Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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Nicaragua: Ortega’s third

Daniel Ortega, age 70, took 71% of the vote after 21% of ballots were counted, setting his third consecutive term, this time with his wife Rosario Murillo, 65, as vice-president and heir apparent.

Mr. Ortega’s apparent victory wasn’t a surprise. Months earlier, the main opposition coalition was blocked by the courts from participating in the election. The courts and Nicaragua’s electoral authorities are controlled by Mr. Ortega, analysts and opposition leaders say.

Many Nicaraguans chose not to vote. About 35% of voters didn’t go to the polls, an increase of nine points compared with the last presidential election in 2011. Analysts say the increased abstention rate is a measure of many Nicaraguans unhappiness with the country’s uncompetitive elections.

Hardly surprising, when the Sandinistas control all of the country’s institutions, including the Supreme Court, and, of course, the elections authority,

Mrs. Ortega’s known for her fashion statements,

In her spare time, according to the WSJ, she “is mostly responsible for the day-to-day running of the poor Central American country.”

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Nicaragua: And now, totalitarian capitalism

WSJ headline:
Nicaragua’s Leftist Ortega Embraces Business—and Authoritarianism. Daniel Ortega, one of Latin America’s best-known Marxist revolutionaries, is living out a second act as a pro-business, increasingly authoritarian leader,

As the article points out,

Mr. Ortega, now 70, has spent more time in power—21 years over two stints—than the late Mr. Somoza

and he’s keeping the family business, thankyouverymuch,

In August, Mr. Ortega named his wife as his running mate in the coming election. She is already his government’s chief spokesperson and de facto prime minister. One of Mr. Ortega’s sons is in charge of a proposed $40 billion plan by a little-known Chinese businessman to build a transcontinental canal through Nicaragua. Economists and environmentalists say the plan is far-fetched.

Ian Bremmer’s book The End Of The Free Market, describes the model Ortega’s following,

A number of authoritarian governments, drawn to the economic power of capitalism but wary of uncontrolled free markets, have invented something new: state capitalism. In this system, governments use markets to create wealth that can be directed as political officials see fit.

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The pre-debate Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

Yes, there’s a presidential debate tonight. Meh.

ARGENTINA
Argentina plans eurobond

Probe into Nisman’s death will go to federal courts

Stiuso habló de una “guerra” entre espías tras la muerte de Nisman. La versión del ex director de la SIDE sobre su pelea con el espionaje K

En su testimonio, afirmó que se dio una orden ilegal a Migraciones para saber sus movimientos, reveló el dueño de un teléfono clave y vinculó a Aníbal Fernandéz.

Argentina Seeks To Export Its Human Rights Policy

BOLIVIA
“Narcos”. Artículo completo de Veja sobre Evo y Álvaro – Evo Morales and his vice-president Álvaro García Linera, investigated by the DEA.

Give it up, Evo: Bolivia’s Morales accuses Chile of restricting access to ports

BRAZIL
Brazil’s Supreme Court Gives OK to Open Probe of New President Temer

Judge approves preliminary investigation, which is based on plea-bargain testimony by a key witness that implicates President Michel Temer, other PMDB members

CHILE
CIA found ‘convincing evidence’ Chilean dictator was behind 1976 D.C. attack

The latest revelations about the Cold War-era case come on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a leading opponent of the Pinochet regime and onetime Chilean foreign minister, and his think-tank colleague, Ronni Moffitt, in a car bomb on D.C.’s Embassy Row.

COLOMBIA
“The FARC’s abortionist confessed to [performing] 400+ abortions on abused girls. Is there pardon, justice, and reparation?”

CUBA
How Kim (DPRK) and Castro (Cuba) Blackmail Abe (Japan)

Nearly on a monthly basis, some senior North Korean is on a “working visit” to Cuba. Or some senior Cuban regime official is on a “working visit” to North Korea.

With the exception of China, there’s no other nation in the world that North Korean officials visit with such frequency.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Republic’s Former Anti-Drug Chief Sentenced to 20 Years

ECUADOR
Ecuadorian Police Oust Dozens of Cubans Demanding Visas from Quito Park

IMMIGRATION
HILLARY: THE THIRD WORLD HAS A “RIGHT” TO MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES. No, they don’t.

