TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2012
Nicaragua News Bulletin (November 13, 2012)
1. Liberal parties file challenges in five municipalities and other election follow-up2. Exports reach US$2.38 billion
3. Cave-in near B2Gold mine kills pregnant woman
4. Assembly of Nicaraguan satellite to start in March 2013
5. Nicaragua's free trade zones overcoming global crisis
6. Sit-in against illegal firings in Free Trade Zone
7. More than 20,000 benefit from Operation Miracle
1. Liberal parties file challenges in five municipalities and other election follow-up
In the follow up to the Nov. 4 municipal elections, which were swept by the Sandinistas, the opposition Liberal parties challenged the provisional results released by the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) in several municipalities. Denis Obando, current mayor and candidate for reelection of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) in Nueva Guinea, South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS), took his challenge to the Supreme Electoral Council on Nov. 12, saying that he had copies of voting tallies to prove that he had won. He led a peaceful march on Nov. 11 through the streets of Nueva Guinea which was heavily guarded by police to prevent the kind of violence that has taken place in a number of other towns. Along with Nueva Guinea, the PLC is challenging the results in La Cruz de Rio Grande, also in the RAAS. The Independent Liberal Party (PLI) presented requests for recounts in Ciudad Dario and Matiguas in the Department of Matagalpa, and El Almendro in the Department of Rio San Juan.
The Sandinista Party won the mayor's office and city council majorities in 134 of the country's 153 municipalities, the PLI won 13, the PLC two, the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance one, and the indigenous party Yatama three. However, there were at least 14 where the two opposition Liberal parties together received many more votes than the FSLN. In some towns the vote was split relatively equally three ways to the benefit of the FSLN. In La Trinidad, in the Department of Esteli, the FSLN obtained 35.98% of the vote, the PLC 35.58%, and the PLI 28.13%, with the victory going to the FSLN by 0.4%.
While some politicians and members of civil society organizations continued to allege generalized fraud, the losing candidates for mayor of Managua recognized their defeat. Alfredo Gutierrez of the PLI said, “We have been doing different evaluations and, in spite of some irregularities that occurred, sadly the figures are not far from reality. The problem that presented itself in Managua was voter abstention.” PLC candidate Eduardo Fonseca said, “I don't have the facts to say that there was fraud in these elections; I have no doubt that the Sandinista Front won in Managua.” Gutierrez received 11.34% of the vote while Fonseca received 6.49%.
There was election-related violence in five towns in which three people died, 18 were injured, including nine police officers. Twenty-seven persons were arrested of whom 26 were later released. National Police spokesman Fernando Borge said that the affected towns were under close vigilance but that calm had returned in all areas. He added that conversations had been held with local leaders of all the political parties to avoid further confrontations between party activists. The Police had deployed 15,000 officers (including 3,000 volunteers) to keep the peace during the elections.
One of the principle controversies in the light of the election results was voter abstention. There were different opinions about its extent, its cause, and its effects. The Supreme Electoral Council said that 57% of registered voters participated in the elections which produced an abstention rate of 43%, similar to that in the local elections of 2008 and lower than 2004. However, the Institute for Democracy and Development (IPADE) said that the participation rate was only 44.5% and the abstention rate 55.4%. In raw numbers, 97,617 more people voted in 2008 than in 2012 which would indicate a higher abstention rate this year. However, in 2012, the two competing Liberal parties received a total of 81,699 fewer votes than did the united Liberal parties in 2008 while the Sandinista Party received 145,645 more votes than it did in 2008.
Some opposition figures are refusing to accept the elections as valid because of this high abstention rate. These figures had called on voters to stay home alleging that the CSE could not be trusted to manage a free and fair election. They say now that the abstention rate proved that vast numbers of voters answered their call to boycott the elections to punish the governing Sandinista Party for not making necessary changes in the CSE and the electoral law. Ana Margarita Vijil, president of the Sandinista Renovation Movement, which did not participate in these elections as part of the PLI alliance as it had done in 2011, said, “With their absence at the polls, the Nicaraguan people have spoken strong and clear: the electoral system is rotten and should be totally reformed, changing the corrupt officials and taking apart the fraud model that has been established.” But another analysis is possible. The Informe Pastran asks, “Could it not have been also a vote to punish the opposition? It is enough to see the reports of the different television stations, interviewing people in the streets, markets, bus stops, working class people, about Sunday's elections and those who didn't vote say that they didn't go to vote because they didn't know the candidates, because none of them generated enthusiasm, and because they don't believe in the opposition.”
