desde nicaragua

money gets you places, but only if you bring it

This city is overwhelming (to me).

I felt like a little country mouse flying into big Caracas city. Me, in somebody else's white T-shirt and torn jeans, a tiny backpack and laptop bag, less than $75 U.S. in pocket. Not a clue about where I'm going from here, barely an idea of how the city is laid out.

To my right on the plane? The two chatty women with gold around their necks and wrists, shiny purses from Egypt and Panama on their laps, paging through those Air Mall or whatever they're called magazines I never actually believed anyone bought anything from. They did. Two perfumes each. Plenty more dollars than what I've seen in a single moment in months.

Here's how and why they work it, because one has lived in Venezuela for 50 years and the other grew up there and is 32: the dollar stretches a hell of a lot farther than the Bolívar, and you can get your hands on some and exchange it on the black market, you might do okay. And if you can sell some stuff, some name brands, you bought abroad (the States),then all the better.

So these ladies come back loaded with suitcases: new clothes, jewelry, perfume, a computer, shoes, etc.

"I sell it mostly to my friends," the younger woman explained to me. "That way I can make back some of the money I lost on the plane ticket."

* * * * *

Back to me, the country mouse. We arrive, and immediately I feel scandalized, absolutely horrified, by the cost of everything. A cab ride to a neighborhood where I'm told there may be some hotels at? $60 U.S. Okay, that might seem reasonable for folks used to getting rides to the JFK or whatever. But in Managua I argue with drivers until they agree to take me to the airport for under $3 US. Besides, 60 bucks is practically all of my money! I breathe deep, say that's the most ridiculous price I have ever heard of in my entire life, and turn around, back into the airport.

I'll just go to the ATM, right? I'll just pull out some dollars and go from there ...

You're joking, Mouse Girl. Forget dollars, the ATM will spit out Bolívars at a harsher rate than what you can get for your bills on the street. You should have come prepared.The sweet old lady pays for my ride into the city, and once we arrive I learn most hotels are booked, even the down-and-dirty, pay-by-the-hour ones with shiny lighted words like "My secrets":

Eventually I find one for the U.S equivilant of $45 a night, which is definitely more money than I can spend in a week of pampering myself in Managua.

* * * * *

At the moment, inside a fancy hotel lobby in the Altamira neighborhood. Here is what is happening, take your pick of opinions:

“The Inter American Press Association (IAPA), which existed in the 40s, was kidnapped in the 50s by North American forces and, since then, it has become a North American intelligence product”. (x)

"They claim we have a dictatorship. But they are in Caracas saying whatever they want to say. This is cynicism turned into communication. There are very powerful forces trying to prevent our union," said Chávez. (x)

The owners of the mass media of the region, who will hold soon an assembly of the Inter American Press Association ''IAPA'' in Caracas, pretend to evaluate the 'freedom of speech' in the hemisphere and ratified their rejection to the progressive governments of Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, among other nation. (x)

IAPA President Earl Maucker said ... “We will not only have an excellent opportunity   to meet in that beautiful country to debate press freedom issues in the Americas   but also to deal with other matters of importance to members of the press.” (x)

I'm still forming mine. Of course, the IAPA is funding my grant in Nicaragua. That complicates things. I'm curious about this counter meeting against media terrorism. Need to check it out.

Diplomatic Crisis in South America

As Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa seeks the backing of other Latin American leaders, (he plans to stop in Managua Thursday), the Organization of American States reaffirms today that Colombia violated its neighbor country's sovereignty by killing a FARC leader there this weekend.

The conflict has been called the region's "worst diplomatic crisis in years," as Venezuela mobilizes military forces to its Colombian border in support of Ecuador. Colombian President Álvaro Uribe claims his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez is sponsoring genocide by allegedly harboring FARC terrorists; Chávez calls Colombia the "Israel of South America" at Washington's command. (If that's the case, Guardian blogger Matthew Weaver asks, does that make Venezuela the region's Iran?)

While plenty of Western media tend to portray Chávez as a threat to the region, a story from the folks at Venezuelanalysis.com is refreshing. They call Colombia a destabalizing force in South America, saying the attack was planned to deter Colombians from participating in an international protest planned for tomorrow against those tortured, murdered or disappeared by the government and paramilitary forces there.

