Nicanet - The Nicaragua Network

Nicaragua Network Hotlines for December 12, 2006

News topics covered in this Hotline include:

Topic 1: Ortega visits left wing allies in South America while awaiting IMF meeting at home

On Dec. 5 President elect Daniel Ortega met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. According to Nicaraguan government sources the two leaders agreed to increase cooperation between Venezuela and Nicaragua with Chávez promising support for Ortega’s government in priority sectors such as healthcare, education, tourism, culture, construction of roads, scholarships and electrical energy. Edwin Castro, leader of the Sandinsta bench in the National Assembly, said that as a result of the agreement, funds would be made available for the long awaited construction of a road connecting the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua.

On Dec. 3 Managua Mayor Dionisio Marenco announced that Chávez had promised to provide three electricity generating plants for Nicaragua which would be installed in January. These three plants would generate a combined output of 60 megawatts which would help to reduce the dire effects of the current national energy crisis. Chávez will travel to Nicaragua on Jan. 10 to attend Ortega’s presidential inauguration.

On Dec. 8 Ortega traveled to Cochabamba, Bolivia as a special guest of President Evo Morales who hosted the Second Summit of the South American Community of Nations. On his arrival in Cochabamba Ortega said Latin America is living “moments of victory, hope and unity. We will continue with our struggle until we have a united Latin America which will make us stronger, freer, ... truly sovereign and free from any imperialist influence.” The summit was attended by Chávez, President Ignacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and the recently elected Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa among others. Correa said that Latin America has started to emerge from the “long night of neo-liberalism” and that the region is experiencing not an “era of change, but a change of era.” According to Correa the principles of the Latin American left must be to “create social justice and defend our countries’ sovereignty.”

Meanwhile, the representative to Nicaragua of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Humberto Arbulú informed journalists that the IMF's Western Hemisphere manager, Anoop Singh, will visit Nicaragua on Dec. 19 to discuss issues leading to the signing of a new IMF agreement with President elect Daniel Ortega. According to Arbulú, Singh will ask Ortega to guarantee macro-economic, financial and monetary stability. A recent IMF evaluation of the Nicaraguan economy concluded that the country has macro-economic and financial stability at the present time. The current IMF economic program, negotiated by outgoing President Enrique Bolaños, expires on Dec. 12. This program allowed the Nicaraguan government to borrow US$170 million during 2006, US$20 million of which will be paid into government bank accounts over the next few days.

Vice President elect Jaime Morales Carazo said that the new government will look to sign a new economic program with the IMF as soon as possible. “We want to control the inflation rate ... and to maintain budgetary balance [so that] we can prioritize poverty reduction and the creation of new jobs.” We can hope that a Latin American development bank, proposed by Chávez, can release Nicaragua and other poor countries from the failed neoliberal policies foisted on them by the IMF.


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Topic 2: Copalar dam bill fails accelerated approval by lame duck legislature

On Dec. 6 the legislative committee set up to analyze a bill called the Special Law for the Development of the Copalar Hydroelectric System issued a favorable report recommending that the National Assembly vote in favor of the legislation. The bill, which would allow the bidding process for the ownership and construction of the mega project to begin, was recently sent to the National Assembly by President Bolaños. The bill was discussed by the legislative branch on Dec. 12 but a decision was put off until the new National Assembly takes office Jan. 10.

Raúl Solórzano, Technical Director of the organization which represents the national investors, said he felt “very satisfied” by the committee report. According to Solórzano, the project “will bring great benefit to the country” and is the solution to Nicaragua’s energy crisis. The 20,000 families who would be displaced by the project assess its value differently.

The Copalar hydro-electric system will consist of three huge dams to be constructed on the Río Grande of Matagalpa, one of Nicaragua’s biggest rivers. The system would take ten years to be build and would initially generate 300 megawatts with this figure rising to 900 megawatts once the project is completed, making Nicaragua a net exporter of electricity as part of Plan Puebla Panama. The system would cause the permanent flooding of 340 square kilometers of land and affect 9,000 people according to official figures, although opponents to the project believe at least 770 square km would be flooded and over 40,000 people would be seriously affected.

