pdf file - Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign

Issue 3
Autumn 2014
Confronting
climate
change
Nicaragua’s example
Return to
Nicaragua
30 years on
Sandinista
Revolution
35th anniversary
Nicaragua
UK – Nicaragua
solidarity
tough on the
causes of crime
TUs involving
women and
young people
Contents
2
3
Mobilising young people Joel Baker Hernandez reports
Tough on the causes of crime Of the 66,000 undocumented Central
American minors who have entered
the US over the past year only 200 are
Nicaraguan. Why?
4
Nicaragua and climate
change Nicaragua Now reports on the
perspectives of NGOs, farmers and the
government
6
Return to Matagalpa Steve Lewis
goes back to the community where
he volunteered in 1984. What has
changed? What remains of the spirit of
the Sandinista Revolution?
8
News in brief Interoceanic canal,
government social programmes,
research on chronic kidney disease, law
on domestic violence, Latin American
solidarity with Palestine, new film “Kill
the Messenger”
10
UK – Nicaragua solidarity 12
Reading, Sheffield, Swindon, Tavistock
and London
How are trade unions involving
women and young people? Louise Richards, NSC’s trade union
coordinator, explains
Mobilising
young
people
F
ifteen year old Joel Baker
Hernandez, a community organiser
in the Barrio Primavera, Managua,
describes the work of the
Sandinista Youth and the environmental
subgroup Guardabarranco.
‘Guardabarranco takes its name
from Nicaragua’s beautiful national bird.
Through this group young people work to
raise awareness about the environment,
and to plant trees to try to stop the heat
and pollution that is killing our planet. In
addition to environmental awareness, the
Guardabarranco Movement takes an active
role in disaster aid, and helping those who
have suffered from earthquakes, floods or
any natural disaster.
The group is part of the Sandinista
Youth that was reborn after the
Sandinista government returned to
office in 2007. Young people now have
a very important role supporting those
affected by impoverishment and poor
education, and raising people’s awareness
of key issues of the day and the future,
in particular the environment. Other
groups work on communications, sports,
and sexual diversity; there are also arts
groups to keep Nicaragua’s cultural
traditions alive and a group for secondary
school students. The FSLN government
focuses on young people because they
are the future of Nicaragua, emphasising
that through its various branches the
Sandinista Youth is helping eradicate
poverty in Nicaragua. Thousands of jobs
for young people have been created within
different projects alongside the opening
of technical schools where youth learn
trades to help them develop financial
independence.
The Sandinista Youth represents
a continuation of the role that young
people played in the 1970s insurrection
that led to the 1979 overthrow of the
dictator Anastasio Somoza after 40 years
of dictatorship by his family. The youth
programmes of today draw on the spirit
of the early 1980s when the Sandinista
Youth participated in the National Literacy
Crusade where thousands of young people
taught others to read and write.’
Published by Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign,
86 Durham Rd, London N7 7DT
www.nicaraguasc.org.uk
020 7561 4836
Editorial and contributors: Joel Baker Hernandez,
Jeremy Dear, Steve Lewis, Liz Light, Amy Porter,
Louise Richards, Andrea von Lindau, John Wallace,
Helen Yuill
Cover photos:
A 13 person delegation from Sheffield on a visit to
Barrio Santo Domingo in Sheffield’s twin town of
Esteli. See article page 11. Credit: Ed Cartledge
Esteli journalist and story teller Famnuel Ubeda
with the disabled war veteran Felix Cruz who makes
wooden carvings. Delegation member Ed Cartledge
of Sortoffilms made a video about Famnuel’s work
entitled Sheffield-Esteli: Walking Stories. See: www.
vimeo.com/105381517. Credit: Ed Cartledge
Design: Tom Lynton
The articles in this magazine should be taken as
having been written in a personal capacity unless
otherwise stated.
Our thanks
to the Fire
Brigades Union
for sponsoring
this issue of
Nicaragua Now.
2 NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014
Young environmentalists raising awareness of the importance of the
Bosawás Biosphere Reserve in north eastern Nicaragua. The Reserve,
home of the indigenous Mayangna people, covers two million hectares
– roughly the size of Wales - and is the second largest rainforest in the
Americas after the Amazon in Brazil. Huge areas of forest are destroyed
annually due to the advancing agricultural frontier, increasing cattle
farming, land speculation, and illegal logging.
Nicaragua:
tough on the
causes of crime
Between October 2013 and August 2014, more than 66,000
undocumented Central American minors entered the US*, a huge
upsurge described by President Obama as ‘a humanitarian crisis’. All
but 200 of these children were fleeing Guatemala, El Salvador and
Honduras. Nicaragua Now explains why so few young Nicaraguans
take such desperate measures.
