Nicaragua Network Hotlines for May 08, 2007
News topics covered in this Hotline include:
- Ortega administration kicks-off the “Zero Hunger” program
- Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia withdraw from ICSID
- Venezuela to cover all of Nicaragua’s oil needs
- Nicaraguan teachers sign agreement with the government
- Government announces plans to preserve forests and water sources
- Central
American doctors call for Nicaragua to reinstate therapeutic abortion
Topic 1: Ortega administration kicks-off the
“Zero Hunger” program
The “Zero Hunger Program,” which aims to reduce poverty in the
rural areas over a five year period, was inaugurated by President Daniel
Ortega and other members of his administration in the northern department
of Jinotega. The program was designed to achieve the first objective of
the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, “to eradicate
extreme poverty and reduce hunger to zero.”
“Zero Hunger” with its budget of US$150 million plans to deliver
a US$2,000 bond or voucher to 75,000 rural families between 2007 and 2012.
The voucher will consist of the delivery of a pregnant cow and a pregnant
sow, five chickens and a rooster, seeds, fruit-bearing plants and plants
for reforestation. The project’s short-term objective is to have each
rural family capable of producing enough milk, meat, eggs, fruits, vegetables
and cereals to cover its basic needs while its medium range objective is
to establish local markets and export certain products.
The families that benefit from the project will be required to pay back
20 percent of the amount that they receive in order to create a rural fund
that will guarantee the continuity of the program. NGOs and representatives
from each community will be in charge of managing the project.
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Topic 2: Nicaragua, Venezuela and Bolivia
withdraw from ICSID
Nicaragua along with Venezuela and Bolivia will no longer participate
in the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment
Disputes (ICSID). This decision formed part of the agreements reached at
the recent President’s Summit for the Bolivarian Alternative for the
Americas (ALBA). The ICSID, with headquarters in Washington, DC, is a World
Band agency that provides legal security for international investors by
dealing with disputes between governments and transnational companies.
The text agreed upon by the ALBA countries specifies that they “emphatically”
reject the impositions and pressures from “transnational companies
that…resist the application of decisions by their countries’
sovereign governments. These companies rather threaten to initiate international
legal proceedings and arbitration processes using mechanisms such as the
ICSID.” A cited example of this in Nicaragua is the current dispute
between the government and Union Fenosa, although Fenosa’s demand
is with the Multinational Investment Guarantee Agency, another World Bank
entity.
The Nicaragua Network believes that the US government has a moral obligation
to pay Nicaragua for the devastating effects of its illegal war against
the Sandinista revolution. At a modest 5% interest, that debt today stands
at over $47 billion. The less than $2 billion in US aid over the last 17
years is a paltry sum in comparison.
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Topic 3: Venezuela to cover all of Nicaragua’s
oil needs
A new agreement between Venezuela and Nicaragua under the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) establishes that Venezuela will provide
100% of Nicaragua’s petroleum needs for a total of 10 million barrels
annually. Venezuela will also finance 50% of the cost of this oil, worth
approximately US$300 million. This money will be used to create a fund that
will finance local projects as well as subsidize public transportation.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega praised Venezuela for the more than
US$340 million in cooperation agreements stating that "Venezuela has
made available its petroleum, because under the ALBA, we are all one nation,"
with 63 million inhabitants including Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba
and Haiti.
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Topic 4: Nicaraguan teachers sign agreement
with the government
After more than a month of labor strikes and hunger fasts, union
leaders for the Magisterial Union (which organized the strikes) and the
Sandinista National Teachers Association (known as ANDEN from its Spanish
acronym) signed an agreement with the Minister of the Economy. Members of
these unions, however, have not yet voted to approve the agreement.
The agreement would require that the teachers unions end their labor and
hunger strikes. The government on its part agreed to insure the immediate
payout of the US$11.5 million budgeted for salaries under the previous administration
and approved in the 2007 National Budget. In addition the government also
promised to send to the National Assembly a bill to amend the budget with
an increase of US$2.05 million for the Ministry of Education.
Teachers in the Magisterial Union argued that their fight for a raise of
US$30 per month was not achieved and that the current agreement only provides
a US$22 increase. The government however assured the union that the increase
for some teachers could reach more than US$33 depending on their position
and years of accumulated experience.
Topic 5: Government announces
plans preserve forests and water sources
At a press conference on May 7, Minister of the Environment and
Natural Resources Juana Argeñal announced that the Ortega administration
will be making an effort, through programs and more bio-friendly policies,
to reverse the effects of contamination to the principal water sources in
the country as well as the deforestation that has taken place in a number
of departments. The administration has already sent to the National Assembly
a bill to regulate water usage and will be working on reforms for agricultural
land use among other projects.
An estimated 70,000 hectares of forest are lost every year in Nicaragua due to “indiscriminate logging” by timber companies along the Pacific Coast where close to 80% of Nicaragua’s population is found. The Sandinista government plans to introduce more bio-friendly logging regulations as well as provide material resources and funding for community-based reforestation projects around river basins and water sources in the Pacific coastal regions.
In addition to the water bill and reforestation projects, the government
considers it an immediate priority to look for ways to prevent the contamination
of the more than 21 river basins and important lakes that provide Nicaragua
with fresh water. In Managua alone there are 11 large industrial companies
that do not have adequate treatment systems for what they dump directly
into Lake Managua. This, along with poor garbage management and contamination
from underground seepages from gas stations are urgent problems for which
the administration promises to look for viable solutions.
Topic 6: Central American doctors call for Nicaragua to reinstate therapeutic abortion
The Central American Federation of Obstetric and Gynecology Associations and Societies (FECASOG) on May 7 declared publicly its support for reinstating legal therapeutic abortion into Nicaraguan law and gave its full support and solidarity to the reinstatement efforts by local organizations. The Central American doctors argued that therapeutic abortion is a “necessary procedure” in the practice of gynecology and obstetrics and that it saves lives and prevents severe medical complications.
Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes, in response to the statement, reiterated his opposition to therapeutic abortion during his homily in the Municipality of Cuapa the following day. Brenes asked his fellow citizens to unite to stop abortion saying that “the Church is for life, which is sustained in love. This is why we oppose abortion, because the Holy Virgin Mary always cared for her child providing the example of how women should fight to preserve life.”
The Nicaraguan Supreme Court currently has a case before it on the constitutionality
of the National Assembly’s decision to make therapeutic abortion illegal.
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.