Embajada de la República de Corea en Nicaragua

 

In the Army ceremony, the President told the European Union, the United States and Canada that he will not admit impositions.   Ortega defended the CSE and reminded that the Army came from the Sandinista guerrilla and was trained by Cuba.

 

During the Nicaraguan Army command handing over ceremony, last night, President Daniel Ortega took great care to remind the political origin of the military institution formed by Sandinista guerrilla in 1979 and at the end he sent a message to the government which one year ago froze part of the economical support to Nicaragua after the municipal elections fraud in November 2008.

 

To the European Union countries, the United States and Canada, who suspended the support to the Nicaraguan budget and demanded transparency for the results in those elections, Ortega launch to them a type of challenge by telling them that he want “relations within a respect framework, not of impositions”.

 

The president defended the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) first, which is the institution that endorse the fraud, praising his president, Roberto Rivas, for his “good experience”.

 

He compared the elections with a sport competition, Ortega commented that in the elections “who lost, said that they were robed”, referring to the Nicaraguan opposition denounces about how the governing party, the FSLN robed the votes to keep at least 40 town halls.

 

To Ortega, the electoral magistrate Rivas has “good experience”, but “it happen as in the case of the judges” in the sport disciplines, “always in a game they get the worst part”.

 

That defence of the CSE controlled by the FSLN was a preamble used by Ortega to end up telling the main nations that cooperate with Nicaragua that he will not permit more demands from them.

 

Europe, United States and Canada demand Nicaragua to depoliticize the public institutions, most of all the electoral and judicial powers, to strengthen democracy and are a condition to renew the economic aid that they give to this country.

 

But president Ortega insisted last night that “this is a Supreme Electoral Council that have been submitted to lot of trials and have been coming out”, making understand that no donors country is going to force him to change the actual system.

 

Last week Roberto Rivas was proposed by Ortega, before the National Assembly to be re-elected as electoral magistrate.

 

 

After handing the National Army leadership to General Julio Cesar Aviles, President Ortega dedicated himself to remind the left political origin of the military corps.

 

He said it was no secret to no one where the militaries came from who have lead the army up to today and he underline their training in Cuba.

 

He emphasize that from before taking over power in Nicaragua, the Sandinistas guerrillas were trained by Cuba and “there is where the Sandinista Popular Army (as it was called in the eighties) was been formed and further the National Army.

 

The president also re launch the slogan commonly used in the eighties, that says “people, army, unity, guaranty the victory”, from when the Popular Sandinista Army was under control of the FSLN, as all the State.

 

However the new Commander in Chief of the Nicaraguan Army, Julio Cesar Aviles Castillo compromises himself in his first speech to follow the Nicaraguan Political Constitution and fight drug trafficking and organize crime.

 

Aviles, former Sandinista guerrilla of 53 years, is the fifth chief of the Nicaraguan Army. He was the chief of the general staff of the Army and was chief for the military Intelligence and counter intelligence Direction since 1998 to 2005.

 

“As commander in chief I will seek to consolidate the achievements of my predecessors with dynamism and own style. We will set new goals in benefit of the nation”, he said.

 

“We will be strictly governed by the Political Constitution, to which we will keep respect and obedience and will be subordinated to the civil authority, directly under the President of the Republic, as the supreme chief of the Nicaraguan Army. We will continue in that direction, this is a compromise of all of us who are in the Nicaraguan Army”, the new chief of the Army added.

 

He said he will “firmly” fight drug trafficking and organize crime, because they are the main threat of the national security.

 

 

The exiting Commander of the Nicaraguan Army, Moises Omar Halleslevens Acevedo, said in his last speech that he leaves an army in the hands of Major General Julio Cesar Aviles Castillo which has “reaction capacity” and with “fire capacity”.

 

“We are leaving a military institution with strength, with a deterrent capacity and of reaction, with fire power and with human resources trained to face new and more complex missions that are imposed by the world globalization in all ambits”, he said.

 

Halleslevens took position as Chief Commander of the Army on February 21, 2005, which is the date the National Hero Augusto C. Sandino assassination is remembered.

 

“On this occasion I am here before you to thank, well in the Army we learn to be thankful”, Halleslevens said then individually thanked, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Supreme Electoral Council, the Public Ministry the General Attorney of the Republic, the Human Rights Defence Attorney, the National Police, Ministers and public functionaries of the different State Ministries and Autonomous Institutions, the Central American Court of Justice, the producers and the families of those who offered their lives in complying with their duties, among others.

 

While thanking President Daniel Ortega, supreme chief of the Nicaraguan army, he said “I am proof of his respect and direct communication towards the institution, in which he trusted and for which he worked to better the life conditions and job of the members”.

 

“Arriving to this conclusive moment of my military career, I wish to tell you that I am leaving satisfied to have complied, satisfied with my mission that I was supposed to comply with in the Nicaraguan Army” Halleslevens said almost at the end of his speech.

 

President Daniel Ortega, who left to Mexico yesterday, demanded England to return the Malvinas to “the real owners”, to Argentina and announced that this would be the issue to be treated in the XXI Rio Summit in Cancun, Mexico. “It is not possible that in these times England, from miles of distance from the sister republic of Argentina, keep their military occupation in this territory”, he said.

