[A-List] News from Nicaragua Network

Sun Aug 29 20:20:29 MDT 2010

Tom Baker here and also open  www.nicanet.org  
>From that web you get more background news and information 
You may also "please click here" and open the Global Justice Monitor 
for more news, information you don't get through the mainstream. 

VISIT NICARAGUA - see pdf file attached


From: Katherine Hoyt 
To: LA Solidarity 
Subject: [Lasolidarity] News from Nicaragua Network


             Nicaragua News Bulletin  
                 
            
            www.nicanet.org 

            
           August 24, 2010 
            This weekly news bulletin is the successor to the Nicaragua News Service and Nicaragua Network Hotline. This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part. Please credit the Nicaragua Network. 

            1. Supreme Court holds session with alternate justices and begins reviewing cases
            2. Political alliances register for opposition primary in March 2011
            3. Feinberg says US has no preference for president in 2011
            4. National Police report success against organized crime
            5. Two Rio San Juan disputes continue between Nicaragua and Costa Rica
            6. Rains continue; death toll rises
            7. Programs address child labor in coffee sector 

            1. Supreme Court holds session with alternate justices and begins reviewing cases 

            On Aug. 19, the Supreme Court, composed of eight justices and seven alternates, handed down 55 rulings from among the many appeals that had accumulated during more than a year of paralysis when the Court had not held sessions. An estimated 3,000 case reviews were bottled up in the judicial system during that period. 

            The alternate justices were called because justices affiliated with the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) refused to attend the Court as long as Sandinista justices Rafael Solis and Armengol Cuadra, whose terms had run out, remained on the court based on a January decree by President Daniel Ortega. That decree stated that the 25 high level officials whose terms were to end during 2010 could remain at their posts until their replacements were named by the National Assembly. Confirmation of these officials requires a super-majority of 56 votes and no party can bring together that many votes. So, no new appointments have been made. Sandinista officials are remaining in their posts under the decree while PLC affiliated officials are stepping down in rejection of the decree, resulting in chaos in many departments of the government. 

            PLC justices said that the "last rites" had been administered to the Court. Former Supreme Court President Manuel Martinez said on Aug 18 referring to the next day's session, "There is no convocation; tomorrow's session has no value whatsoever. It is part of the show; they want to show that they took over the Court." 

            Meanwhile, in the National Assembly, Liberal members of the Assembly leadership last week were able to put on the agenda a bill that they said would annul Ortega's January decree. It was not, however, put on the order of the day to be debated on the floor of the Assembly. Wilfredo Navarro of the PLC said, "We're going to go step by step to see if we have the votes to pass it in the plenary because, if we don't, it would be suicide [to try]." (Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 19, 23; El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 19; La Prensa, Aug. 18) 

            2. Political alliances register for opposition primary in March 2011 

            August 22 was the deadline for alliances to sign up for the opposition primary election organized by the Permanent Commission on Human Rights (CPDH) and scheduled for March 2011. However, the headline for that day in El Nuevo Diario was "Nobody is Aligned with Anybody," a reflection of the lack of unity among the parties in opposition to the government of President Daniel Ortega. The one alliance registered, the Great National Republican Alliance (whose acronym GANAR means win) had combined with an alliance of two Conservative Parties called the Multiparty Group (GM) and will run Noel Vidaurre as candidate. 

            Marcos Carmona, executive secretary of the CPDH, said that the deadline for registering candidates from single parties is Sept. 12. Those who have said they would run are Arnoldo Aleman of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), Eduardo Montealegre of the "Let's Go with Eduardo" Movement (MVE), Alejandro Bolaños of the Conservative Party (PC), and Jose Castellon Ayon of the Authentic Contra Movement (MAC). El Nuevo Diario reported that the CPDH is supported by the group Hagamos Democracia. That group has for years received funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) of the United States. 

            Earlier this month, Montealegre surprised observers by proposing that all other candidates drop out of the race in favor of a unity candidate, Central American Parliament Deputy Fabio Gadea Mantilla, a well known radio personality and commentator. Last week, La Prensa published an M&R poll taken in the country's urban areas indicating that Gadea was the candidate with the greatest possibility of unifying the opposition vote. The poll had Gadea with a four point advantage over Montealegre and a 27 point advantage over Aleman. Montealegre said, "Gadea is someone who can play that important role that Violeta Chamorro played in 1990 [bringing the opposition together to counter the Sandinista vote]." However, the poll indicated that Gadea would still lose to Ortega-36% to 30%. Another poll, this one by CINASE, indicated that while 70% thought that Daniel Ortega should not run for reelection, he would still win in a three way race against Montealegre and Aleman with 28% for Ortega, 18% for Montealegre and 1.3% for Aleman. Forty-two percent said their party of preference was the Sandinista Party. Seventy-three percent said they intended to vote and 60% said they thought that national and international electoral observation was important. 

