Nicaragua News Service March 26-April 1, 1995 Vol. 3, No. 14 by Coleen Littlejohn Major news stories for the week: 1. Police use force against "La Fosforera." 2. Teachers mount new strike offensive. 3. Police seize 1,400 kilos of cocaine. 4. Controls lifted on fuel prices. 5. FSLN calls for changes in economic policy. 6. Nothing new yet on "national agreement." 7. Nicaraguan baseball team wins silver medal. 8. Sandino Foundation celebrates 15th anniversary. 9. Government admits interest in interoceanic "dry canal." ________________________________________________________________________ 1. Police use force against "La Fosforera." Over 150 police from the special anti-riot squad were unleashed against a peaceful demonstration of fired workers from La Fosforera match factory and their supporters and families who had joined them in front of the factory. The workers were trying to impede the entrance into the factory of agents of the former owner and present partner in the enterprise, Pedro Ortega Macho. Ortega Macho was able to win a court order requiring the police to guarantee free passage in front of the factory so that he could take out several trucks full of matches ready for market. At least 22 people were hurt in the incident, including Dr. Vilma Nunez, president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), who later stated that the police had not intentionally pushed her. The National Directorate of the FSLN held an emergency session to analyze the events of the Fosforera and the teacher's strike. The Directorate warned the government that the use of violence in these situations could lead to more violence. The message also expressed the National Directorate's concern for the violence suffered by Dr. Vilma Nunez and the match workers' lawyer, Dr. Adrian Meza. (Barricada, April 1) 2. Teachers mount new strike offensive. The police also used force several times last week against striking teachers. Twenty persons, including teachers and parents supporting the strike, were wounded when the police broke up a demonstration on the North Highway in Managua. Teachers in that demonstration were demanding that the Ministry of Education (MED) deliver monthly pay checks to the strikers. At the same time that the police were putting down the match factory workers' demonstration, they also were breaking up another teachers' demonstration blocks away from the new cathedral in Managua. The increased number of demonstrations in Managua is part of a renewed strategy on the part of the teachers' unions to make the strike more visible in the country's capital. The Appeals Court in Managua agreed to review a case against the Ministry of Education brought by the teachers' union and at the same time the judge ordered the suspension of a lower court decision that had declared the strike illegal. The ruling, however, has not stopped the wave of firings of teachers all over the country by the MED. The number of firings has now topped 400. Newspapers commented last week that more teachers have been fired under Minister of Education Humberto Belli than were fired under the Somoza government during the massive teachers' strikes of the 1960's and 1970's. Last week, several other union federations, such as the health workers organized in FETSALUD, announced that they would begin partial work slowdowns in support of the teachers. Other declarations of support came from the Movement of Christian Base Communities and the Community Movement. (Barricada March 30, April 1) 3. Police seize 1,400 kilos of cocaine. Nicaraguan police, in a joint operation with agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) captured a shipment of 1,400 kilos of cocaine last week from a boat named the "Neptune" off the southern Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. This was the largest cache of drugs ever intercepted by Nicaraguan authorities. The boat had left Colombia the week before. The captain and crew, mostly Nicaraguans from the Bluefields area, claimed that they had found the drugs floating in the Atlantic. A few days before the seizure, General Joaquin Cuadra, new head of the Nicaraguan Army, declared that the U.S. DEA could never act as an independent foreign agency in the country because no agreement had been signed allowing for this. He went on to say, "I don't believe that the Foreign Ministry would sign such an agreement because it would violate national laws and our national sovereignty." (Barricada, March 30) 4. Controls lifted on fuel prices. Last week the government made official its decision to lift controls on the price of petroleum and its derivatives. Until now only the state, through the agency PETRONIC, has been authorized to import petroleum but now any registered business, foreign or national, may do so. It is expected that the price of gasoline in Nicaragua, which is the highest in Central America, will decline initially although the deregulation of prices will be phased in gradually. (Barricada, April 1) 5. FSLN calls for changes in economic policy. Orlando Nunez, member of the Economic Commission of the Sandinista Assembly stated last week that the new national economic proposal of the FSLN marks a 180 degree change from the traditional economic programs of the Nicaraguan left. The proposal was approved last week by the Sandinista Assembly. According to Nunez, the basic changes in FSLN philosophy on the economy enunciated in the document are the following: - the principal actor in the economic reactivation of the country is no longer the State but the productive sector of the economy. The transformations in land tenancy and in agricultural and industrial sectors in the 1980s and 1990s have resulted in a "democratization" of the productive sector. - the plan emphasizes a strategic alliance between owners and workers which promotes participation of workers and in which workers ensure a rise in productivity. Without the latter, it will be impossible to recuperate the yields, profitability and competitiveness that the Nicaraguan economy needs. - the plan is not a "proposal to govern" but rather a proposal around which to discuss the direction of the economy with all sectors throughout the nation. (Barricada, March 30) 6. Nothing new as yet on "national agreement" The four branches of the Nicaraguan government continue to meet under the auspices of the United Nations and of a group of ambassadors from several countries who are referred to as "friends of Nicaragua." After five meetings and a week of intensive effort, however, there are few concrete results. According to Barricada, the only real agreement between the politicians who are meeting at the UN offices is that some kind of national accord is necessary. The politicians were very much affected by the results of a recent survey which stated that 93.7% of the population was convinced that an agreement between political parties, the branches of government, and the organizations of civil society were necessary to get the country moving again. (El Nuevo Diario, March 31; Barricada, April 1) 7. Nicaraguan baseball team wins silver medal. The much reviled but much loved Nicaraguan National Selection Baseball Team returned triumphant from Argentina last week with the silver cup for baseball from the Pan American games. Dennis Miranda, the team's top pitcher, was also named best pitcher of the series. Nicaragua had faced Cuba in the final game. The Cubans got their revenge for the loss inflicted on them by Nicaragua during the semi-finals by winning this game. (Barricada, March 27) 8. FACS celebrates 15th anniversary. The Augusto Cesar Sandino Foundation (FACS) celebrated the 15th anniversary of its founding last week with exhibitions and concerts celebrating its work as one of the major non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Nicaragua today. The FACS was founded in 1980 and its projects are financed by other NGOs in Europe, Canada and the United States. In its 15 year existence, the FACS has supported at least 696 projects with a total value of $56.3 million in direct financing and another sum, not mentioned, of in-kind goods including food from the European Union. Over half a million people have been touched by the existence of the FACS, which also manages a small and medium-sized production credit fund which has more than $1 million in capital. Many of the projects involve the growing of basic grains, vegetables, and the raising of dairy cattle, especially in former war zones where the FACS has been promoting a process of reconciliation among former combatants and their families. The Assistant Director of the FACS, Ruth Marcenara stated, "The process of the deepening of democracy in Nicaragua demands the strengthening of civil society where the NGOs have earned their space and their own identity, because their work has contributed to the economic and social stability of the country." (Barricada, March 29) 9. Government admits interest in interoceanic "dry canal" Last week, Construction and Transportation Minister Pablo Vigil announced that the Chamorro government has signed a letter of interest with the international consortium that is promoting the idea of a sea- rail link to cross Nicaragua and connect the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Vigil, however, stated that the letter signed was not a concession to begin the operation, but rather a sign that the government was interested in the idea. However, further studies were deemed necessary along with a process of consultation with the National Assembly and interested citizens' groups. Nicaragua will turn to the World Bank for technical advice on the project and will inquire via the Nicaraguan Embassy in Costa Rica as to the reasons why Costa Rica declined to implement the project in that country. The government also wants to study why a similar project in Mexico in the 1980's failed to produce the expected results. (Barricada, March 29)