TUESDAY, MAY 06, 2008

Nicaragua Network Hotline (May 6, 2008)

1. Ortega accuses US Embassy of financing counter revolution
2. Pro and anti government unions demand price freezing on International Workers Day
3. National transportation strike threatens chaos
4. New FSLN-PLC “pact” may solve institutional crisis

1. Ortega accuses US Embassy of financing counter revolution

President Daniel Ortega accused the US Embassy in Managua of financing political and other groups opposed to his government with the aim of destabilizing the country and undermining the government during his May Day speech. “The Yankee Empire, through its embassy in Managua ... has agents who give out millions of dollars to pseudo political and worker leaders to organize protests against the government,” said Ortega. He cited as an example the recent violent protests in Bilwi against the government backed decision to postpone the upcoming municipal elections. He went on to mention the alliance forged between Eduardo Montealegre and Arnoldo Aleman, leaders of the two main right wing political factions, for the up-coming municipal elections. Uniting the anti-Sandinista right-wing parties has been the acknowledged failed goal of the past four US ambassadors to Nicaragua. Ortega also pointed to the constant media campaigns which aim to “create a sense of chaos” in the country in order to undermine his government.

“They have designated millions to be channeled through different organizations like the so-called Democratic Alliance, or self appointed civil society groups; ...we know the exact figures,” said Ortega, who promised to reveal the names of these “agents” at some point. In 2006 a spokesperson for the International Republican Institute (IRI) told a Nicaragua Network delegation, “We created the Movement for Nicaragua” a supposedly nonpartisan anti-pact civil society group.

“These are the [US] policies we have been confronted with. Yes, we maintain relations [with the US], and yes, we welcome any [US and foreign] investment, but that does not mean that the counterrevolution has not already been activated.” Ortega compared this anti-government conspiracy to the one carried out in Chile during the early 1970s which eventually led to the coup which overthrew Salvador Allende's government. Ortega called on the people to “forge class consciousness” in the face of US conspiracy. “Our struggle is not about earning a few extra cents,” he said, “it is about winning power for the majority. It is not enough to protest, the most important thing is to forge class consciousness. Without class consciousness we are converted into instruments of the counterrevolution, which is already active in Nicaragua.”

There has been no official response from the US Embassy, but Director of the Millennium Challenge Account in Nicaragua John Danilovich did respond to Ortega's accusations. “This sort of comment makes my job more difficult,” he said. “When I meet with Ortega ... I feel like he cooperates [with me], but if he repressed the National Assembly, or the banks, or if he nationalized [the banks] then we would no longer continue to work in Nicaragua.” The US government's Millennium Challenge program is currently funding the construction of roads in Leon and Chinandega worth approximately US$175 million.

The US government through the National Endowment for Democracy and US Agency for International Development spent $12 million, acknowledged by then Ambassador Paul Trivelli, in an attempt to prevent a Sandinista victory in the presidential election of 2006. The US is giving a currently unknown amount to anti-Sandinista forces in order to manipulate the results of the municipal elections.

2. Pro and anti government unions demand price freezing on International Workers Day

An estimated 20,000 people attended a May Day event organized by the National Workers' Front (FNT) on Apr. 30. Speakers included President Daniel Ortega, Labor Minister Jeanette Chavez, FNT President Gustavo Porras, FNT Women's Representative Miriam Reyes, General Secretaries of the Sandinista Workers' Central (CST) Roberto Gonzalez and Luis Barbosa and General Secretary of the Association of Farm Workers (ATC) Edgardo Garcia, among others.

During her speech Minister Chavez listed the achievements of the government in terms of labor rights guarantees during the last year and a half including the signing of 47 collective bargaining agreements benefiting 91,000 workers, the prohibition of pre-employment tests for pregnancy or HIV/AIDS, and a 33% minimum wage increase. She also mentioned that the government programs “Zero Hunger” and “Zero Usury” have created over ten thousand new sources of employment, mainly for women. On top of this, she said, 1,169 new cooperatives have been created during the last year.

CST General Secretary Luis Barbosa questioned the government's commitment to Nicaraguan workers. Barbosa called for resolution of 60,000 cases of workers' claims against employers pending in the labor courts. “We need a strong, capable Labor Ministry with a bigger budget which permits a greater number of inspectors, and the inspectors must be well paid so that they cannot be bribed,” said Barbosa. He pointed to rising food prices as the most critical problem for Nicaraguan workers. Barbosa demanded that the Ortega Administration take steps either to significantly increase wages or to freeze the prices of basic products. “Take note, Mr. President, we want to know what the labor policy of our government is ... and we want you to call a meeting between workers, the private sector and the government in order to resolve this problem.” If this problem is not resolved, he said, “then you will see us [protesting] in the street, and we will expect the support of your government.”

Barbosa's speech demonstrated the rift between the government and some factions within the FNT. During its last congress at the end of 2007 the FNT agreed to fight to change the social, economic and political system after concluding that the Ortega Administration maintained a neoliberal line. Barbosa's call for the prices of basic goods to be frozen was echoed by the FNT's Miriam Reyes in her speech.

