Nicaragua News Service December 3 - 9, 1995 Vol. 3, No. 49 Major news stories for the week: 1. Army to continue to protect coffee harvest; President names General. 2. University students take over Ministry; continue hunger strike. 3. Cerro Negro volcanic activity continues. 4. National Development Bank sets up collection agency. 5. TELCOR and ENEL strikes settled. 6. Nicaragua increases exports in 1995. 7. Four announce candidacies for president of National Assembly. 8. Government proclaims 4% growth rate. 9. Rev. Miguel Angel Casco begins FSLN primary campaign for vice- president. ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Army to continue to protect coffee harvest; President names General. Army officials stated last week that they will continue to try to protect coffee farmers during this year's coffee harvest which is well underway. The Army will provide this protection despite the fact that the Ministry of Finance did not approve any additional funding for the operation. Meanwhile, this week, President Chamorro will promote the present Inspector General of the Army, Colonel Oswaldo Lacayo, to the rank of General of Brigade. The naming of Lacayo is one more step in the process of professionalizing the Nicaraguan army. The country now has four generals, one of whom is retired. The three active generals, Lacayo, Major General Javier Carrion, and Army head General of the Army Joaquin Cuadra are the top three military leaders in the country under the Supreme Commander who is, by the Nicaraguan Constitution, the President of the country. 2. University students take over Ministry; continue hunger strike. University students upped the ante last week in their attempt to force the government to follow the Constitution and allot 6% of the total government budget (including both the ordinary budget and income from foreign aid) to the nation's university system. One of the actions of the students was to peacefully take over the offices of the Ministry of Finances, where students demanded to speak with Minister Emilio Pereira. After about an hour, Pereira agreed to talk to the students while at the same time police surrounded the building. After about an hour and a half, students left the building. No damage was reported. Seven students are also beginning their second week of a hunger stride in front of the National Assembly. Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Humberto Belli, continued his opposition to the 6% for higher education provision, maintaining that the universities have grown at the expense of primary education and that 200,000 new children cannot enter primary school this year because of lack of money. Belli also warned that international agencies would cut their aid destined to primary education if the government gave 6% of its budget to the university sector. (Barricada, Dec. 7; El Nuevo Diario, Dec. 7) 3. Cerro Negro volcanic activity continues. Just when everyone in the area affected by the recent eruption of the volcano Cerro Negro thought that the worst was over and that cleanup and damage evaluation could begin, the mighty volcano gave another roar last Thursday. It came right before the fireworks celebrations on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Leon and throughout the country. The Nicaraguan Institute for Territorial Studies (INETER) confirmed that the volcano had begun a new phase of low level activity characterized by seismic tremors every 4 to 6 minutes accompanied by ash explosions, although no new lava flows have been spotted. Over 2,000 people who fled the eruption remain in the town of Malpaisillo, however, with very little in the way of emergency aid from the government to help them, in their majority children. The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) is organizing a radiothon to raise money to help the victims. (Barricada, Dec. 5, 7) 4. National Development Bank sets up collection agency. The Nicaraguan government last week formally established a new agency that will be in charge of collecting overdue loans owed to government financial entities. One of the first missions of the new agency, baptized the "Cobra" by the local newspapers, is to collect from over 24,000 farmers, the majority of whom have small and medium-sized farms. COBRA is the present tense of the Spanish verb for "charge" or "bill" and it also refers to the snake by that name. The actual name of the company is "COBRANICA, S.A.