Nicaragua Network

1. Colombia and Nicaragua before the World Court – Again!
2. Canal survey plane crashes, killing pilot; media blitz on release of enviro study and Wang Jing’s finances
3. Latinobarometro poll shows best numbers in countries with left governments
4. Health Ministry declares war on mosquito-borne illnesses
5. Ortega calls for UN reforms and developed country commitments to meet development goals
6. Leader of sect awaiting end of world arrested
7. Campaign to keep pregnant teenagers in school
8. Children with handicaps benefit from riding rescued horses at La Mariposa
9. Trash to biofuel concession approved in Managua

1. Colombia and Nicaragua before the World Court – Again!

The International Court of Justice at The Hague (World Court) is hearing arguments on two claims by Nicaragua. In the first, in which arguments were heard on Sept. 29, 30, and Oct. 2, Nicaragua accused Colombia of violating and failing to comply with the Nov. 19, 2012, ruling by the Court which confirmed Colombian sovereignty over the San Andres Archipelago in the Caribbean Sea but which ruled that Nicaragua had sovereignty over a vast zone of the surrounding waters. Between Oct. 5^th and 9^th, the Court will hear arguments on Nicaragua’s claim to territorial waters beyond 200 nautical miles from its coast based on the extension of its continental shelf.

Colombia maintains that the Court does not have jurisdiction over the issue of its compliance with the 2012 Court ruling because on Nov. 27, 2012, Colombia renounced the 1948 Pact of Bogotá in which member countries of the Organization of American States recognized the World Court. Although Colombia said it was renouncing the treaty immediately, the text of the pact says that any renunciation of the pact goes into effect after one year. On Nov. 26, 3013, just in time, Nicaragua presented its claim to the World Court accusing Colombia of failure to abide with the ruling.

Nicaragua’s representative before the Court, Carlos Argüello, said that Colombia has failed to comply with the ruling and “continues to keep its ships in the same waters as before the decision.” He added that “Nicaragua has avoided maritime confrontations with Colombia and permits Colombian fishing boats to fish in Nicaragua’s waters.” Colombia maintains that according to the country’s constitution any redefinition of territory must be by means of a treaty approved by the Colombian congress. Colombian representative before the Court Carlos Arrieta said that “Colombia is a democracy” and a treaty must be negotiated with Nicaragua which that country has been unwilling to do. Argüello answered that President Daniel Ortega is ready to sign a treaty resolving differences between the two countries but “Nicaragua has never agreed to negotiate the ruling of the Court.”

The World Court will issue a decision in the case in four to six months. (El Nuevo Diario, Sept, 27, 29, 30, Oct.1, 2, 3, 5; Informe Pastran, Sept. 29, Oct. 1, 2, 5)

2. Survey plane crashes, killing pilot; media blitz on release of enviro study and Wang Jing’s finances

An aerial survey of the route of the proposed shipping canal was interrupted on Oct. 2 when one of the survey planes crashed, killing pilot Grant Atkinson, who worked for the Australian company CSA Global. Atkinson was a 25 year old Canadian citizen and he left a wife, who was from Argentina, and a two year old son. Government spokesperson Rosario Murillo said the crash was being investigated and she said that she sent the heartfelt sympathy of Nicaraguans to Atkinson’s family. The plane that crashed was using specialized technology to look for possible geological risks along the canal route.

There has been a blitz of international media coverage of the canal in the past week based on the release of a 100 page summary [http://hknd-group.com/portal.php?mod=view&aid=242] of the Environmental and Social Impact Study that had been carried out by the Environmental Management Company (ERM). The summary, prepared by HKND, notes that many aspects of the project fulfil international best practices norms but some require more work in order to comply with those norms. The summary noted that if the project does comply with the norms, environmental damage will be minimized but, if the project were to be started but not completed or restoration not carried out, the environment would be seriously damaged. The summary noted that many of Nicaragua’s nature reserves were on paper only with the pace of degradation increasing yearly but if the project is carried out in accord with international norms it could offer environmental benefits to those reserves. The report recommended a series of further studies which the government has promised will be carried out as well as the establishment of a group of international experts to review the canal’s engineering and construction design.