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs speculates on U.S. involvement in the affair, as Saturday's incident seemed to be "carried out at too sophisticated a level by a Colombian military which normally is dismissed as incompetent, corrupt, drug sodden and ill-deposed to risk dangers." The COHA article also discusses the U.S. presidential candidates' rhetoric on Latin America.

Meanwhile, the Washington Office on Latin America recently reported that the U.S.-sponsored intensive aerial herbicide spraying on coca crops in Colombia has "backfired badly" and contributes to the spread of its cultivation to new areas of the country:

"Fumigation is part of the problem," the report says. "The aerial spray operations tend to reinforce rather than weaken Colombian farmers' reliance on coca growing, prompting more rather than less replanting, thereby contributing to coca's spread into new areas of the country."

U.S. aid to Colombia has totaled more than $5 billion since 2000.  As fumigation intensified with an infusion of U.S. funds, officials portrayed the spraying as not merely innocuous to human health and the environment, but as environmentally beneficial because it would inhibit the loss of forests to coca crops. 

In Nicaragua, friends tell me they're placing bets on when Nicaragua will deploy troops in solidarity with its brother countries, Ecuador and Venezuela.

News updates: Ex-contras, deportees and more

Some interesting notes from these parts:

* Last year's return of Daniel Ortega here re-energized at least some ex-Contras in Miami who are now lobbying support from the U.S. government and working with anti-Ortega movements in Nicaragua with former colleagues here.

According to this Associated Press story, a few even "warn darkly" that armed resistance is again a possibility. They say they're worried about the CPCs, which I've written about earlier and have largely disappeared from local news after some typical political circus antics here.

* The increasing crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the United States is resulting in waves of deportees flooding back to their "home" countries like Mexico and Nicaragua. Many of these deportees grew up in the States and, lacking connections in their countries, are at a bit of a loss for finding work, etc., when they return. (Months ago, I wrote about one such case in Granada.)

"Some of these people are arriving in Mexico's border cities with nothing but the clothes they have on. Many have no family links, no knowledge of the country. They are very vulnerable," said Rolando Garcia, an immigration official working on the new program. "What we want to do, quite simply, is give them a human reception." (TIME)

Anyway, Mexican President Felipe Calderón announced a repatriation program to help reintegrate the deportees into society, according to a recent Time Magazine article. The program will organize refuge centers in border cities, transport to hometowns and jobs for the deportees, immigration officials say. Critics however say the program doesn't have much substance (there's nothing for it in the budget) and that Calderón should focus on defending immigrants' rights in the U.S.

* Reacting to recent legal actions taken by Exxon Mobil, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez threatened Sunday to cut off oil supplies to the United States.

A British court issued an injunction "freezing" as much as $12 billion in assets, according to recent news reports, after the oil company had gone to U.S., British and Dutch courts to challenge the nationalization by Chavez's government of a multi-billion dollar oil project.

"If you end up freezing (Venezuelan assets) and it harms us, we're going to harm you," Chavez said. "Do you know how? We aren't going to send oil to the United States. Take note, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger."    

The threats by Chavez boosted prices, even as analysts downplayed the chances of Venezuela cutting off supplies.

"The Venezuelan president is bluffing, but his well honed rhetoric will help support prices in New York and London nonetheless," said The Schork Report, issued by U.S. trader and analyst Stephen Schork. (TIME)   

Despite this, Venezuela continues to be the U.S.'s fourth-largest supplier of crude oil — supplying some 1.2 million barrels a day, and the U.S. continues to be Venezuela's top trading partner. The threats by Chávez caused a slight tremor in oil prices, which are already affected by continued worries of a recession in the States.

* Despite earlier optimism, deforestation continues in the Brazilian Amazon. So it's back to the drawing board for officials "to figure out what went wrong and how to tackle monumental problems like endemic lawlessness and land disputes, which have long stymied governments," according to a McClatchy News Service story.

* Finally, Andres Oppenheimer writes about Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's allies in Miami's Cuban exile community, and his views on issues like undocumented immigration and farm subsidies.

* * * * *

I added a link to the Media Accuracy on Latin America's site, which I learned about last month from the LANR blog. This initiative from the North American Congress on Latin America seeks to "foster public discourse by offering more pluralistic views on events unfolding throughout the hemisphere." On the site, you can find criticism of news coverage from this part of the world, "highlighting reports in which news outlets have simplified, overlooked or distorted critical facts as well as reports in which the media fails to connect relevant U.S. policy to developments in Latin America. MALA also offers background information on economic, political, and societal issues, as well as other resources for journalists, students, and the public at large to better understand the complexity of events in the region."

