that are causing health problems especially among children. The Oscar Danilo Rosales Hospital in Leon reported an increased number of patients with respiratory and other infections. The Health Ministry recommended that residents stay indoors during a dust storm to avoid breathing the dust. The strong winds have also damaged numerous homes in the region. In an effort to reduce dust storms and erosion of the soil, the government and farmers are working together to plant 500,000 trees to be used as windbreakers in 18 municipalities of the Nicaragua Pacific Coast. Patricio Jerez, environmental advisor of the Nicaragua Association of Agricultural Producers (UPANIC), said coordination to plant the 500,000 trees was started a few months ago and similar efforts are being discussed for other parts of the country.

Nicaraguan farmers are worried about the threat of a renewed drought but not about the country’s food security. Association of Agricultural Producers (UPANIC) president Michael Healy said that the goal for the 2015 agricultural cycle is to plant 500,000 manzanas (863,504 acres) of corn and 450,000 manzanas (777,154 acres) of beans. Then farmers will evaluate the first harvest with the government to plan for the rest of the year. He added, “We are not worried about food security. Nicaragua has always produced enough corn for national consumption and, as for beans, we produce double what we need internally. There will be regions and zones that are going to have problems and there the government will take measures to help those farmers who have had losses.” He stated that farmers would be meeting the next week with government officials to evaluate the possible drought and explore irrigation proposals to ameliorate the effects of climate change. Orlando Solorzano, Minister of Industry and Trade, said that if there were a food shortage in the coming months, “We would adopt the necessary measures for importation as we have done in past years.” But he added that the government still has an important stock of products that it imported last year during the drought and that markets and prices were normal. (Informe Pastran, July 1, 2; Nicaragua News, July 3; El Nuevo Diario, July 2)

2. Judith Silva elected to Supreme Electoral Council

On July 3, Judith Silva, the candidate proposed by President Daniel Ortega, was elected by the National Assembly to the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) to replace Magistrate Jose Marenco who died in June. She received 62 votes while there were two abstentions, two votes for other candidates and two deputies who voted “present.” Silva, who previously was head of the Institute for Urban and Rural Housing (INVUR), will be the only woman on the CSE. After being sworn in, Silva said, “I will continue to work to strengthen democracy.”

The deputies of the Independent Liberal Party Alliance bench withdrew from the chamber and did not participate in the election. Party leader Wilber Lopez said that his party wanted “to see the changes in the Supreme Electoral Council that the Nicaraguan population is demanding” and had withdrawn because the Sandinista majority “was going to elect a magistrate in the electoral branch who would bow her head to Daniel Ortega.”  The PLI Alliance had proposed Luis Callejas and Kitty Monterrey but Monterrey was disqualified by the committee appointed to review candidates because she is also a citizen of the United States. The third candidate for the post was Jaime Arellano, proposed by Deputy Mauricio Montealegre. The Constitutional Liberal Party had proposed several candidates but withdrew them noting that the Sandinista Party had enough votes to elect Silva. (El Nuevo Diario, June 30, July 2, 3; Informe Pastran, July 1, 2, 3)

3. Sandinistas mark 36th anniversary of the “repliegue”

On July 3, Sandinistas marked the 36th anniversary of the tactical retreat known as the “repliegue.” The Sandinistas on June 27, 1979, in the dark of night, moved 8,000 fighters and civilians out of the neighborhoods of Managua where they were being slaughtered by Somoza’s troops and bombs to the free city of Masaya where they joined combatants there and continued the fight. Each year a caravan of walkers and vehicles repeats the journey. Around 4:00 pm, President Daniel Ortega gave a short speech and led off on the route to Masaya at the head of thousands of Sandinistas. He said, “We are going to march to Masaya again, remembering and honoring the heroes and martyrs of the Sandinista Revolution.” And he added, “Let’s go forward toward more victories against hunger, unemployment, and poverty; toward improving educational levels, higher productivity, better health, more houses and programs for the people. That is our commitment.”

