Nicaragua News Service Nov. 20 - 26, 1994 Vol. 2, No. 49 by Coleen Littlejohn Major news stories for the week: 1. National Assembly approves constitutional amendments. 2. Army nominates Joaquin Cuadra as replacement for Gen. Ortega. 3. Social Security Ministry held responsible for death of disabled orphan. 4. Tomas Borge appears in Labor Court in suit by Barricada staff. 5. Nicaragua has no alternative but to accept economic conditions, says Minister of Foreign Cooperation. 6. South Atlantic representatives go on hunger strike. 7. Dengue virus number three appears in Nicaragua. 8. Controversy arises over Nicaraguan statistics. 9. Hunger and unemployment cause rise in suicide rate. _______________________________________________________________________ 1. National Assembly approves constitutional amendments. The seemingly never-ending process of amending the 1987 Nicaraguan Constitution made some headway last week when the majority in the National Assembly approved the final articles that were under discussion. However, understanding what those amendments really represent is difficult for most Nicaraguans at this moment of extreme polarization not only within the FSLN but also within other political groupings such as the Conservatives and the "party" of the government bureaucracy. The Assembly approved a run-off election for the Presidency in the case that no one candidate receives 45% of the popular votes. This measure has been severely criticized by the official FSLN whose representative, Nathan Sevilla, stated that the article is a plot of the "reform" Sandinistas to destroy the project of the Revolution. "They know that if the FSLN wins the next election with less than 45% of the vote, all the right, including the followers of Sergio Ramirez, will organize against our candidate to favor the adversary," Sevilla said. Another amendment establishes the impossibility of presidential re- election and the prohibition on close family relations (either by blood or marriage) of the current president being elected to the presidency. If the amendments are passed in the next legislative session [according to the Constitution amendments must be passed by two successive legislative sessions], it would effectively mean that neither former President Daniel Ortega nor Antonio Lacayo, son-in-law of President Chamorro, would be able to run for the presidency in 1996. The amendments would establish new powers for the National Assembly including the elections of magistrates to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Electoral Council and other important public bodies. According to Barricada, the National Assembly would be the new superpower since it would assume many powers formerly given to the Executive Branch such as approval of the budget. The Assembly also voted to retain the 6% provision for higher education. That decision was severely criticized by Minister of Education Humberto Belli who suggested that the Assembly vote to give 20% of the budget to the Education Ministry and thus demonstrate that its intention is not to privilege just one sector of Nicaraguan education. Belli argued that it is more important to prioritize primary education in order to raise general productivity for the persons who receive a basic education. This would also help lower the infant mortality rate. Only half of the children who enter primary school finish the sixth grade. Belli argued that the country spends $55 million to educate 850,000 primary students while the universities spend $36 million on the 30,000 university students which represent only 3% of the student population. Sixty-six percent of those who enter university do not finish their studies, Belli said. "Nicaragua cannot afford such luxuries," he added. Sandinista deputies introduced a written motion in the Assembly declaring that certain amendments approved were illegal due to procedural mistakes during the discussion and final voting. The deputies involved in the motion are: Benigna Mendiola, Damaso Vargas, Roberto Laguna, Nathan Sevilla, Francisco Rivera, David Blanco, Gladys Baez and Domingo Sanchez. The National Directorate of the FSLN issued a statement saying that the FSLN does not recognize the approval of the new amendments. Meanwhile, El Nuevo Diario newspaper called the end of the first phase of the amendment process an "historic achievement" that will mark the beginning of the democratization and modernization of the supreme law of the land." (Barricada, Nov. 25; El Nuevo Diario, Nov. 26; La Prensa, Nov. 25) 2. Army nominates Joaquin Cuadra as replacement for General Ortega. President Chamorro as of last week has 30 days to ratify or reject the candidacy of Major General Joaquin Cuadra as new Commander of the Nicaraguan Army (EPS). Cuadra was unanimously proposed by the EPS Military Council to replace General Humberto Ortega who will officially leave his current position on February 21, 1995. His replacement must be named by December 21st. Cuadra was Ortega's first choice as his successor. Rumors have it that General Ortega will return to political life within the FSLN. (Barricada, Nov. 21) 3. Social Security Ministry held responsible for death of disabled orphan. The "modernization" of the Nicaraguan Social Security and Social Welfare Ministry (INSBBI) has cost the life of eight year old Raquel Garcia Lopez, a disabled orphan who, with another 52 severely disabled, were transferred from