TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 01, 2011
Nicaragua News Bulletin (February 1, 2011)
1. Gadea to run on ALN ticket; new Cid-Gallup poll released2. YATAMA protests continue in Bilwi
3. New strains of seeds to improve basic grain production
4. Tumarin hydroelectric dam construction to start in March
5. Disabled individuals demand a law enshrining their rights
6. Government working on microfinance bill
7. Coffee growers earn more while protecting the environment
1. Gadea to run on ALN ticket; new Cid-Gallup poll released
Supporters of radio broadcaster Fabio Gadea Mantilla and leaders of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) announced a preliminary agreement on Jan. 28 under which Gadea would run in November's presidential elections as the candidate of the ALN, which is a registered political party. Gadea's Nicaraguan Unity for Hope (UNE) is a coalition of groups and parties that do not have legal recognition. Formal announcement is expected on Feb. 3, after the full governing bodies of the parties to the accord have a chance to approve it.
Former President Arnoldo Aleman, candidate of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC), mobilized between two and three thousand of his supporters to denounce the agreement. He said that his party would continue insisting on unity with Gadea within the PLC believing that Gadea's candidacy as head of UNE “only divides the vote” of the opposition to President Daniel Ortega who seeks reelection.
Meanwhile, the polling group Cid Gallup released results of its latest opinion survey which showed Ortega with 36% of the vote if the elections were held today, followed by Aleman with 23% and Gadea with 17%. Twenty-four percent did not state an opinion. However, 59% of those polled considered it “very bad” or “somewhat bad” for Nicaragua for Ortega to govern for another term. Only 32% felt that it was “somewhat good” or “very good.” A recent Supreme Court decision said that the constitutional provision against consecutive reelection violated Ortega's rights and that he could run again.
Seventy-two percent thought that electoral observation should be allowed in the November elections, including 60% of Sandinistas polled. Forty-eight percent said that they expected the elections to be “very or somewhat honest” while 45% said they would be “very or somewhat dishonest.” The nation's political figures received the following favorable ratings: Dionisio Marenco 56%, Daniel Ortega 45%, Eduardo Montealegre 39%, Rosario Murillo 39%, Cardinal Miguel Obando 36%, Fabio Gadea 32%, and Arnoldo Aleman 30%. Thirty-seven percent expressed confidence in the Catholic Church, 34% in the Army, 28% in the media, 14% in the Supreme Court, 12% in the Supreme Electoral Council, and 9% in the National Assembly. Fifty-three percent said that the population was afraid to speak to journalists against the government while 41% said it was not.
Cid Gallup interviewed 1,201 voting age people between January 10 and 15. The poll had a margin of error of 2.83% and a confidence level of 95%. Cid Gallup was formed in 1977 in Costa Rica and now polls in 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries.
On the subject of election observation Nicolas Bulté, a representative of the European Union in Central America, said last week that EU observation of Nicaragua's November elections could be helpful because observers would clear away any “doubts” that might exist among the population. He said, “The more guarantees, the better,” adding, that it is normal for “international partners to pay particular attention to what happens in these presidential processes.” Diplomats from both Germany and the Netherlands last week said that they supported EU observation of Nicaraguan elections. Hans Wessels, chargé d'affaires of the Dutch Embassy in Managua, said that he hoped the government of Nicaragua would renew the invitation that it made some time ago to the EU to send an observer mission. Two weeks ago, President Ortega said that electoral “accompaniment” would be allowed, but not observation. (La Prensa, Jan. 25, 29, 30; El Nuevo Diario, Jan. 27, 31; Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 26, 30)
2. YATAMA protests continue in Bilwi
After over two weeks of protests, members of the indigenous party YATAMA gave the government of President Daniel Ortega three days to begin talks with the group or members would close the road connecting Bilwi with other cities in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN). Former contra members had taken over government offices in Bilwi demanding loans, roofing materials, pensions, and land titles. El Nuevo Diario reported on Jan. 27, however, that dozens of the protesters were heading back to their communities, “deceived by our leaders” as Pedro Jacinto, a Miskito from Laguna de Kukalaya put it.