The call for a price freeze was also echoed in the speeches on May. 1 of leaders of labor unions opposed to the government, such as the Nicaraguan Bakers Association. President of the Bakers Association Ermis Morales said “the price of oil, sugar, eggs, flour, labor, electricity and water have all gone up, this situation is unbearable.” Morales demanded that the government freeze the price of fuel and basic goods in order to avoid the collapse of the baking industry in Nicaragua. Spiraling food prices is a global crisis caused by the falling US dollar, commodity futures speculation by investors, several droughts in important grain producing regions, production of biofuels rather than food crops, the rising cost of oil, and decades of neoliberal policies that have favored transnational agribusiness at the expense of small farmers. It is not a problem that any one country can solve.

Three small protest marches by unions opposed to the government took place in Managua on May 1; that of the Nicaraguan Bakers Association, a march organized by the Pro Salary Doctors Federation and the Association of Nicaraguan Journalists and another organized by the Central Trade Union Unification (CUS). La Prensa lamented that the three separate marches demonstrated the lack of coordination between opposition organizations.

3. National transportation strike threatens chaos

Despite the government's offer to sell fuel directly to transportation sector saving them 25% and sell parts tax free, a national public and freight transportation strike was announced on May 5 affecting an estimated 70% of public transportation (including buses and taxis) and freight trucks. The National Transportation Coordinator (CNT) [an association of cooperatives formed by owners of busses and other vehicles], one of the main organizers of the strike, demands that the government freeze the price of diesel at US$2.13 a gallon, (currently a gallon of diesel is being sold at US$4.32). National transportation cooperatives say the constant increases in the price of fuel and spare parts have become unbearable and they demand government subsidies similar to those enjoyed by Managua public transportation cooperatives.

Striking transportation owners and workers put up roadblocks in a number of locations across the country causing a certain degree of disruption in some areas, namely Leon and Chinandega where classes were canceled in some schools due to low levels of pupil attendance. By the evening of May 5 a number of other transportation cooperatives had confirmed plans to strike as of May 6. One of the leaders of the Civil Coordinator, Georgina Muñoz, meanwhile called on the population to “stock up on food” in anticipation of shortages in towns and cities nationwide as a result of the strike. Hoarding food is likely to exacerbate the problem of rising food costs.

4. New FSLN-PLC “pact” may solve institutional crisis

Building tension between the leaders of the main electoral alliance of the right was evident this week as political players and analysts anticipate a new “pact” between President Daniel Ortega and honorary president of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) Arnoldo Aleman. With the election of the Supreme Court justices pending and the opposition parties' ongoing boycott of the National Assembly in protest against the decision to postpone the municipal elections in hurricane ravaged areas of the Caribbean Coast, many commentators believe President Ortega will opt for a renewal of his political agreement with Aleman as his most advantageous solution to the deadlock. In fact, no party has a majority in the National Assembly so the only way to pass any legislation or to confirm any appointment is for two or more parties to collaborate.

On May 3 PLC spokesperson Leonel Teller announced that the National Executive Committee (CEN) of the PLC was considering a proposal to support postponement of the municipal elections in Bilwi, Prinzapolka and Waspam until January 2009. Teller said that the CEN stands firm in its position that the only institution authorized to suspend or postpone elections is the National Assembly and that, therefore, the Supreme Electoral Council's (CSE) decision to approve the request by the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) Council to postpone the elections is invalid. Authority is not clear in this case. The autonomous regional councils may have authority under the Autonomy Law of 1987, the CSE may have authority as the independent branch of the national government constitutionally charged with responsibility for elections, or, the National Assembly may have responsibility. The issues have never been resolved by the Supreme Court, nor does the Supreme Court have the same “final arbiter” status as does the US Supreme Court.

Also on May 3 Aleman, along with PLC bench coordinator Maximino Rodriguez, admitted during a press conference that the PLC was planning to negotiate the election of the sixteen Supreme Court justices with the Sandinista party (FSLN). “It's a matter of mathematics,” said Rodriguez referring to the fact that the election of Supreme Court justices requires 56 votes in the National Assembly and the PLC could only achieve that number of votes for its candidates if it came to an agreement with the FSLN. According to the press commentary, part of this negotiation will inevitably include a way out of the institutional crisis caused by the disagreement over the postponement of municipal elections in Bilwi, Prinzapolka and Waspam.

5. Newspapers ignore German government statement about reasons behind suspension of aid

El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa, appeared intent on promoting the claim that Germany recently suspended its aid to Nicaragua because President Daniel Ortega governs the country so badly. On Apr. 30 both newspapers reproduced claims made by the German newspaper Suddeutsch Zeiting that the decision was based on the extent of “corruption, mishandling of public funds and violation of human rights” by the Nicaraguan government. The newspapers published these claims despite clarification by the Trade Affairs official at the German Embassy in Managua that the real reason was that the German parliament had passed a moratorium on aid to all countries emphasizing that the decision had nothing to do with the political situation in Nicaragua. On May 2 the German Embassy issued a press statement repeating that the reason for the aid suspension was a moratorium on all aid,

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
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