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| Central American University - UCA |
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Number 171 | Octubre 1995 |
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Nicaragua
NICARAGUA BRIEFS
THE DEA SETS UP SHOP
The US Drug Enforcement Agency has decided to open a provisional office in Managua, assigned to the US Embassy, to "organize training programs, investigatory counselling and information exchanges" with the Nicaraguan authorities. Both governments will later decide if the office will become permanent. Several National Assembly members rejected the installation of the office as unconstitutional, since the executive branch made the decision without consulting the legislators.
ELECTORAL LAW CHANGES
The reforms that the legislature must make to the Electoral Law very soon are generating intense public and private debate, since important steps in organizing the September 1996 elections (as well as the second round in October, if one is required) depend on these reforms. One of the needed reforms is approval of the ID cards being prepared by the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) as voter registration certificates. The CSE has calculated the cost of the elections at $30 million if the voter registration/ID process can be finished in time, estimated as nearly impossible (it is now 60% complete). If that partially incomplete system is combined with registering those uncarded, the elections will cost $40 million. If the legal reforms fall prey to more political derailings, the pricetag goes up to $54 million because all voters must register anew.
IMF WORLD BANK MISSION STRIKES AGAIN
On August 28, yet another delegation from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank arrived for a three week session to evaluate the course of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Fund (ESAF) agreement. The two banking institutions, which consider that the agreement has lost its original direction, are proposing strict controls over government spending for the upcoming electoral year.
FALLING LITERACY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The 15th anniversary of Nicaragua's renowned Literacy Crusade was celebrated on August 23. Father Fernando Cardenal, who directed the campaign at that time, called on the nation to get involved again in the fight against illiteracy, which had been reduced to under 13% after the 1980 crusade and is now over 35% again. Cardenal called attention to the following fact: of the 400 NGOs working in Nicaragua, only 10 have literacy projects.
Meanwhile the 1995 Human Development Report prepared by the United Nations Development Program lists Nicaragua in 109th place among the 174 countries classified according to their "human development index." Among other factors, this index is prepared by dividing the country's gross domestic product by the number of its inhabitants, and factoring in their life expectancy and education level. In the UNDP's previous report (done in 1992), Nicaragua was in 106th place.
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a monthly magazine of analysis on Central America