Nicaragua Network Hotlines for January 09, 2007
News topics covered in this Hotline include:
- Presidential inauguration preparations in motion
- CENIDH appeals therapeutic abortion ban before Supreme Court
- New Minister of Education to abolish school fees!
- Environmentalist describes extent of crisis
- Evidence of widespread corruption within Bolaños administration begins to emerge
Topic 1: Presidential inauguration preparations in motion
Head of the National Police Aminta Granera and Commander in Chief of the Nicaraguan Army Omar Halleslevens on Jan. 6 outlined the security plan for the presidential inauguration which will take place on Jan. 10, 2007. Granera said “we have never before received such a large number of official high level delegations for a presidential inauguration.” She said an official political event of this scale has not been seen since the 1980s. Seventeen heads of states are expected to attend the inauguration including all the Central American presidents, Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Alán García of Peru, Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, Felipe Calderón of Mexico, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Chen Sui Bian of Taiwan, Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. [Later news reports said that Ahmadinejad would not arrive in Nicaragua until Sunday.] The US delegation will be lead by Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt. High level government delegations are expected from an additional 65 countries. On top of the official delegations over 1,000 foreign journalists are expected to attend. In addition, event organizers expect at least 300,000 supporters of the new government to attend the public celebration of the presidential inauguration which will take place in Plaza La Fe Juan Pablo II after the official event.
The official inauguration will begin at 4pm in the “Omar Torrijos” Non-Aligned Nations Plaza located next to what will become the new offices of the presidency, the Olof Palme Convention Center. After President elect Daniel Ortega is sworn into office he will lead a procession to the Plaza La Fe where he will give the first public speech of his second term as President of Nicaragua. Later that evening Ortega plans to hold a meeting with foreign heads of state and government delegations at the Olof Palme Convention Center. Finally Ortega will officially appoint the members of his cabinet whom he will present to the press that same evening.
On Jan. 3 Sandinista party (FSLN) spokesperson Rosario Murillo announced Ortega’s decision not to use the palatial Casa Presidencial as his presidential office during his administration saying it would cost too much to run and would not be in keeping with the incoming administration’s desire to promote “simplicity.” The building will instead be used to house the several ministries and state companies which currently have no office buildings and are running up large bills for rented office space.
Topic 2: CENIDH appeals therapeutic abortion ban before Supreme Court
The Nicaraguan Center of Human Rights (CENIDH) introduced an appeal against law 603 at the Nicaraguan Supreme Court on Jan. 8. The appeal was supported by representatives of a large number of human rights groups, women’s groups and medical associations. Law 603, which was passed at the end of October 2006, changed article 165 of the Penal Code to abolish a woman’s right to therapeutic abortion. For over 100 years, therapeutic abortion had been legal in Nicaragua if a pregnancy put a woman’s life or health at risk or was the result of rape.
Prior to introducing the appeal, CENIDH led a march through the streets of Managua on the morning of Jan. 8 to raise awareness about the issue. The National Coordinator of the Nicaraguan Society of General Practitioners, Leonel Argüello, who attended the march, said that 28 Nicaraguan medical societies as well as the medicine faculties of all the national universities “are supporting the appeal.” According to Argüello, the National Assembly deputies are “asking us not to be doctors, not to be human, they are asking us to forget our duty [to save lives], to forget our medical ethics” with the passage of Law 603.
Bayardo Izabá, CENIDH’s legal advisor, explained that the decision to appeal the therapeutic abortion ban had been taken because the measure violates a number of fundamental human rights such as the right to life, the right not to be tortured and the right not to be discriminated against, all of which are supposed to be guaranteed by the Nicaraguan constitution. As well as appealing the law for violating the constitution, CENIDH has appealed the law as a violation of Nicaragua’s status as a secular state. Izabá says the passing of Law 603 came out of the National Assembly’s “open support of religious dogmas” following a massive protest march against therapeutic abortion organized by the Catholic Church.
On Jan. 4 the Nicaraguan Feminist Movement began a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about the facts of therapeutic abortion. Eveling Flores, a representative of the movement, said that a great deal of manipulation was used during the Catholic Church campaign to ban therapeutic abortion. Flores says the organization hopes to collect 150,000 signatures on a petition opposing the ban. The petition will then be presented to the new National Assembly.
Archbishop of Managua Leopoldo Brenes, meanwhile, called on the faithful to maintain the abortion ban during the first mass of 2007 at the Managua Cathedral on Jan. 1. During his sermon Brenes called for “respect for all life” saying the “silent deaths” provoked as a result of abortion, human embryo research and euthanasia are a violation of the right to live in peace.