A
C. Perez, Trincheraonline
s Nicaragua is Latin America’s
drug trafficking, robbery, larceny, human
second poorest country, poverty is
trafficking, extortion, murder, prostitution,
not the only issue sending children
kidnapping – even carrying out executions.
fleeing from Central America. Young
Nicaraguans have not figured much
migrants from the Northern Triangle – the
in gang membership or these mass
collective name for Guatemala, El Salvador
deportations. The majority of Nicaraguans
and Honduras – who once left to escape
in the US are concentrated in Miami
poverty or political violence, or who hoped
and northern California rather than Los
to join family in the US, now leave primarily
Angeles, where the gangs are prevalent. Due
to escape the violence, lack of law and order,
to Nicaragua’s pattern of immigration to
drug trafficking and the
impunity of criminal
activity.
The crisis levels of
violence and instability
prevalent in the Northern
Triangle can be traced to
street gangs, mainly Mara
Salvatrucha and Calle 18,
which began operating in
Central America in the mid1990s. In an attempt to
reduce criminal activity, the
US started to deport huge
numbers of gang members.
As a result Honduras,
Guatemala and El Salvador
received thousands
of second-generation,
unemployed, alienated
migrants who brought
with them a sophisticated
model of gang criminality
that found fertile ground.
Gangs increased in size
and influence as local
recruitment boosted
their numbers. These
disillusioned, alienated
and mainly young people
continued the only life
that gave them some level
of status and acceptance.
Chief of Police Aminta Granera
Often this involved
the US during the 1980s, it was easier for
Nicaraguans to acquire legal status because
they were considered refugees from the
Sandinista government that the Reagan
administration was obsessed with destroying.
More than half of the 395,000 Nicaraguans
living in the US are citizens. This means that
fewer have been affected by the massive
deportation drives.
Another major factor contributing to
Nicaragua’s reputation for being the safest
country in Central America is the political,
social and institutional change that occurred
following the Sandinista Revolution and the
implementation of a community policing
model. The police and military were born
out of a popular insurrection against a
repressive dictatorship.
The aim was to create a model of
policing that would ‘strengthen links
A comparison of homicide rates in Central
America shows that the murder rate per
100,000 inhabitants is: Honduras 90.4;
El Salvador 41.2; Guatemala 39.9 and
Nicaragua 11.3.
between the police and the community to
improve coexistence and citizen security’.
This bottom-up approach and the people’s
relationship with well-organised, grassroots,
neighbourhood structures and their
preventive, multidisciplinary policing model
are key factors in their success.
Family violence units with specially
trained female officers, psychologists and
social workers support vulnerable women
and children. The police work directly with
10,000 young people to prevent crime and
the formation of gangs. Police Chief Aminta
Granera, one of the most popular figures in
the country, claims “above all, the preventive
model is what separates us from other
countries and has worked better in the work
against violence and narcotics”.
Nicaragua is demonstrating that tackling
poverty, giving young people hope and a
preventive model of policing is the most
effective means of preventing crime and
reducing the need for a nation’s young
people to flee violence.
*US Border Patrol statistics
NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014 3
Paying the price
for the footprint of
industrialised nations
UN/Mark Garten
How is climate change
affecting Nicaragua?
What are the Nicaraguan
government, NGOs and
small farmers doing to
mitigate the impact and
reduce Nicaragua’s own
footprint? Nicaragua
Now reports.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon visits the
Parque Eolico Saavedra wind farm, Rivas
I
n the lead up to the UN Climate Summit
on 23 September in New York, the largest
climate march ever took place: 2,646
events in 162 countries. This represents
a powerful recognition of the colossal
challenges faced by the Earth in the 21st
century. The Summit was attended by
120 heads of state and government, and
representatives of business and civil society.
Widow of Nelson Mandela and member
of the Group of Elders, Graca Machel
criticised the self-congratulatory spirit of
the Summit and the failure of leaders to ’
offer an adequate response to the hundreds
of thousands of people who came out in the
streets to demand action on climate change
– and the millions in poor countries who will
suffer its effects.’
The purpose of the Summit was to act as
a catalyst leading to further negotiations in
Peru in December 2014. These meetings will
culminate in a UN Climate Change conference in Paris in December 2015 which aims
to reach ‘a binding and universal agreement
on climate change.’
Nicaragua was represented by Vice President Moises Halleslevens, whose statement
echoed those of representatives of many
countries of the South: ‘…It is developing
countries who are at the mercy of the consequences of climate change, particularly the
most vulnerable sectors, such as indigenous
peoples, children, women and the elderly.’ He
added: ‘The structural causes of the climate
4 NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014
crisis lie within political and economic models
based on unsustainable patterns of production and consumption of the developed
countries, which generate inequity, injustice,
poverty, hunger and social exclusion.’
