TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2010

Nicaragua News Bulletin (December 14, 2010)

1. Nicaraguans react to more Wikileaks revelations
2. National Assembly passes defense bills
3. Many international voices call for negotiations over San Juan River
4. Brito mega-dam project moves a step closer
5. Nicaragua is first developing country to administer new pneumonia vaccine
6. Health centers prepared for the threat of cholera, no confirmed cases to date
7. Child labor and welfare initiatives move forward

1. Nicaraguans react to more Wikileaks revelations


More US diplomatic cables related to Nicaragua as revealed by Wikileaks were published last week by the conservative Spanish newspaper El Pais and were widely quoted and commented on in Nicaragua. President Daniel Ortega broke his week-long silence on the issue when he spoke at a graduation ceremony for Army cadets. After saying that much in the cables was based on “gossip,” he stated, “We want to make clear what the policy of Nicaragua is with relation to the United States…. [It is a] policy of respect, of collaboration, of cooperation, of interchange where we have common interests….”

Ortega noted the report of May 8, 2006, in which the Ambassador Paul Trivelli stated that the United States had “begun a USD 1 million small grants program for our democratic civil society friends” who, he said, had “not yet demonstrated a capacity or commitment to building any sort of unified alliance.” [These cables can be read in English at: http://www.elpais.com/documentossecretos/geo/nicaragua/ ] Ortega asked, “And those self-named civil society groups and civil coordinators, who pays them? The empire. And that selfsame empire admits it with complete clarity in its report and they are bothered because, they say, [the organizations] are not fulfilling their task which is to undermine order in Nicaragua.”

Violeta Granera of the Movement for Nicaragua, admitted receiving funds saying that, “From the perspective of the struggle, it is insufficient.” She said that the US monies were used for formation of local groups and for training.

Several political figures spoke in reaction to another Trivelli cable which passed on accusations that the FSLN and Ortega had in the past received money from drug traffickers. Former foreign minister and current Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) Deputy Francisco Aguirre Sacasa said that in the last decade Nicaragua has been one of the best countries in the interception of contraband and that currently Nicaragua is considered a barrier wall against drug trafficking. Several media outlets published accusations of hypocrisy against US officials noting that current Ambassador Robert Callahan was John Negroponte's right hand man in Honduras in the 1980s when the US was dealing in cocaine to support the contras.

In the political arena, Trivelli noted in 2008, “Fifteen months into his second administration, Ortega continues to skillfully use his political pact with former President and convicted felon, Arnoldo Aleman to keep pro-democracy forces divided, vulnerable to coercion, and unable to mount sustained opposition.” Aleman reacted to the term “convicted felon” saying “I was absolved in the United States, absolved in Panama and here; I did not touch a cent in my life.” He demanded, “Show me my guilt or return to me my honor!”

In a cable sent in February of this year, Ambassador Callahan says that, “Over three years, [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez has supplied Ortega with nearly a billion dollars in badly-needed ‘assistance,' but Ortega's constant need for operating cash to offset forfeited donor assistance is likely now wearisome for Chavez who faces growing domestic difficulties.” The embassy cable concedes, however, that the partnership is “not in imminent danger of collapse.”

Law expert Julio Icaza Gallard said that the leaked cables would hurt Nicaragua's image abroad, noting, “In the case of the United States, they are important ammunition that the Republicans will use after January when they take control of the [House] and above all of the Foreign Affairs Committee.” Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) leader Edmundo Jarquin said that what was in the cables was not new, but he said that he was surprised to see that “the government of the United States, now convinced of what we Nicaraguans already knew, has kept assistance relations on a normal plane, as demonstrated by the recent declaration that Nicaragua is again eligible to apply for the Millennium Challenge Fund.”

The Nicaragua Network notes that the cables published by El Pais are negative in their entirety. (Only those readers with no blood pressure concerns should read the Trivelli version of the years of the Sandinista Revolution.) For the relationship between Nicaragua and the US to be proceeding as normally as it is in many spheres, it is likely that there are other cables, so far unpublished, noting cooperation and progress in drug traffic control, the property question, macroeconomic stability, export growth, disaster response, and poverty reduction. There are at least two layers of selection here: the cables Wikileaks chose to release and the cables El Pais chose to publish. (La Prensa, Dec. 7, 11; Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 8, 10; El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 9)

2. National Assembly passes defense bills

On Dec. 13, the National Assembly, by a vote of 61 to 21, passed three laws on national defense that President Daniel Ortega had sent to the legislature on Nov. 26 with the request that they be passed “with urgency” and without being sent to committee. Changes were made in the bills, titled the Law of National Defense, the Law of National Security, and the Law on the Border Legal System, after consultations with all the political parties and military leaders. Voting against the measures were the members of the Nicaraguan Democratic Bench, which includes the supporters of former presidential candidate Eduardo Montealegre, and the Sandinista Renovation Movement. Supporting passage were the Sandinista Party, the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), the Nicaraguan Unity Bench (BUN), and the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN).

