by Nick Cooke
Bolaños and chain?
President Enrique Bolaños is facing charges of using illicit funds in the campaign that ran him into office in 2002 on the PLC (Liberal) ticket. On winning, he turned on his party faithful and began proceedings against corrupt members of the former administration. In order to try the nation’s leader, he must be stripped of his presidential immunity from prosecution and only the National Assembly can do that.
Baring its teeth in an unusual display of concern over corruption, the Sandinista Party is threatening to throw in its lot with the Liberals in a parliamentary vote to pave the way to trial. Yet, as with everything political here, there’s a multiplicity of options.
Finishing out his term and being tried later, in exchange for the legislature turning the presidency into a powerless puppet was one. Letting Liberals and Sandinistas have their way on any given issue, in exchange for turning a blind eye is another.
The illicit campaign funding in question consisted of money rerouted from government coffers to Panamanian accounts around the year
The PLC used these funds to win the presidency, along with all the National Assembly seats they have. If the funds were illegitimate, how many PLC deputies would also be guilty? Can they vote legitimately or should they also undergo trial? In the event that Bolaños is found guilty, then the brush tarring him would logically be grounds for feathering others. The FSLN is quite content with all this, naturally.
With the president under such pressure, people close to Don Enrique have reportedly told him he should stand tall and die with his boots on. Bolaños adopted the OK Corral stance. A local paper quoted him as saying: “Wait a minute. Why the hell am I going to die with my boots on? They can die, with or without their boots on, but we’re going to be here.”
In the same press conference, he let slip that the stratagem is to convict him so that he asks for an amnesty, by means of which “others” (read Alemán) would benefit. He mentioned that Daniel Ortega has told him to cry “uncle!” or be kicked out. Don’t go looking for Enrique at any family events at either Alemán’s prison farm or Ortega’s house.
A bit of the old in and out
Rumor is a revolving door will soon be installed in Arnoldo Alemán’s home. The former president is currently doing house arrest time in the confines of his hacienda in El Crucero. He was let out to take in some Managua air for a couple of days in late July. In an absurd twist of logic, a lower court judge ruled that because he is suffering from multiple medical maladies, he has to be able to get out of his house so he can spend more time with his family.
The portly prisoner went on a walk-about in the capital, massed at the Cathedral with the Cardinal, and offered as many statements as reporters would take down. The legal ball then went into the Managua Appeals Court. Those judges, all Sandinistas, declared the release improper and sent him back home.
Aside from the obvious divvying up of the country’s political institutions with the political “Pact” between the FSLN and the Liberal Party (PLC), the former is supposed to use its influence to go easy on “El Gordoman” and not pursue any actions to prosecute former Alemán administration officials for corruption. In exchange, the Liberal Party (PLC) would not pursue any illicit property holdings in the hands of Sandinista top rankers, along with squashing the case raised against FSLN leader Daniel Ortega by his stepdaughter for sexual abuse.
Public reaction was harsh against the leniency shown convicted felon Alemán by the judicial system. Obviously, it’s still too early to let him walk. More attempts to get him out of jail free are in the offing.
Oil you want
Nicaragua has a guaranteed supply of 160,000 barrels of crude a day through the recently renewed San José Pact, originally signed between Mexico and Venezuela, now includes 11 Central American and Caribbean countries. The deal includes cooperation funds in the form of loans at preferential rates.
But the price is market. So last year, 9.9 million barrels cost Nicaragua US$389 million, and this year, 10 million barrels will run at US$500 million, though that figure is likely to rise with the constant upward climb of world prices. Most, 92%, comes from Venezuela because Mexican oil has a high sulfur content, hence the talk of a pipeline from the Caribbean to Pacific side of Nicaragua.
Littler by liter?
No matter what the cost, demand for fuel continues to rise here. To complicate confusion about prices, Nicaragua has given up the gallon and switched to liters at the pump as part of its effort to conform to international standards of weights and measures. As if daylight savings time wasn’t enough.
Mental math ability is an innate Nicaraguan idiosyncrasy, but you try dividing your córdobas by
Incentives for tourism:
Yes, no, maybe so
No wonder they’re called burro-crats. Under the guise of streamlining government, reducing fiscal expenditures, and increasing tax revenues, some spreadsheet geek working in an international financial institution has called on Nicaragua’s government to cut back on all tax breaks. Applying to both baby and bath water, it means no more tax-free Lear jets and helicopters, but also no more incentives for investing in tourism.
The move caused instant mortification and consternation and several deputies said the end to these incentives must be reconsidered. In September, after a prolonged legislative holiday that rivals those taken by US president Bush, the National Assembly is expected to act, enact, repeal, reform, or whatever it is they do to legislation. They have a lot to consider but this is what one could call a ‘no-brainer’.
An estimated 113 investments for a total of about US$300 million are on hold for the time being. Most investments create jobs with taxable incomes and those who earn these incomes will spend, generating sales tax revenues and more. A final decision is expected towards the end of the year.
Separate the whites and colors
The National Police want to make their job easier. In its rush to join into the international anti-money laundering community, Nicaragua passed legislation against it a few years ago, but it was tied into the bill to reinforce anti-drug traffic legislation.
The top “boys in blue” now want to introduce a bit of anti-white-washing laundry logic. A lot of “black” money, as they call it in Europe, is out there and not all is related to drug traffic, but current legislation has their hands tied when it comes to investigating non-drug-related laundered money.