According to Germanwatch’s 2014
Global Climate Risk Index, Nicaragua ranks
fourth after Honduras, Myanmar and Haiti
on an index of nations suffering the most as
a consequence of extreme weather. Between
1993 and 2012 Nicaragua suffered 44 severe
weather events such as floods, landslides,
drought and abnormal tides.
This backs up the conclusions of a 2010
UN report, Mainstreaming Climate Change
in Nicaragua, that highlighted the country’s vulnerability. The report warned of an
increase in the intensity and frequency of
extreme weather which will lead to declining
agricultural productivity, insecurity of water
resources, coastal flooding, the collapse of
ecosystems and increased health risks. The
worst drought in three decades in the first
half of the 2014 rainy season is an indication of future challenges.
Victor Campos of the environmental
NGO Centro Humboldt points out ‘We have
been using the PRECIS Regional Climate
Modeling system from the UK Met Office
Hadley Centre. It is a system that can be
applied anywhere to generate climate change
projections. For Nicaragua they indicate a
reduction in rainfall of 16% and an increase
in temperature of one to two degrees cen-
tigrade by 2039.’ Victor went on to explain
that ‘one of the dramatic consequences is
that 70% the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve
will change from tropical rainforest to
tropical dry forest. Loss and depletion of the
earth’s forests is the second leading cause
of global warming after carbon emissions.
Another consequence is that areas traditionally suitable for growing staple crops
such as beans, corn and rice will disappear.
This means that farmers will either have to
change their crops or move their planting
areas somewhere else.’
High in the usually cool mountains of
Jinotega, coffee producers are already feeling
the effects of increased temperatures on
coffee harvests. Fatima Ismael, the general
manager of the agricultural cooperative
SOPPEXCCA points out that ‘the main problems we face at the moment are drought and
the coffee fungus Roya. Higher temperatures
have severely affected the coffee plantations.
The Roya fungus that has taken hold right
across Central America has affected about
half the coffee bushes in the Jinotega area.
The fungus causes the leaves to wither and
prevents coffee beans from forming. Plants
over 1,000 metres used to be safe but the
fungus has mutated and is now aggressive
above this level.’
Fatima explains that ‘...the big problem
this year has been drought, 40% less rain
than usual. Crops have failed all over the
country. Some farmers have lost 90% of the
Liz Light
Fetching water in the community
of La Concha.
first harvest which raises concerns about
food security. Late rains brought hope of a
successful second harvest but this will not
be enough to cover the shortfall in food
production. Underground water supplies are
low and not getting replenished sufficiently.
We anticipate that there will be both water
and food shortages in early 2015.’
So, how are farmers dealing with the
problem? Fatima explains their efforts to
mitigate the effects: ‘SOPPEXCCA has an
environmental plan which includes campaigns against deforestation, diversification
of production, reforestation of water basins,
and protection of the soil. Cocoa is a crop
that conserves the forests so as part of our
diversification strategy we have a cocoa
project funded by Christian Aid. Some
producers have switched to producing cocoa
exclusively while others are also growing coffee. Reforestation is important but we can’t
use the wood and people are going hungry
so we have to look for alternatives which will
allow people to improve their income. To
combat the Roya fungus, as well as preventative measures to stop the fungus from
spreading, we have a credit plan so producers can replace damaged coffee bushes. We
don’t have enough funds for the whole Roya
rescue plan so SOPPEXCCA has had to take
out loans to finance the credit it provides to
its members. This obviously creates a higher
level of indebtedness for SOPPEXCCA, our
members and their families who have had to
get rid of their established coffee bushes and
replace them.’
Producer Norma Gadea Paiva, who
visited the UK in 2012, grows coffee in the
remote mountain cooperative of Los Alpes.
‘We’re not expecting good yields from this
year’s harvest as the fungus has destroyed
many bushes. We’ve had to treat all our
plants with organic fungicides so as not to
lose our organic certification. To guarantee
food security for the community we have
plans to diversify our production and will
soon be planting cocoa and other crops.’
Nicaraguan NGO Centro Humboldt is
a member of the Nicaraguan Alliance on
Climate Change (ANACC) and the National
Forum on Risk Management (MNGR), a
grouping of over 25 Nicaraguan environ-
Inter American
Bank president Luis
Alberto Moreno
praised Nicaragua as
a ‘model for the world
on the shift to green
energy.’
mental organisations. The MNGR has joined
forces with similar networks in El Salvador,
Honduras and Guatemala to reach a regional
consensus on how to deal with threats to
food security and water shortages expected
as early as the first quarter of 2015. The day
after the UN 2014 Climate Summit in New
York, the MNGR hosted the Fifth Regional
Conference Vulnerable Central America,
United for Life! Delegates discussed the
climate crisis and ways to demand a new
legally binding agreement on climate
change. On the same day the MNGR made a
presentation to the Nicaraguan parliament
of a proposed Law for Prevention, Environmental Protection, Integral Management
and Adaptation to Climate Change.