About 100 members of the Civil Coordinator, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), the Movement for Nicaragua and other groups protested inside the Assembly building shouting “Traitors!” at the deputies as they passed the laws. They carried signs reading: “No More Dictators!” The Institute for Strategic Studies and Public Policies (IEEPP) said that the laws should not have been passed with urgency but rather sent to the appropriate committee for “a wide national consultation, because we are dealing with laws of supreme interest to the nation.” Claudia Pineda, president of IEEPP, said while the State may need the laws given the conflicts with Costa Rica over the southern border, it would be better to take the time necessary to analyze them. “The rush may be justified, but it could be an error in the long run,” she said.

According to Jose Pallais, chair of the Justice Committee, there was consensus on the bills among the chairs of the various committees and all the motions presented during the talks were included. “I challenge anyone to show me,” he said, “which articles in the laws work against democracy or which parts establish the subordination of civilian power to military power; whoever would say that would be using demagoguery.” (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 13; El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 10, 12, 13; La Prensa, Dec. 13)

3. Many international voices call for negotiations over San Juan River

On Dec. 13, Mendel Goldstein, the European Union's Ambassador for Central America and Panama, called on the governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica to begin a bilateral dialogue to resolve the border dispute between them which began with Nicaragua's dredging of the San Juan River, the southern bank of which forms the border between the two. “There must be confidence on both sides in order to begin a dialogue and find a bilateral solution,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said on Dec. 10 that he was “very concerned” about the border dispute and offered to mediate between the two nations. “This problem has us very worried,” he said, adding, “we are in contact with Presidents Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica to try to mediate the problem.” He said that he met with Chinchilla at the recent summit in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Foreign ministers from only two countries (Costa Rica and Guyana) attended a foreign ministers' meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Dec. 7 called by Costa Rica. The other member nations were represented by vice-ministers or ambassadors. The meeting merely passed the same resolution it approved last month while many members called on Nicaragua and Costa Rica to resolve the dispute through negotiations. OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said on Dec. 11 that, “Although the two countries have decided to take their differences to the International Court of Justice (World Court), I continue to believe that Nicaragua and Costa Rica should sit down and dialogue based on terms they can agree upon, because the examination of the issue in the Court can take years.” The Court announced on Dec. 8 that the first public hearings on the border issue would be held on Jan. 11-13, 2011, in The Hague.

Members of the governing party of El Salvador, the Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN), passed a resolution at their party convention supporting an immediate bilateral dialogue between Costa Rica and Nicaragua as well as the placing of boundary markers by the bilateral commission founded in 2005 to establish a clear frontier. The declaration noted that while the World Court in 2009 had mandated the placing of 137 boundary markers, so far Costa Rica has only certified 17.

Finally, on Dec. 12, Ortega said that he did not see the need for a meeting planned for Dec. 20 in Liberia, Costa Rica, of two technical commissions supported by the OAS, noting that “The OAS has exhausted its usefulness on the subject of the San Juan River.” However, he said he would meet with Chinchilla anywhere she proposed without preconditions with the presence of other Latin American nations as witnesses. (El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 9, 11, 13; Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 7, 8, 12, 13; La Prensa, Dec. 8,)

4. Brito mega-dam project moves a step closer

The National Assembly Infrastructure Committee heard testimony on the environmental impact of a proposed two dam hydroelectric project on the San Juan and Brito Rivers that would produce 250 megawatts of electricity. The environmental impact study will be conducted by the US company, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), for the Brazilian contractor Andrade Gutierrez which would build the dams. Alberto Vega, representing ERM told the committee that the dams did not threaten the environment and that steps could be taken such as canals and fish locks to prevent damage to migrating fish species. He said that preliminary data indicated that the dam would be unlikely to affect the water level of Lake Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua) or cause flooding in communities along the San Juan River, including those in Costa Rica.