Making a racket at Heaven’s door
There may be peace beyond the grave, but for the time being in Nicaragua, those proclaiming paradise in the ever after can make as much noise as they want in the here and now. Turns out it’s a constitutional right.
Making much ado about something or other, preachers of evermore perpetually proliferating Protestant denominations managed to convince National Assembly legislators that putting anti-noise teeth into environmental legislation is a violation of their God-given right to make enough racket to wake up the dead.
What about the living? The question now is whether distorted loudspeaker proclamations by mobile grocers or the concussive explosions from home-made mortars to announce protests and Catholic festivities will fall under the new bylaw.
Holey ground
A sinkhole opened up in July on Ometepe Island after Concepción Volcano spit out a bit of ash. Then came lakequakes. Their epi centered boldly where no tremor had quaked before. Ometepe, revered in prehistoric mythology for its twin-breasted formation in the center of Cocibolca (aka: Lake Nicaragua), appears to be coming to life, again.
In 1957, the same vent from the Earth’s entrails spewed forth a river of lava and bathed Pacific coastal fishing villages with tons of ash. Then-dictator Somoza tried to have islanders evacuate, but they stayed anyway. This time around, some tourists are flocking there. Such a spectacle would make that a vacation to remember.
Eco-Canal
The private corporation EcoCanal S.A has developed a plan to open the San Juan River to ocean-going traffic. The US$35-55 million project, which requires the construction of three to four locks and the excavation of their approach channels along with a general dredging of the waterway, will enable cargo to be shipped directly in barges and low-draft coastal ships from Granada and the Managua Market.
Another goal of the project will be environmental sustainability, re-investing profits in reforestation, bio-diesel manufacture, organic farming and renewable energy projects within the San Juan River watershed. Pleasure craft such as yachts and tour boats would be able to access the river and Lake Nicaragua, facilitating eco-tourism.
Currently, the majority of Nica-trade is with the east coast of the US and Europe. Nicaragua has no east coast port accessible by water from the inland, meaning that cargo is often transported to Costa Rica or Honduras, reducing Nicaragua’s attractiveness to foreign investors. The waterway would reduce shipping costs by some US$1,000 per container; handling about 100,000 containers per year.
The waterway will measure 1.8m wide and 25m deep and will be able to handle barges of approximately 200 tons, towed in teams of four, throughout the year. During the rainy season, deeper conditions will allow larger barges of up to 1,500 tons to navigate the river, such as the Jumbo-type barges used in the US, or the Europa II barges used on the Rhine.
Nicaragua’s legislature and the National Assembly have already approved the plans, and promoters are currently seeking investors to develop the waterway.
Protected areas to be protected
Environment ministers from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Panama recently agreed to execute the Environmental Plan for Central America, or PARCA. Central to it is the protection of the more than 500 protected areas in Central America. (See the back half of any issue of Between the Waves for information about reserves in this country.)
These areas suffer constant problems with people invading and squatting in them, clearing the forests and shooting anything that moves to sell on the wildlife market, some outlets of which are at stoplights in Managua.
Most national parks and wildlife reserves in this country have no rangers to patrol them. Such is the case on the island of Zapatera in Lake Nicaragua, a “protected area” for 22 years now. Lumber pirates with chainsaws mow down stands of precious wood trees, hew them into planks and carry them to the mainland on small craft. This has been going on for years, but activity has stepped up in recent months.
Another example of this lack of control is in the reserves along the Río San Juan. Nocturnal poachers are unhampered in their slaughter of crocodiles and the population is dwindling. Typically, these Nicaraguan Crocodile Dundees leave the carcass and take the hide for sale on the skin market in Masaya.
Starbucks bucks
Among Nicaraguan coffee growers, a discouraging word is seldom heard about Starbucks, the Seattle-based worldwide chain of coffee shops that has become a symbol of sorts for anti-World Trade Organization protests. The firm is to buy 40,000 hundredweight from the next harvest of specialty coffee from growers, mostly in Matagalpa and Jinotega, for about $4 million.
No Duke of Queensbury
Boxer Mayorga has once again brought a belt back to Nicaragua. In mid-August the colorful ring master won the World Boxing Commission’s Super Welterweight Title after he demolished his opponent with his frenzied flailing. When not in the ring, Mayorga enjoys streetcar racing, brawling, whiskey and gambling.
He has a tougher battle to win in the courts. The Pinolero Pugilist faces an appeal to his acquittal from rape charges. Allegations are that political pressure induced the lower court judge to dismiss the case.
Subliminally Sandinista
If you believe opinion polls, Daniel Ortega is in trouble. According to a poll released in August by the M&R consulting firm, 81.6% of the population would not support the Sandinista Front leader and probable presidential pretender (for the 5th time). To add insult to injury, the same poll calculated that 61.3% of people claiming to be Sandinistas would not support his candidacy.
Despairing polls call for desperate measures. Maybe that’s why a local bottled water firm, Agua Fresca, has a smiling Danny O as a watermark on its label. This subliminal advertisement is only visible with a strong backlight. It is accompanied by the slogan “The Front is Nicaragua, jodido,” the latest in a long line of party slogans brought out to counteract the groundswell of marches protesting against the political pact between the Sandinistas and the Liberals loyal to former president, now prisoner, Arnoldo Alemán.