So, what is the Nicaraguan government
doing? In his speech at the UN Climate
Summit, Vice President Moises Halleslevens
stated that the policy of the Nicaraguan
government is to ‘ transform the current
energy supplies to renewables, to prioritise
efficiency, and to achieve universal energy
access.’ Taking full advantage of abundant
sunshine, wind, water, geothermal and
biogas potential, ‘Nicaragua is expanding
its energy grid and transforming from 25%
of renewable sources in 2007 to 52% in
2013. By 2020 we will achieve 90%.’ Inter
American Bank (IDB) president, Luis Alberto Moreno, on a visit to Nicaragua, praised
the country as a ‘model for the world on the
shift to green energy.’
NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014 5
Return to Matagalpa –
Coffee and Contras
30 years on
Inspired by the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, Steve Lewis
was one of thousands of ‘internacionalistas’ who volunteered
in Nicaragua in the 1980s. In July 2014 he returned to the
community of La Dalia to find out what had changed and what
remains of the spirit of the Revolution.
F
or three months we lived and
breathed the Sandinista Revolution,
while the US-backed ‘contrarevolution’ swirled around the
surrounding hills and villages. The early
1980s were a time of enthusiasm and
optimism in Nicaragua. One symbol of this
was our brigade of students and workers
from Managua and internacionalistas who
picked coffee to help bring in essential
foreign currency. Seventy of us slept on two
long bunks in a wooden barn, queuing up
6 NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014
Steve Lewis
Off to pick coffee,
La Dalia, northern
Nicaragua, 1984
three times a day to eat beans and tortilla
served on banana leaf plate.
I have had the old black-and-white
photos in my attic ever since. A column
of pickers, every sixth one armed, winds
up the slopes. Women pick coffee in the
rain. European volunteers fumble with
rifles when asked to do sentry duty.
Finding these inspired me to return to
see if I could locate the village and to find
out how Nicaragua has changed in the
last 30 years.
So, this summer I headed back up
the winding road towards La Dalia, the
green coffee bushes on each side bringing
back memories. In 1984 we drove in a
convoy of trucks, in a sea of red bandanas,
khaki rucksacks and students singing
revolutionary songs. A few weeks later a
similar truckload of students was ambushed
by the US-backed contra and 14 young
students were killed. The road this summer
was very empty and peaceful, and lined with
many more houses. Arriving roughly in the
area, I began to search for the co-operative
where we had worked.
At first people were suspicious and
didn’t want to talk. It was also a challenge
to find anyone over 40 – most Nicaraguans
are young. But when I pulled out the photos
older people came over and studied grainy
pictures of children, recognising some of the
adults of today.
Little remains from the photos of
old. The wooden barn where we slept has
long been knocked down. The waterfall,
where one brigadista drowned, of course
remains. And I half-recognised the sweep
of the hills where we had walked and
slipped in the mud of the coffee fields.
The foreman from those days came up
and reminisced, he was the one who
shouted at us every day, ‘Stay in your
own row’ and ‘Only pick red!’.
The foreman was unconvinced that I
really had been on the 1984 brigade until we
both remembered the worst incident when
one drunken campesino blew his brains out
playing Russian roulette. Apart from that
unhappy memory they were pleased to see
me and said I should come back in another
30 years with photos of today. “You’ve not
changed a bit” said the foreman, “except now
you are fat!” What a cheek!
So what has changed? Sadly the co-op
itself no longer exists. Coffee is still grown,
but by private producers. Many Sandinista
cooperatives did not survive the economic
turmoil of the end of the contra war and the
hyperinflation that followed. The river runs
drier in summer and floods with torrential
rain in winter. The oldest, biggest trees
on the hills have been cut down. The little
wooden shacks with few amenities have
been replaced by little brick shacks with few
amenities.
The biggest difference is that there were
25 families in 1984, and now there are 200.
The road is now very good and transport is
much better. The farm is no longer remote
and isolated, there is a technical college and
There is one
overwhelming
difference between
2014 and the early
1980s. The country
is at peace.
the local school is comparatively good and
well equipped.
And Nicaragua as a whole? It would
be foolish to offer more than a cursory
assessment from a two-week trip. But I
was surprised to see the FSLN so visible
and still, apparently, with a high number of
supporters. We went to a massive rally on 19
July, the 35th anniversary of the Revolution.