What is next for the opposition? Some PLI members rejoiced because they say they defeated the PLC. “We won; we lost facing the Front, but we beat the PLC; we eliminated them; the PLC is dead; we've finished off Arnoldo [Aleman],” gushed one PLI National Assembly deputy, not recognizing that total Liberal party votes have declined while they carried out this internecine battle. MRS leader Edmundo Jarquin said that the opposition should avoid recriminations that lead to divisions. He said that while opposition to President Daniel Ortega cannot be competitive without the Liberal parties, the Liberals cannot succeed alone. “You have to realize that almost 50% of the population declares itself to be independent,” he said.
President Ortega said in an address marking the 36 anniversary of the death in combat of FSLN founder Carlos Fonseca that “This victory of November 4 is a victory for all Nicaraguans. The city halls that will be governed by different political forces are committed to serve all citizens.” He added that “The task is to continue uniting all Nicaraguans, continuing the programs of this government at the service of all Nicaraguan families and for youth to take on, as they have been doing, their transcendental role in the battle we are carrying out at this moment in our history.”
Meanwhile, a CID-Gallup poll released on Nov. 7 indicated that 55% of Nicaraguans believe their country is headed in the right direction. Nicaragua was the only country of those polled in Central America and the Caribbean in which a majority held that opinion. In El Salvador, 41% feel their country is headed in the right direction, while in the Dominican Republic the figure is 32%. Ninety-one percent of Hondurans said their country was headed in the wrong direction while in Costa Rica the figure was 87%. In Guatemala, 74% feel their country is headed in the wrong direction and in Panama 75% feel the same. CID-Gallup polled 1,200 people in each country between September and October. The margin of error was 2.8% and the confidence level was 95%. (La Prensa, Nov. 7, 9, 12; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 6, 8, 12; Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 7, 8, 12; Informe Pastran, Nov. 6, 7, 12)
2. Exports reach US$2.38 billion
The Center for Export Processing (CETREX) reported that Nicaragua's exports had so far this year reached US$2.38 billion, surpassing by US$37.6 million the figure for all of 2011. Jorge Molina, CETREX director, said that the government now hopes that total exports for the year will reach US$2.7 billion. After goods assembled in the country's free trade zone factories, which make up over half of exports, coffee remains the leading commodity export, followed by gold, beef, sugar and peanuts. Imports between January and August of this year reached US$3,820 billion, meaning that the country still runs a trade deficit. (La Prensa, Nov. 6, 11; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 8,)
3. Cave-in near B2Gold mine kills pregnant woman
A cave-in near the Santa Pancha gold mine, in the municipality of Malpaisillo in the Department of Leon, on Nov. 6 caused the death of a pregnant women when her home was “swallowed by the earth” according to witnesses. Mine managers said that the company will support the evacuation of families in the vicinity who decide to leave. After meeting with community leaders, Levinia Sequeira, community relations official for the Canadian company, B2Gold, said that the company would buy land for the families at risk and guarantee food for those who were evacuated. Evelyn Maria Vega, director of the Noah's Ark School, said that right behind the school, which has 250 primary and secondary students, there are two open pits as well as the tunnels where the company carries out its mining operations.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Emilio Rappaccioli, said the Ministry would carry out evaluations and inspections in order to prevent future tragedies. Rappaccioli said that houses had been built in an old zone of mining exploitation but that information and memory about those old mines had been lost. He said that all the mining companies must investigate the areas under their concessions but that, for areas that have not been given in concession, it is the government's obligation to do the research to prevent the building of houses on top of old mine tunnels. (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 8, 9; La Prensa, Nov. 7, 9)
4. Assembly of Nicaraguan satellite to start in March 2013
In March of 2013, and with an investment of about US$300 million, construction will commence on a Nicaraguan telecommunications satellite expected to have a range from Mexico to Colombia, the government said on Nov. 12. The Nicasat-1 satellite, the first for Central America, is projected to go into orbit towards the end of 2016. The installation and operation of the device is in the hands of the Great Wall of China Corporation, among the world's top leaders in this type of technology. Studies by President Daniel Ortega's administration indicate the satellite will reduce cell phone and internet access costs, and will expand these services to rural areas. Among the projections is also a natural disaster control and prevention system, improving the tracking of possible drug trafficking operations, and increasing technological support for more television channels.