their home at the Rolando Carazo orphanage in Managua to the private "Brother Pedro's Center" in Chinandega. INSBBI has been in a on-going process of "privatizing" their social services by cutting off the financing to state day care centers and old age homes. Orphans are then shipped out from the state centers to private services such as the one in Chinandega where the "Brother" promised to take care of the children for the sum of $120 per child per month. The children from the Roland Carazo Center, however, because of their disabilities, required very specialized attention. For the 10 days they were in their new "home," the children slept on the floor and subsisted on bread and milk with no medical attention or specialized therapy. As a result of the lack of care, little Raquel died and three other children are in serious condition in Managua hospitals, where they were taken after their plight was discovered. It was noted that the order to move the children originally came directly from the Minister of INSBBI, Simeon Rizo. The office of the Vice-Minister, Jacinto Mena, confirmed the report in Barricada and promised that an investigation would be forthcoming. Meanwhile, the children have been transferred to an old-people's home in Managua where the conditions are not much better. (Barricada, Nov. 25) 4. Borge appears in Labor Court in suit by Barricada staff. Tomas Borge, president of the Editorial Board of Barricada, was called to testify before the Labor Tribunal of Managua with reference to the case of the ex-workers of Barricada who are suing for indemnification. Borge testified that he asked the workers repeatedly to stay but that they insisted that they wanted to leave. The ex-employees are collectively asking for an indemnification of more than $40,000 including vacations not taken, year end bonus, etc. The labor court judge noted that the two parties in conflict could come to an agreement at any time in the process. (Barricada, Nov. 24) 5. Nicaragua has no alternative but to accept economic conditions says Foreign Cooperation Minister. The concessions that Nicaragua has had to make to the IMF and the World Bank are unavoidable if Nicaragua is to obtain forgiveness on its foreign debt which could lower it from $11 billion to a little more than $3 billion. The Minister of Foreign Cooperation admitted that the debt is unpayable but that strategy of the government would consist in agreeing to pay the whole amount and then capitalizing interests due and paying in the future. Kruger's Ministry is now planning its annual donors meeting for December 13-14 in Managua. The next Club of Paris meeting of creditor nations will be held in February of next year. Kruger estimated that Nicaragua will receive an estimated 500 million dollars in foreign aid in 1995. (Barricada, Nov. 24) 6. South Atlantic representatives go on hunger strike. Twenty of the 45 representatives on the Regional Council of the South Atlantic Autonomous Region are on a hunger strike in protest against the abuses of power of the delegates of the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC) who hold the presidency and vice presidency of the Council. The hunger strike participants, who include members of Yatama (a Misquito organization formerly allied with the contras) and the FSLN, severely criticize the regional government officials for not supporting the Autonomy Project for the region and for not addressing "the serious problems of unemployment and hunger which affect the region." (Barricada, Nov. 26) 7. Dengue virus number three appears in Nicaragua. As if thousands of Nicaraguans did not know, Health Minister Martha Palacio announced that Dengue Virus Number 3 is now loose in Nicaragua. The danger of this latest strain of dengue is that a person who has already had dengue will automatically come down with hemorrhagic dengue if affected again by this new member of the dengue family. Officially, in 1994, there have been over 960 cases of the hemorrhagic dengue but the figures are believed to be actually much higher. (Barricada, Nov. 25) 8. Controversy arises over Nicaraguan statistics. The Central Bank of Nicaragua strongly criticized a study recently released by Project NEPAL, a technical assistance program made up of U.S. and Peruvian economists. The study by the NEPAL Group concluded that the official estimates for Nicaragua's gross national product have been underestimated by at least 56%. Mario Flores, Vice President of the Central Bank, stated that he agreed that the GNP of Nicaragua was underestimated but that it was impossible at this stage to say by how much and that the NEPAL study's methodology was technically flawed. Flores stated that to really ascertain the GNP of the country, it would be necessary to carry out a national census. NEPAL calculations and other studies are based on projections of the last national census which was done 22 years ago. Flores did add that Nicaraguan exports this year are calculated to rise to $330 million, up from the $290 million exported in 1993. (Barricada, Nov. 25) 9. Hunger and unemployment cause rise in suicide rate. At least 94 people have committed suicide this year in Managua, the majority for reasons of despair because of their inability to find a job. The majority of the victims were men between the age of 30 and 40, but the number also includes ten single mothers who worked as domestic servants. (Barricada, Nov. 25)