Despite a law putting a permanent closed season on sea turtle eggs, several National Assembly deputies were caught late last year in León enjoying platters stacked high with the round leathery-skinned delicacies. A photo of some of them digging into a pile of parboiled eggs made the front page of local newspapers. Once again, lawmakers were caught breaking laws they expect others to obey.
In response to swift criticism, some deputies quickly apologized. Three FSLN Assembly representatives went on a photo op to the La Flor Wildlife Refuge on the Pacific with Environment Ministry officials to witness the spectacle of these reptiles depositing their eggs in the sands of the beach there. Evertz Cárcamo, an aspirant for the FSLN candidacy for the Mayor of Managua in the upcoming elections, said there, “We don’t suck eggs anymore; we must set the example.”
They must also pay a fine reportedly equivalent to paying for 10 signs carrying a message that would raise awareness among the population. He and another deputy on the FSLN side of the Assembly, Agustín Jarquín, acknowledged their guilt and came through with the fine. The other deputies caught with egg on their face are probably waiting for the proposed amnesty bill to be passed.

King Juan Carlos of Spain stormed out of a recent Latin American summit meeting in Chile while Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was complaining vocally about the Spanish multinational, Union Fenosa, which has had the privatization contract for Nicaraguan electricity distribution since 2001. Ortega was on one of his rolls, enjoying the rush that comes from speaking on an international stage. He then denounced Spanish interference in the elections last year. It was all too much for the King considering what had happened only moments before.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had been addressing the gathering and made reference to what Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had spoken about earlier when he did not couch his words and called a former prime minister of Spain a “fascist.” When Zapatero made reference to that insult, Chávez interrupted in what is basically a pissing match between Spain and Venezuela.  The King of Spain lost whatever cool he had been trained into and butted in to shout at Chávez irately, “Why don’t you just shut up!?”
As luck would have it, next up to the podium was Nicaragua’s own Daniel Ortega, voicing his criticisms of some things Spanish. Rather than resorting to un-royal remarks during Ortega’s speechifying, the monarch opted for the walkout.
The Nicaraguan president’s comments once again displayed what has come to be called his “bi-polarism.” He denounces the Spanish multinational Union Fenosa while his government recently cut a deal with them for increases in the rates charged for electricity. He accuses the Spanish foreign service of having interfered in last year’s elections while welcoming Spanish foreign aid. He rails against international capitalism one day and meets the next with international capitalists interested in investing in the country.
At least he can’t be called a fence-sitter. To all appearances, he stands firmly on both sides of it.

Not long ago, around about the turn of the century, Nicaragua’s financial system was collapsing. Several private banks failed and depositor confidence was at an all-time low. That was when Arnoldo Alemán presided over the country. The country’s coffers were flush from aid pouring in after Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and many were grasping to get their share by hook or by crook. It was almost like the watchword in the government and unscrupulous private business was “corruption, the more the merrier.” Several private banks were basically looted. Read the rest of this entry »

Things are getting notably cheaper for European visitors. Nicaragua’s córdoba is pegged to the US dollar with a sliding scale of gradual devaluations with the current rate being just under 19 to one. If you are from “euro land,” your currency will go almost 50% further. At the present rate, even those on a strict vacation allowance can travel like a prince. But given the recent spat involving the King of Spain on one side and President Daniel Ortega and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez on the other, you might want to avoid references to royalty.

The national dish of Nicaragua, gallo pinto, depends on them. They are a basic staple in the diet of most every Nicaraguan. And the price for them has been going up and up and up, beyond the reach of the majority of households.

The spike in bean prices this past fall is emblematic of a market system that does not pay attention to people’s needs. Beans are sown throughout the country, usually in two plantings, sometimes three, a year. Trading houses buy up the first harvest and sell it on the export market. Climatic factors then come into play and a large part of the second crop fails, as it did this year because of heavy rains.

So some of the beans are then re-imported, at a higher price naturally. This time, the final sale price to a consumer buying a pound from a family store shot up to over 20 córdobas a pound (about $1.10). In some cases, the re-importation involves beans that never even actually left the country. They were stored in bonded warehouses waiting for a price increase. This does not, however, become a political issue with one side accusing the other of playing with the hunger of the poor, since the businesspersons involved are from all political persuasions.