After three hours of dialogue on Jan. 27 between YATAMA leaders, the Police, and the mayor of Bilwi, thirteen of fourteen prisoners who had been arrested during an attempted takeover of the Bilwi airport on Jan. 26 were released. One was held for wounding a police officer. The attack on the airport at dawn by some 80 men armed with stones, clubs and other homemade weapons was repelled by anti-riot police. An unnamed police source said that another group of YATAMA activists who have taken over the offices of the National Institute of Fisheries in Bilwi had plans to attack the generating plants of Puerto Cabezas Power, leaving the city in the dark, in order to pressure the government to fulfill its promises to the indigenous former combatants.
YATAMA leader and National Assembly Deputy Brooklyn Rivera said that Ortega was not to blame for lack of fulfillment of the promises made to the former indigenous fighters, but rather it was Attorney General Hernan Estrada and Nelson Artola, head of the Fund for Social and Emergency Investment (FISE), who were responsible. Rivera said that three of twelve land titles were ready and Estrada had not turned them over to the communities and added that Artola had not given out the promised roofing to some 2,000 members of communities in both the North and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions. He accused the two of discrimination and racism. In answer to the accusation that it was former combatants who sold land to loggers and defrauded the company Maderas Preciosas e Industriales de Nicaragua, Rivera called on the accusers to prove the charges. Estrada was in charge of the investigation, he said, and he had not reported on his findings.
Father Nilo Mitchell Ritman, pastor of the Catholic Church in Bilwi, called for dialogue and a search for a solution to the demands of the YATAMA former combatants. He said that he feared further violence if the problems were not resolved. (La Prensa, Jan. 27; El Nuevo Diario, Jan. 27, 29)
3. New strains of seeds to improve basic grain production
The Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) released a new strain of drought resistant red beans for seed last week called INTA North Bean in the municipality of Esteli. Small producers were excited about the prospects of better yields. Farmer Favio Mairena noted that they've only had two rains this season but the harvest promised to be good. Eva Acevedo, general director of INTA, said that the release of the new seeds was part of the mandate by President Daniel Ortega to provide small farmers with seed varieties resistant to climate change, resistant to disease, and that adapt well to the dry tropics.
The Sandinista government through INTA is supporting a number of community seed banks throughout the country with the participation of local farmers to develop new strains that will produce well under local conditions. It is part of the government's commitment to food sovereignty and improved nutrition in the rural areas. In addition to beans, the community seed banks are cross breeding corn and sorghum.
The government also announced last week that over 5,200 acres of beans will be irrigated this season which should guarantee an adequate supply at normal prices for the national market. Last year's heavy rains in some areas and drought in others caused a shortage of beans, a staple of the Nicaraguan diet, and prices to skyrocket. There is disagreement whether, after local demand is met, there will be a sufficient surplus of red beans to export. (Radio La Primerísima, Jan. 27; La Prensa, Jan. 25)
4. Tumarin hydroelectric dam construction to start in March
The Tumarin hydroelectric dam project will start next month with the construction of a 50 kilometer access road. The mega-dam project on the Rio Grande de Matagalpa in the South Atlantic Autonomous Region is projected to produce 253 megawatts of electricity, 30% of Nicaragua's peak electricity demand. The US$1.1 billion project will be built by a Brazilian transnational, Queiroz Galvao. Three hundred families in and near Apawas will be displaced by flooding from the dam. They will be resettled in New Apawas. Programs to rescue flora and fauna, reforestation, environmental clean-up and archeological salvage will also be implemented.