--Cobranzas Nicaraguenses, Sociedad Anonima. The partners of COBRANICA are the three state banks and Nicaraguan Investment Finances (FNI). The agency's only function will be to collect on overdue and bad loans. This has lead thousands of farmers to fear that their lands will be taken away. Julio Cardenas, Minister of the Presidency, however, stated that that it is not the purpose of the government to massively take over land, but rather to "find solutions" to the farmers' problems. Another official, who refused to be named in the interview, stated that the first job of the COBRA would be to get tough with the biggest debtors of the National Development Bank (BANADES) who together represent 70% of the more than $95 million worth of bad debts owed that institution. (Barricada, Dec. 7) 5. TELCOR and ENEL strikes settled. Early last week it was announced that the strikes carried out by workers at the telecommunications company (TELCOR) and energy company (ENEL), both organized by unions in the forefront of a movement to oppose more government privatization of public utilities, had been settled with an agreement favorable to the strikers. Union leaders of both companies stated in a press conference that they will continue to struggle against the privatization measures using all legal means at their disposal. Mario Malespin, head of the telecommunication workers union, stated that their strike was successful in "sensitizing civil society about the importance of not letting our national patrimony continue to be pillaged." Malespin announced that his union will support a public referendum on the privatization of TELCOR and that they will also introduce a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of such measures. 50,000 signatures will be collected to petition the National Assembly to hold such a referendum, according to Damaso Vargas, FSLN member of the National Assembly and head of International Relations of the Sandinista Workers Federation (CST). [Interestingly enough, the head of the National Workers Federation, Lucio Jimenez, has not been playing a leadership role in these two crucial strikes. Two weeks ago, as a result of what some see as internal power struggles, Jimenez was claiming that his supposed rival, Ronaldo Membre$o, head of the Energy workers, had misused project funds of the CST. Membre$o, however, has continued to play a key role in these recent strikes, while Jimenez has played little or no role.] (Barricada, Dec. 5) 6. Nicaragua increases exports in 1995. According to preliminary figures from the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economy and Development (MEDE), Nicaragua, by the end of 1995, will have exported goods with a value of more than $501 million. That figure represents a 40% increase in the value of exports from 1994 when exports totaled only $356 million. Imports also rose in 1995 by 11% from $852 million to $946 million. The most important export was coffee ($120 million) followed by seafood, beef, sugar, and gold and silver. "Non-traditional" exports increased by 7% for a total value of $207 million. A major non- traditional product was farm-raised shrimp. A spokesperson for MEDE stated that the potential for this sector was still to be reached given that only 10% of the arable land of the country was being utilized at this time. The "free zone" industries produced a total of $68 million of which $13.6 was actual value added. The most important products of the industrial sector in general were shoes, wood, clothing and furniture. Exports are again expected to increase to a total of $590 million in 1996 which will continue to leave Nicaragua with a substantial trade deficit. (Barricada, Dec. 7) 7. Four announce candidacies for president of National Assembly. Talk around the National Assembly is of four candidates for the position of president of that body for the sessions that begin in January of 1996, which is an election year in Nicaragua. Names being mentioned are: Roberto Urroz of the Nicaraguan Democratic Movement (MDN), Dora Maria Tellez of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), Cairo Manuel Lopez of the Cristian Democrats (UDC), as well as the current president, Luis Humberto Guzman (UDC) who says that he would not say no to re-election. (La Prensa, Dec. 5) 8. Government proclaims 4% growth rate. The Nicaraguan government is claiming that the economic growth rate for 1995 will be 4% according to a press release signed by Minister of Finance Emilio Pereira who is also the head of President Chamorro's economic cabinet. Inflation for the year was calculated at 10%, a rate that was characterized as "extraordinary" considering the state of the economy a few years ago. Independent economists of all political colors have not been so optimistic and have calculated the growth rate to be 2% and inflation to be higher than 10%. Despite the government's good news, Pereira also warned that more economic structural adjustment would be necessary. (La Prensa, Dec. 7) 9. Rev. Miguel Angel Casco begins FSLN primary campaign for vice- president. Rev. Miguel Angel Casco, FSLN primary candidate for the vice presidential nomination made the closing sermon at an evangelic crusade organized by pastors of Protestant churches in Esteli last week. Casco's basic message to the crowd was that praying was not enough. "You have a responsibility that the Lord has given you and that is to contribute to making a change in Nicaragua," he said. He also stated that God used the FSLN to liberate the people from oppression in 1979 and that today, it is clear that the FSLN is the only instrument available to make it possible for the people to have health care, employment, education and other socioeconomic benefits.