[fsf60k] FW: Nicaragua Network Hotline--September 1, 2009
- From: "Michael AR Cipoletti" <ikecip@xxxxxxx>
- To: "'Clelia Sandino Aragón'" <cleliamer_sandino@xxxxxxxxxxx>, <fsf60k@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 18:09:44 -0400
From: Nicaragua Network [mailto:nicanet@xxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 6:02 PM
To: ikecip@xxxxxxx
Subject: Nicaragua Network Hotline--September 1, 2009
You are receiving this email from Nicaragua Network because you are
subscribed to the Hotline list. To ensure that you continue to receive
emails from us, add nicanet@xxxxxxxx to your address book today. NOTICE: If
you want to forward this message, use the forward function at the bottom of
the e-mail. Do not use your own message forward function. If you do, one of
your recipients could unsubscribe you.
You may unsubscribe
<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?p=un&v=001JF17rFyDmDZSCGLkvaRGCQ8S
ltPshpvb2tWkXvNjQQW0tUj2nEnnoDev1egmrh7zsh-WtavZNTZek14DNYpyXg%3D%3D> if
you no longer wish to receive our emails.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Nicaragua Network Hotline
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
www.nicanet.org
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
September 1, 2009
1. Rivas: "We will have observers for the Atlantic Coast elections"
2. IMF releases US$150.7 million to Nicaragua
3. Government declares health emergency based on more flu cases
4. Water and sewer access expanding in Managua
5. Women unite to combat poverty
Topic 1: Rivas: "We will have observers for the Atlantic Coast elections"
Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) President Roberto Rivas said last week that
there will be observers for the elections of the authorities of the North
and South Atlantic Autonomous Regions (RAAN and RAAS) scheduled for March of
2010. But, he added, "We will not permit groups that have participated
openly in partisan political activity because one thing is political
participation in the broad sense and another thing altogether is
participation in a particular movement or group." He said that the
government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has invited the
European Union to send observers for the election of the 45 member Regional
Councils of the RAAN and the RAAS.
Jose Luis Villavicencio, also a magistrate on the Supreme Electoral Council,
said that, "On the subject of observation by national groups, I am of the
opinion that we should permit broad national observation without
restriction, but with enough regulation." He stated, "Some organizations
have gotten in their heads that observers are poll watchers but that is not
true," adding that it is the poll watchers who form a part of the official
electoral process and observers must limit themselves to watching the
process and releasing a report without taking a position in support or one
candidate or party.
Villavicencio also accused the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of the
United States of financing political parties in Nicaragua. He told a Channel
12 television audience that the NDI is financing the collection of
signatures on a petition demanding that the magistrates of the Supreme
Electoral Council be removed as well as financing training for political
party activists and members of election observation groups. The report on
the web page of Radio La Primerisima noted, however, that the FSLN has on
occasion participated in training financed by the NDI. Villavicencio called
the financing interference in the internal affairs of Nicaragua and a
violation of national sovereignty and said that he would ask the Division on
Political Parties [of the CSE)]for a list of parties whose members have been
trained with NDI financing. U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan denied that
either of the organizations linked to the two U.S. political parties [the
NDI and the International Republican Institute (IRI)] finance partisan
opposition political party activities in Nicaragua. The Nicaragua Network
knows, however, that is a lie. Click
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102691383582&s=10858&e=001EHGi2r5DJd1At70orN31Y8E
3hx7OxHOGXlfW7ZbNBkDim1P34Zbs0ZFJ-boCZeO4KSkzdcedcWqHaGlrPayRWNtFH4QM8CbPzWa
xPn7MSpENhsTf8e8lm12jaFB203aK> here for more information.
Meanwhile, it was announced that Stefano Sannino, a representative of the
European Union, would visit Nicaragua in early September to meet with
different sectors of Nicaraguan society to prepare the way for a decision
about whether to renew US$32 million in budget support funds that the EU had
suspended after fraud was alleged in the municipal elections of Nov. 2008.
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel Coronel said that he was confident
that things would "go well" and the aid would be renewed.
