TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2015
Nicaragua News Bulletin (November 24, 2015)
1. Cuban migrant crisis to be discussed at SICA meeting
2. Antonio Lacayo buried in Managua after helicopter crash that killed four
3. Low coffee prices hurting small and medium growers
4. Several indicted after political violence
5. After three years, Colombia still does not accept World Court ruling
6. Nicaragua leads region in gender equality
7. Foreign aid supports infrastructure improvement
8. International Bird Festival held in Granada
1. Cuban migrant crisis to be discussed at SICA meeting
The Nicaraguan government announced it was prepared for the Nov. 24 meeting in San Salvador of the Central American Integration System (SICA) to attempt to coordinate a comprehensive response to the presence of Cuban migrants in Costa Rica who, on Sunday Nov. 15, tried to illegally cross over into Nicaragua. Besides the members of SICA, representatives from the governments of Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia will also attend the meeting.
Costa Rica has given seven day transit visas to over 3,000 Cubans to enable them to continue their route to the United States. They had travelled by air to Ecuador and from there had continued by land with the help of smugglers through Colombia and Panama to reach Costa Rica. Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis said that his country’s migration authorities had dismantled a human trafficking network and “assured dignified treatment for these people to prevent them from [continuing to be] victims of these delinquents.” Media reports said that each migrant had paid as much as US$10,000 to smugglers to be brought from Cuba to the US via South America.
On Nov. 20 President Daniel Ortega met in Managua with the Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez to discuss the migrants as well as other bilateral issues.
US Ambassador Laura Dogu said that the United States would accept the migrants but that it was important “all the countries of the region work together to find a solution to this problem…” She added, “We are going to wait to see what happens at this meeting.” But Central American governments are not happy with the US policy that gives preference to Cuban migrants. Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said that “We join with firmness the position [of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras] and demand from the United States a policy of identical humane treatment for our migrants whom they continue to catalogue as second and third class people.”
Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), said that the OAS would consider the issue if called upon. He added that the migration could be due to the possibility that, “along with the political rapprochement between Cuba and the United States, some of the laws that say that Cubans who step onto US soil have the right to asylum may change.”
Meanwhile, the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was reopened on Nov. 17 to commercial traffic allowing 500 vehicles and 100 tractor-trailers that had been held up at Peñas Blancas to resume their routes. Dean Garcia, executive director of the Nicaraguan Textile and Garment Industry Association (ANITEC), said that factory owners were concerned because the shipments for the Free Trade Zones were not coming through and they feared for their contracts. (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 19, 20, 21, 23; Informe Pastran, Nov. 18, 20, 23; Nicaragua News, Nov. 23)
2. Antonio Lacayo buried in Managua after helicopter crash that killed four
On Nov. 19, the funeral and burial of Antonio Lacayo, minister of the presidency under President Violeta Chamorro, took place in Managua. Lacayo and three others were killed in a helicopter crash in the San Juan River on Nov. 17. The others who died in the crash were Nicaraguan pilot Juan Lemus, Phil Wendell Tope from the United States who was in charge of operations for Tampa Juice Services, a subsidiary of Coca Cola, and James Horrisberger, also with Coca Cola. The bodies of the latter two men were repatriated to the United States, according to US Ambassador Laura Dogu. The owners of the helicopter that crashed, HELINICA, said in a statement that the company along with Nicaraguan authorities would carry out an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.
Lacayo was the campaign manager for the National Opposition Union and its candidate Violeta Chamorro which defeated President Daniel Ortega in the 1990 elections. He served as Chamorro’s minister of the presidency until 1995 when he resigned to run for president himself, a race he lost. At the time of the accident he was working as an executive with the Pellas Group. He was 67 years old.
