Nicaragua News Service
Published by the Nicaragua Network Education Fund
Vol. 6, No. 47
November 15-21, 1998
by Donna Vukelich

1. Nicaragua Needs $1.5 Billion to Rebuild
2. Health Dangers Grow
3. Hunger in Chinandega
4. Land Mine Threat
5. Debt Forgiveness News
6. Sociologist Paints Bleak Picture
News Briefs

1. Nicaragua Needs $1.5 Billion to Rebuild

The Nicaraguan government says it needs US$1.5 billion to rebuild the country, 
and plans to take a proposal to that effect to a December 9 Interamerican
Development Bank meeting to be 
held in Washington. The government at this point says it has no definitive plan 
for reconstruction, but by the end of this coming week, each cabinet
minister is 
to have submitted a plan covering his/her area. According to government data, 
15% of all housing units in Nicaragua were lost. Road and highway destruction 
amounts to over US$600 million, while another US$20 million in losses were 
reported to the water system. Health care losses in infrastructure alone are 
reported at US$89 million, while losses to the country's educational 
infrastructure are just over US$51 million. The Ministry of Health says it 
needs US$12 million worth of medicines for the next six months alone.

While road destruction was $600 million, Nicaragua's road and highway system
was 
so old and obsolete that the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is 
talking about a price tag of nearly US$800 million just for rebuilding the 
country's roads and bridges. And many engineers feel that the Panamerican 
Highway needs to be rebuilt as a four-lane highway, while other highways are 
also in need of major redesign efforts--which could double the cost given by
the 
Ministry. Transportation Minister Jaime Bonilla said that Spain and Japan will 
be assisting in the repair and construction of many of Nicaragua's destroyed 
bridges. US$50 million has been invested in road and bridge repair since the 
hurricane.
[La Prensa 11/19]

2. Health Dangers Grow

Leptospirosis continues to be a threat in El Viejo, Chinandega and Esteli. By 
the end of the week, the Ministry of Health was forced to appeal to Cuba for 
medical assistance and a brigade of Cuban doctors arrived in the country on 
Saturday, armed with the "biorat" poison and food and supplies for themselves 
(initial Nicaraguan government comments had complained that the Cubans would 
have been more of a burden than anything else, as they would only be using up 
Nicaraguan food and supplies). [A woman who has been working around the clock 
with refugees in Esteli said she was "thrilled and relieved" that the brigade 
had arrived.]
[La Prensa 11/16]

By week's end, four people were reported dead of leptospirosis in Esteli, with 
another three deaths reported in Chinandega. There are over 70 suspected cases 
of leptospirosis at this point, and the head of the SILAIS in Chinandega, Dr. 
Agustin Guevara says the number of affected people in Chinandega could reach 
15,000 within a month if severe measures are not taken promptly. Dr. Alvaro 
Ramirez, former head of epidemiology for MINSA, says that the number of people 
affected in Esteli could reach over 10,000. He accused Health Minister Martha 
McCoy of refusing to declare an epidemiological alert so as not to scare off 
tourists. According to health statistics beginning November 10, one case a day 
was reported in Chinandega, increasing to 5 cases a day, and up to 15 cases a 
day by November 16. [The Cuban government offered its medical team to Nicaragua 
on October 31.] Leptospirosis is spread by the urine of rats and infected 
domestic animals and mirrors the symptoms of dengue, which makes early
detection 
(key to proper treatment) particularly difficult. [La Prensa 11/20] 

On Friday, MINSA finally declared a "situation of epidemiological emergency" in 
Chinandega, El Viejo and Esteli because of outbreaks of leptospirosis, cholera, 
dengue and malaria. Minister of Health McCoy also called a "National 
Epidemiological Alert" because of the contamination of much of the country's 
drinking water and the invasion of rodents in many urban areas. 
[END 11/21]


The Ministry of Health has openly criticized Nicaraguan doctors for "refusing" 
to work in some of the areas most affected by the hurricane, and has threatened 
to fire them. However, the doctors in question hold that this is a manuever by 
the Ministry of Health to "pay back" the doctors most involved in the 
months-long medical strike carried out earlier this year.
[La Tribuna 11/21]

