Nicaragua Network Hotline - Dec 17, 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Nicaragua Network Hotline December 17, 2001 Topics covered in this Hotline include: Ortega Renounces Immunity to Face Sexual Abuse Charges; No Money to Harvest Coffee; Unionists Charge Trade Violations Topic 1: Ortega Renounces Immunity to Face Sexual Abuse Charges In a surprise move, FSLN General Secretary Daniel Ortega suddenly announced he was abandoning his immunity from prosecution (as a member of the National Assembly) to face the charges of rape and sexual abuse leveled against him by his step-daughter, Zoilamerica Narvaez. In the same statement he denied her accusations "absolutely." The timing of his announcement fueled enormous speculation. The FSLN is in considerable disarray after the recent heavy electoral loss and Ortega's own position, if not exactly in danger, is certainly in some question. Narvaez first filed her charges more than three years ago, in early 1998. Some observers said that members of the new "Convergence," initiated by the Sandinistas during the electoral campaign and holding together (so far) as an independent entity even in the post-election turbulence, had demanded that Ortega should face Narvaez's challenge if he wanted them to accept his leadership. Others felt that, with no new national elections due for another five years, now was the politically-acceptable time. Even if Ortega should be found guilty, the electorate would have time to forget before 2006. Sadly, there are few as yet who see the move as simple evidence of good faith. More importantly, his precedent-setting action, whatever its fundamental motives, has turned up the pressure on the thirty plus other assembly-members (out of ninety-two!), who also have charges outstanding against them, to take the honorable plunge. Of course, and above all, the same goes for outgoing president, Arnoldo Alemán, who has the small matter of an approximately US$250 million increase in his personal wealth during his ten years in public office to account for. Most importantly, the former-president's belated declaration means that Zoilamerica Narvaez should at last get her day in court; and, with that, the thousands of women here who suffer abuse at the hands of family members will have hope that someday they too will be able to call for justice with some chance of their voices being heard. However, the road ahead for Narvaez looks anything but smooth. Her lawyers have already demanded that Judge Juana Méndez, before whom Ortega presented himself, be recused from the case on the grounds that she is a well-known Sandinista militant. They note that she served under Tomás Borge in his ministry of the interior and remains fiercely loyal to the current leadership. "We expect more of every kind of obstacle," said Daniel Olivas, speaking for the Narvaez legal team. "For example, we were told our demand was inadmissible because it did not bear a stamp costing a mere hundred cordobas (US$7.25), issued by the very municipal office in which we were standing. When we went to buy one, they had 'run out.' It took hours to finally procure one." Narvaez herself was deeply affected by the whole process, leaving the building in tears. Her mother, Ortega's life companion, Rosario Murillo declared herself, "filled with shame by my daughter, who is obsessed with power, and with pride by my husband, who has dedicated his life to bettering the lot of the impoverished." Narvaez countered, "Daniel Ortega remains a coward. I have charged him with rape, not my mother. It is he who should answer, not she." Topic 2: No Money to Harvest Coffee The president of UPANIC (Union of Agro-Producers), José Augusto Navarro, warned that Nicaragua's coffee crop is reaching maturity but thousands of coffee farmers can't pay their workers, since they are, simply, out of funds. And, as if this were not sufficient, he added, the general lack of money has meant that the police have not put their usual "coffee plan" into operation in which they send out special patrols to prevent theft from the plantations. Adding to the troubles, the Ministry of Infrastructure been unable to repair the wet season's damage to the roads vital to bringing out the coffee trucks. "Thank goodness," he said, "the weather has delayed maturation somewhat and given us a little more time to find some sort of solution. But we're now up against it; if we don't find a way out now, there's going to be serious problems. If this goes on," he continued, "farmers will be forced to take drastic measures to salvage at least something from their crops, maybe selling them at a huge disadvantage, or even cheating on their original contracts." Navarro, in-coming Minister for Agriculture and Forests, said one glimmer of light is that the coffee export houses, the banks and UPANIC itself were working to cobble together some means of financing the coffee harvest to the tune of US$17 per quintal (100lbs). If they succeed, this sum would be