Topic 3: New Minister of Education to abolish school fees!
The new Minister of Education Miguel de Castilla announced plans to overturn all legislation introduced over the last sixteen years which violates the right to a free education. De Castilla said that, on Jan. 11, the day after he is sworn in as Education Minister, he will announce the immediate abolition of school autonomy. When most public schools were declared autonomous [following mandates imposed on Nicaragua with a special vengeance by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund after the Sandinistas lost the 1990 elections] the public education system was effectively privatized as national government funding, except the payment of teachers’ salaries, was cut off. As a result of the schools autonomy legislation, schools have been forced to rely increasingly on parental contributions (known as "school fees") in order to remain open. De Castilla said that as of Jan. 11 he would make sure all costs for the running of schools were paid by the Ministry of Education. Special Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents Norma Moreno says there are “great challenges” ahead for de Castilla but she has high expectations of the new minister who is an experienced teacher and a founder of the Nicaraguan Education Forum and the Nicaraguan Human Development Initiative. Currently 50% of all pupils who enroll in the school system have dropped out by the end of the year because their parents cannot afford to keep them there. And, currently 97% of Nicaraguan children with special needs are excluded from the public education system.
The ending of fees for public primary education has been a principal demand of the "50 Years Is Enough" and "Jubilee" movements around the world of which the Nicaragua Network has been a part. Nicaragua now joins the ranks of those countries who have repudiated the neo-liberal policies on education of the international financial institutions. The in-coming government merits the congratulations of campaigners around the world!
Topic 4: Environmentalist describes extent of crisis
“Other countries see Nicaragua as a beggar sitting on a golden throne,” says environmentalist Kamilo Lara. What he means, of course, is that despite the country’s vast wealth of natural resources, the Nicaraguan people and economy are impoverished. According to Lara this is the result of decades of governments which have not possessed either the knowledge or the will to take advantage of Nicaragua’s wealth of natural resources in such a way as to lift the country out of poverty. What is worse, the country has had a string of governments which have allowed widespread unsustainable exploitation of the natural resources (forests, soil, water, flora and fauna) in return for little or no benefit to the Nicaraguan people and economy.
Among some of the shocking figures which demonstrate the true extent of the environmental crisis are the 55.5% of Nicaraguan forests which have been destroyed over the last 55 years and the 47 rivers which have dried up on the Pacific coast in recent years.
Lara says that while the public is now more aware of the importance of protecting the environment, the positive work of NGOs and civil society is unable to make a dent in the negative impact of the “mafia” intent on becoming as rich as possible with the legal and illegal exploitation and exportation of Nicaragua’s natural resources. The environmentalist describes the National Assembly deputies as a “group of vandals” who legislate in line with their personal interests rather than those of the country as a whole. He hopes the incoming government will follow through on the campaign promise to put a stop to further environmental degradation. Lara would like to see passage of the General Water Law and the implementation of the Territorial Law during 2007. These two pieces of legislation, he says, will prove essential if the government wants to protect the nation's natural resources.
Topic 5: Evidence of widespread corruption within Bolaños administration begins to emerge
When Enrique Bolaños became president in 2002 he promised to introduce a corruption free “new era” and a “zero tolerance” policy towards governmental corruption during his administration. His fight against corruption was hailed as exemplary by many representatives of the international community including the US Embassy and a number of other foreign embassies. The same foreign diplomats said little or nothing, however, when Bolaños consistently defended members of his administration implicated in corruption scandals such as former Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Pedro Solorzano and Director of Immigration Fausto Carcabelos.
On Jan. 2 Orlando Nuñez, a member of the team appointed by President elect Daniel Ortega to ensure a smooth transition to the new regime, spoke of evidence of “a great deal of corruption” in several ministries and state institutions of the Bolaños administration. Nuñez said that the transition team is currently in the process of auditing all ministries, state institutions and companies and, as a result of this process, numerous irregularities have been revealed. Among the many anomalies Nuñez mentions are cases of unnecessarily high salaries for public officials, payment of salaries to non existent employees, consultants and advisors and large amounts of money going missing without any justification.
Presidential spokesman Lindolfo Monjarretz reacted to Nuñez’ claims by saying that the outgoing executive branch would only respond to comments made by Paul Oquis, coordinator of the transition team. Monjarretz denied that any members of the Bolaños administration have been involved in corrupt acts during the last five years. On Jan. 3 President Bolaños himself questioned Nuñez’ authority to have made such claims and said that he knows of no anomalies within his government which could be classified as constituting corruption.
This hotline is prepared from the Nicaragua News Service and other sources.
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