JAMAICA
American says he wants to protect Jamaica’s natural ganja

MEXICO
Priest Killings Highlight Mexico Govt’s Credibility Problem

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua rejects U.S. bill for loans with strings attached (emphasis added)
The Nicaraguan government was responding to the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act, a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. A version was introduced by Senator Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.

Nicaragua on Thursday criticized a proposal by U.S. lawmakers that would require the Central American country, which will hold elections in November, to make political changes in order to receive international loans.
. . .
The Nicaraguan government was responding to the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act, a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. A version was introduced by Senator Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.

The bill proposes blocking Nicaragua from obtaining loans from international financial institutions unless the country “is taking effective steps to hold free, fair, and transparent elections.”

On Nov. 6, Nicaraguans will vote for president and 90 members of the National Assembly.

President Daniel Ortega is the favorite as he seeks his third consecutive term.

PANAMA
Smithsonian opens climate change lab in Panama

PARAGUAY
Polka lessons

Budgets have been roughly in balance and public debt is low. The central bank aims for an inflation rate of 4.5% and usually gets close. Commercial banks are healthy (in part because they charge high interest rates and face little competition). Regulation, like the tax code, is business-friendly. Independent trade unions, suppressed under Stroessner, are weak.

PERU
Peru President Says Unasur Unable to Resolve Venezuela Crisis

PUERTO RICO
Where were you when the lights went out? The Puerto Rico blackout, from space

URUGUAY
More on Abu Wa’el Dhiab: Uruguay says ex-Gitmo detainee demands exceed government

“The Uruguayan government is doing everything possible,” Vazquez said. “But as I’ve said in the past: If the countries where the Syrian citizen wants to go don’t take him, we can’t do anything about it.”

VENEZUELA
Military and Police Corruption: Venezuela’s Growing Evil



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The #Rio2016 Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, week 2

While the pools turn green, the athletes are breaking records and earning medals, even if some (like Ryan Lochte and four teammates) get mugged at gunpoint by men in police uniforms.

ARGENTINA
Theresa May reaches out to Argentina with ‘mutual respect’ as she works to ease restrictions on the Falkland Islanders exploiting their oil reserves

BOLIVIA
Evo Morales Confirms Bolivia’s Economic Downturn

BRAZIL
Brazil Mourns Olympics Guardsman Shot in Ambush.Out-of-town officer was part of large security contingent deployed to Rio for Games

Israeli Wrestler Takes Olympic Gold Without Winning Single Match After All Muslim Opponents Forfeit‘

NBC PANIC: RIO RATINGS HIT LOW…

From green pool to missing pontoon, problems won’t go away…

At The Economist, they’re not into records:

Why few records will be broken in Rio: The human body may have reached its limits
The factors fuelling America’s dominance of gymnastics
Why Pacific-island nations are so good at rugby
Olympians have discovered new fads and superstitions

CHILE
Chile’s privatized social security system, beloved by U.S. conservatives, is falling apart

COLOMBIA
Good luck with that: Colombia wants involvement of pope and UN in post-conflict courts.

CUBA
The fruits of “smart diplomacy”: Fidel Castro Lambasts US And Obama On 90th Birthday. The veteran Communist firebrand mocks attempts by America to kill him during Havana’s long Cold War stand-off with Washington.

Judicial Watch Investigates Starwood’s Hotel Deal With Cuban Military

MEXICO
Jorge Ramos Moves Towards Hitting Campaign Trail for Hillary. He will continue to call himself a “journalist,” which brings to mind this,

Mexico’s President Faces New Scrutiny. President Enrique Peña Nieto, whose past two years in office have been shadowed by a conflict-of-interest scandal linked to a Mexico City mansion, is facing new scrutiny linked to the first family’s use of a luxury apartment in Miami.

Ricardo Pierdant, a Miami-based businessman, in 2013 paid close to $30,000 in property taxes on behalf of first lady Angélica Rivera for an apartment she owns in Miami, according to tax records seen by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Pierdant is a close friend of Mexico´s first family, according to Mr. Peña Nieto´s office.