 

 

The New commander in chief of the Nicaraguan Army, Julio Cesar Aviles, mentioned the achievements of the military institutions in the five years that it was directed by the now retired general, Moises Omar Halleslevens.

 

1,062 restricted arms captured and three thousand robed livestock.

 

5,081 navy patrols, which left 509 boats, captured which were dedicated to illegal fishing.

 

Security and protection was given to 2,813 merchant ships.

 

309 rescue of boats and 2,473 shipwrecked persons rescue.

 

32 tons of cocaine captured, 12 million and a half dollars and almost half million Cordoba.

 

Capture of 452 drug smugglers captured three air transport and 97 naval transport link to illicit activities.

 

A total of 2,446 persons involved in criminal activities where the troops operates, captured.

 

 

 

Cenidh reports show that the peasants finished all the stored grains last year.

 

The worst of the scenery caused by the drought continue to be seeing in the poorest communities of the North zone in Nicaragua, according to the Nicaraguan Human Rights Center (Cenidh), in that region.

 

Alberto Rosales, Cenidh legal advisor in Esteli, informed that the information obtained through the promoters of that organization, which is located in different municipalities in the Segovian region, confirmed that the families are suffering from lack of food.

 

“The families in the field are complaining that the little grains collected last year was finished and that they are buying food at the small shops, which affect the family economy because the real salaries, for those who are working, is around 40 to 60 Cordobas in this zone” Rosales said.

 

Cenidh representative in Estelis said that in the municipalities of San Juan de Limay and San Nicolas, and the majority of Madriz municipalities and other from Nueva Segovia, such as Mozonte are without basic grains and water.

 

In those municipalities, the local authorities have declared food emergency state.

 

 

Engineer Jose Angel Rugama, delegate for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Magfor) in Esteli, informed that this institution, together with other organizations, such as the ones in favour of the government such as the CPC, made a study over the food availability which show a low scarcity percentage up to last January.

 

The study shows that 5% of the total surveyed families, which add up 12 thousand in 486 communities in Esteli, would start feeling lack of food availability from the month of January.

 

He clarified that the survey is based on the stored food existence verification during the first planting season of last year, without including ´postrera´ and apante done in some humid zones.

 

However, he said that during the ´postrera´ planting, in Esteli department, because of lacking of rain 70% of the areas for beans was not planted, which adds up to 9 thousand manzanas.

 

 

 

Corn was less affected because the biggest part was planted in a first phase, contrary to sorghum which was not planted in 98 percent as is generally planted during the ´postrera´ season, most of all in San Juan de Limay, Pueblo Nuevo and Condega municipalities.

 

He said Magfor survey forecast that from the middle of February and in March the food lacking situation would get worst, because of finishing of the stored grains from the firs planting season last year.

 

He also said that the drought effects could be felt more in these months because the water sources are drying.

 

Rugama said that Magfor is working with the municipal production cabinets, to give and immediate answer to the families that are affected because of lacking of food and for that they have the support of the World Food Program that will give food portions.

 

A report from the international organization Action against hunger published a report last wee, said that in Madriz, Esteli and Nueva Segovia departments, the lost in the crops (corn, sorghum and beans) “have been over 50% in most all cases”.

 

In the ´postrera´ cycle, the lost of corn, beans and sorghum crop in Totogalpa, Yalaguina and Macuelizo was over 85%.

 

The report added that “the actual state of food reserve that the producers have, who have harvest their own production, is inexistent, being that since one month it is finished. That is, the harvest of corn, beans and sorghum is finished”.

 

 

 

 

They will deliver 1.5 million dollars and Apanas Lake, La Concordia and San Rafael del Norte will be benefited.

 

The IDB will disburse one million 590 dollars in the next five years – starting this year- to develop environmental mitigation jobs in the Apanas Lake basin, located 5 kilometers north of Jinotega. Within this same package La Concordia and San Rafael del Norte municipalities would be benefited.

 

This money, Professor Maria Teresa Centeno, president of the Departmental Environmental Commission said, “Will be to execute the environmental protection in the Apanas Lake and the water sources protection and execute the reforestation programs and environmental mitigation in La Concordia and San Rafael del Norte. There will be a time when we will most need protection of the water resources and protect the sub basing of the Apanas Lake”.

 

According to Centeno, the sum was distributed as follows: 720 thousand dollars for the protection of the Apanas Lake basin, 380 thousand for La Concordia and 490 thousand dollars for San Rafael del Norte.

 

 

The program to be executed has a component that will be “management of natural resources to the vulnerability of natural disasters”.

 

The program will be for the next 5 years (2010-2015) and will be coordinated by the Nicaraguan Minister of natural resources and environment (Marena). Jinotega, San Rafael del Norte and La Concordia, municipalities will be involve, who are beneficiaries of the project.

 

Both La Concordia as well as San Rafael del Sur is expected to promote reforestation of the rivers and creek sides, develop agro forestry programs, environmental education and conservation of water source.

 

 

The program starting, according to Centeno, “will depend on the speed and efficiency” of the town halls of the three municipalities that are involved.

 

“Our proposal is to monitor and conservation of flora and fauna and strongly apply the environmental law against violators of the same, ecologic projects and know how to put to good use the 720 thousand dollars that Jinotega is entitle to”, Centeno said.