Nicaragua Network Hotlines for February 14, 2007
News topics covered in this Hotline include:
- IMF and government to begin negotiations
- Arturo Cruz Sequeira sworn in as Nicaraguan ambassador to U.S.
- National Assembly considers law to protect commercial lobster divers
- National Assembly to reconsider therapeutic abortion "within the year"
- Organic farming in Nicaragua gains greater support
Topic 1: IMF and government to begin negotiations
Vice-President Jaime Morales said on February 6 that the Nicaraguan government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who will soon be meeting to negotiate a new agreement, agree on the necessity to maintain macroeconomic stability but with the flexibility and social sensitivity that comes with making the fight against poverty the highest priority. Morales, who has been put in charge of the new government's relations with the international financial institutions, told the newspaper El Nuevo Diario that he had made that clear in his recent meeting in Costa Rica with president of the IMF Rodrigo de Rato. Morales said he also made clear that the new government believes that macroeconomic health "walks hand-in-hand with political stability."
Morales said that the IMF is not the devil as it has often been painted and that in many cases the programs approved had been elaborated by Nicaraguans themselves. He added, "They [IMF officials] know that there have been changes and they also understand that many of the recommendations that they made did not produce the benefits they expected." He went on to say, "The results were chaotic and certain privatizations were ill fated."
The vice-president emphasized that Nicaragua's negotiators were going to make a balanced proposal to the IMF in which not only would macroeconomic stability be combined with social programs but which would strengthen the economy at the micro level as well.
Antenor Rosales, the president of the Central Bank and Humberto Arbulú Neira, representative for the IMF, confirmed that the negotiations to reach a new economic agreement between the government of Nicaragua and the IMF would begin "soon." According to Rosales, an increase in the Gross Domestic Product for the country in an environment of macroeconomic stability is needed to guarantee the necessary climate to attract investment, generate employment and advance in the permanent reduction of poverty. Neither Rosales nor Arbulú, however, were able to specify the exact date on which the negotiations for a new economic agreement were scheduled to begin.
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Topic 2: Arturo Cruz Sequeira sworn in as Nicaraguan ambassador to U.S.
After being sworn in by Foreign Minister Samuel Santos, Nicaragua's new ambassador to the United States Arturo Cruz Sequeira stated that "my expectation is that any contradiction that might exist between the United States and Nicaragua can be converted into a manageable tension." He said that the problem that his country has with the U.S. over several hundred SAM-7 missiles can be resolved with time. "I am convinced," he said, "that with time we will find solutions to this problem." Noting that United States wants Nicaragua to destroy all the missiles because it feels the missiles could fall into terrorist hands, Cruz said, "I don't see Nicaragua passing out a missile here and a missile there; we are a society and a country that has gained a certain respect for the seriousness with which we handle these issues." He added, "While it true that it is difficult, I have full confidence in the capacity of our diplomats to resolve the [SAM-7] issue."
Cruz Sequeira grew up in the United States and studied law at Oxford University. He was head of the Political Science Department at the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE) in Managua. He is the son of Arturo Cruz Porras who was a member of the Government Junta early in the Sandinista Revolution, then served as head of the Central Bank and ambassador to Washington before leaving to join the counter-revolution.
Cruz Sequeira said he was not a Sandinista and said that his appointment was a good message from President Ortega who looked for someone outside the FSLN inner circle to handle the relationship with the United States. "It is a clear indicator that [Ortega] wants to have better relations with the United States," Cruz Sequeira said. He added that he had many friends in the United States and had "a great affection and admiration for its institutions and for the nobility of its people who are extraordinarily generous."
Topic 3: National Assembly considers law to protect commercial lobster divers
The National Assembly approved "in general" on Tuesday a bill entitled, "Protection and security for commercial divers in the fishing industry," which will benefit thousands of divers, the majority of which are indigenous and working in inhuman conditions on lobster fishing boats that operate in the Caribbean. The bill next goes to committee and then will go to the floor for a final vote.
The law would force both national and foreign fishing boats that operate in Nicaraguan waters to sign contracts with their divers. It also would demand that equipment and conditions necessary for this work be provided in order to reduce the risks of lung damage. Diving without proper equipment is, sadly, the norm in the Caribbean. In the last ten years 600 divers have died due to causes related to decompression syndrome ("the bends"). Among other benefits, this law would require that the owners of the fishing boats assume responsibility for damages or losses suffered by the workers, pay indemnification if they are not affiliated or up-to-date in their public health insurance quotas, as well as carry first-aid kits to take care of emergency situations.