Also last week there were reports in the business media that businessman Wang Jing, president of the HKND Company which holds the concession for the canal, had lost 84% of his fortune in the recent crash of the Chinese stock market. Bloomberg.com reported that “Telecommunications entrepreneur Wang Jing, 42, was one of the world’s 200 richest people with $10.2 billion at the peak of the Chinese markets in June, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His net worth has since fallen to $1.1 billion. His 84 percent drop so far in 2015 is the worst recorded by the index, which provides a daily ranking of the world’s 400 richest people.” However, in answer to a question from El Nuevo Diario, HKND Vice-President Kwok Wai Pang said, “Wang Jing has more than 30 companies around the world and many of them are fixed assets such as a gold mine in Cambodia which is active and its value doesn’t disappear so easily. Mr. Jing is a man with a broad vision especially in regard to international commerce. He knows that the world economy has its ups and downs and because of that the values on stock markets are merely numbers.” In answer to another question, Kwok Pang said that there were indeed investors committed to the canal project but “International norms establish that we must not reveal investor information until a contract is signed.” He added that rumors that the Chinese government was behind the canal “are incorrect.” He also noted that consultations with the affected populations along the route will lead to support for the project that will be taken into account by investors because it will mean less political risk. (Informe Pastran, Oct. 5; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 2, 5; Bloomberg.com, Oct. 1; Reuters, Sept. 30; Los Angeles Times, Oct. 1; http://hknd-group.com/portal.php?mod=view&aid=242)

3. Latinobarometro poll shows best numbers in countries with left governments

Latinobarometro released the results of its yearly survey of opinions in Latin America and the poll showed Nicaragua to be the country where citizens feel the safest, where the government gets high ratings but where the economy and unemployment are major concerns. According to the report, “There are four countries that stand out in terms of [the] indicator that shows the perception of the citizenry with respect to the legitimacy of their governments. Ecuador in first place, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Nicaragua, four countries governed by the left, are those where half of the population believes that they are governed for the benefit of all the people.” In the case of Nicaragua, the figure is 52%. The report adds, “Ecuador, Bolivia, and Nicaragua are the three countries with the most citizens who believe that the distribution of wealth is just: 49%, 42% and 38% respectively.” Fifty-three percent of Nicaraguans believe that the country is progressing, according to the report, with only four other countries showing more than half of respondents perceiving progress. Only 3% of Nicaraguans said that they feared delinquency, the lowest in the region, while only 28% of Nicaraguans said the country was insecure compared with El Salvador’s 83% and Venezuela’s 84%.

However, 36% of Nicaraguans said that they feared unemployment and 59% said that what they earn is not enough to satisfy their needs. Nevertheless, 56% said that they believed the situation would improve next year. Seventy-seven percent of Nicaraguans said that democracy may have problems but it is the best form of government. Only 48% said that elections in Nicaragua are clean, however, which is low when compared to 82% in Uruguay. However, 60% said that they approved of the government of President Daniel Ortega. Political participation has increased over the last ten years, according to the survey, with an increase in those who participate in permitted rallies from 16% to 35% and in non-permitted rallies from 3% to 21%.

Eighty percent of Nicaraguans said they were satisfied with life and 70% said they had never connected to the internet. (Informe Pastran, Oct. 1; http://www.latinobarometro.org/latNewsShow.jsp)

4. Health Ministry declares war on mosquito-borne illnesses

The Ministry of Health (MINSA) announced a national campaign against epidemics. During the last quarter of 2015, it intends to visit 2.4 million homes in 10,485 neighborhoods and communities to detect cases of fever in the struggle against chikungunya, dengue, and similar illnesses, according to MINSA Minister Sonia Castro. MINSA’s goals for the final quarter are focused on epidemics, preventing illness, and on providing psychological attention. In November, Nicaraguan health centers will hold mental health clinics that will have specialists in psychology, psychiatry, and social work. Castro also announced that in the struggle against mosquitos, authorities will treat standing water every 30 days to kill larvae and spray every seven days to kill adult mosquitos in more than half a million homes in the 31 municipalities most affected by mosquito borne illnesses. They will also eliminate breeding grounds at businesses and in public spaces such as scrap yards, tire retreaders, cemeteries, markets, schools, etc.