He said that the study will proceed from four premises: maintain the water levels of the Cocibolca, assure navigability of the San Juan River, not to cause flooding in “other people's territory,” and maintain the migration and interchange of aquatic species in the lake, river and coastal zone of the Caribbean. He said further study of the region's biodiversity is necessary in order to choose the most viable mechanisms for the construction work. Members of the committee responded positively to the presentation but stated that it was necessary to wait for the environmental study to be finished before approval of the US$900 million project. (La Prensa, Dec. 9, 11)

5. Nicaragua is first developing country to administer new pneumonia vaccine

Nicaragua will be the first developing country to begin vaccinating infants with a new vaccine against the pneumococcal bacteria which causes pneumonia, the top killer of children under five years old at 500,000 worldwide annually. Twenty percent of Nicaragua's infant mortality is due to pneumonia. Nicaragua has one of the best immunization systems in the world with 98% of infants vaccinated but, like most developing countries, has previously been unable to afford pneumonia vaccine which cost between US$50-$90 a dose. This is the first time a developing country will obtain a new vaccine at the same time as the developed nations according to the World Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization (GAVI Alliance).

The GAVI Alliance will provide the vaccine under an arrangement with the pharmaceutical industry to produce vaccines in adequate quantity at accessible prices for developing countries. Under this arrangement, the vaccine will cost US$3.50 per unit for the next decade. GAVI Alliance will invest US$4.7 million to purchase the vaccine for Nicaragua for the next year and has committed additional monies through 2015. The program is part of the global commitment to Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations, particularly goal four which is a commitment to reduce infant mortality by two-thirds. (Radio La Primerisima, Dec. 7; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 9; La Prensa, Nov. 12)

6. Health centers prepared for the threat of cholera, no confirmed cases to date

Two weeks ago, hospitals and health care centers around Nicaragua began preparing for the possibility of a cholera outbreak in their country. Worried that the epidemic that is currently hammering Haiti could be brought by a foreign visitor, the Epidemiological Department of the Ministry of Health began to prepare. According to department director Edmundo Sanchez, there is maximum vigilance at border posts.

Health care centers across the country are also preparing for the possibility of having to treat patients with cholera symptoms, such as vomiting and severe diarrhea. These centers must be prepared for such cases, as it would likely be difficult to transport patients once they were stabilized at the centers. In fact, the centers are not permitted to transport individuals suffering from diarrhea, as there are grave concerns about spreading the illness through contaminated ambulances, etc.

Due to rumors of three cholera cases in Nicaragua, the Honduran government is reacting to what it considers to be the impending spread of the illness into Honduras. Meanwhile, Sanchez emphatically insisted that the three cases in question had all been examined and were not, in fact, cholera. The President's Health Advisor, Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, also insisted that there were no known cases of the illness in the country. "The bacteria, in general, comes from outside as someone brings it in. At this time, there is no evidence that cholera exists in Nicaragua," he said. He went on to detail the government's work in preventing the entrance of the bacteria and emphasized the public's role in preventing the spread of illness. He urged the public to be mindful of sanitary concerns while serving food to loved-ones over the holiday season. (La Prensa; Dec. 7, Radio La Primerisima; Dec. 9)

7. Child labor and welfare initiatives move forward

Efforts to end child labor got a lot of attention last week. On Dec. 6 the Sandinista government, employers, labor unions and social organizations jointly adopted a plan and timetable to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by 2015 and all child labor by 2020. Also last week the international anti-poverty group CARE, and the US Millennium Challenge Fund conducted trainings in Leon and Chinandega with the goal of ending child labor in the agricultural sector.

The government-sponsored agreement signed Dec. 6 noted that in 2005 there were 238,827 working children between the ages of 5-17, of which 86,000 were thirteen or younger. The agreement commits to ending labor by children under 14 and strengthening the labor rights of those 14 to 18. The plan involves progress in six dimensions: reduction of poverty, education, health, legal standards, consciousness raising and social mobilization, and public information. The plan was developed with the participation of local actors and the International Labor Organization's International Program for the Eradication of Child Labor.

The CARE/Millennium Challenge workshops were part of an effort to raise the level of consciousness of the agricultural sector about the damage to society caused by the use of child labor and to enlist the communities where the Millennium Challenge Fund has carried out projects in helping to reduce child labor. Also included was information about how the use of child labor in mining gold is a risk to their health and well-being.

In other child welfare news, the Inter-American Development Bank announced approval of a US$12.5 million loan payable over 30 years to improve the lot of rural children under 6 years old who live in extreme poverty. The money will fund the government's Integral Attention to Nicaraguan Children (PAININ) programs to improve opportunities for children in extreme poverty, including their entry into the education system and nutrition. (Radio La Primerisima Dec. 7, 8; El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 12; La Prensa, Dec. 8,)

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