At least 100,000 people came, busloads of
supporters arriving all afternoon for goodhumoured dancing and a few drinks in the
evening sunshine. In the 1980s, these rallies
were held in the Plaza de la Revolucion, now
the Plaza of Pope Juan Pablo in recognition
of a rapprochement with the Catholic Church.
A contingent from neighbouring El
Salvador joined the rally. In the 1980s that
tiny country was entrenched in a violent
civil war. Today the left-wing FMLN are in
power in El Salvador and the left-leaning
FSLN are in power in Nicaragua. Who would
have thought it?
The Sandinista control of municipalities
is very apparent. The party seems to have an
intelligent and cynical approach to holding
on to power, and uses it to lock in future
support. There was almost no visible sign of
other political parties anywhere and most
people that we spoke to applauded the FSLN
social programmes, such as the programme
that provides one million children a day
with school meals, and other projects which
support the rural and urban poor. But
Daniel Ortega’s prestige appears to have
fallen massively: we didn’t hear a good thing
about him: ‘He’s not the man he once was’,
‘sold out’, ‘invisible’ and ‘compromised’ were
common descriptions.
There is one overwhelming difference
between 2014 and the early 1980s.
Yes, there was a spirit of optimism, an
enthusiasm to build a new future. But it
was a war-torn country. The shops were
empty, transport was appalling, electricity
unreliable, teenagers were drafted into the
army, and the steady succession of funerals
sapped the energy of a population who were
undernourished and tired of war. Today the
country is at peace. Things are not perfect,
but roads are good, shops are full, tourists
hang out, farmers complain about the
weather and kids go to school. People go to
work if they have any, sit in the sun in the
evenings, and life goes on. The country is at
peace. That is a huge difference.
The author is the Head of Health Advocacy at
RESULTS. Find him on twitter at @owstonlewis
Steve Lewis
Over 100,000 people from all over Nicaragua gathered in
Managua on 19 July to celebrate the 35th anniversary of
the Sandinista Revolution. Among them was a group of
NSC supporters who were made very welcome.
NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014 7
News
in
brief
The CIA, the Nicaraguan
contras, and crack cocaine
in the US
A new Hollywood film, “Kill
the Messenger,” tells the
story of Gary Webb, one of
the most vilified figures in US
investigative journalism. In
1996, the San Jose Mercury
published Webb’s explosive
series “Dark Alliance”
revealing links between the
CIA, the Nicaraguan contras
and the crack cocaine trade
ravaging African-American
communities. This racket
involved the US-backed
contras, supported by the
CIA, smuggling cocaine into
the US, then using the profits
to fund their operations.
This significantly fuelled the
widespread crack cocaine
epidemic in US cities in
the 1980s. For the Reagan
administration, removing the
Sandinistas from power in
Nicaragua – however murky
the means – was far more
important than stopping the
flow of drugs into US towns
and cities. This trade not
only destroyed lives but also
acted as a catalyst for gang
warfare. Webb wrote: “This
drug network opened the first
pipeline between Colombia’s
cocaine cartels and the black
neighbourhoods of Los
Angeles, a city now known
as the ‘crack’ capital of the
world.” A CIA inspector later
corroborated Webb’s findings.
However, by that time his
career as a mainstream media
journalist had been destroyed
and he committed suicide in
2004.
“Kill the Messenger” is scheduled for
UK release on 28 November, 2014
8 NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014
Mural in Leon depicting the consequences of CIA attempts
to destroy the Sandinista government of the 1980s.
Planning proceeds on the 278 km
interoceanic canal
Controversy over narrowing of
the definition of “femicide”
On 7 July the Nicaraguan Commission
for the Development of the Grand
Canal approved the route of the
proposed interoceanic canal. It will run
from Río Punta Gorda on the Caribbean
Coast to Brito in the department of
Rivas on the Pacific coast. The British
company Environmental Management
Services, contracted to carry out an
environmental impact study, conducted
focus groups with community leaders,
agricultural co-operatives, religious
leaders and private sector leaders living
along the route. Meanwhile a census of
properties and homes is being carried
out by the HKND (the Chinese company
awarded the canal concession) and
Nicaraguan authorities.
The debate over whether the benefits of the canal will outweigh the risks
has intensified. The government and
trade unions argue that the canal is the
only way of significantly reducing the
consequences of centuries of under-development. They claim it will increase
GDP to 15% in 2015, create 600,000
jobs and reduce dependence on foreign
aid. In addition, it is anticipated that
the income generated would contribute
significantly to reforestation and mitigating the impact of climate change.
