Nicaragua Network Hotline (September 16, 2008)
1. IMF releases money to support international reserves
2. CENIDH expresses concern about attacks on NGOs
3. NED/USAID recipients revealed
4. Cuban Five protests at U.S. embassy and at the White House
5. Dionisio Marenco “would accept” FSLN candidacy for president if offered
6. Eden Pastora calls for dialogue; laments graffiti with “Rigoberto Lopez P.”
Topic 1: IMF releases money to support international reserves
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Sept. 11 the release of the first US$28.4 million of its loan agreement with Nicaragua and increased the total of US$120.4 million by an additional US$10 million citing its approval of Nicaragua’s performance. In the communiqué, Takatoshi Kato, one of the Fund’s managing sub-directors, described the macroeconomic policy of Nicaragua as “prudent” and the economic program as “generally satisfactory.”
He did note, however, that growth has slowed and inflation has reached double digits, principally because of the rise in the price of food and oil, while the trade deficit has widened. “It will be crucial,” he said, “to control public expenditures during the upcoming electoral period.” He also repeated the IMF’s neoliberal agenda advising the government to “contain wage pressures” and not to cede ground in current discussions over the national minimum wage. Nicaragua’s wages for essential public service jobs continue to be the lowest in Central America. On Sept. 12 El Nuevo Diario reported a shortage of nurses whose US$200 monthly salary is causing them to migrate to higher paying countries.
Topic 2: CENIDH expresses concern about attacks on NGOs
Bayardo Izabá, director of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), said last week that his organization is very concerned about accusations against non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by the Ministry of Government. Oxfam-Great Britain and the Center for Communications Research (CINCO) were accused by officials of illegally passing funds to the Autonomous Women’s Movement (MAM). Izabá noted that it was particularly alarming that two of those accused of illegalities, Carlos Fernando Chamorro and Sofia Montenegro “have recently made critical statements with respect to government management.” He added that the government should take special care to avoid suspicions that the accusations are reprisals for speaking out.
He also said that government-linked media had launched virulent campaigns against some individuals that put their security at risk and “that we as a human rights organization must energetically protest because they violate the honor and reputation of these persons.” While he said that CENIDH could not “put our hands in the fire” for all of the groups, he maintained that the authorities have ways to follow the activities of the groups in a civil fashion. He added that, in the case of the international group Oxfam-Great Britain, it was not the Ministry of Government but rather the Foreign Ministry that would be in charge of its regulation.
Meanwhile, Sofia Montenegro, of CINCO and MAM, said in an interview in El Nuevo Diario that CINCO has all its books in order and what it did was legal. She said many organizations serve as legal sponsors for other informal groupings. She noted that CIPRES, headed by Sandinista Orlando Núñez, serves as fiscal sponsor for the Agro-Forestry Roundtable. “What you do is you establish an alliance with an organization recognized by the government and by the donors that has administrative capacity and they sponsor you.” CINCO, she said, has sponsored not only MAM but groups of young environmentalists as well.
On Sept. 8, women’s organizations said they were victims of harassment by the government of President Daniel Ortega as a “smoke screen” to cover accusations of abuse and demands for transparency. At a press conference, Ana Quiroz, Juanita Jimenez, Marta Munguia and Azalia Solis, all leaders in the MAM, said that “the whole nation was watching with astonishment the orchestrated campaign by the government against civil society organizations…which has reached particular fury against women’s organizations.”
Topic 3: NED/USAID recipients revealed
The weekly Sandinista magazine El 19, meanwhile, published an article that listed the amounts of money received by Nicaraguan NGOs from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Among those receiving money from USAID were Network of Nicaraguan Youth, CINCO, MAM, the Center for Communications Programs, the Movement for Nicaragua, Ethics and Transparency, the Permanent Commission for Human Rights (CPDH), and 15th of September Radio. The article says that USAID provides assistance to a number of projects supporting the “Let’s Go with Eduardo [Montealegre]” Movement. Montealegre is the candidate of a Liberal alliance for mayor of Managua.
Among those receiving money from the International Republican Institute of the NED were the Movement for Nicaragua, Youth of Nicaragua, Ethics and Transparency, the Institute for Development and Democracy (IPADE). Other groups funded by organizations under the NED umbrella included: the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), the Center for Strategic Studies and Public Policy, the Nicaraguan Institute for Humanistic Studies, Pro-Vote, among others.