As a side note, I'm strongly considering a trip to Venezuela at the end of next month, in time for the Inter American Press Association's meeting in Caracas. These folks (who are funding my stay here) highly criticize Chávez for limiting press freedom and had the audacity to invite him to speak at the conference. We'll see whether he accepts.

Anyway, does anyone have friends in Venezuela?

Chávez: Uribe's government is a tool for U.S. imperialism

"Chávez is supposed to be an incredible speaker," my friend's wife told me. "They say that after you hear him talk, you just wanna make out with him."

With those words ringing in my ears, I left for Plaza Inter, where the Venezuelan president gave a speech this afternoon as part of his tour of Central America.

In a way, she was right. Chávez is passionate, funny and convincing. I found myself laughing, nodding, hanging onto his every word — well, every word of the first hour or so — and even agreeing a few times when he said it's either socialism or death.

I did not, however, want to make out with him. The man wasn't quite that charming.

Chávez spoke for 2 hours and 25 minutes to a crowd of more than 1,000 Sandinista supporters about the Colombian FARC hostage situation, plans to help alleviate Nicaragua's energy crisis and baseball.

Like a good speaker, he warmed up the crowd by talking about something light: Nicaragua's favorite pastime. He summarized last night's baseball game between the Managua Bóers and Masaya San Fernando (Managua won, 4-2), talked about playing ball with his mentor and "father," Fidel Castro, then made an interesting suggestion:

  "It occurred to me last night that we should invent a baseball league for the countries in Alba — for Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua. Not Bolivia, of course, because they don't play baseball; they play soccer."

He mentioned bringing in the Caribbean countries and creating a baseball training school, but quickly  the conversation turned serious. Chávez needed to respond to criticism from the Colombian government about his role as a mediator in the hostage situation. He scoffed at being called a terrorist or supporter of terrorism ("I don't agree with kidnappings ... I hope the FARC desist with that strategy"), as did a Washington Post editorial today.

"The Colombian government sends protest letters against Venezuela," Chávez said. "Let them send as many letters as they'd like, but we will continue to insist that peace needs to be reached in Colombia. It's enough of the war."

(For those of you who don't know much about the FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia), it might be worth your while to do some research on Plan Colombia, the United States' multi-billion dollar campaign to end cocaine production in that country, and the ongoing civil war there in order to understand the context.)

Chávez called Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a tool for U.S. imperialism, and that he "does whatever Bush tells him to do. That is the problem because Bush does not want peace; he wants war."

And, that, Chávez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega agreed, makes Bush the terrorist. It's convenient for the Bush administration that Colombia's state of civil war continue so that the U.S. military can maintain its military presence there and threaten Venezuela, he said.

On Nicaragua's never-ending energy crisis, Chávez announced a project to build two more generators of 60 megawatts each by March, adding to the two his country already built here. He spoke about plans to take advantage of Nicaragua's geothermal energy potential (thanks, volcanoes) and the progress of the $4.5 billion oil refinery being built near Léon.

"This investment is from Venezuela," Chávez said. "The only condition? That we create the grand country of Sandino." That's Augusto C. Sandino, the national hero who stood up to Yankee imperialism.

By this point in the afternoon, people were getting tired and hungry. Several hundred in the crowd were bussed in from across the country because of their membership in farming cooperatives or other campesino groups. You see the same sort of faces at these events: older, tired-looking men in FSLN caps and jeans, arms crossed, and listening quietly.

These guys didn't make it through. Something that has always struck me as awesome about events like today's is how accessible they are to people. Anybody could have walked into the room, stood back and listened. No tickets necessary. I guess this is what Daniel Ortega means by "el pueblo presidente."

One last thing: Chávez confirmed a new date for the next Alba summit, originally slated for this past December here in Managua. It's now to take place here on Jan. 25.  According to the Venezuelan leader, the new Alba bank will be officially created at this summit.

"Brother countries" making inroads in national TV

The more I do actual journalism here, the less time I seem to dedicate to this blog. Funny, some weeks I spent hours each day reading and comparing, learning and trying to come to an understanding about various issues here and in the rest of Latin America — then writing little blurbs here. And then some weeks, like the past two, I've been doing the same thing but about very specific issues, writing about them for La Prensa, then coming home exhausted to crash in bed.