It’s winter in northern latitudes, but the period from December to February is without a doubt the best time of the year to visit Nicaragua climate-wise, and so the people here call it the start of “summer.” The rainy season (or “winter” is over), the skies are clear and blue with puffy white clouds drifting in the fresh breeze, everything is still green, and temperatures are more moderate. It’s almost like the land is calling you to come outside and play or indulge in some outdoor activity, even if it is only to sit out on a porch with some friends and a refreshing beverage or two. Taking a rental to different parks and sites all over the country is also better at this time of year, although you may experience some brief delays along some stretches where Transport Ministry crews are fixing stretches that were battered during the last rains.

Antenor Rosales, the President of the Central Bank, announced during the third quarter of this year that projections for the annual growth rate of the economy have been revised downward, from 4.2% to 3.9%. He attributed this to a decline in domestic consumption and construction, combined with the energy crisis that has meant daily four-to-eight-hour power cuts all over the country. Rosales also said that the inflation rate would be 10% and not the 7.5% that was projected earlier this year.

This was all announced before the recent round of petroleum price increases. At the same time, the government’s economic authorities are working out the budget for next year. The first draft looks good on paper but apparently has a fatal flaw. Illustrating the fact that economists are not fortune tellers, the budget proposal is based on a projected price of oil of $76 a barrel.

This, together with the need to channel funds to rebuild parts of the country damaged in recent storms, will require some artful juggling of budget lines. The billion dollar question: Where will the money come from to pay for the promises made during the last elections? Many of the poor put their faith in the FSLN’s promises of zero hunger, zero unemployment, decent housing and free health care and education. It is highly doubtful that calls for austerity and belt-tightening and more waiting will be received well.

It makes you wonder sometimes. Germany is ready to donate around $18 million. The national government and the city government would kick in a few million more. The contract was signed in October 2006. The plan is to fix up the drinking water and sanitary drainage system in the City of Granada.

But a year has passed and work on the ground has yet to begin. At issue is how the renovated system will be run. The State agency ENACAL wants to assume full control of its management. Privatization of water is something that is anathema to many here, and the director of ENACAL appears to feel that that is what is at stake.

The German donors are not proposing privatization: they recommend that the project be managed by a separate agency that is part of ENACAL, a kind of local water authority. Rates for service would be established by INAA, the government’s regulatory authority. But first of all, the taps have to be installed.

Cacao was the base for the drug of choice in the 16th century royal courts of Europe after some intrepid scurvy-ridden plunderers returned from the New World with the recipe for a stimulating beverage. Before that, it was currency in Mexico and down through Central America, putting the lie to the old saying that money doesn’t grow on trees. Cacao ruled.

Nicaragua used to be a major producer of the bean that goes into every chocolate bar, with harvests from plantations along the Rivas isthmus and elsewhere in the country. Little by little, this agricultural tradition is being rescued and some Nicaraguan farmers are reaping the benefits from different projects financed from abroad to produce the raw material.
With the increasing strength of the euro, the German company Ritter Sport recently announced it will pay a better price for organic Nicaraguan cacao, raising it from $3,000 for a metric ton to $3,650. Ritter Sport has been buying between 100 and 150 metric tons over the last few years.

Nicaragua’s capacity for this crop is increasing. There are now about 5,000 hectares being cultivated by 6,500 small farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture projects that there will be 10,000 hectares by 2008 and wants to have the area under cultivation increase to 100,000 hectares over the following five years.

Still no word though about any plans to actually process this fruit and make chocolates here. What would a locally made chocolate bar be called? An “esnickersagüense”?

In the wake of Hurricane Felix and the torrential rains that wreaked havoc on wide areas of Nicaragua, the country’s political class decided to focus on their version of the priorities: reforms to the Constitution in order to establish a new system that would, they say, be a form of parliamentarianism. The figure of Prime Minister would be created but the President would still retain a lot of power.
This is viewed by many as an open attempt to ensure the perpetuation in power of the two main political forces: the Sandinistas of Daniel Ortega and the PLC (Constitutional Liberals) of former president and convicted felon Arnoldo Alemán.

Central to the reforms is the overturn of the ban on a president seeking office for two terms in a row. The idea of no reelection exists because of concerns around the possibility of establishing an “elected dictatorship.” Another reform proposes that whoever gets the most votes in a presidential election is the winner. At present, a candidate needs at least 35% of the vote with a five percent lead over the runner up.

This suggested reform would virtually ensure a continuation of the rule of Daniel Ortega after the next elections in 2012 since he consistently gets more votes than any other non-Sandinista candidate.