Nicaragua Network

1. Managua suffers nine tremblers in one day
2. Police officers involved in Las Jagüitas incident sentenced to two to eleven years
3. Official says canal company committed to net positive impact for people and environment
4. Biologist draws lessons from Panama for evaluating Nicaraguan canal
5. Nicaraguan set to be executed in Texas was 17 at time of crime
6. Opposition continues Wednesday protests and asks OAS to intervene
7. Formal sector job growth hits record in May

1. Managua suffers nine tremblers in one day

On July 28, nine tremblers were felt in Managua with the first at 6:50am that registered 2.8 on the Richter scale. The quakes continued throughout the morning and early afternoon with the strongest, at 4.1 at 2:51pm and a final trembler at 3:18pm. Officials at the National System for the Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters (SINAPRED) said that the seismic activity occurred in the family of central Managua fault lines that caused the earthquake that destroyed the city in 1972. Wilfried Strauch, an adviser at the Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (INETER), said that the activity was unusual because for the last forty years these faults in the center of the capital have not been active. The nine quakes of July 28 occurred south of the Tiscapa Crater Lake (Laguna de Tiscapa) not far from the Central America University (UCA) and Metrocentro.

Managua schools from pre-school through high school were closed for the rest of the week and reopened on Aug. 3. Education Minister Miriam Raudez told administrators of public and private schools to review their evacuation plans and prepare students for the disaster drill planned for all schools throughout the country for Aug. 18.

No further tremblers were felt in Managua but, on July 30, there were three quakes in the area between Granada, Nandiame and Carazo, the strongest of which registered 3.6 on the Richter scale. Also on July 30 one of Managua’s periodic disaster drills that had been previously scheduled was held in which authorities carried out activities based on a hypothetical earthquake in which “the damages are greater than the capacity of the country and the government asks for international help.” These drills were begun last year after a series of tremblers in April caused two deaths and damages to numerous buildings in Managua. Managua has been struck by destructive earthquakes three times, in 1885, 1931, and 1972. (El Nuevo Diario, July 29, 30; Informe Pastran, July 30)

2. Police officers involved in Las Jagüitas incident sentenced to two to eleven years

Judge Alia Dominga Ampie of the Fourth Criminal Court of Managua sentenced the nine police officers, who twenty days ago were involved in an operation that went disastrously wrong and who had pled guilty to numerous charges, to sentences that ranged between two and eleven years in prison. The police were carrying out a drug operation in the Las Jagüitas neighborhood in Managua and shot into a car similar to one for which they were waiting and which they believed was carrying a shipment of cocaine. They killed one adult and two children and wounded two other children. Capitan Zacarias Salgado, the head of the operation, was sentenced to eleven years in prison and was forbidden to carry a weapon or serve as a police officer for 20 years. Javier Saldaña and Jose Fonseca were sentenced to nine years; Oscar Vargas to six years; Miguel Ramos to four years; and Augusto Medrano, Harrison Ramirez, Osman Garcia and Ernesto Urbina were sentenced to two years. In reading the sentences, Judge Ampie said that the officers had violated police protocol covering the use of force and the employment of firearms.

Opposition organizations questioned the prison sentences saying that they should have been much longer. Dr. Vilma Nuñez, president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), said, “The sentences show the depth of the institutional destruction of the judicial branch.” She accused the police, prosecution, and judge of acting in concertation saying that it was “very grave for respect for human rights in the country.” CENIDH said the justice system had given life sentences to those who killed four people returning from Sandinista celebrations last year, and questioned why the sentences given the accused police officers were much less. [Those convicted last year plotted ambushes and deliberately attacked civilian buses on two different routes returning from the July 19^th celebrations in Managua in 2014.] Monsignor Bismark Carballo said that he shared the opinion that the deaths and injuries in Las Jagüitas were a result of “human error.” He added, “I would call on people who are taking extreme positions to avoid deepening the wounds and instead seek peace and reconciliation.” (El Nuevo Diario, July 30, 31; Informe Pastran, July 30, 31; Confidencial, Aug. 1)