The past two days, for example, were dedicated to this: Iranian programs coming to national television. Basically, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has been opening the door for his "compañeros" in Iran and Venezuela to make inroads in national television here.

(By the way, Hearst News Service recently had a story about growing Iranian involvement here, if you're interested.)

What do I mean by this? Well, first the Ortegas want Iran to help develop Nicaragua's film industry, which has been basically non-existent since the beginning of the first Sandinista administration. Iran, of course, has an internationally acclaimed film industry.

Last week, First Lady Rosario Murillo announced that a delegation of Iranian officials were in country to look at media and communications here. (Read comments by her and delegation here.)

So both governments say they'd like to bring Iranian soap operas and films and cartoons to Nicaraguan television. But the relationship is more than a sharing of popular culture. Iran wants to help build up Channel 4's "Multinoticias" — pro-Sandinista but private programming that is run by (now, don't be shocked here) two of the Ortegas' sons.

It's unclear how much money Iran plans to invest in amplifying Channel 4's coverage area.

Iran also wants to train Nicaraguan journalists. I'm not sure whether that's the kind of country Nicaragua needs to be taking lessons from, considering Iran's track record in regards to freedom of expression, the press, etc. Then again, the Ortegas (like previous administations) haven't been getting many accolades for their work here, either.

Now, enter Venezuela, which is close to sealing a deal with Nicaragua to take over the basically defunct state television Channel 6. That channel is run by the Ministry of Education but can only afford to show an hour or two of programming a week.

Why the interest? Well, Venezuela is the majority owner of Telesur, a network that's often called the Al-Jazeera of Latin America. It's Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's response to major Western (imperialist, he might say) media outlets like CNN, the BBC or Univsión.

Telesur might soon take up the state's channel, then. I wanted to draw a connection to the influence on television here from Iran and Venezuela — "brother" countries, Ortega calls them. So I spoke with Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, an expert in communications and Latin American soap operas who teaches at the University of Georgia and just happens to be Venezuelan.

“Is it good? Is it bad? To me, it's interesting to have access to content that traditionally we wouldn't get to see," she told me. “It's interesting to have other media powers in the world, but if the object is indoctrination, then it's a bad thing."

If anyone has seen a serious analysis of Telesur out there, let me know. I guess I should probably buy a television and start watching it to formulate my own opinions, but I can barely bring myself to sit in front of one for more than a few minutes every couple of months.

Oh well.

* * * * *

Anyway, if you're an American interested in news from Nicaragua, you probably know all about the Eric Volz case.  That's all Nicaragua is famous for these days.

Honestly, I don't feel up to adding to that scandal, but you can check out coverage from The AP, WSJ, CNN, TIME Magazine, The Nica Times, The Tenessean, Nashville City Paper,Friends of Eric Volz (or their MySpace page).

I had started writing a real post on the Volz case a few nights ago, but got slammed with work and haven't been keeping up since. I'm sorry, but such is life. The rest of the world is covering this one.

* * * * *

Finally, something a little closer to me is in the following photo:

(La Prensa/G. Flores)

The man on the left is Jorge Loásiga. He is an investigative reporter here at La Prensa, a funny guy who sits diagonally from my desk.

A few nights ago Loásiga was roughed up by Ortega's security at a presidential event. Police say he was trying to force himself past security. He says he is the victim of police brutality. All the media, as well as journalism associations, say the government is out to get La Prensa and that this is a sign of Ortega's free speech repression.

I'll follow up on this one later tonight or tomorrow. It's important because the media here is dedicating a lot of resources toward covering this issue.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Danny O is in Cuba, asking for help dealing with this country's energy crisis. Suerte, compañero. Energy problems mean no running water in Granada today. No running water means Melissa badly needs to take a shower.

On democracy, language and the next ALBA summit

As I mentioned in an earlier post, December 7 is the last day of the Purísima celebration. I hope to be in León tonight for the best parties. Between then and now, I'm riding buses, heading to the office to work on a few story ideas and reading the news.

* For The Nation, Greg Grandin, an NYU historian who specializes in Central America, writes about Chavismo and Democracy. After Sunday's "No" vote in Venezuela, critics and media  hailed it as a tribute to freedom and democracy, and a slap in the face to President Hugo Chávez's power grab. Grandin analyzes the points in the failed referendum, and writes about what direct democracy has actually meant in Venezuela.