Topic 2: IMF releases US$150.7 million to Nicaragua
On August 28, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released US$150.7
million in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to the Central Bank of Nicaragua as
part of the multilateral financial support approved by the industrialized
G-20 nations to help poorer countries strengthen their international
currency reserves. According to the Central Bank, the funds will reinforce
the financial security of the country and help it to absorb the impact of
the global financial and economic crisis. The Central Bank noted that these
SDRs are unconditioned and separate from the funds Nicaragua has pending
under the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) which have
economic conditions attached. Central Bank President Antenor Rosales
announced that on Sept. 7 a delegation from Nicaragua will meet in
Washington, DC, with the IMF to analyze the second and third revisions of
the country's economic program under the PRGF. After that an IMF mission
will come to Nicaragua to give "final approval" to the program, according to
Treasury Minister Alberto Guevara.
Topic 3: Government declares health emergency based on more flu cases
On August 27, President Daniel Ortega declared a 60 day health emergency as
two more women died of swine flu and the total of cases confirmed in the
country reached 929. The hope, according to Minister of Health Guillermo
Gonzalez, is to speed care to the sick and avoid further deaths beyond the
four recorded so far. He said that health centers now had anti-viral
medicines and health workers in the public and private clinics had been
alerted to provide anti-viral treatment to those who presented serious
symptoms whether or not swine flu had been confirmed.
Ana Quirós, director of the Center for Health Information and Consulting
Services (CISAS), criticized Ortega saying he should not have given such an
important role in mobilizing the population to the Councils of Citizen Power
(CPC) because "the President and the Health Minister may not like it but
there are a whole lot of places where there are no CPCs." She added that the
experience of the Community Movement in mobilizing for health emergencies
should not be discarded. While the CPCs can play a good role, the work
should not be limited to them, she stated.
In other health news, President Ortega said at a Managua graduation ceremony
for 44 Nicaraguan graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine in
Cuba that the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA) had
brought widespread benefits to Nicaraguan health care. He said that the
Nicaraguan people had trust in the Cuban-trained doctors who were noted for
their humanity and solidarity.
Topic 4: Water and sewer access expanding in Managua
Some 60,000 residents of the "driest" neighborhoods in Managua will be able
to have easier access to potable water within the year, thanks to an
agreement between Ruth Herrera, head of Nicaragua's state- owned water
company ENACAL, and Managua's new mayor Daysi Torres to collaborate on the
installation of water and sewer lines to 36 points in the capital. The
project is targeting the neighborhoods most in need of potable water during
the dry season. The project will cost US$30 million funded by the World
Bank, half with a grant and half with a loan at 1% interest payable over 30
years. Mayor Torres said that the communities will help in all the work, not
the least by developing a consciousness not to litter and throw trash in the
storm sewers. She also pledged to fine the litter bugs, something that has
not been done previously.
Topic 5: Women unite to combat poverty
Pine needles and colored thread are the materials that Martha Sabina
Martinez uses to make her crafts that are helping to lift her out of
poverty. Martinez lives five kilometers from Honduras in the small community
of El Polvon, Chinandega. In this area, the only economic activity is
agriculture, but it is not enough to drive economic development. Martinez
acquired credit two years ago from the women's organization Pro Mujer and
invested it in her artisanry and other necessities for her home. Since then
her business has increased and she now makes three times as much as her
husband makes in agriculture, about $150 a month, which has allowed the
family, with their five children, to eat better and make improvements to
their home. She sells her creations at the Roberto Huembes Market in
Managua, in Masaya, and plans to expand to Granada. Currently she is working
together with her neighbors to produce 400 pieces for sale in New York where
Pro Mujer has its headquarters.
Ninfa Isabel Escalante, also from El Polvon, thinks that producing crafts
has been a good subsistence option for families in the community who lack
other economic options. "Before, we sometimes went without food, but not
now," she said. In her case, the extra income has allowed her to buy tables
and chairs, a bed, and kitchen utensils. She plans now to do some repairs on
her house.