The first lady purchased her apartment in the wealthy island enclave of Key Biscayne in 2005.

Mr. Pierdant subsequently purchased another apartment directly above Ms. Rivera’s, according to Miami property records.

Texas Family Among Those Kidnapped by Los Zetas Cartel in Mexico

NICARAGUA
Nicaragua’s president makes a farce of democracy

Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega shows his true colors. Since taking office in 2007, the president has concentrated power in his family’s hands

PANAMA
IDEAS PANAMA PAPERS Joseph E. Stiglitz and Mark Pieth: Why We Left the Panama Commission

PARAGUAY
Murders Add to Fears of Narco War in Eastern Paraguay

Paraguay recalls ambassador in diplomatic dispute with Venezuela

Earlier this week, socialist Maduro accused Paraguay of being part of “an extreme right wing alliance” aimed at blocking Venezuela from assuming its role as head of Mercosur as scheduled during the second half of the year.

PERU
PPK works out: Peru’s 77-year-old new president isn’t acting his age. And Peruvians love it.

PUERTO RICO
1 in 4 Puerto Ricans will have Zika by end of year…

URUGUAY
Montevideo Is Considering Joining The Pacific Alliance Trade Bloc, since Peru and Colombia issued an invitation.

VENEZUELA
Again, Venezuelans cross into Colombia after border is reopened

Invictus, via Miguel Octavio,



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Nicaragua: Ortega picks his first lady

Daniel Ortega is running for a third term.

Last week, Nicaragua’s Supreme Electoral Council

ousted 16 opposition legislators from the Liberal Independent Party and its ally the Sandinista Renovation Movement Friday for not recognizing their officially sanctioned leader. That leader, Pedro Reyes, had recently been given that authority by theSupreme Court, which removed the opposition party’s previous leader following a long-running political dispute. Reyes is seen by some within his own party as a tool of Ortega.

The 16 legislators removed from their seats supported the party’s former leader Eduardo Montealegre and refused to recognize Reyes, who said the vacant seats will be filled by party members who recognize him.

Carlos Langrand, one of the ousted lawmakers, said through his Twitter account: “We have been unseated for not lowering our heads before the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega.”

You could call it a coup; indeed, the Twitter handle is #GolpeEnNicaragua.

Yesterday Ortega named his wife, Rosario Murillo, age 65, as his running mate, keeping it all in the family

Mr Ortega, 70, is a former left-wing guerrilla who formed part of the government junta following the Sandinista revolution against the dictatorship of the Somoza family, which ruled Nicaragua for four decades.

The Cuban-inspired Sandinistas seized power in 1979.Since returning to office nearly a decade ago, Ortega has methodically and completely dismantled Nicaragua’s fragile institutional democracy from within and reshaped the laws in a way that support his personal aspirations to create a one-party system that he can govern unopposed till death do they part. By hook and crook, Ortega and his lackeys have taken control of all four branches of government, implemented a repressive zero-tolerance policy for street protests, and rewritten the constitution to eliminate checks and balances.

The party lost elections in the 1990s, but Mr Ortega returned to power in January 2007, after a successful election campaign.

Tim Rogers writes about Why we should care that Nicaragua is becoming a dictatorship (again)

Since returning to office nearly a decade ago, Ortega has methodically and completely dismantled Nicaragua’s fragile institutional democracy from within and reshaped the laws in a way that support his personal aspirations to create a one-party system that he can govern unopposed till death do they part. By hook and crook, Ortega and his lackeys have taken control of all four branches of government, implemented a repressive zero-tolerance policy for street protests, and rewritten the constitution to eliminate checks and balances.

Rogers’s point is that democracy matters.

But, when it comes down to Nicaragua, nobody seems to care.

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Nicaragua: Cubans storming the border

Unintended consequences of “smart diplomacy,”

Nicaragua said thousands of Cubans forced their way into its territory from Costa Rica on Sunday, accusing its southern neighbor of “deliberately and irresponsibly” flooding it with US-bound migrants.