available to the farmers to cover workers' food and some other expenses. According to out-going National Assembly Deputy Jose Gonzalez from Matagalpa, coffee growers can be expected to hire about 50,000 workers for the harvest, down from the usual 200,000. Coffee worker families, thousands of whom have descended on urban areas where they camp in parks, will continue to suffer from hunger and illness. This crisis is the result of several policy failures: 1) the mis-guided policies of the World Bank, which encouraged too many countries to plant coffee six years ago; 2) the corrupt Aleman government, because it had stolen so much, had to keep the money allocated for coffee relief in the Central Bank to show liquidity to the IMF and World Bank; and 3) the Inter-American Development Bank and IMF pressured President Aleman to veto a coffee grower foreclosure moratorium passed by the National Assembly, which would have helped save the harvest. The Nicaragua Network is raising money for food for coffee worker families in the Matagalpa area. These are families who, in the best of times, have very little. Now, they have nothing. Their children suffer from malnutrition in the best of times. Now, a simple childhood illness can kill them. We have been channeling our aid through the Ernesto Gonzalez Foundation, which has distributed family bags of beans, rice, powdered milk, oatmeal and sugar to 800 families. The Foundation will also be serving a Christmas dinner to 1,500 children on December 22nd. Send what you can to the Nicaragua Network/AGJ at 1247 "E" Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. Write "Crisis Aid" on the outside of the envelope and on the memo line of the check. Topic 3: Unionists Charge Trade Violations The Jose Benito Escobar Sandinista Workers Confederation (CST-JBE) announced that it will call on the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to suspend nine free trade zone factories from the benefits of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) for serious violations of labor codes. Among the factories targeted once again are Mil Colores, Chentex and Roo Hsing. The formal CST-JBE challenge will be made on January 2, and will allege violations of articles concerning freedom to form unions, collective bargaining, enforced overtime and other matters covered by the Caribbean Basin Initiative. The observance of these articles permits trade zone businesses to claim tariff-exemption and other profitable privileges. Luis Barbosa, CST-JBE General Secretary, said he hoped that their action would spur US officials to conduct inspections of the plants in question, leading to their suspension. Despite the fact that an estimated six thousand workers will be affected, the CST-JBE leader said his organization was forced to take this action because, "of the nine unions which are part of the CST-JBE, no less than seven have been 'beheaded.' The factories are firing anyone associated with the union directorate, with the connivance of the minister of labor and other government members." He emphasized that the CST-JBE had no intention of driving foreign investment away, but was only seeking to ensure that all factories in Nicaragua respected workers rights as set out in international agreements and under the country's labor code. Emilio Noguera, the labor ministry's Inspector General, took issue with the CST-JBE, claiming that there was a plethora of unions within the factories concerned. "Each one has a different strategy for taking on their employers," he continued; "some act in a friendly manner, others believe that they have to shout and use violence. Depending on their behavior, employers judge whether or not they will be allies in the factory's production." These "friendly" or "company" unions that Noguera refers to were created in the 1980s as part of the US government's anti-Sandinista strategy. Their pro-management organizing gives the anti-union government protection for its claims that normal union organizing activities of the CST-affiliated unions is "violence." For her part, Doris Escalona, legal representative for Chentex, maintained that the CST-JBE action was prompted by political motives. "They just want to use us as a target," she said. "USTR inspectors came here only recently with the objective of an evaluation for the application of CBI benefits, and our factories are constantly being inspected by independent firms contracted by our clients; up to this point, we have had no problems. It is the CST-JBE people who should be afraid since their lies will be found to be without foundation." Other labor organizers in Nicaragua noted that CBI benefits cannot be revoked for a certain company; they are only revoked for an entire country, affecting many sectors. For this reason, a broad consensus of Nicaraguan society would have to agree to petition the USTR to threaten taking away CBI benefits for Nicaragua. 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.infoshop.org/nicanet