A group of Western Union Foundation officials from four countries visited El
Polvon and other communities in Chinandega and Leon to witness the results
of Pro Mujer's work in the country. The Western Union foundation has donated
US$75,000 to Pro Mujer. During the visit, the delegation announced an
additional donation of US$5,000 for women's economic development. Tony
Tapia, program director of the Foundation stated that Nicaragua is the
Central American country that receives the most support from the Foundation.
In the past five years the Foundation has donated US$390,000 to various
projects with the funds coming from the company and from employee donations
worldwide.
Zoyla de Jesus Palma lives in El Viejo, Chinandega. She said that she has
been working with Pro Mujer for 11 years and that her first loan was for 600
cordobas [roughly US$50 in 1998]. When she got her first loan she had
neither a job nor a business. She said she and her two daughters were living
"at the mercy of God." "When one has nothing, no collateral, no one will
give him a loan. That was my situation," she remembered. With her first loan
she bought milk, sugar, and firewood to make candy. Her original intention
was to sell clothing wholesale, but the loan was not big enough for that.
She began by making candy from five liters of milk. She sold it all. Then
she bought 10 liters of milk and also sold all the candy she made. Soon she
was using 30 liters of milk per day and had enough profit to buy plastic
bags to package the candy. She was able to save US$800 and, with additional
loans from Pro Mujer, was able to buy enough clothing to found her wholesale
clothing business. Now she has two pickup trucks to deliver clothing to
shops in various Chinandega neighborhoods and has a warehouse filled with
inventory.
Gloria Ruiz Gutierrez, national director of Pro Mujer, explained that the
program is directed at poor women. Pro Mujer has a presence in five
countries in Latin America and, in Nicaragua, it works in eight departments.
The program offers services in the areas of credit, training, and health.
"Our mission is to promote the empowerment of women through those tools,"
she said. Their credit program works on the model of communal banks composed
of between 15 and 48 women. "The credit is the method to attract the women,
and the final intention is to offer training to promote the transformation
of their attitudes about themselves," she said. In Nicaragua they have
helped 31,000 women, investing US$5.3 million in loans and donations.
This hotline is prepared from the Nicaragua News Service and other sources.
To receive a more extensive weekly summary of the news from Nicaragua by
e-mail or postal service, send a check for $60.00 to Nicaragua Network, 1247
E St., SE, Washington, DC 20003. We can be reached by phone at 202-544-9355.
Our web site is: www.nicanet.org. To subscribe to the Hotline, send an
e-mail to nicanet@xxxxxxxx
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Image removed by sender.
Forward email
<http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1101206719435&ea=ikecip%40aol.c
om&a=1102691383582>
<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?p=un&v=001JF17rFyDmDZSCGLkvaRGCQ8S
ltPshpvb2tWkXvNjQQW0tUj2nEnnoDev1egmrh7zsh-WtavZNTZek14DNYpyXg%3D%3D> Image
removed by sender. Safe Unsubscribe
This email was sent to ikecip@xxxxxxx by nicanet@xxxxxxxxx
Update Profile/Email Address
<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?p=oo&v=001JF17rFyDmDZSCGLkvaRGCQ8S
ltPshpvb2tWkXvNjQQW0tUj2nEnnoDev1egmrh7zsh-WtavZNTZek14DNYpyXg%3D%3D> |
Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe
<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?p=un&v=001JF17rFyDmDZSCGLkvaRGCQ8S
ltPshpvb2tWkXvNjQQW0tUj2nEnnoDev1egmrh7zsh-WtavZNTZek14DNYpyXg%3D%3D> ? |
Privacy Policy <http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp> .
<http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?pn=digitalfreedom&cc=press02>
Email Marketing by
<http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?pn=digitalfreedom&cc=press02>
Image removed by sender.
Nicaragua Network | 1247 E St. SE | Washington | DC | 20003
Other related posts:
- » [fsf60k] FW: Nicaragua Network Hotline--September 1, 2009 - Michael AR Cipoletti