            On Aug. 18, more than 100 young people organized by Youth Resistance for National Dignity marched to the offices of the CPDH demanding that Aleman be removed from the list of primary candidates and that Ortega not be allowed to run for reelection. PLC spokesman Leonel Teller accused a U.S. organization, which he refused to name but which Radio La Primerisima said sources had told them was the NED, of financing the march and rally. This would appear to contradict what former Clinton Administration official Richard Feinberg said last week during a visit to Nicaragua. [See article below.] (El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 17, 22; La Prensa, Aug. 17, 18, 22; Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 17, 21) 

            3. Feinberg says US has no preference for president in 2011 

            Professor Richard Feinberg, during a visit to Nicaragua, stated that neither the US State Department nor the White House has a preferred opposition candidate for Nicaragua's 2011 presidential election. Feinberg served as President Bill Clinton's Senior Adviser for Inter-American Affairs and was a principal architect of the first Summit of the Americas in 1994 and an ardent supporter of free trade. He is now Professor of Political Economy at the University of California, San Diego. 

            Feinberg said that the United States is focused on other problems and issues right now and does not want to intervene in the selection of a candidate for president, unlike the Bush administration, when then Ambassador Paul Trivelli openly called for the Constitutional Liberal Party to not nominate Jose Rizo and instead support Eduardo Montealegre. 

            While Feinberg claimed that the US has a new foreign policy toward Latin America and prefers that Nicaraguans decide their own future, that new foreign policy has yet to be demonstrated with deeds rather than words. Feinberg did say that the US wouldn't intervene in President Daniel Ortega's plan to run for reelection, and said that relations have been more cordial with the nomination of Francisco Campbell as ambassador to the US. US Ambassador Robert Callahan declined to comment. 

            According to Radio La Primerisima, high US diplomatic officials in private describe the opposition to Sandinismo as corrupt, opportunistic, and incapable of national leadership and they have been clear that they are not going to give financial help to anybody. Whether that is true now, and will be true throughout the electoral campaign, remains to be seen. Given that Nicaragua has not had an election in 100 years in which the US did not have a favored candidate, the assurances are difficult to accept at face value. 

            In other US-related news, the Navy hospital ship Iwo Jima docked in El Limon, Costa Rica on Aug. 19 as part of a health mission "Continuing Promise 2010" in which it will provide medical attention to the countries from Nicaragua to Colombia. It is scheduled to move to Bluefields, Nicaragua Sept. 15 to provide medical services to the population there. (Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 21; La Prensa, Aug. 23) 

            4. National Police report success against organized crime 

            National Police Commissioner Aminta Granera recently referred to Nicaragua as a "virtual paradise for citizen safety" in Central America. Despite common delinquent offenses, the government has made major strides in confronting drug cartels and other forms of organized crime. Cartels from nearby countries (including Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico) have not been able to "settle into" or "infiltrate institutions" in Nicaragua according to Granera. Her remarks came in the context of the arrest of three members of the Mexican Gulf Cartel and the issuing of warrants for five more. The three suspects now being held in custody are accused of transporting drugs from Costa Rica to Guatemala and will face charges of drug-trafficking and organized crime. 

            The cartel had hoped to create a trafficking route over Lake Cocibolca (Nicaragua), but was met by an effective response by law enforcement. During their investigations over the last four years, Granera said that the National Police has intercepted 10 small aircraft, 100s of small boats, and thousands of heavy trucks. From 2008 to 2009, the amount of cocaine intercepted by the police dropped by nearly half from over 15 million grams to just over 8 million. Heroine also dropped drastically from nearly 20,000 grams to nearly 5,000 grams. But the most drastic drop was in synthetic drugs where the police have intercepted just 43,000 grams of methamphetamine so far this year, while in 2009 they intercepted 139,455 grams. Granera insisted that these numbers should be seen in a positive light. "We are happy when the police aren't intercepting enormous quantities of cocaine in Nicaragua, because it means that our work is having an impact," Granera said. "The idea is that we keep decreasing the quantity that makes it into the country." (El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 17, 21; La Prensa, Aug. 19; Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 19) 

            5. Two Rio San Juan disputes continue between Nicaragua and Costa Rica 

            Last week Costa Rica reiterated its complaints about a Nicaraguan project to dredge and clean the Rio San Juan near its Caribbean mouth, and Nicaraguan environmental activists along with activists from Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador and Spain began a 200 kilometer car caravan trip to protest plans for a gold mine in Costa Rica near the same river. 