3. Hunger in Chinandega

In many areas in Chinandega, entire communities are wholly dependent on food 
donations from NGOs, church groups or the government. Communities that were 
already living in extreme poverty are in even worse conditions now and the 
situation is sure to worsen as the dry season sets in. In rural communities in 
and around the municipalities of Cinco Pinos, Santo Tomas del Norte, Somotillo 
and Villa Nueva, the Spanish and Nicaraguan Red Cross have basic food packages 
ready that will last only for about 15 days. Relief workers from at least one 
organization have reported being mobbed by hungry people. "We came in, handed 
out everything we had in several communities, according to how many people were 
in each family," said one worker. "Then we got in the trucks to leave. But 
word had spread that there were trucks with food and people came running, 
panting and gasping and screaming for food. They were pulling at us and 
shouting. And we had nothing left to give them." Hunger is also reported to be 
a problem in Las Segovias and in many areas along the Rio Coco, in the RAAN.
[END 11/19; interviews]

4. Land Mine Threat

The Nicaraguan army warns that many land mines left over from the war may
now be 
spread throughout agricultural lands as a result of the flooding caused by 
Hurricane Mitch. A report by the head of the army's engineering troops, Major 
Sergio Ugarte, led OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria to issue a warning about 
the dangerous situation facing the country at this point. Ugarte said that 
before the hurricane hit, the army had fairly accurate records of the areas 
where a total of some 76,000 mines were located. "Now, we don't know how many 
are still out there, how many were destroyed, or where the remaining ones are," 
said Ugarte, adding that, "This is a very serious problem." He said that the 
most affected areas include "vast zones" of Boaco, Chontales, Jinotega, 
Matagalpa and Chinandega. Ugarte also said that the army is currently 
redesigning its demining program, underway since the early 1990s. It will be 
concentrating its efforts on areas around bridges, many of which have river
beds 
that are 4-5 times wider than they were a month ago, which makes the work much 
more time-consuming and expensive. 

The army had originally set 2000 as the deadline for definitive deactivation of 
all existing mines, but Minister of Defense Pedro Joaquin Chamorro said that 
date is no longer feasible. Gaviria said the Nicaraguan army has done an 
excellent job of demining to date, but said that the army will need more 
international funds with which to continue and complete the task ahead. The 
army's Special Demining Unit currently employs nearly 400 men. Several military 
officials and soldiers have died as a result of demining work since 1990. [END 
11/15]
In addition to the military personnel involved in demining, many peasants are 
paid (per deactivated mine) by large landowners to do the dangerous work of 
demining. Gaviria called this a "crime" after being informed by OAS 
representative in Nicaragua Sergio Caramagna of the situation. Caramagna called 
it a pressing social, rather than exclusively technical, issue and said "the 
entire international community is responsible" and should be involved in 
resolving the problem. [END 11/16]

5. Debt Forgiveness News

Nicaragua received official visits early this past week from Hillary Clinton, 
French president Jacques Chirac and IMF head Michel Camdessus. Before arriving 
in Nicaragua, Chirac had called for debt forgiveness and announced that it is 
"possible" that the upcoming Paris Club meeting in December could result in the 
forgiving of between 67% and 80% of Nicaragua's commercial debt (a total of 
US$1.19 billion). Chirac said he would advocate for more favorable treatment of 
Nicaragua's multilateral debt which totals US$1.65 billion. He said the IMF has 
acted "intelligently" in its handling of the post-hurricane situation in
Central 
America.

In response to a formal request made by President Aleman, Michel Camdessus said 
he would support the IMF forgiving 80% of Nicaragua's debt with that 
institution, and also said the IMF is extending US$50 million (in more
loans) to 
"help" Nicaragua meet its ongoing debt obligations until the final decision is 
made regarding forgiveness. Camdessus lauded the Nicaraguan government's 
compliance with the IMF program, in and called its attitude "courageous and 
appropriate". He said it is crucial that the recent disaster not affect the 
"strides that the government has made" to date. Central Bank President Noel 
Ramirez said that, if 80% debt forgiveness is achieved, "every dollar freed 
up...will be invested in social programs." 