Political scientists can debate the viability of direct, or "protagonist," democracy, but they would have a hard time making the case that politicians in Latin America's traditional representational systems are more accountable to their citizens. Throughout the 1990s, candidates for president repeatedly ran on antineoliberal platforms only to capitulate to the IMF and Wall Street once in office. And what system of checks and balances controls the monopoly power of Latin America's corporate media, as much a political as an economic force, or the "veto" that bond managers and banks have over a country's financial sovereignty? Hate him or admire him, Chávez at least tells voters what he plans to do: he made clear that in his re-election campaign he planned to introduce legislation that would allow him to seek yet another re-election ...

Never before have the majority of Venezuelans been so involved in the political life of the nation. Throughout the country, peasant organizations, cooperatives, women's and gay rights' organizations, indigenous groups, environmental activists, community councils and cultural associations argue about the possibilities, limits and perils of Chavismo. Hundreds of community radio and TV stations provide a forum for residents to express views, address local issues and learn, free of charge, production and broadcasting skills. Critics dismiss these stations as but more mechanisms of patronage and control. But all empirical evidence points to an extraordinary democratization of free speech, with little or no monitoring of content, frequent criticism of the government and uninhibited and robust grassroots participation. This is confirmed by yet another poll, released last month, by the respected Chilean firm Latinobarometro: for the third year running, Venezuelans are behind only Uruguayans in their satisfaction with their country's democratic institutions (59 percent compared with the regional average of 37 percent).

Also on The Nation's website, you can read pieces on the referendum by: Mark Weisbrot,  co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research; Sujatha Fernandes, a sociology professor who studies urban social movements in Venezuela; Chesa Boudin, a former intern on Chávez's foreign policy team; and Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, a psychoanalyst.

* Meanwhile, blogger Justin Delacour writes about a "glaring error" in an Associated Press story about the referendum:

It is incorrect to state that the constitutional changes would have "enabled him [Chavez] to remain in power for life." It would have been correct to say that the constitutional changes would have enabled Chavez to run for reelection indefinitely, but I can't emphasize enough that that is completely distinct from enabling him to "remain in power for life." Had term limits been eliminated, only the Venezuelan electorate could have enabled Chavez to "remain in power for life," and that would have been up to them. The distinction is really quite important.

It is an important distinction, and a good reminder of how much care foreign correspondents need to take when choosing words, as what they write defines for the outside world what is going on in a country.

* The NYT takes a look at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. foreign aid agency that lets recipient countries undertake their own projects, instead of doling cash to American contractors and charities. The story highlights its "sluggish record in getting projects beyond the planning stage to the point where contractors can actually build the roads, irrigation canals, power plants and clean water systems that poor countries say they need."

I hope to talk to the folks in charge of the MCC's $175 million, 5-year project in Nicaragua, which aims to improve transportation in the northwest part of the country, strengthen property rights and develop rural businesses. Paul Trivelli, the U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, wrote in August that some US$9.6 million has been dispersed to that date. More on this later.

* The next ALBA summit will not take place in Managua, as originally planned. The president confirmed yesterday that the sixth summit for the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas is happening in Caracas on Dec. 16 and 17, in homage to the grand liberator Simón Bolivar on the anniversary of his death.

Read about the ALBA model here.

Oh, and Guatemala's president-elect, Álvaro Colom, tells Nicaragua's president it'd be too complicated for his country to join ALBA since his country has already signed a free trade agreement with the States. He added that 62 percent of Guatemala's trade is with the U.S. "and obviously it's a little complicated for the country" to sign onto the Chávez's alternative agreement (EFE).

taking threats at face value

The president here gives a lot of speeches, says a lot of incendiary stuff. Sometimes, it's hard to tell whether any of it matters.

For example, late last night President Daniel Ortega suggested he will nationalize the importation of petroleum unless  Esso stores and refines some 8 million barrels of crude oil from Venezuela.

Any time you have the words "nationalization," "petroleum" and "Venezuela" in the same sentence, you know it could be heavy.

Ortega was criticizing the Texas-based Esso for not cooperating with the government's mission to end blackouts. On live TV, he said it's a "matter of national security," and that his government is "studying the possibility of nationalizing its importation."

His language gets sharper and he goes on to say that Esso's owners are "true mercenaries, speculators. They're bleeding the people."

