Nicaragua Network

1. Four accused of participation in tragic events of July 19
2. Coffee growers dealing with coffee rust
3. Indigenous meet with government about removal of settlers from their lands
4. Cattle ranchers confronting drought
5. International support for green energy
6. Forbes Centroamérica magazine celebrates Nicaragua’s economic growth
7. 200,000 have bought subsidized homes

1. Four accused of participation in tragic events of July 19

At a preliminary hearing in Matagalpa, Judge Wilford Bustamante ordered bus driver Walter Balmaceda Ruiz held without bail accused of conspiracy and involvement in the crimes of murder and grave injuries in the killing of five and wounding of 19 people as they were returning in buses from the Managua celebration of the 35^th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution. Also held are Juan Jose Torres Espinoza, Gregorio Torres Espinoza and Erick Antonio Salgado Gonzalez, all of whom are accused of throwing rocks to slow down one of the caravan buses near Ciudad Dario so that shooters could attack it. Balmaceda said he was innocent and that he had driven a full bus to Managua for the rally and had dropped the three men off near Dario so that they could go to their homes, not so they could throw stones at another bus of Sandinista celebrants. He said that he had, in fact, been asked by local Ciudad Dario authorities to let the men on the bus for the trip to Managua.

Prosecutor Yesenia Dolmus said that the four detained men had met on July 17 in Tipitapa “with four other people who have not yet been identified” to plan and distribute tasks for the attack on the caravan. Balmaceda’s lawyer, however, said his client on that day was in Dario meeting with the mayor, the police chief, and others to talk about routes for the caravan and to arrange his payment of 18,500 cordobas for the use of his three buses.

The police have detained a total of eleven people but seven have been released for lack of evidence. The police used dogs to track the three rock throwers from the spot from where the rocks were thrown to their homes. No information was released about whether the police know who the actual shooters were or about the investigation into the separate attack in Quilali (on the road between San Ramon and El Jobo), where one person in another bus was killed.

Meanwhile, the social media has been active.  Informe Pastran notes, “The adversaries and critics of the government are insisting that events of July 19 had political motives and not criminal ones. In the opposition media and on the social networking sites, writers say they don’t believe the version of the Prosecutor’s Office, and say that there is other evidence that has not been revealed and that there are other guilty parties who have not been brought before the public for political reasons. No evidence is presented for these accusations, only arguments.” Esteli Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata, among the Ortega government’s most outspoken critics, said that the incidents of July 19 were the result of the political violence in the country and the reemergence of politically motivated armed groups, of peasants who have taken up arms because they have not been heard by the government.

At a religious service at the House of the People in Managua, President Daniel Ortega said that those who died had come to Managua to sing and celebrate but became victims of irrationality. He stated that Nicaragua has generated admiration in the world for its low rates of murder and violence but what happened that Saturday night is a relic of violence that sadly still persists in the country. He said that the authorities will get to the bottom of the incidents and the guilty will be punished but he warned against any campaign of revenge because that would betray the peace that is being built. He sent his sympathy to the families of the bereaved.  (Radio La Primerisima, July 27; El Nuevo Diario, July 25, 26, 28; Informe Pastran, July 22, 24, 25)

2. Coffee growers dealing with coffee rust

Small scale coffee growers in the Department of Madriz who have been affected by the coffee rust plague are receiving financing to improve their coffee groves. Farmers with two to five acres in coffee who are members of a cooperative or participate in a solidarity lending group receive loans from the Crisol-Café Program of the Bank for the Promotion of Production, better known as Banco Produzcamos [for which the English translation is the unsatisfactory “Let’s Produce Bank”], and are provided with technical assistance from the Ministry of the Family, Community, Cooperative and Associative Economy (MEFCCA). Wilson Pablo Montoya of MEFCCA in Madriz said, “We have helped some 180 groups of small growers in San Juan de Rio Coco and in Telpaneca and by August 23 we expect to have assisted 1,200 groups and have a head start on resolving the problems of the coffee sector in these zones.”