Hillary Clinton said that the US is forgiving US$54 million in bilateral loans 
with Nicaragua and Honduras. In her short visit to Nicaragua, where she 
remained in the airport, she also said "we will talk to our partners about 
relieving the multilateral debt" in the region. She said that the US will be 
sending more helicopters and field hospitals to Central America to assist 
hurricane victims and aid in reconstruction efforts. 
[La Tribuna 11/17]

The Interamerican Development Bank launched a Regional Recovery Fund for 
Microbusinesses this week and said US$12 million will be available to support 
institutions offering credit to microbusinesses that were hard hit by Hurricane 
Mitch throughout Central America.
[END 11/17]

Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso has requested his country's parliament to 
consider a request to forgive Nicaragua's US$197 million debt with that
country. 
That would bring the total debt forgiven to US$354 million (including Cuba, 
France, Austria and now Brazil, if the request goes through). [La Prensa 11/20]

6. Sociologist Paints Bleak Picture

Sociologist and CIPRES director Orlando Nunez says that one impact of Hurricane 
Mitch will be to touch off a wave of rural-urban migration (or emigration
out to 
Costa Rica or the US) and create a virtual "depopulation" of much of
Nicaragua's 
rural sector. According to Nunez' calculations, some 50,000 mz. of land simply 
no longer exist as arable land--they have been transformed by the hurricane
into 
ditches or stretches of sand that no longer serve for any type of agriculture. 
Nicaragua is looking at "apocalyptic poverty" in the rural sector, says Nunez, 
adding that the government and the large landowners have been looking to
recover 
large extensions of land and warns that government actions in the coming months 
could set the stage for an accelerated process of concentration of land.

Nunez holds that Nicaragua is losing viability in economic, social and
political 
terms and blasted the government for being little more than an "overseer" for 
the international financial institutions and transnational corporations, wholly 
sidestepping government's historic commitment to providing a minimal level of 
social services to its citizens. 

The devastation caused by Mitch was so overwhelming, Nunez says, because of the 
tremendous ecological damage already done to large areas of Nicaragua--Leon and 
Chinandega with the cotton boom of the 50s and 60s that left much of the
area in 
near desert-like conditions; Las Segovias, now largely denuded hills after 
mostly US corporations clear cut the once lush pine forests. Those are 
precisely the areas hardest hit by Mitch. He reminds people that the small and 
medium holders in Nicaragua produce most of the country's food, and also
most of 
its foreign exchange, yet get scant government credit and no subsidies--unlike 
the wealthy sugar growers who are paid (by the government) prices 2-3x the 
international market rate. Nunez said the government, most politicians and 
"even the FSLN's leadership" thinks that producers or the private sector are
the 
large, wealthy producers and so the small and medium producers are likely to 
fall by the wayside and, in the coming months, will be swelling the large 
departmental cities as they leave what is no longer a viable life for them in 
the rural areas.
[interview on Radio La Primerisima] 

News Briefs

- Ecologist Mayra Blandino says that the waters of the Asososca Lagoon, which 
once provided over half of Managua's drinking water, are in danger of being 
contaminated because of the sharp rise in the level of Lake Xolotlan's (Lake 
Managua) levels. With the sudden increase in the level of Xolotlan, there is a 
significant risk, says Blandino, that contaminated water will pass from
Xolotlan 
to Asososca through a filtration process. Blandino says a 1995 study carried 
out by a Canadian university indicated a crisis at that point because of 
Asososca's relatively lower level. That crisis led to a series of wells being 
dug and Asososca now provides only 10% of Managua's drinking water. Blandino 
says that Japanese technicians have indicated that Managua will have to rely on 
Lake Cocibolca (Nicaragua) as a source of drinking water within the next 10 
years, but she notes that the drainage of Xolotlan's waters into Cocibolca 
(through the once-dry Tipitapa River) also threaten Cocibolca. "It's the first 
time that we as ecologists are worried because an aquifer is being reborn,"
said 
Blandino.
[END 11/20]