3. Official says canal company committed to net positive for people and environment

On Aug. 3, El Nuevo Diario (END) published an interview with Pang Kwok Wai, deputy general manager of the HKND Company which holds the concession to study and build a shipping canal across Nicaragua. END asked Mr. Pang how the project would protect the interests of the people living on the route of the canal. Pang answered that the company had promised to pay fair market value for the property and that the people would be relocated in new houses in places as close as possible to their previous homes with potable water, electricity, roads and other services. He said, “HKND is sure that all the people will live in better conditions than before.” He said that the resettlement action plan had been elaborated in accord with best international practices and would include an independent monitor. He noted that while the company had committed itself to pay above the minimum established by law, which would be the amount for which a property was appraised for tax purposes, this commitment was on the condition that measures be taken to lessen land speculation that would artificially raise prices. He said that land purchases would not proceed until the government approves the Environmental and Social Impact Study currently under consideration, until mitigation measures are agreed upon, and the final route and design of the canal are decided. Pang said that farmers would receive adequate compensation for their land or be offered another property in exchange. He said that HKND would offer all those who would be displaced the opportunity to be trained to work on the canal.

On the subject of the environmental impact of the canal, Pang said that there are three types of measures to protect the environment: first, the measures incorporated into the design of the canal to protect the environment; second, the mitigation measures adopted to overcome damage that cannot be avoided; and third, compensatory actions or offsets taken by the company or paid for by the company that will make up for unavoidable damage to the environment. He insisted that HKND is committed to achieve a net positive environmental impact, currently a requirement of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank, the guidelines of which HKND has chosen to follow.

END asked “How will the cultural patrimony of the communities be preserved? How with the way of life and traditions of the indigenous communities be conserved?”  Pang answered that the company has contracted with local cultural experts to advise them on how to preserve the local cultures, especially in the cases of the indigenous peoples. He added that, “We will be responsible for the identification, excavation, classification, and registration of archeological artefacts discovered before and during the construction and they will be turned over to the Nicaraguan government.” (El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 3; Informe Pastran, Aug. 3)

4. Biologist draws lessons from Panama for evaluating Nicaraguan canal

PLOS Biology, a peer reviewed open access journal, published on July 27 an article by biologist Richard Condit entitled, “Extracting Environmental Benefits from a New Canal in Nicaragua: Lessons from Panama.” [You can access the article here: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002208.] Condit begins his article by saying, “Although there are claims that [the canal] will lead to environmental ruin, I argue, to the contrary, that a new canal might in fact advance environmental protection in Nicaragua.” Condit notes that the United States protected a 250 square mile corridor flanking the Panama canal and, “now that Panama has taken over its Canal, the forests around it are intact and belong to Panama’s well-established system of national parks and nature monuments.” He goes on to say that the forest would have been cleared in the 20^th century without US protection and deforestation would be “well underway now without the current protection of the Panamanian government.”

Condit goes on to say that the land to be traversed by the new canal in Nicaragua is largely deforested, the Pacific and central part of the country having been farmed for years while “deforestation east of Lake Nicaragua is recent and happening quickly” with 2,162 square miles around the central section of the proposed canal having been cleared between 2000 and 2011. Most of the remaining forests are within twelve miles of the Caribbean with the agricultural frontier now pushing into protected areas. Condit notes that, “One last large block of unbroken Caribbean forest remains in Nicaragua, the [1,312 square mile] Indio Maiz Reserve between the proposed canal and the Costa Rican border. Without improved management, protecting Indio Maiz and maintaining even 10%–20% of the original forest cover in large blocks, where the native biodiversity will persist intact, is not a sure bet over the next 25 years.”

Condit states that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank has published guidelines for reducing environmental impact that are the best standards available to international lenders [which the canal company HKND has promised to follow, see story above].  Condit says in closing that, “In order for the canal to live up to its potential as a conservation driver for Nicaragua, it should be constructed and operated in compliance with International Finance Corporation environmental and social standards. First, it is important that the Nicaraguan government make clear to the investors that it expects compliance with IFC standards. Second, an independent expert committee should be assembled to help review the recent environmental impact report to ensure that the project delivers net economic, social, and ecological benefits to the country. From the perspective of biodiversity, at a minimum, mitigation measures should include long-term funding for the effective management of the Indio Maiz protected area, native forest regeneration in watersheds that are important to the functioning of the canal, and improved fisheries and pollution restrictions in Lake Nicaragua. Finally, as a condition for issuing a permit for the project, the investors should agree to ongoing and independent monitoring of the project and its compliance with environmental and social goals. If these conditions can be met, then the new canal may represent a tremendous opportunity to channel international investment in such a way that it generates significant economic and environmental benefits for a very poor country. This is where environmentalists should focus their efforts.” (Informe Pastran, July 29; PLOS Biology, July 27)