In other coffee news, the National Commission for the Transformation and Development of Coffee (CONATRADEC) was scheduled to meet last week with all members present for the first time but because the relevant government officials were occupied with issues related to the drought affected cattle sector, the meeting has been postponed until this week. Aura Lila Sevilla, president of the Association of Coffee Growers of Matagalpa, said that the priorities for the sector are the seeds needed to begin the renovation of the groves, the need for a soil laboratory, access to financing, and the need for a definitive survey to establish how many acres of coffee have been affected by coffee rust in the country. ((La Prensa, July 25; El Nuevo Diario, July 26)

3. Indigenous meet with government about removal of settlers from their lands

On July 24, Attorney General Hernan Estrada met with representatives of 22 indigenous and Creole communities from the Caribbean Coast to discuss their demands that the government speed up efforts to resolve the problem of invading colonizers from other parts of the country into their lands. Lottie Cunningham, director of the Bilwi-based Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast (CEJUDHCAN), said that Estrada had reviewed the manual presented to him over a year ago by the indigenous communities and promised to call together an inter-institutional commission in the first week of September to work on the issue.

Cunningham said she was concerned about language used by the vice-superintendent of property for the Caribbean region, Anexa Alfred, who said that last, or fifth, stage of demarcation and titling of indigenous lands, referred to in Spanish as saneamiento or “cleaning up,” did not necessarily mean the removal of the settlers. Rather, according to Alfred, it could mean different types of solutions including “cohabitation” and/or leasing of land to outsiders.  The indigenous said they objected because the settlers have a very different conception about land use from theirs. Alfred did say, however, “It is the community of the [indigenous] territory that decides which mechanism will be used.”

Larry Solomon Pedro, a leader of the Mayangna Awas Tingni, said that in 2012 community leaders carried out a study in their territory and found 424 settler families. Now, he estimated, that figure has grown to 1,000 families who now occupy most of the Awas Tingni land. He added that the Awas Tingni had won a 2001 case in the Central American Court of Human Rights which mandated the government to “establish measures to prevent damage to the patrimony of the indigenous community.” If the process of saneamiento is not carried out, he stated, armed conflict between indigenous and settlers could result.

The indigenous representatives said that the land invasions have meant that rivers have become contaminated and forests destroyed, with the UNESCO-recognized Bosawas Biosphere Reserve (most of which is in indigenous territory) especially threatened. Alfred said that the government is carrying forward criminal proceedings against land grabbers, lawyers, and judges, for drawing up fraudulent land sale documents and titles. She added that 31% of the national territory has been demarcated and titled to 22 indigenous communities. Cunningham said that of 23 territories, 21 have completed four of the five stages of demarcation but only 17 have been given their communal titles. Nora Newball of the Creole Territory of Bluefields said that, out of all the territories, the only ones that have not completed the first four stages are the Creole communities of Bluefields and Pearl Lagoon. “We feel discriminated against,” she said. (El Nuevo Diario, July 24, 26; La Prensa, July 25)

4.Cattle ranchers confronting drought

The Fifth National Cattle Congress was held in Managua last week at a time when the lack of rain has caused a crisis for cattle ranchers and dairy farmers, especially in the dry zone which includes parts of the Departments of Chinandega, Leon, Esteli, Madriz, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, and Boaco. Rene Blandon, president of the National Cattle Commission (CONAGAN), said that between 600,000 and 800,000 heads of cattle are in areas affected by the drought, adding, “There have been 2,500 deaths of cattle; it’s a difficult situation especially in the dry areas because feed is scarce.” He said that growers of peanuts and sugar cane are sending their by-products free to ranchers and farmers to use as feed. CONAGAN is “raising consciousness” among ranchers about protecting streams, springs, and ponds and digging wells and building water tanks on their properties to capture water, Blandon said. He stated that CONAGAN and FAGANIC (Federation of Associations of Cattle Ranchers of Nicaragua) has proposed to the government a plan for the short, medium, and long terms which would include credits and a transport subsidy for some farmers and ranchers to take their cattle to parts of the country that have been less affected by the drought.

Michael Healy of FAGANIC said that they were asking for US$300,000 to be used as a revolving fund for other farmers to move feed to the affected cattle. Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said that the government would give a prompt response to the cattle ranchers.

