Nicanet Hotline 11/17/97 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit NICARAGUA NETWORK HOTLINE ** 202-544-9360 November 17, 1997 You have reached the Nicaragua Network Hotline recorded Monday, November 17, 1997. To reach our office call 202-544-9355. Topics covered in this hotline include: Abuses in Free Trade Zone exposed on US television; protests spark public debate on illegal logging concessions; details of structural adjustment plan released, demonstration against US agression against Iraq planned for Tuesday. TOPIC 1 The US television program "Hard Copy" aired a three-day report about the Free Trade Zone in Nicaragua that exposed the poor working conditions and use of child labor in the factories. Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee, stated in the first report that sweatshop owners take advantage of Nicaragua's high unemployment rate to pay miserable wages to workers. The program also included testimonies from workers in which they spoke of sexual harassment and the general arrogant attitude of floor supervisors in factories that produce for Wal-Mart, K- Mart, and JC Penney. The program made headlines in all four Nicaraguan dailies and has caused an uproar in the Free Trade Zone Corporation, the government entity charged with overseeing the zone and bringing new investment to the country. Corporation head Gilberto Wong claimed the TV reports were totally inaccurate. Minister of Labor Wilfredo Navarro made a scheduled visit to the zone to inspect conditions himself, and, to the suprise of no one, found everything in order, and claimed that child labor is not used in the factories. However, Pedro Ortega, head of the Federation of Textile and Garment Workers of the Sandinista Workers Central (CST), charged that the sexual harassment and exploitative practices that many workers must endure are carried out with the complicity of the Ministry of Labor. He also accused some of the Taiwanese companies in the zone of raising the quota of pieces each worker must complete in a day without any corresponding salary increase. Ortega decried the "repressive practices" of the Taiwanese companies in particular and said that women in those factories are told they will lose their jobs if they go public with their complaints. La Tribuna reported on Saturday that the "Hard Copy" report has led to the suspension of a $17 million project that investors claim would have created 2,300 new jobs. Gilberto Wong said that he received a call from the Chi-Hsing investment group after the airing of the "Hard Copy" report, informing him that they have decided to suspend the project. However, Wong also claimed that Wal-Mart had cancelled its Nicaragua contract, a claim that Wal-Mart's Office of Corporate Affairs strongly denied. One of the companies mentioned in the television report, Mil Colores, is considering a lawsuit against "Hard Copy," according to its vice- president, US citizen Phillip Miller. Wong said that the Nicaraguan Embassy in Washington is also considering legal action. Be on the alert for a possible action in support of Nicaraguan workers if any of the US companies pulls its contracts out of the Nicaraguan factories instead of working with these contractors to improve conditions. TOPIC 2 The November 10 International Day of Action organized by the Nicaragua Network, Native Forest Network, and the Rainforest Action Group of Delaware Valley, made both television and front-page news last week in Nicaragua. Solidarity activists and environmentalists from the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe mobilized against the illegal logging concessions granted to the Korean company Solcarsa in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN). On the ground in Nicaragua, environmental groups involved in planning the Day of Action, brought this case before the Comptroller General in an effort to have the concessions revoked. Jovenes Ambientalistas (JA!) and the Humboldt Center are asking the Comptroller General's office to undertake an exhaustive review of the Solcarsa case, and this week handed over extensive documentation to his office. Both groups point out that the concession was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, but the Ministry of Natural Resources (MARENA) continues to argue that the concession is legal. MARENA head Roberto Stadthagen called the concession "relatively small" and said MARENA plans to review activities there on an annual basis. He called the campaign against Solcarsa "political" and said Nicaragua has sovereignty over its lands, even though the indigenous peoples there are supposed to determine the use of their resources. However, Victor Manuel Campos of the Humboldt Center, maintains that Solcarsa is clearly acting outside of the law and that the company is taking wood from areas outside the 62,000 hectares originally authorized illegally by MARENA. TOPIC 3 The Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) is ready to sign, according to President Aleman, after meetings last week with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and Interamerican Development Bank (IDB). Aleman claims that this agreement will serve to reduce Nicaragua's foreign debt and offer an incentive to economic growth, despite the fact that similar structural adjustment policies implemented under the Chamorro government only exacerbated the economic crisis. The conditions Nicaragua has agreed to as part of the ESAF seem draconian, at best, and it is hard to imagine how the country will possibly absorb the impact. The FSLN daily Barricada, referring to the new ESAF as "worse than an earthquake," says that 10,000 state employees will lose their jobs -- 3,000 this year alone. In addition, electric rates will continue to rise by 1.5% monthly, and a 5% increase in gasoline is also planned. The state will shut down the National Development Bank (BANADES), and privatize several of the country's major banks, including BANIC, Banco Popular, Bavinic, and Petronic. The state will also sell off the Nicaraguan Fund for Investments (FNI) and the state insurance agency (INISER). Nicaragua has agreed to sell 40% of the Nicaraguan Electric Comapny (ENEL) by next September, Barricada says, and complete the privatization of the electrical utility by December of 1999. Also on the table is the eventual privatization of INAA, the country's water company. Aleman's inability or unwillingness to negotiate less stringent terms for the ESAF has already incurred the anger of many of his working class and unemployed supporters, and is likely to cause his approval rating to plummet even further than it has already. TOPIC 4 Demonstrations in cities across the US and Europe to stop US aggression against Iraq will be held this week. The US government is using the pretext of destroying weapons of mass destruction to commit further aggressions, and likely military attacks, against Iraq. Clinton has just ordered a second carrier battle group to the Persian Gulf in preparation for such an attack. All progressive and anti-war activists are called to join these protests. In Washington, DC, the demonstration will take place in front of the White House from 5-7 pm on Tuesday, November 18. Other cities where demonstrations are being organized include Baltimore, Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Minneapolis, Madison, Boston, London, and Rome. To receive a more extensive weekly summary of the news from Nicaragua by e-mail or postal service at a subscription rate of $60 per year or to become a supporter and receive our publications and mailings, please contact us. The Nicaragua Network's address is: 1247 E St., SE, Washington, DC 20003; our phone: 202-544-9355. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-12.15.97-10:13:29-9937