Vice-President Omar Halleslevens said, “It is very sad. Our wishes are with his wife [Cristiana, daughter of former President Chamorro]…. He played a very important role in the 1990s.” Jose Adan Aguerri, president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) said, “Antonio Lacayo Oyanguren has been an important figure in both the public and private sectors and was key to achieving the 25 years of stability and peace that Nicaragua has enjoyed.” (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 18, 19, 20, 21; Informe Pastran, Nov. 20)
3. Low coffee prices hurting small and medium growers
Low international coffee prices are sending a shock wave through the Nicaraguan coffee sector. Hardest hit are the small and medium producers who sell part or all of their harvest to brokers in the countryside. They are facing a potential loss of 40% of their income with coffee futures in New York hitting US$118.25 per hundredweight on Nov. 17 for coffee to be sold in March 2016. Futures for coffee to be sold in December were even lower at US$114.25. At the beginning of 2015, coffee futures were selling on the New York Stock Exchange for $160/hundredweight. According to the Matagalpa Association of Coffee Growers (ASOCAFEMAT) and the Nicaragua National Alliance of Coffee Growers, it costs between US$67.77-US$74.43 for those farmers to produce a hundredweight of coffee while the prices they are getting only range from US$40.60-$43.98 per hundredweight.
This year’s coffee harvest has already begun in parts of the north. There are approximately 29,000 small and medium coffee producers in Nicaragua. ASOCAFEMAT President Aura Lila Sevilla said that the situation is better for the cooperatives because they collect their harvest together and it is Fair Trade Certified, “but most small producers have to sell their coffee in the field because it is a subsistence crop. They have to sell to cover their costs and survive.” (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 18)
4. Several indicted after political violence
On Nov. 18, the judge of the Ninth Penal Court of Managua formally accused a number of people of violent acts on Nov. 4 and 11 during the weekly Wednesday demonstrations organized by the opposition in front of the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE). The violence appeared to be between different factions of the opposition. Among those accused were members of the National Assembly, Raul Herrera and Eddy Gomez, the latter an alternate deputy, for provoking the violence. Accused of violent assault were Omar Lola, a member of the Managua City Council, and David Campos of the organization FORFUNIC and Jairo Contreras de REJUDIN.
FORFUNIC and REJUDIN are youth organizations that have been funded with “democracy promotion” money from the United States. On Nov. 11, Venancio Berrios, who disputes the leadership of the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) with Eduardo Montealegre admitted that his organization, Pro Voto, channels money to FORFUNIC and REJUDIN. However, the PLI and the National Coalition for Democracy (of which the PLI is a prominent member) alleged that FORFUNIC and REJUDIN had been “infiltrated” by the Sandinistas.
At the Nov. 4 demonstration, David Campos tried to unfurl a banner opposing the PLI when he was attacked and beaten by PLI members, including Councilman Lola. The next Wednesday, Nov. 11, Campos and Contreras evidently led a group that attacked two National Assembly deputies, reporters for La Prensa and Channels 8 and 14, and others.
On Nov. 19, the National Assembly formed a special committee to consider whether to recommend removing the legislative immunity of Herrera and Gomez so that they could be tried. (Informe Pastran, Nov. 4, 11, 18; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 19, 20)
5. After three years, Colombia still does not accept World Court ruling
Nov. 19 marked three years since the 2012 ruling by the International Court of Justice (World Court) that affirmed Colombia’s possession of the islands of the San Andres Archipelago but which gave to Nicaragua 90,000 square kilometers of territorial waters in the Caribbean that had been claimed by Colombia. The government of Colombia has refused to accept the ruling and withdrew from the 1948 Pact of Bogota in which the member countries of the Organization of American States committed themselves to recognize the Court’s decisions. Colombia says that its constitution requires that any loss of territory requires a treaty which must be ratified by the Colombian congress. Colombian representative before the Court Carlos Gustavo Arrieta reiterated that position on Nov. 18, saying that Nicaragua “made no attempt to resolve the issue by the diplomatic route.”