It often seems like criticizing international companies is an easy way for Ortega to shift the blame for domestic problems. He does the same thing with the Spanish energy distributor, Unión Fenosa . Please, don't think I'm defending  Esso, a Standard Oil subsidiary, or Fenosa (read up on complaints about this company at unionpenosa.com — "penosa" meaning terrible). I'm just trying to look at things from a few viewpoints.

In truth, both the companies and the government deserve blame for the country's energy problems.

Fenosa is unwilling to comply with promises to invest in the country's antiquated energy grid until some the government fulfills its end of the deal — such as making it illegal for people to steal energy and letting Fenosa raise fees to cover costs.

This is all hard to understand, I know. The reason why petroleum is connected with blackouts is because about 75 percent of the country's electricity generators run on bunker fuel, a low-grade petroleum derivative.

As for Esso, the government's original beef with that company stemmed from a tax payment dispute. The government says Esso owed US$2.9 million in taxes; the company denied the debt. In August, a Nicaraguan judge embargoed its assets, and used Esso's tanks to store Venezuelan oil. Eventually the tanks were returned.

Still, Nicaragua continues to lack the capacity to store or process the raw oil that Venezuela continues to send at a discount.

This circles us back to last night's news, and my debate about taking Ortega's threat to nationalize imports seriously. The August seizures mean he means business, sometimes. I'm not banking on it this time around. I don't think he has the support to follow through.

Thoughts?

A "No" vote, and a toy city

It's been a few days, sorry. I've been slammed with work and school.

The weekend's biggest news comes out of Venezuela, where President Hugo Chávez's constitutional reforms were narrowly defeated. Learn more from the NYT, Miami Herald, LA Times, BBC News, The Guardian (with audio) and The Associated Press.

Key elements of the proposal included: Indefinite re-election of president, term increased from 6 to 7 years; Central Bank autonomy ended; Structure of country's administrative districts reorganized; Maximum  working day cut from 8 hours to 6; Voting age lowered from 18 to 16; and Social security benefits extended to workers in informal sector. (For explanation of referendum, check this from the BBC Venezuelanalysis.com) or the

The weeks prior to yesterday's election had been tense, and massive anti-Chávez protests led by university students had ended in violence. Ricardo Sánchez, president of the Federation of University Centers of Central Venezuelan University, said the student movement will continue to struggle for space in this new political direction and work toward the construction of a majority. 

He called it "a struggle that happened and will continue to happen in terms of the defense of democracy, defense of liberty, a mechanism of defense of human rights, a social agenda, the eradication of poverty, those problems that truly affect Venezuelans, and reconciliation among Venezuelans." (El Universal, my translation.)

 For now, many critics' fear that the votes would be improperly handled, especially since Chávez booted outside referendum observers, have been appeased. Still, Chávez promises his referendum won't go away.

"Don't feel sad," he told his supporters.

"For now, we couldn't do it," he said, repeating words he spoke after his failed coup attempt in February 1992.

But he said he would continue to push his reform plans.

"I will not withdraw even one comma of this proposal, this proposal is still alive," he said. (BBC)

This from the Miami Herald made me laugh out loud:

The outcome will undoubtedly be cheered within the Bush administration and in Spain, Colombia and Peru. Chávez has called President Bush the ''devil,'' Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a U.S. ''lackey'' and Peruvian President Alan Garcia a ''thief.'' He demanded in the days before the referendum that Spanish King Juan Carlos apologize for having told him last month to ``shut up.''

* * * * *

On an unrelated topic, I went for a lovely two-hour walk/hike this morning to a cross on top of a hill that overlooks the city of Granada. These pictures are from that walk, and the view.

The city turns very rural and quiet after 25 minutes or so of walking.

The cross.

Granada looks like a toy city from up here.

more on cpcs

Good investigative journalism by El Nuevo Diario regarding the government bean sales: Enabás supplies Citizen Power Councils. According to the government, the bean sales in poor neighborhoods are only organized by the CPCs; Enabás does the actual selling. This is interesting because the CPCs aren't an official part of government, and therefore shouldn't handle government money (a controversial topic that will become even more so tomorrow when the president goes through with his plan to legalize them by any means necessary).

What the reporters did was incredibly simple:

After on-site verifications by El Nuevo Diario yesterday in Managua's barrios, we discovered that the CPCs of the government's party handle the money from the bean sales ... changing the operation into one of political clientelism ...