The article also reported on donations from the Common Fund which distributes donations from Norway, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Ireland to civil society groups “to promote democratization projects, institutionalization and citizen participation.” The article noted that some of the organizations that the Common Fund supported were not registered “which makes this financing illegal.” The article went on to say that the Common Fund “in a classic money laundering operation” funded the Autonomous Women’s Movement through other organizations such as the Nicaraguan Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Health Information and Consulting Services (CISAS) and CINCO.
Topic 4: Cuban Five protests at U.S. Embassy and at the White House
Members of the Movement to Rescue Sandinismo (MPRS) protested on Sept. 12 in front of the United States Embassy demanding the immediate release of five Cubans imprisoned in the United States. The protesters read a statement which noted that Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and Rene González, who had worked against terrorism by tracking the activities of violent right wing Cubans in Florida, had been in prison for ten years convicted of “spying.” The pronouncement noted that while the “Cuban Five” were deprived of essential rights of prisoners such as family visits, notorious terrorist Luis Posada Carriles was allowed to live freely in the United States. The protesters said that they joined the voices of millions of citizens around the world who were members of human rights groups, social movements, and trade unions who demanded “the immediate freeing of the five Cuban patriots.” The MPRS, which counts among its members Henry Ruiz, Monica Baltodano and Victor Hugo Tinoco, defined itself in the pronouncement as a “political movement of the left which follows faithfully the ideals of Sandino and Carlos Fonseca.” [The MPRS joined the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) for the 2006 elections.]
Also on Sept. 12, Nicaragua Network National Co-Coordinator Chuck Kaufman was among five people arrested at the White House for “crossing a police line” while attempting to deliver petitions with over 100,000 signatures from around the world demanding freedom for the Cuban Five. The action was organized by the ANSWER Coalition of which the Nicaragua Network is a founding member.
Topic 5: Dionisio Marenco “would accept” FSLN candidacy for president if offered
In an interview published in El Nuevo Diario on Sept. 12, Managua Mayor Dionisio Marenco said, “Would I be the presidential candidate for the Front? I am not interested, but if you ask me I would respond that if I were offered the candidacy I would accept it as a responsibility to carry out.” He said his main interest is finishing his term as mayor of Managua: “I think that I have done things well and no one can say that I stole even one pencil. Although someone could invent a story that I stole one. I don’t doubt that they could launch a campaign like that but I don’t care.”
Marenco has not been on good terms with President Daniel Ortega since he criticized Ortega after he was inaugurated for deciding to use the offices of the Sandinista Party for his presidential offices. He went on to say, “After I leave the mayor’s office, I don’t see possibilities of working for the government because of the tensions that exist around me. I’ll probably look for work as an engineer or a consultant. But if I am harassed or pursued and don’t find work in Nicaragua — and this could happen — I would have to look for work outside the country.” Marenco stated, “I have hope for the FSLN that, as in all the difficult moments of its history, it will find the route for the good of the country.”
Topic 6: Eden Pastora calls for dialogue; laments graffiti with “Rigoberto Lopez Perez”
Former Sandinista guerrilla fighter turned contra turned Sandinista, Eden Pastora said on Sept. 10 that within the Sandinista Party there are political and ideological struggles between the presidential couple and several dissidents including Managua Mayor Dionisio Marenco. “There are differences,” he said in an interview on Channel 23, “delicate, profound, grave differences that have put things between Sandinistas in a serious situation.” This is why he said he had called for dialogue between and among all Sandinistas. But he said, “This government is making a revolution, even if not perfect, but it is a revolution.” He stated, “When a government is doing something for the people in freedom, in democracy and with free elections, I have to support it.” He added, “We fought so that there would be political freedom and there are no political prisoners and work is going forward on social changes.” Pastora, who serves as Minister of Citizen Power in the government, insisted that in Nicaragua there is not a political or institutional dictatorship as the adversaries of the Ortega administration assert.
Pastora lamented the appearance of graffiti on some walls in the capital, Managua, which say “Rigoberto returns” alluding to Rigoberto Lopez Perez, who killed the dictator Anastasio Somoza Garcia in 1956. “This is an invitation to shoot Daniel Ortega and they are insinuating it in a subliminal manner which could inspire some to act,” Pastora said, adding “These people are playing a dangerous game.”
This hotline is prepared from the Nicaragua News Service and other sources. To receive a more extensive weekly summary of the news from Nicaragua by e-mail or postal service, send a check for $60.00 to Nicaragua Network, 1247 E St., SE, Washington, DC 20003. We can be reached by phone at 202-544-9355. Our web site is: www.nicanet.org. To subscribe to the Hotline, send an e-mail to nicanet@afgj.org