On 29 September, the Cocibolca
Group of environmental and other civil
society organisations presented the
findings of their study of the social,
environmental, and legal impacts of the
canal. The key areas of concern are the
displacement of an estimated 109,000
people; violations of the ancestral rights
of indigenous peoples; the secrecy
around the granting of the concession
to HKND; and the potentially dramatic
impact on water resources, forests and
40 species of animals.
Supreme Court President Alba Luz
Ramos announced on 14 August that
regulations relating to the legislation
on violence against women would
strengthen prevention, sanctions, and
attention to the victims of domestic
violence. The law originally defined
any murder of a woman as ‘femicide,’
but regulations now state that this
term should apply only if there is a
relationship between the perpetrator
and the victim. Women’s organisations
condemned this move as a ‘step
backwards.’ In related news a $US2
million project has been implemented
by Nicaraguan government institutions
and the UN Development Programme
to raise awareness and improve access
to justice for victims of domestic
and sexual violence. More than 880
civil servants have been trained on
prevention and care for the victims,
and the number of women’s police
stations has been increased to 150. In
addition forums on gender and self-help
processes for women have been held
throughout the country.
Research to address chronic
kidney disease amongst
sugarcane workers
As reported in the Spring issue of
Nicaragua Now, an epidemic of Chronic
Kidney Disease of non-traditional
causes (CKDnT) has resulted in over
20,000 deaths in Central America in
the past two decades. The incidence is
particularly high among Nicaraguan
sugarcane workers. Recent research
indicates that the likely causes are a
combination of poor living and working
conditions, heat stress and dehydration,
toxic pesticides and herbicides, high
sugar consumption, and genetic
susceptibilities. La Isla Foundation
(LIF), based in Leon, works to support
those affected and their communities
and to carry out research to address
the causes. Their report, “Sickly Sweet:
Human Rights conditions for sugarcane
workers in western Nicaragua,”
addresses the link between poor living
and working conditions and a high
prevalence of CKDnT.
www.laislafoundation.org/sicklysweet-report
Maternity centres contribute to
reduction in maternal mortality
School meals for over one million
children
According to the World Health
Organisation maternity centres (casas
maternas), mostly in rural areas, have
played a significant role in reducing
maternal mortality. In 2005 maternal
mortality was 85 per 100,000 live
births. That number fell to 50.6 in
2012. In 2005 only 34.7% of pregnant
women received prenatal care, a figure
that rose to 55.8% in 2012. There are
107 maternity centres in Nicaragua,
most of them run by the Ministry of
Health.
The worst drought in three decades affected
much of Central America in the first part of
what should have been the rainy season. The
Ministry of Education with support from
the UN World Food Programme stepped
up distribution to ensure school meals for
1,050,000 children. María de Jesús Zeledón,
a teacher in a rural school in Jinotega,
explained: “School meals are imperative. It
is the guarantee that they will receive a hot
meal daily. When they do not eat they are
unable to concentrate in the classroom, and
they grow sad and weak.” Latin American support for Palestine
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza
in July saw Latin American citizens and
governments pledging solidarity with
Palestine. Demonstrations took place in
Palestine Park in Managua calling for an
end to the Israeli assault. President Ortega’s
closing speech at a regional conference
of Venezuelan, Cuban and Nicaraguan
students included a statement of solidarity
with the people of Palestine. At regional
level ALBA countries strongly condemned
“the attacks perpetrated by the Israeli
authorities [...] in the Gaza Strip. This new
Israeli offensive violates basic human rights
law, indiscriminately attacking the civilian
population.”
A weekly bulletin of news
from Nicaragua is available
on www.nicanet.org
NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014 9
UK–Nicaragua
Solidarity
NSC Earthquake Appeal
Thanks to all members and supporters who
responded so generously to our Appeal. We
were delighted to be able to send £4,000 to
the Nicaraguan health union FETSALUD
to support members affected by April’s
earthquakes. The money will go towards
repairing and, in many cases, rebuilding
members’ homes severely damaged or
totally destroyed. For further trade union
news see page 12.
www.nscag.org
NSCAG_UK
Supporting projects in Nicaragua
Having received a sizeable bequest from a
supporter family, four trustees of the Santa
Rosa Fund based in Tavistock, Devon,
visited Nicaragua (at their own expense) to
assess educational initiatives which would
receive the bulk of the funds. These included
knapsacks with educational materials to help
70 abused children, cared for by the Quincho
Barrilete Association, to return to and
remain in school; the salary of the librarian
and maintenance of the El Viejo library;
workshops on sexual and reproductive health
in El Viejo, organised by the Xochilt Clinic;
workshops on increasing resilience against
environmental threats in Chinandega, run
by the Council of Women of the West [of
Nicaragua]; and the purchase of a television
and DVD reader for Managua’s Santa Rosa
School. www.santarosafund.org
Even though the Reading San Francisco Libre Association (RSFLA) group
remains small, it benefits from loyal regular
donors and a wonderful fundraising effort
by meteorology students at Reading University, for the David Grimes Trust. David, a
popular member of staff and active RSFLA
member, died prematurely in 2011. In 2014
this provided support for scholarships for
20 poor families to enable their children to
attend school; equipment for a community
computer café; a contribution to the costs of
a café and visitors’ centre in the La Guayabita Tree Reserve; and toys for children in a
previously empty nursery.