Meanwhile, Blandon said that Nicaragua’s production of beef and milk grew in the first half of 2014 with meat production topping 49,500 tons as compared to 44,000 in 2013. And prices for beef on the world market have risen also resulting in an increase of 13.8% in foreign exchange earned from beef exports. Wilmer Fernandez, vice-president of the Nicaraguan Dairy Sector Chamber (CANISLAC), said that as of July 14, milk sales had increased by 30$ over last year, generating 17% more foreign exchange than last year.  Fernandez said that while the drought is hitting hard in many areas there would be no difficulty in supplying the domestic and foreign markets for this year. A 2011 census found 4.2 million head of cattle in the country.

On July 28, Alvaro Fiallos, president of the Union of Farmers and Ranchers (UNAG), said while the dairy and beef sectors are still working to convince the government to provide the US$300,000 loan fund, UNAG would begin this week its program to transport feed to farms in the parts of the country most affected by the drought. He said that he was also concerned that there would be no first harvest of crops in those areas and called on the government to declare a drought emergency. (Radio La Primerisima, July 26; La Prensa, July 23; El Nuevo Diario, July 24, 28)

5. International support for green energy

The president of the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno, visited Nicaragua to evaluate IDB-funded projects with Treasury Minister Ivan Acosta.  Moreno said that Nicaragua has demonstrated important progress in the execution of projects funded by the IDB, especially in the area of renewable energy.  Moreno said, “I remember coming to Nicaragua more than eight years ago for the first time as president of the IDB. Half the country did not have power and where it had it, it wasn’t available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It was costly, and above all it wasn’t clean energy. Now, thanks to the efforts that we developed with the government of President Ortega, the situation is different.” He said that Nicaragua is a model for the world on the shift to green energy production. The IDB has disbursed some US$365 million of a US$500 million loan commitment to expand renewable energy production. The IDB is one of Nicaragua’s most important international partners. For 2014 it has committed an additional US$85 million in loans and US$7.1 million in grants.

In other green energy news, the Central American Integration Bank (BCIE) is funding, in cooperation with the Katalysis Network and a group of Matagalpa businesses, the Green MIPYMES Initiative. MIPYMES is the Spanish acronym for Micro, Small, and Medium Businesses. The initiative will promote access to financing and application of appropriate green technologies in rural areas. The initiative will focus on micro-finance institutions to provide training so that they recognize potentials for energy conservation and alternative energy sources and have the resources to grant credit in those areas. The BCIE program is funded by Germany, the KfW bank, and the European Union to protect the climate and the environment. It will run for 10 years. (Informe Pastran, July 24; El Nuevo Diario, July 24)

6. Forbes Centroamérica magazine celebrates Nicaragua’s economic growth

Last week’s issue of Forbes Centroamérica magazine highlighted Nicaragua as a growing “economic miracle” which has decreased insecurity and author Pierre-Marc Renésaid the country will be a “player” in the next decade. The article said that Nicaragua’s construction of infrastructure enabled “exponential economic growth” in areas such as Esteli.  It said that the policies of the government of President Daniel Ortega continue to attract international business investment, especially from China, Russia and the United States, focused on the energy, tourism, and infrastructure sectors.

The article credited the government for the consensus between it and the private sector which has enabled macroeconomic stability, structural changes, and reactivation of the export sector resulting in a growing economy and social progress.  The article also cited the possible canal as a source of international investment and recognized the role that Venezuelan oil has played in Nicaragua’s development. (Informe Pastran, July 23)

7. 200,000 have bought subsidized homes

Judith Silva, director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Urban and Rural Housing told a press conference that the Sandinista government, in alliance with the private sector, has facilitated homes for more than 200,000 people. In 2013, she said, 59,000 new houses were constructed which translates into a dynamic national economy by creating jobs. She said that the government believes it is in society’s interest to guarantee that low-income families have dignified housing. A change in the law raised from US$20,000 to US$32,000 the highest mortgage that can qualify for a subsidy. This has raised the demand for low-income housing. Silva announced the 14^th Housing Fair from Aug. 15-17 which will have more than 70 exhibitors. A 22% growth in the housing sector is expected for this year. (Radio La Primerisima, July 24; Informe Pastran, July 24)