General Manager of the Nicaraguan Hydroelectric Power Stations, Marcelo Conde, said that the dam will save US$117 million in yearly oil costs and stabilize electricity rates. La Prensa quoted anonymous sources who said that the cost per megawatt hour will be 50% higher than that produced at other Nicaraguan hydroelectric projects. Construction of the project will create 1,800 jobs rising to 3,000 in the final stages and an equal number of indirect jobs. The dam is scheduled to begin operation in the latter part of 2014. Financing for the project is being provided by the National Development Bank of Brazil and the Central American Bank of Economic Integration. (Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 28; La Prensa, Jan. 27; El Nuevo Diario, Jan. 28)
5. Disabled individuals demand a law enshrining their rights
The Nicaraguan Federation of Associations for the Disabled (FECONON) announced last Tuesday that it would call for protests demanding that the National Assembly approve a law to protect their rights. The law would impact the 10.5 percent of the Nicaraguan population (600,000 individuals) that are disabled.
At a press conference held by the campaign, David Lopez, the president of FECONON who is blind, urged representatives to approve all articles of the bill that was approved on first reading and sent to committee last November. The campaign wants legislators to pass the bill before the electoral campaign begins in May. In order to achieve this goal, the group plans on calling for protests and demonstrations in the streets of Managua outside of the Assembly, lobbying of legislators, and debates in the media. The group has mounted impressive campaigns in the past, including one last year that presented 43,000 signatures to the legislature in support of altering pension laws to apply to individuals with disabilities.
"We need to adapt Nicaraguan legislation on disabilities so it is in agreement with the new focus on human rights," Lopez said. (Radio la Primerisima, Jan. 25)
6. Government working on microfinance bill
The government is preparing a bill to send to the National Assembly that will regulate lending to small business people and small farmers by the microfinance industry and by traditional banks in Nicaragua. Central Bank President Antenor Rosales said, “It is necessary to have an instrument that permits us to promote microcredit as an indispensible element for economic development and as a way to include those sectors of medium, small, and micro businesses in a way that guarantees that they are sustained in their participation as economic agents.” Also working on the bill are National Assembly Deputy Walmaro Gutierrez (FSLN), presidential economic advisor Bayardo Arce, Superintendent of Banks Victor Urcuyo, and Treasury Minister Alberto Guevara. Microfinance companies that do not work with borrowers to assure the success of their enterprises have had difficulties with borrowers who are unable to repay their loans. Many of those borrowers organized last year into a movement demanding renegotiation of their loans.
The government's signature microfinance program, called Zero Usury, has completed its fourth year and, according to Director Leonor Correa, the program has 90,000 women members in neighborhoods throughout the country who have received 150,000 credits for a total of US$40 million. The women receive training with each credit and form support groups to help each other out when necessary, such as when one becomes ill and a payment is due. Correa said that the plan is to continue expanding the program, especially into the rural areas where it has not yet reached. (Radio La Primerisima, Jan. 28, 30)
7. Coffee growers earn more while protecting the environment
Some 500 coffee growers in the North and Pacific zones of Nicaragua are improving their farms and earning more for their beans thanks to the Program of Certification and Technical Assistance of the CISA Exportadora Company, a coffee exporting company that specializes in niche coffee markets, including gourmet, environmentally sustainable, socially responsible, and organic coffees. According to Marcia Vidaurre, who is in charge of certification for CISA, the program consists in “giving the growers training in the best agricultural methods in which we try to protect the environment.” She said that 300 of the 500 participating coffee farmers are small scale farmers. They are able to sell their coffee in specialized markets where they get a better price. The 500 CISA growers last year produced 250,000 hundredweights (100 lbs.) of coffee, out of the national total production of 2 million hundredweights. (The price of coffee on the world market is currently at US$230 per hundredweight, up from US$165 last year.)
Alan Chavarria received his certification last year. His production has increased and he earned between US$7 and US$10 more per hundredweight. Oscar Pineda is improving his farm in the hope of receiving his certification soon. He has built a tank to hold the pulp removed from the coffee bean. Now it does not go into the local water sources but rather is composted for fertilizer. Enrique Garcia and others in a group of 35 growers in San Ramon, Matagalpa, are receiving US$15 more per hundredweight for their coffee after improving their methods so that they contaminate no water in the processing of their coffee. Garcia said, “All of what we are getting extra will go toward the workers' salaries, food, and conditions.” He employs 20 workers permanently and between 80 and 120 during the harvest. (La Prensa, Jan. 30)
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