But while Colombia has not accepted the ruling, some Colombian analysts said recently that in practice it has followed it. Vicente Torrijos said, “There is an understanding so absolutely evident that there have not been any complaints from the government of Nicaragua.” He added that the Colombian government has a two pronged policy in which its public discourse opposes the ruling but on the ground it allows Nicaragua “to carry out its activities in complete harmony.” Rafael Nieto-Navia said that Nicaragua has two claims before the Court, one against Colombia for failing to recognize the ruling and another asking for a further extension of its territorial waters to the edge of its continental shelf. But he added, “We don’t know what the [Colombian] responses to Nicaragua’s demands say because they are not known. We can’t say if they have turned in anything.”
Meanwhile, the Nicaraguan National Assembly recently approved the entrance into Nicaraguan waters of naval forces from Russia, the United States and other countries to help patrol the newly acquired territorial waters in the Caribbean, an indication that, while the World Court ruling is not recognized by Colombia, it is recognized by the rest of the world. National Assembly Deputy Wilfredo Navarro said that the Assembly approved a calendar for the next six months in which Russian vessels and later US vessels will patrol Nicaraguan waters along with the Nicaraguan naval force as part of the effort to combat drug trafficking. (Informe Pastran, Nov. 18, 20)
6. Nicaragua leads region in gender equality
Nicaragua has the smallest gender gap in Latin America according to the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Report [http://www3.weforum.org/docs/
The Nordic countries captured the top three rankings on a global basis. Nicaragua (12) led Latin America and the Caribbean. Parentheses indicate global standing. It was followed by Bolivia (22), Barbados (24), Cuba (29), Ecuador (33) Argentina (35), Costa Rica (38), Bahamas (40), Colombia (44), and Panama (44). Nicaragua and Bolivia had the greatest success in reducing the overall gender gap, followed by Nepal, Slovenia and France. Information for the report was gathered by the International Labor Organization (ILO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). (Informe Pastran, Nov. 23; Financial Times, Nov. 18)
7. Foreign aid supports infrastructure improvement
Half of the money from foreign loans that Nicaragua received in the first half of this year has gone to the building of infrastructure, according to officials. Through June, the government received US$127.5 million from multilateral institutions as reported by the Nicaragua Central Bank. Central American Bank for Economic Integration loans are being used for rural road expansion and improving roads connecting the Pacific to the Caribbean side of the country. The Central Bank report also stated, “Another big project is the construction and equipping the Chinandega departmental hospital with a US$17 million donation from Kuwait.”
Central Bank President Ovidio Reyes said that the first half of the year showed good economic dynamism, thanks to the construction sector, with 4% growth, which he believes will be maintained through the end of the year. Treasury Minister Ivan Acosta said that through August the construction sector overall has seen a cumulative growth over the previous year of 24.5%.
Additional projects include: A US$8.5 million program to develop dairy farming in the Rio San Juan Department financed by the government of Italy; and a US$26.2 million hydroelectric substation in the Department of Carazo financed by India. (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 18)
8. International Bird Festival held in Granada
The Second International Bird Festival was held in Granada last week with an attendance of hundreds of birders who held hopes of seeing some of the 200 migratory and 500 local species of birds in the area. The festival offered trips to Apoyo Crater Lake, Mombacho Volcano, the Mecatepe Lagoons Nature Reserve, and the Zapatera Archipielago National Park. Experts in ornithology gave scientific presentations during the two day festival which also included photographs and paintings and the sale of handicrafts. The festival was organized by the Cocibolca Foundation, the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute (INTUR) and the Nicaraguan Chamber of Tourism (CANATUR) among others.
Anasha Campbell, deputy director of INTUR, said that the government in conjunction with the private sector needs to train guides to be specialists in birds, noting that there are few tour companies that offer this service. Biologist and environmentalist Jaime Incer said that the logging of many of the pine forests in the northern part of the country has eliminated much of the bird habitat in that region and the tropical rain forests of the Bosawas and Indio Maiz reserve are threatened as well. (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 21, 22)
Labels: Nicaragua News Bulletin