www.sanfranciscolibre.org
Domingo Perez, General Secretary of UNE, the Nicaraguan public
sector union, sent a solidarity message to the TUC march on 18
October:
‘We send greetings from Nicaragua to all UK public
sector workers in your continuing struggle for a just
pay rise. We support your demands on David Cameron’s
government, a capitalist government that is applying
neoliberal policies which day after day affect workers’
conditions. The rich get richer while workers’ conditions
deteriorate. Viva trade union unity, Viva the TUC!’
A Nicaraguan giant suffragette woman took the message to
the march!
10 NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014
Max Donnell-Ford, who spent 10 weeks as
an International Citizenship Service (ICS)
volunteer in the community of Monimbo,
Masaya, describes the experience: “It was
a wonderful opportunity to learn about
a very different part of the world and to
make a contribution. As young people
with a commitment to international
development, we brought energy and
enthusiasm to the local projects. Working
alongside local volunteers we learned about
the local challenges and the importance of
developing approaches and projects that the
community themselves value. I learned a lot
about myself, my Spanish is now fluent but,
most importantly, I learned the significance
of working across cultures towards the
social empowerment of the poor. I feel
strongly that young people can make a
positive change with a properly structured
opportunity to volunteer.”
www.progressio.org.uk/ICS-Nicaragua
Progressio
Liz Light
Nicaraguan solidarity with UK unions
Volunteering in Nicaragua
through ICS
La Chureca Chic at
London Fashion Week
Sheffield – Esteli:
building mutual solidarity
https://vimeo.com/104806755
https://vimeo.com/105381517
Estelí is also twinned with Delft in Holland
and Bielefeld in Germany. In October,
delegates from these cities will visit Sheffield
to meet SES members to share knowledge
about the region and discuss more effective
ways of coordinating twinning efforts.
www.sheffieldestelisociety.org.uk
sheffieldesteli
Earth Education Project
www.eartheducationproject.org
ChurecaChic
Swindon – Ocotal Link (SOL) and the
Usain Bolt of ducks….well, plastic ones
anyway! More than 100 people, including the Mayor of Swindon, Teresa Page,
attended the SOL garden party, duck
race and BBQ. Over £1,000 was raised to
support education bursaries, health care
projects and an Old People’s Home in
Ocotal. www.solswindon.co.uk
Christine Oddy 1955 – 2014,
internationalist, socialist,
human rights activist
Yorch Sans
August 2014 was an exciting month for the
twinned towns of Sheffield and Estelí, as
a 13-person delegation from the Sheffield
Estelí Society (SES) embarked on a two
week visit. With the aim of establishing
fresh mutual friendships, the delegation
mainly comprised people new to SES. The
group, ranging in age from 17 to 70, came
from varied backgrounds: social workers,
accountants, students, therapists and a film
maker.
The visitors stayed with host families
and visited local organisations including
schools, music and theatre projects, a
support centre for pregnant women, and
a construction project where women learn
house building skills. The group contributed
to these activities by sharing knowledge
and expertise as well as making donations
of musical instruments, costumes and
face paints. These meetings culminated in
a celebration where representatives of all
the projects enjoyed music from local and
visiting musicians.
Mary-Rose from Sheffield travelled to
Nicaragua in 1987 as a tourist: “It was a real
privilege to be part of the delegation, and
so different from an ordinary holiday. The
people of Estelí were incredibly warm and
it was inspiring to see how energetic and
active they are in engaging with politics and
social issues. We hope to make good use of
these new connections.”
Ed Cartledge, a film maker from
Sheffield, worked with a local journalist,
Fanmuel Ubeda, who uses film to enable the
stories of local people to be heard. Ed made
several films of the trip and plans to find
channels through which to circulate them
in Sheffield. He said: “The trip felt like a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was a great
privilege to not only represent Sheffield but
also to spend time with such great people –
from both cities”.
Siana Hodgson models clothes made by
Nicaraguan fashion designer Shantall Lacayo
and jewellery by Chureca Chic. The UK
charity Earth Project was set up in 2013
to empower a group of Nicaraguan women
through an education programme that
includes income generation from selling
products made from recycled materials.