Government communications coordinator Rosario Murillo said that, in honor of the upcoming celebration of the 36^th anniversary of the revolution on July 19, the government will inaugurate a series of projects including 82 city markets which have been completed and 71 more that are under construction. She said that each of these markets will include a health center. Besides those, Murillo said that there are 67 new health centers ready to be inaugurated of the 328 centers that the various municipalities are repairing or building and which are expected to be finished by the end of the year. She said the government had finished 57 sports fields with 49 more under construction. (El Nuevo Diario, July 3; Informe Pastran, June 30)

4. Fourth of July celebrated at US Embassy in Managua

On July 3, Nicaragua’s political and business leaders were invited to the United States embassy in Managua to celebrate the Fourth of July by out-going Ambassador Phyllis Powers. Powers said, “I want to wish Nicaragua peace, prosperity and many future opportunities. This is my last Independence Day celebration in this beautiful country. I have travelled all over Nicaragua and I thank you all for your kindness and hospitality.” Vice-President Omar Halleslevens thanked Powers for her “work in cooperation and friendship” noting that “one of the important efforts of Ambassador Powers was her work on the property question, resolving 52 cases in the 2013-2014 period.” He added, “As for commercial relations, the United States continues to be Nicaragua’s principal trading partner and is also an important ally in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.” Also attending the Embassy party from the government were Foreign Minister Samuel Santos, National Policy Adviser Paul Oquist, Army Head Gen. Julio Cesar Aviles, Police Commissioner Aminta Granera, and other high level government officials. Attendees also included former President Enrique Bolaños, former Vice-President Jaime Morales, judges, businesspeople, diplomats, and leaders of opposition political parties, including current leaders of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) of former President Arnoldo Aleman. PLC leaders had not been invited to the US Embassy for a number of years. (El Nuevo Diario, July 4; Informe Pastran, July 3, 6)

5. Nicaragua achieves UN Millennium Development Goal of reducing hunger by half

Nicaragua is one of the ten countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that have achieved the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by half. The other nine countries are Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guyana, Peru, Uruguay and Panama. Latin America and the Caribbean taken together achieved the goal by reducing hunger from 14.7% to 5.5% but Central America and the Caribbean examined separately only were able to reduce the percentage of persons suffering from hunger from 10.7% to 6.4%.  The two indicators used to measure fulfillment of the goal are reducing the number of underweight children under five years of age by half and reducing the proportion of the population below a minimum level of dietary energy consumption by half. UN members in September are scheduled to draft a list of renewed aims called the Sustainable Development Goals with the goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030. (Informe Pastran, July 6; http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/)

6. Economic briefs: consumer prices, commodity prices, trucker strike, coffee, electricity

The Nicaraguan Central Bank reported that the basic basket of goods had increased slightly, by .94%, for the month of May rising to US$453 per month for a basket that included 38 lbs. of rice, 34 lbs. of beans, 30 lbs. of sugar, 7 liters of cooking oil, and 8 lbs. of beef. That was up from US$449 in April. But the Bank reported on July 6 that inflation for the month of June was -0.02%, in other words a slight deflation, producing an annual inflation rate so far this year of 3.82% which was 2.23 percentage points below the inflation of June 2014. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages dropped as did housing, water, electricity, and gas. Transportation, restaurants, and hotels rose in price. (Informe Pastran, July 2, 6)

Production in Nicaragua grew in volume in the first half of 2015 but, because of a drop in prices on the world market for the products that the country produces, the value of its exports dropped by US$4 million. For example, Nicaragua exported 31.6 million kilos of milk between January and June of this year, 9.5 million kilos more that during the same period of 2014, an increase of 43%. However, the price of milk dropped by 27.4%, meaning that the amount earned from milk exports only rose by US$1.3 million, from US$32.9 million to US$34.2 million. Sugar declined in price by 19%; gold by 6.58%; bananas by 42.9%; while garments and textiles declined in price by 23%. In total, Nicaragua exported 1.069 billion kilos in the first half of 2015 (compared with 968 million kilos by the same time last year), generating US$1.39 billion, which was US$4 million less than during the same period last year. El Nuevo Diario quoted Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, as saying that this drop in commodity prices was expected to last for two or three years. (El Nuevo Diario, July 6)