            The diversion of water from the Rio San Juan into the Rio Colorado in Costa Rica is usually ascribed to the British when they controlled the Caribbean half of Nicaragua but it may have been initiated by the Spanish to thwart English pirates. Apparently the dredging and cleaning will return the river to its natural flow. Eden Pastora, who is in charge of the dredging project, accused the Costa Rican foreign minister of making an error when he officially complained about the project. Pastora pointed out that Costa Rica doesn't need Nicaragua's permission to clean a park in central San Jose, and Nicaragua doesn't need Costa Rica's permission to clean the Rio San Juan which lies completely within Nicaragua's sovereign territory. Pastora said the project, which will improve navigation and recover fresh water is worth "billions of dollars." He said the cost so far has been US$1.2 million. The project is estimated to take three years. Earlier, President Daniel Ortega had assured the public that due care would be taken not to damage the nature reserves, including Indio Maiz, near the dredging area. 

            Environmentalists from Central America and Spain began a 200 kilometer caravan from a gold mine near the banks of the Rio San Juan to the Costa Rican capital of San Jose under the banner "Yes to Life, No to Mining" on Aug. 23. They are protesting an open pit gold mine in Costa Rica of Industrias Infinito, a subsidiary of the Canadian gold mining company, Infinito Gold, Ltd. It is feared that toxic run-off from the mine will pollute the Rio San Juan. Organizers plan a march and rally in front of the Presidential Palace with performances by Carlos Mejia Godoy and others on Aug. 29. (Radio La Primerísima, Aug. 20, 22) 

            6. Rains continue; death toll rises 

            The torrential rains of the current rainy season [May to November] have left a total of 25 dead. Thousands of people have suffered damage to homes and/or crops. Twelve people have died in the last two weeks including three people in one family-one of them an 18 month old child-who were buried when their house in Managua was carried away by water and mud. A ten year old survived. According to Manuel Sobalvarro, director of operations for the National System for the Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters (SINAPRED), more than 10,000 families, an estimated total of 55,000 people, have been affected mainly in the departments of Granada, Matagalpa, Jinotega, Estelí, Nueva Segovia, Managua, León and Chinandega. Agriculture Minister Ariel Bucardo said that there will be a delay in the usual August planting for the second vegetables harvest but he expects that in the end the harvest will be good. Prices have risen for onions, tomatoes, carrots and potatoes. (El Nuevo Diario, Aug. 23; Radio La Primerisima, Aug. 18, 23) 

            7. Programs address child labor in coffee sector 

            The Nicaraguan Ministry of Labor estimates 250,000 boys and girls work each year alongside their parents during the coffee harvest (Nov.-Mar.). Gilberto Alcocer, president of the Nicaraguan Council of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (CONIMIPYME), said that the Ministry of Labor (MINTRAB) and coffee exporters must show a major commitment to overcoming the problem. He said that there have been some advances but that MINTRAB must be "more effective in enforcing the laws" against child labor. Poor families, especially in rural areas, increase the family income by having the children work, and according to Alcocer, "the owner takes advantage by paying them less." He said there need to be programs that raise the consciousness of parents and farm owners so that they "don't expose children to high risk activities." 

            Rafael Barrera, regional director of Cultivar, a project of Social Responsibility International which also receives funding from the US Dept. of Labor, confirmed that sectors that use child labor lose competitiveness in foreign trade. He said the US, Europe, and other large coffee markets base their purchases not only on quality but on certification that child labor was not used in the production process. "There is resistance [to elimination of child labor] not only from the businesses because of cost, but also from the parents." He acknowledged that due to economic need and cultural tradition child labor can't be eliminated all at once. He recommended that the farms adopt programs of substitution such as incentives to go to school. There has been a growth in such programs in Nicaragua. (La Prensa, Aug. 17) 
            The Alliance for Global Justice (of which the Nicaragua Network is a member project) has for the second year in a row received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent evaluator of charities. To read more, click here. 

            To support our work by making a tax deductible donation to the Nicaragua Network, go here.


            Alliance for Global Justice | 1247 E St. SE | Washington | DC | 20003  
     

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