5. Nicaraguan set to be executed in Texas was 17 at time of crime

Bernardo Tercero, sentenced to death in 2000 in Texas for the murder of teacher Robert Berger during a robbery at a dry cleaners is scheduled for execution on Aug. 26. Tercero was only 17 at the time the robbery took place and while the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2005 in Roper v. Simmons that it is unconstitutional to impose capital punishment for crimes committed while under the age of 18, the Texas court refused to recognize Tercero’s Nicaraguan birth certificate. Tercero specifically requested to speak with the Nicaraguan Consulate but this right under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations was denied him. Two of his attorneys were ranked by an Austin newspaper as among the five worst lawyers in Texas in 2006. Two witnesses, after hearing his death sentence, admitted lying after being pressured by the prosecution. His current lawyers are filing an appeal this week with the Texas Board of Pardons and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in Washington, DC, has accepted jurisdiction. President Daniel Ortega sent a letter to President Barack Obana last week asking for clemency for Tercero. (El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 3; La Voz del Sandinismo, Aug. 4)

6. Opposition continues Wednesday protests and asks OAS to intervene

On Wednesday, July 29, about 150 representatives of opposition parties and organizations held their sixteenth weekly protest in front of the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) in Managua expressing their demands for “free and fair” elections in 2016. In November of next year, Nicaraguans will elect president, vice-president, 90 members of the National Assembly and 20 representatives to the Central American Parliament. The protests, watched over by numerous police officers, have been peaceful except for the one on July 8 which degenerated into violence when protestors broke through police barriers and used pieces of the barriers to attack the police resulting in six police and nine protestors injured. During last Wednesday’s demonstration, Ana Margarita Vijil, president of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) announced that protests were also being held in Leon and Juigalpa and that next week protests would be held in other departmental capitals. Eliseo Nuñez of the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) said that the demonstrations would continue until changes were made in the CSE. Some activists burned the Sandinista flag and painted the shields of some police officers in blue and white, the colors of the national flag. The police did not react. Merchants in the area of the CSE, which includes the Metrocentro shopping center, have protested the closing of the streets by police each Wednesday morning and PLI president Eduardo Montealegre said that the number of police was “excessive” and that the closing of the streets “unjustified.”

In related news, on July 28, opposition leaders filed a letter with the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC, asking the OAS to intervene in Nicaragua to assure transparent elections in 2016. The letter was addressed to Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS, and was taken to Washington by National Assembly Deputy Edipcia Dubon of the MRS. Signing the letter were Eduardo Montealegre of the PLI, Ana Margarita Vijil of the MRS, Francisco Delgadillo of the Christian Democratic Union, Carlos Noguera of the Ramiro Sacasa Liberal Movement, Enrique Sáenz of the Citizen Union for Democracy, Violeta Granera of the Movement for Nicaragua, Sofía Montenegro of CINCO, Pedro Xavier Solís of Hagamos Democracia, Irving Dávila of the Civil Coordinator, Azahalea Solís of the Autonomous Women’s Movement (MAM), Ana Quirós of CISAS, and Marcos Carmona of the Permanent Commission for Human Rights, (CPDH). [Several of these groups have a history of receiving US government funding.] (El Nuevo Diario, July 29; Informe Pastran, July 28, 29)

7. Formal sector job growth hits record in May

In May a record number of workers signed up with the Nicaraguan Social Security system according to figures just released by the Central Bank. A total of 14,448 workers officially joined the formal sector that month, the latest for which figures are available, bringing the total of formal sector workers paying into the system to 769,880. According to the Bank, commerce, community services, and manufacturing were the sectors with the most new workers. In May of 2014, the growth sectors were mining, transportation, warehouses, and communications. In the first five months of the year, the number of workers paying into Social Security increased by 44,866, an annual growth rate of 8.1%. The number of formal sector workers in Nicaragua increased by 72.4% between 2006 and 2014. But the number of workers paying into Social Security, a total of 725,014 at the end of 2014, amounts to only 21% of the economically active population, estimated at 3.2 million people. Economists Alberto Ramirez stated that in order to see continued economic growth, formal sector employment should grow at a rate of 10% annually. He recommended promoting an increase in foreign investment which has, in fact, grown by an annual rate of 22% between 2005 and 2014. (El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 2)