- The Bishops' Conference issued a pastoral letter calling on national and 
municipal authorities to "responsibly and seriously assume" the pressing tasks 
of national reconstruction, and urged the opposition to refrain from party 
politics in the midst of the crisis. The letter terms "truly sad" the way some 
municipal authorities who are allied with the central government delayed 
important actions at the time of the hurricane because they were more worried 
about politics. "This is the time for reconstruction and we must put ourselves 
in a constructive position," said Cardinal Miguel Obando.
[La Tribuna 11/18]

- Vice President Enrique Bolanos said that the National Emergency Committee
will 
conclude its tasks this coming Tuesday. He said that the task at hand now is 
reconstruction and there is no longer any need for an emergency committee. 
Formal dissolution of the committee must be done by executive decree.
[La Tribuna, 11/19]

- The polling firm Borge and Associates has released the results of a poll it 
did just prior to the hurricane. According to the poll, only 12.5% of those 
surveyed would vote again for Arnoldo Aleman if presidential elections were
held 
now. The poll said that 22.7% would vote for Daniel Ortega, 12.8% for 
Conservative leader Noel Vidaurre, 5.5% for Comptroller General Agustin Jarquin 
and 3.8% for former president Violeta Chamorro.
[END 11/15]

- Experts say that another landslide is possible in El Casita volcano. The 
experts, a group of scientists from Nicaragua, the US, Switzerland and Mexico 
carried out on-site tests after the October 30 slide that buried two entire 
communities on the slopes of El Casita.
[La Prensa 11/18]

- In an editorial published this week in both La Prensa and La Tribuna,
Minister 
of the Family said that the "worst disaster" of all is that many people are 
"still" in refugee centers "waiting passively" for food and supplies. [La 
Tribuna 11/17] Reports are that very few men in the refugee centers in Tipitapa 
were willing to work (they were reportedly offered 20 cordobas for one-half day 
of work shovelling out roads, ditches, etc., although some reports say that 
there are only jobs for a handful of the adults in a given center). [La Prensa 
11/19]

- The Central American Integration System (SICA) says that 4 million people in 
Central America have been affected by Hurricane Mitch--in other words, 15% of 
the region's entire population. SICA says Nicaragua's total number of affected 
people is nearly 800,000; while its economic losses are $1.2 billion. [END 
11/16]

- The European Union announced that it will be sending a total of $120 million 
in relief aid to Central America, and that the assistance will be channeled 
through the United Nations, the Red Cross and European NGOs based in the
region. 
The announcement was made by European Union representative Emma Bonino on a 
brief visit to Nicaragua and the rest of Central America. While in Nicaragua, 
Bonino visited Palacaguina and Ocotal. 
[END 11/15]

- Spain will be sending around $200 million in relief aid to Central America, 
according to Prince Phillip who visited Nicaragua and Honduras to visit with 
victims of Hurricane Mitch. [La Prensa 11/15]

- The Nicaraguan army awarded medals this week both to its own pilots who were 
so key in rescue and relief efforts during and after the hurricane, as well as 
to foreign pilots and helicopter crews who have been assisting in recent days. 
Awards went to pilots from Mexico, Venezuela, the US, France and Panama. The 
medals were given out by army chief Joaquin Cuadra. Vice President Enrique 
Bolanos seized the occasion to insist again that he doesn't think Nicaragua 
needs an army. Cuadra reminded the press that President Aleman had thanked the 
Nicaraguan army for its work during the disaster, saying "that should answer
any 
doubts or questions" that anyone might still have about the need for the army. 
[La Prensa 11/19]

- Vice President Enrique Bolanos was hospitalized briefly after suffering 
dizziness and nausea. Doctors attending him said it was fatigue and by the end 
of the week were recommending a period of total rest.
[La Prensa 11/15]