Their jewellery and paper is sold online and
through UK outlets under the brand name
Chureca Chic. Through a company called
ECOLUXE, who represent designers with
a transparent and ethical supply chain,
Chureca Chic jewellery made with paper
featured at the Fashion Show.
The Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign
(NSC) and NSCAG work with Nicaraguan
organisations and social movements
fighting for social and economic justice by
promoting and seeking support for their
activities. We carry this out through
speaker tours of the UK by representatives
of our partner organisations facilitating
Get in
touch,
get
involved
Christine passed away on 27 July after
a long battle against cancer. Typically, in
the last few years of her life she spent
a lot of time fighting for better patient
care in the NHS. Christine grew up
in Coventry and trained in law at the
universities of London and Brussels. As
a Labour MEP from 1989 to 1999 she
advocated for human rights, in particular
the rights of women, workers and the
rights of those facing persecution in its
many forms in her own constituency
or internationally. Her longstanding
commitment to and love of Nicaragua
and Central America dated back to the
many trips she made to the region in the
1980s and 90s as an MEP, and the work
she did in the European Parliament in
support of human rights and socialism in
the region. Christine will be much missed
by the NSC board of trustees on which
she served for 11 years.
Rita Drobner, NSC trustee
mutual solidarity between UK and
Nicaraguan trade unions organising
events to raise funds and awareness
about Nicaragua and our partners’ work
publishing news, briefings, articles and
online updates providing support for
Wales NSC and 12 towns and communities
in UK with twinning links in Nicaragua
NSC www.nicaraguasc.org.uk
NSCAG www.nscag.org
Nicaragua-Solidarity
NSCAG_UK
Wales NSC www.walesnicaragua.wordpress.com
Twin towns and other groups with projects in Nicaragua
www.nicaraguasc.org.uk/solidarity/twin-towns
NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014 11
Nicaragua’s unions
focus on women and
young people
Louise Richards, NSC’s trade union co-ordinator, reports on how Nicaraguan trade unions are
encouraging the involvement of more women and young people as members and leaders.
‘It’s not just
about using
positions to fill
quotas, but about
occupying positions
of power’, says
Miriam Reyes,
UNE Women’s
Secretary.
12 NICARAGUA NOW AUTUMN 2014
Gill Holmes
W
omen make up more
than 53% of Nicaragua’s
population, yet the state and
local government sector has
remained very much male dominated,
with men occupying most, if not all,
senior positions. However, considerable
advances have been made since the
return to power of the FSLN (Sandinista
National Liberation Front) Government
in 2007.
Since early 2014, equal representation
has been written into the Nicaraguan
constitution. A minimum quota of 50%
women for party political and public
office candidates was introduced and
there is evidence of a continuing increase
of women’s participation in social
and economic life. These changes are
reflected within the national structures
of Nicaragua’s trade unions. For example,
in those unions that have male general
secretaries, women are being appointed as
their deputies, and vice versa, and most
unions have set up Women’s Committees.
Young people played a critical role
in the insurrection against the Somoza
dictatorship and the building of a new
society during the FSLN government of
the 1980s. Since their return to power in
2007, the FSLN has focused on promoting
the participation of young people in the
NSC’s Interim Chair Gill Holmes with UNE General Secretary Domingo Perez and legal
office staff. Since 2011 the office has been supported by UNISON.
economic, social, political and cultural
transformation of the country. In 2004,
the FSLN adopted a national policy based
on the principles of youth participation,
gender equality and rights, as well as
intergenerational relations.
This has been incorporated into the
National Development Plan 2012-2016,
and has opened the political space so
that young people in very large numbers
Trade union news
UNISON has agreed to support a
one-year project submitted by the
health union FETSALUD, half of whose
members are women. The project is
for trade union officials at all levels,
with a particular emphasis on women
and young people. The aim of the
project is to build the leadership and
leadership potential of women and
young people.
The Confederation of SelfEmployed Workers is also planning a
project based on promoting women’s
leadership and participation in the union,
in particular at district and municipal
can become passionately engaged with
political and social issues. In turn, this has
led to their involvement in trade unions,
job creation and poverty alleviation. The
public sector union UNE has, for example,
reintroduced an eight-day training
programme for young trade union leaders,
comprising sessions on trade unionism,
labour law, health and safety at work and
equal opportunities.
level. The project will address the
difficulties experienced by selfemployed women in planning and
organising, and is designed to achieve
a demonstrable increase (50%) in the
number of women leaders and women
members of the union.
At the end of 2013, ten national
unions and 65 branches were affiliated
to NSCAG. After a very successful
affiliation drive, the number of branches
has increased to over 100 as at 30
September 2014.
To check if your branch is affiliated, see
www.nscag.org. If not, affiliate online or
contact us on nscag@nicaraguasc.org.uk
for an affiliation form.