In addition, MINSA will provide parasite medication for over one million children, complete its nutritional census of children under 6 years of age in 60 municipalities in the dry zone, bring services and equipment to 35,000 disabled Nicaraguans, complete 200,000 papanicolaou exams and 40,000 HIV/AIDS tests, train 500 new midwives, and make ultrasound equipment available to local clinics to cut down on the number of people who have to travel to a hospital for tests. (El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 5)

5 Ortega calls for UN reforms and developed country commitments to meet Millennium Goals

Vice President Omar Halleslevens read President Daniel Ortega’s speech at the 70th United Nations General Assembly. Ortega’s message called for the UN to reinvent itself with greater democracy, a cause passionately pursued by Fr. Miguel D’Escoto during his tenure as president of the General Assembly six years ago. "We need an organization based on equal rights for all, more democratic, just, reinvented  and re-founded to address the new challenges of the twenty-first century," the President said in his message. The speech also called on developed countries to fulfill their financial commitments to meet the UN’s development goals. “We urge that the necessary conditions be created to achieve inclusive development based on sustainability, fairness, security and sovereignty. It is essential that advancements in science and technology be accessible and shared to make further progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and the Post-2015 Development Agenda," the President said. (Nicaragua News, Oct. 2; El Nuevo Diario, Oct. 1)

6. Leader of sect awaiting end of world arrested

Rev. Javier Sanchez, the leader of the 600 member Mystic Body of Christ Movement, was arrested in Chinandega on Oct. 4 when he entered the country from Honduras. Seventeen other people, many of them also pastors were arrested at the same time. The leaders were preparing their 600 person flock from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, for the “rapture” in which they would be taken up to heaven in the spring of 2016. A preliminary report by the Ministry of the Family (MIFAM) said that the members of the group live in precarious conditions on a farm that they bought with the proceedings from the sale of all their properties and belongings. Of the approximately 600 people at the farm, 312 are children, some of them newborns in difficult conditions. Children and adults showed symptoms of cough and fever. MIFAM Minister Marcia Ramirez, said that, “In preliminary visits carried out by government officials we saw that the children living there are not attending school nor are they receiving any type of health care because the adults will not permit it.” She added that not all the children were in the care of their own parents.

Managua Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes said that the National Police “should act and punish those who take advantage of humble people.” But Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said, “We want to be clear on this point, that this is not a question of religious liberty; it is a question above all of protection, of the right of children to be protected and the duty of government to protect children.” She added, “What we are verifying in the first instance is if the children there are the children of the people who say they are their parents, since there are no documents that certify that. We are also trying to assure that they receive needed medical attention and that their right to education is guaranteed.” (El Nuevo Diario, Oct 2, 5; Informe Pastran, Oct. 5)

7. Campaign to keep pregnant teenagers in school

In a follow-up to the Family Code enacted early this year, the government has announced a campaign to put into effect the article that mandates that schools must guarantee the continuing education of pregnant adolescents. According to UNICEF, Nicaragua has the highest rate of early pregnancy in Latin America with one in three Nicaraguan women a mother before turning twenty. Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said that the government campaign to prevent the expulsion of pregnant adolescents will be led by the Ministry of the Family and will be launched shortly. “We want to work to prevent adolescent pregnancies but we also have to accept that this is a reality in our country at this moment,” Murillo said, adding, “What we cannot accept is that the continuity of the studies of the girls be interrupted.” The number of pregnant adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age dropped from 106 to 92 per 1,000 women between 2006 and 2012, with the rate at 74 in urban areas and 117 in rural areas. (El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 29, 30; Informe Pastran, Sept. 29)

8. Children with handicaps benefit from riding rescued horses at La Mariposa

One of the projects of La Mariposa Spanish School is equine therapy for handicapped children. Parents say that their children, who live with cerebral palsy and other conditions, have benefited greatly from the twice weekly sessions. The school provides transportation for the 27 children who receive equine therapy, physical therapy, and help with school work. A parent or guardian must accompany each child. The horses that gently carry the children have been rescued after hard lives of pulling carts and many of them came to the project needing months of medical care, food and rest. Paulette Goudge, the founder of La Mariposa, came to Nicaragua from England in the 1980s and stayed. She founded the Spanish school a decade ago and the equine therapy project two years ago. La Mariposa’s international Spanish students live with local families and help with the projects of the school as they perfect their Spanish. The school and related projects generate 80 jobs for members of the community of La Concepcion. (La Prensa, Oct. 1)

9. Trash to biofuel concession approved in Managua

The Managua City Council unanimously approved a 30 year concession to W2E Eco Energy-Nicaragua. The company will invest US$17 million to build a plastic waste processing plant in Managua that will process up to 20 tons of mainly plastic bags a day, converting them to 100 barrels (16,000 liters) of biofuel in the first of three planned factories. The project has investors from Nicaragua, Colombia, and Spain. Andres Fernandez, legal representative of the company, declined to estimate the number of new jobs the project would create “because the project is in the study phase.” However, he said workers would be needed to sort the plastic as well as drivers and workers on the trucks that will pick up the recyclables. (Nicaragua News, Sept. 29; El Nuevo Diario, Sept. 29)