The sanctions would include fines ranging from US$1,000 up to US$20,000 as well as the indefinite closing of the company for any individual or company that violates the new law causing harm to a diver. The hopes are that once the new law is put into effect, within three years “lung diving” (or diving without oxygen equipment) would disappear, decreasing the principal cause of many deaths and disabilities.
The law would regulate for the first time commercial diving activity in Nicaragua, where numerous lobster fishing boats operate taking advantage of the region's poverty to exploit divers. It is estimated that in the Nicaraguan Caribbean there are between 2,500 and 3,000 divers, the majority of which are young indigenous from the Miskitu ethnic group. This includes many who are under 16 years of age, who earn their living capturing lobsters on the ocean floor.
Topic 4: National Assembly to reconsider therapeutic abortion "within the year"
On February 8 the National Assembly was scheduled to return to discussions of changes being made in Nicaragua's criminal code and, in the days before the session, several deputies indicated that the subject of therapeutic abortion could be revisited. Last October the Assembly, in the midst of a closely fought presidential election campaign, removed from the code a measure which for more than a century had allowed for a legal abortion in the case that a woman's life or health was threatened. The action followed massive demonstrations against abortion organized by the Catholic and evangelical churches and the presentation to National Assembly leaders of a petition signed by over 200,000 Nicaraguans demanding an end to all abortions.
However, when the possibility of revisiting the issue arose, the Nicaraguan Catholic Bishops Conference demanded that the government fulfill its promise to maintain the ban on therapeutic abortion and Assembly leadership decided to limit discussion to other sections of the penal code. Assembly President René Núñez said that the code filled three books and that legislators would get to the article on therapeutic abortion "within the year."
The strong statement by the Bishops Conference rejecting abortion in all cases seemed to be at loggerheads with suggestions by Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo that a conference be called to examine all sides of the question from a scientific and medical point of view. Matching the discord within religious circles was that within the political parties. Assembly deputy María Dolores Alemán of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) agreed with Alejandro Bolaños and Eliseo Núñez of the National Liberal Alliance (ALN) that the Assembly should reestablish the legality of therapeutic abortion, whereas Eduardo Montealegre, who was the ALN's presidential candidate, said that he was on the same side as the Catholic Church hierarchy on the issue. Sandinista deputy Walmaro Gutierrez said that the Assembly should carefully examine the entire criminal code and not just one part, admitting that his party had not yet agreed on an official position on the issue of therapeutic abortion. He noted, "We have to approve a new penal code that is in accord with new realities in Nicaragua and among the subjects to debate is that of therapeutic abortion."
In its official communiqué to the government, the Catholic Bishops Conference condemned "the intervention by powerful countries and international organizations which, in clear disrespect toward our sovereignty, cultural identity and values, try to overturn the law that eliminated the disastrous [therapeutic abortion] law by pressuring the government with threats of the withdrawal of aid." Recently Marc Litvine, representative in Central America for the European Union, expressed his "concern" about the criminalization of therapeutic abortion passed in the midst of an election campaign.
The bishops also strongly criticized the medical associations which, "with unscientific arguments lacking ethical values, are trying to confuse the public in order to reverse [the legislation]." Doctors from all over Nicaragua along with representatives of human rights and women's rights organizations have increased their criticisms of National Assembly deputies, accusing them of having condemned thousands of women to death by voting based not on scientific principles but on electoral interests.
Topic 5: Organic farming in Nicaragua gains greater support
Julio Monterrey, Markets and Technologies Development Coordinator for the Foundation for Technological, Farming and Forestry Development in Nicaragua (FUNICA), explained that his organization and others are working to bring technical assistance to those working in the field of organic production. There has been talk within Nicaragua of different technologies to better productivity and combat insect plagues. However, much is needed to make these products accessible to small producers, one of the main ideas behind creating a “technologies market.”
According to an official press communiqué from the Nicaraguan Institute of Farming Technology (INTA), more than 2,200 small farmers in Matagalpa, Jinotega, Masaya, Granada, Carazo, Rivas and Managua would benefit from the alliance to promote organic or sustainable agriculture established by INTA and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). According to the communiqué, this alliance includes a cooperation project in the amount of US$2.5 million between 2007 and 2012. Its objective is to spread sustainable agricultural technologies to rural families all along the Pacific coast and central provinces so that they might obtain greater income and increase their productivity, making efficient use of natural resources and reducing the application of chemical products that affect human health negatively.
INTA director Bayardo Serrano Fernandez said that the efforts of the project "will be used to contribute to poverty reduction and the Zero Hunger program," that the Ortega administration is promoting.
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.