The accusation came after Costa Rica said Saturday it was giving temporary visas to a group of about 1,000 stranded, penniless Cubans, telling them they had one week to cross the country and continue their journey toward the United States.

Daniel Ortega, long-time buddy of Fidel Castro, is not happy. The Cubans were dispersed with tear gas.

Ortega’s regime has been known to boast that there are few Nicaraguans among the Central Americans flooding into the U.S.

What does this have to do with “smart diplomacy”?

There has been a surge in Cubans seeking to reach the United States since the two Cold War foes announced a historic rapprochement last December, raising expectations that Washington may soon end its policy of granting residency to Cuban immigrants who reach its shores.

And open borders?

Cubans seeking to leave the communist island for the United States are increasingly traveling overland through Central America and Mexico rather than risk crossing the Florida Straits by boat.

The migrants stranded in Costa Rica had flown from Cuba to Ecuador before working their way up through Colombia and Panama.

Costa Rica said last Tuesday it had dismantled a human trafficking ring that was charging Cubans $7,000 to $15,000 to send them to the United States.

Where’s that money coming from?

(h/t J.C.)

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Nicaragua: Is China actually behind the canal?

Mary O’Grady thinks so:
China Wants to Dig the Nicaragua Canal

The economics don’t add up, but the project serves both governments’ larger interests.

The Chinese government denies it is behind the concession held by HKND. But with more than $3.5 trillion in foreign reserves, it’s the logical candidate to foot the bill. Beijing has been flexing its geopolitical muscles in the Americas for more than a decade, and it hasn’t hesitated to work closely with corrupt dictatorships like those in Ecuador and Venezuela. According to HKND, the Nicaragua canal will require a labor force of 50,000. Many can be expected to be Chinese. The company says the China Railway Construction Corporation is conducting feasibility studies of the project.The HKND concession includes the rights to develop “two ports, a free-trade zone, holiday resorts and an international airport.” Canal or no canal, each is a business opportunity not only for China but also for Mr. Ortega, who is bound to ensure that he gets a piece of the action.

There’s action already: Last year Ortega made a $300 million telecommunications deal with Xinwei Telecom Enterprise Group, of which Wang Jing is chairman.

The canal, a project of Dubious Plans and Abundant Unknowns, cannot come about (as I have been saying from the start) without major support from the Chinese government. As O’Grady puts it,

China may still see the ditch as part of a military strategy,

A Nicaragua canal may fit as part of a military strategy along with the South China Sea projects.

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Nicaragua: The canal, a pretext for expropriation?

The Nicaragua Canal, that project of Dubious Plans and Abundant Unknowns, is back in the news.

It appears that HKND Group by now has feasibility studies, property surveys, an environmental impact review and exploratory drilling, according to the Wall Street Journal, but

Still unclear is whether the canal will be built.

However, the proposed canal may be a useful pretext in Daniel Ortega’s road to dictatorship:
Nicaraguan Canal Plan Riles Landholders
Sandinista push to build Chinese-led shipping route across country sparks concerns over property rights. 642 square miles, to be precise (emphasis added):

But to make room for the waterway, ports, roads and free-trade zones, the company says it needs 642 square miles. Nicaraguan government officials justify the pending expropriations, which would uproot 27,000 people, saying the canal will transform this impoverished Central American nation by creating 50,000 jobs and doubling the economy.

Though the government has yet to seize a single acre, HKND Group says it will pay market prices for confiscated acreage. However, a 2013 law authorizing the government to expropriate any land needed for the canal says payments will be based on each property’s assessed tax value, figures that are usually much lower.

Then there’s this,

“Nothing is going on with the canal because there is not yet any money deposited for it,” said Bayardo Arce, the top economic adviser to President Daniel Ortega.

Say again? A project this big,

and “there is not yet any money deposited for it“?

And, if that’s not bad enough,

More than one-third of the canal’s route skips dry ground altogether by cutting across Lake Nicaragua, the largest reservoir of drinking water in Central America.

Back in the 1980s, Ortega expropriated more than 1.5 million acres, including properties belonging to opposition leaders. The canal project, even (especially?) if no canal actually is built, may serve Ortega’s purposes after all.

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