While Solórzano is adamant that the bill provides protection not just for the investors but also for those people whose lives and livelihoods would be affected by the construction of the system, Carlos Larios, President of the Multisectorial Movement Against the Copalar Dam, thinks otherwise. According to Larios the tens of thousands of people whose lives will be affected have been neither consulted nor even informed. “They plan to kick us off [our land] as if we were cattle.” Laríos said with the Copalar project's construction the entire history of a vast region will be lost forever. This view is shared by Celia Contreras, director of the radio station Palabra de Mujer (Women’s Word) based in the municipality of Bocana de Paiwas, which would be entirely flooded by Copalar.

Another critic of the government’s handling of the project is Vice President elect Jaime Morales Carazo. Morales said he is particularly concerned about the lack of “proper human, environmental and social studies” into the project’s impact. He opposed rushing the special Copalar law through the Assembly. “Projects of this size should not be passed during the last few days of an administration, especially when certain international elements involved have doubtful reputations,” said Morales, “Personally I believe that the Nicaraguan state should be the main owner of this work.”


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Topic 3: Legal victory for former banana workers poisoned with Nemagon

On Dec. 1 the Second Civil District Judge of Chinandega, Socorro Toruño, ruled in favor of a compensation demand which will benefit 1,248 former banana workers whose lives have been ruined by their exposure to the highly toxic pesticides Nemagon and Fumazone on banana plantations during the 1970s. Judge Toruño found five multinational companies (Standard Fruit Company [owned by Dole], Dole Food Company, Shell Oil Company, Dow Chemical Company and Occidental Chemical Company) guilty of exporting Nemagon and Fumazone despite being aware of the disastrous effects the chemicals had on human health and despite a US Environmental Protection Agency ban on the products. Toruño ordered these companies to pay over US$804 million in compensation to the 1,248 Nicaraguan workers.

Perhaps the most shocking piece of evidence used by the prosecution was a letter from Dow Chemical Company to the Standard Fruit Company in which Dow asks Standard Fruit to carry out a study of the estimated profit margins from exporting Nemagon and Fumazone products to Central America. Should the profits be greater than the estimated amount the companies could expect to pay in compensation claims afterwards, read the letter, then the exportation of the products should go ahead. Cortez Pérez says she is certain that the multinationals will appeal the sentence. If this happens the appeal will be considered by the Leon Appeals Tribunal. Should the appeal be overturned then the companies will be obliged by law to pay the compensation although they have been obliged by previous court decisions and have yet to pay any compensation.

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Topic 4: CENIDH to challenge therapeutic abortion ban

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) plans to challenge the recent ban on therapeutic abortion passed by the National Assembly in October. CENIDH is challenging the ban on the grounds that at least 20 articles of the Constitution are violated as a result of the change in the penal code. Bayardo Izabá, CENIDH director, says that the organization will send the challenge to the Supreme Court during the week of Dec. 11.

Among the constitutional rights that CENIDH believes are violated by the ban are the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment. Izabá says that the Nicaraguan republic’s status as a secular state has also been compromised as a result of the legislative reform. CENIDH’s Vice President Mónica López Vigil explained that numerous national and international organizations have been involved in the drafting process of the challenge. Should the challenge be rejected by the Supreme Court, CENIDH plans to take the case to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.

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Topic 5: Costa Rican government plans to make immigration law more humane

According to Director of Costa Rican Immigration Carlos Zamora, his government is preparing plans to make the recently implemented and highly controversial migratory law “more humane.” The law, which was passed in August of this year, made illegal immigration a crime punishable with a jail sentence. The legislation also included jail sentences and fines for people found guilty of employing or providing shelter for an illegal immigrant.

According to Zamora the legislative reforms now being proposed by the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly were drafted after consultation with over forty human rights organizations and groups who have experience in working with immigrants. Zamora says the reforms would amend all articles of the law which make immigrants vulnerable.

One change to the law would oblige immigrants to make monthly contributions to the Costa Rican migratory service as a way of covering the costs of the services the state provides for them such as education and healthcare. This reform will prove popular among those Costa Ricans who believe that Nicaraguan immigrants are a strain on social services but will be met with anger by the hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguan immigrants living and working in the country. The proposed amendments will be sent to the Costa Rican Congress on Dec. 15.

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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.