On July 1, truck owner/drivers in the municipality of Rosita in the North Caribbean Autonomous Region declared themselves on strike and blocked the streets that provide access to the mayor’s office. At first the demand of the strikers was to rescind a change in the schedule for the route from Rosita to San Antonio de Oconwas. But with the passage of the days, other demands were added, including changes to the Rosita-Managua schedule, repair of roads in the Rosita municipality and various other demands. Some of the truckers have called Mayor Fermin Romero “intransigent” and are demanding his resignation but others do not agree. Rene Pereira, president of the Juan Gonzalez Cooperative, said that many of the demands were illogical and political, such as disagreements with the government’s Plan Roof, which provides galvanized roofing materials to poor households, and demands for the removal of all of the mayors of the mining triangle cities (Rosita, Bonanza, and Siuna). A local commission headed by retired police commissioner Otilio Duarte is working with the parties to find a solution to the conflict but as of July 6, the commission had not been successful. (El Nuevo Diario, July 5, 6)

Since last October, Nicaragua has exported 1,197,290 sixty kilo sacks of coffee, 260,579 sacks more than during the same period of the previous coffee cycle. Authorities foresee total exports reaching 1.61 million sixty kilo sacks for the current cycle due to better control of the coffee rust plague that affected harvests in all of Central America during the previous years. Nicaraguan coffee companies and cooperatives are participating in the World of Coffee Expo-Fair in Gothenburg, Sweden. Emilio Baltodano, president of the Mercon Coffee Group, said that Nicaraguan coffee is well known for its quality, aroma and the fact that much of it is 100% organic. "Nicaragua is raising its international profile and is being recognized for the high quality of its product," Baltodano said. (Informe Pastran, June 1; Nicaragua News, July 1)

The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) and the National Electrical Transmission Company (ENATREL) installed electricity in the homes of 120 families in “Presa el Clavo”, in the Department of Leon department last week. The US$45,000 dollar investment is part of the National Sustainable Electrification and Renewable Energy Program (PNESER) that the Nicaragua government is implementing in all 153 municipalities throughout the country. (Nicaragua News, July 3)

7. Nicaragua implements second phase of Better Work Program in FTZs

Nicaragua is implementing in the country’s Free Trade Zones the second phase of the Better Work Programof the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Bank’s International Financial Corporation (IFC). Roberto Gonzalez, head of the Sandinista Workers Central (CST) union confederation, said Better Work is a comprehensive initiative that protects labor rights of workers, provides education for their children, offers health care to mothers, trains employees, empowers women and organizes HIV-AIDS awareness programs. Better Work has benefited production, reduced employer’s costs and improved workers quality of life during the last six years. Gonzalez said that during the second phase of the program 150,000 decent jobs are expected to be created in the Free Trade Zone sector. According to Carlos Vargas Mantica, director of the Federation of Private Industrial Parks, “The government of Nicaragua is supporting the efforts of the private sector to diversity industrial production.” He noted that for many years Nicaragua has been noted for garment assembly but the country is now attracting international attention as a rising star in other sectors such as auto parts, shoes, and agribusiness products. Dean Garcia, Director of the Nicaragua Textiles and Apparel Association (ANITEC) said the Tripartite Alliance Model between government, employers and labor has created stability, promoted social peace and improved business climate in the country. In 2014 exports from the Free Trade Zone Sector reached US$2.4 billion dollars, providing more than 100,000 formal sector jobs. (Nicaragua News, June 30, July 1; Informe Pastran, July 3)

8. Ortega sends message of support to Greece

On July 6, President Daniel Ortega sent a message of support to Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras whose party on July 5 won a referendum rejecting the austerity policies of the European Central Bank. Ortega said, “In the name of our people and in these days when we celebrate the 36 anniversary of our Sandinista Revolution, we salute the great victory of the Greek people who ratified their historic values of democracy, dignity and justice. He added, “We accompany you with great affection and respect from free Nicaragua in a spirit of unity, dignity, and fraternity, assured of the wisdom of your people and your government to confront new challenges.” (El Nuevo Diario, July 6)