This same trip demonstrated that what was said by First Lady Rosario Murillo wasn't true, and that the confusion of Enabás-CPC confirms the denunciation that was has happened is that the CPCs are a para-state organism — a very dangerous State-party mixup.

Reporters went to the bean sale sites and saw not a single Enabás employee.

For example, at the site in Batahola Norte, headed by Melba Fátima Urbina, the beans were being sold by her husband, Rodolfo Cuéndiz, who attended us cordially.

"Yesterday (Tuesday) we sold 8,000 pesos, of the 9,000 that we were supposed to turn in. Today (Wednesday) we turned in the 8,000 pesos that we sold, and they brought us 5 more quintales of red beans, and one of black beans. When they return we'll turn in what we've sold, and that's how we'll do it I guess until they tell us that it isn't necessary to go on with this," he explained. (END, my translation)

This kind of story really wouldn't be that big a deal for me in the States, but it's super reader-friendly, creative and good journalism. Things often missing in artices here. Kudos, END.

Speaking of good work, a friend alerted me to a strange story in the NYT yesterday, Fugitive From U.S.  Justice Leads Panama Assembly. This was his recommendation:

this is one of the most amazing stories i have read in a long time. can you imagine, they are trying to put this guy in jail from killing a soldier who was occupying his country?  whether he did it or not, how insane is it to consider defending your country the crime and conquering it the norm.  I mean, the USA does this all the time, but seldom this bluntly.  if they can arrest this guy, every american official should be arrested flat out.

And another NYT article sent by a friend, In Chávez Territory, Signs of Dissent. And another from Harper's Magazine, Roger Cohen: Viva Mubarak, Fuera Chávez!

Happy reading.

On rhetoric and action

I swear I'm not trying to make this blog all about Hugo Chávez, but here's the latest, from Reuters: Chávez Threatens to Reconsider Venezuela's Ties with Spain. The headline basically tells you what's up, and we'll just have to wait and see whether Venezuela's president actually does cut some ties with Spain or punish business interests there.

Venezuela's oil might gives Chávez the power to make that kind of decision, to risk losing substantial foreign investment. On the other hand, Nicaragua can't do really that because it lacks economic resources. It's one thing for President Daniel Ortega to use international podiums to lash out against Western imperialism, to choose diplomatic alliances with fellow champions of the poor who are unpopular with the rest of the world.  But it's quite something else for him to act on that.

For example, many here believed that Ortega's complaints at the summit about the Spanish company Unión Fenosa would be followed by strong demands that Fenosa reduce blackouts, or worse for the company.  Part of the context is that the president had announced a few weeks ago that outages would be greatly reduced this month and end by December 1 because of a substantial boost in the country's energy production.

However, as the front page of El Nuevo Diario tells us today, Neither blackouts or Unión Fenosa will go.

There are no guarantees that the energy sector will reduce or end the extensive blackouts before the first of December, as the government had promised and this Tuesday made clear that it never contemplated booting Unión Fenosa from the country and doesn't intend to do so.

During a speech ... President Daniel Ortega made clear that his government has never contemplated getting rid of Fenosa, only make it fulfill the investments it has programmed in its concessionary contract.

"It's not as simple as saying that Unión Fenosa should go. If that was the solution I would have done that a long time ago," Ortega said, justifying the declarations he made against the company at the Ibero-American Summit celebrated in Chile.

"We prefer that Unión Fenosa fulfills its obligations," manifested the president, signaling the existence of a valid contract with the company and, "unfortunately, dismantling that so the country can take it over takes time." (my translation)

My friend Tim Rogers recently had a story about Ortega's Two Faces of Economic Change in the Miami Herald that's worth checking out:

One day he is denouncing yanqui tyranny, and the next he is shaking hands with U.S. investors who are building a massive free-trade textile plant north of Managua. At one moment he preaches the importance of socialist revolution, yet behind the scenes his government is signing free-trade accords with Panama and Taiwan and negotiating with international lending institutions.

...

''The President of Nicaragua has the right to say what he wants, but he knows that he can't do everything he says,'' said (Humberto Arbulú, the International Monetary Fund's resident representative in Nicaragua). ``The private sector knows when the message is for them and when it's not. They heard [Ortega's] discourse in the plaza, but they also see the agreement with the IMF.''

That's it for now. A friend has been in town all this week so I've been slacking a bit on reading the news. Should be back on top of things next week. Up next is a trip to San Juán del Sur with some surf lessons, hopefully.