Nicaragua will be able to sell and profit from space and telecommunications rights as well as develop teaching projects, including long distance education and online courses. Also, the government hopes to foment telemedicine and enhance communications security for the general population and government institutions. (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 12)
5. Nicaragua's free trade zones overcoming global crisis
Companies operating under Nicaragua's free trade zone's system presently employ 105,000 people. This represents 17% of workers insured under Social Security, and authorities project that by the end of this year there will be 110,000 workers in the FTZ system. Alvaro Baltodano, technical secretary of the National Free Trade Zones Commission (CNZF), said that in 2008, the number employed in the FTZ assembly plants was only 69,000 people and since then 35,000 new jobs have been created. He said that the FTZ companies could, in four years, generate 45,000 more jobs. The current volume of employment represents an injection of US$5 million per week into the national economy, according to estimates by the Superior Council for Private Enterprise (COSEP).
Official figures show that exports from the free trade zone in 2011 reached US$1.752 billion, representing an increase of 49.4% over 2010, when sales were US$ 1.172 billion. The Free Trade Zone Corporation sought to reach US$2.5 billion in exports this year, however, as of the latest figures, sales through August totaled US$1.243 billion. According to the Nicaraguan Central Bank (BNC), the slow pace of growth, still expected to reach 10% this year, is due to the international economic crisis. The BCN said that the U.S. and Mexico remain the main markets for products from the free trade zones, buying 69% and 22.1% respectively of total exports. Dean Garcia, executive director of the Nicaraguan Association of the Textile and Apparel Industry (ANITEC), an industry group, told El Nuevo Diario that "We must be clear that the slowdown means we continue to grow, but at lower levels than in previous years." (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 8,)
6. Sit-in against illegal firings in Free Trade Zone
Members of the National Federation of Textile, Clothing, Leather and Footwear Unions, FESITEX, organized a sit-in demonstration in front of the Astro Nicaragua Free Trade Zone, blocking the Tipitapa-Masaya highway and demanding that the Flying Needle Company rehire 17 workers which the union said were fired illegally.
Johana Bravo, General Secretary of the Tomas Borge Martinez Union, explained that the "crime" of the workers was the attempt to form a union, for which Flying Needle fired them in May in violation of their labor rights. "This is our first peaceful protest, we will continue with more such protests until they reinstate the workers", Bravo said. "We call on foreign investment to respect our republic's constitution where workers have the right to freely organize", she added.
El Nuevo Diario attempted to speak to Luis Ortega, General Manager of Flying Needle, but guards at the factory said he was not in. The newspaper also called his office on several occasions, but the response was always that he was not there.
Jose Daniel Hondoy was one of those dismissed. "They… pretty much ran us off for forming a union; we are again today calling for our rights. We now have been without work for six months, despite having a resolution of the Ministry of Labor in our favor,” he said. Hondoy was refering to resolution No. 244-12, issued on June 8 by the Labor Inspector of Managua, which nullified the dismissal of nine of the workers and ordered that they be reinstated. However, Flying Needle refuses to comply. Workers have initiated legal proceedings against the company in labor court. (El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 8,)
7. More than 20,000 benefit from Operation Miracle
Nicaraguan and Cuban doctors performed 20 000 ophthalmic surgeries this year to restore vision
to an equal number of patients in Nicaragua, according to communications coordinator Rosario Murillo. In her regular spot on Channel 4 television, she highlighted the work of the National Center of Ophthalmology and of the Cuban specialists in Operation Miracle. She emphasized that the Cuban doctors are one of the expressions of fraternal and unconditional solidarity of the Caribbean nation with the people of Nicaragua. With the collaboration of specialists from Operation Miracle, she noted, tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have recovered their vision in recent years.
In Nicaragua Operation Miracle has both fixed and mobile surgical posts. The latter were created in February 2012 to conserve resources and to bring the service closer to the inhabitants of more isolated areas. Use of the mobile unit began in the Mining Triangle (Rosita, Siuna and Bonanza), one of the poorest regions of the country, with the municipality of Siuna serving as the location for the mobile operation, which in a very short time was performing surgery on patients from Paiwas, Prinzapolka, Mulukukú and other surrounding communities. On May 1, 2012, the Cuban group of Operation Miracle celebrated five years of service in Nicaragua. (Radio La Primerisima, Nov. 8,)
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