Central America Report Winter 2010

Also in this issue:

How fair is Fairtrade?
1.26 million Hondurans
demand new constitution
ALBA, who benefits?
El Salvador gangs
Militarisation of
Costa Rica

Nicaragua free of illiteracy

Editorial

Latin America takes the lead Contents

What ALBA means for Nicaragua 3
WO RECENT DEVELOPMENTS highlight the key role that Latin America
T is playing in global geopolitical power shifts by leading the way with
innovative ideas and action on issues facing us globally.
Helen Yuill highlights the social benefits

How to make Fairtrade fairer 4–5

Fairtrade is regarded as a success
From 29 November to 10 December the 2010 UN Climate Change Conference story but much more needs to done
to address the inequalities of benefits
will take place in Cancún, Mexico. This comes at a critical moment in climate within the supply chain.
change talks after the catastrophic failure of the 2009 Copenhagen Summit Megan Rowling reports.
where the US, Europe and their allies, backed by corporate lobbyists, hijacked Regional update 6–7
the agenda. The outcome of these talks was denounced by environmentalists What to do about gang violence 8
and the ALBA countries and their allies as being anti the environment, anti the El Salvadoran civil society organisations
believe the government’s anti-gang
impoverished and failing to address the gravity of the problems facing us all. legislation is not the answer
Following this failure, a Social Summit on Climate Change was held in Your gold or your money 9
Cochabamba, Bolivia in April. Thirty-five thousand people from 147 countries Martin Mowforth and Lucy Goldman
update on Pacific Rim gold mining
attended including 47 government delegations, an historic gathering in the company’s case against El Salvador
process of climate change negotiations. It represented an vital step in unifying Turning the page on illiteracy 10 – 11
around a common agenda and counteracting the manoeuvres of wealthy Ruth Moulton reports on the
Sandinista literacy crusade 30th
countries. Agreement was reached on the following demands: anniversary and the recent ALBA
• climate justice: rich countries are primarily responsible for causing climate supported literacy campaign

change and therefore have a moral responsibility to assist poorer countries Women’s voices heard through
grass roots action 12
to adapt to change and to introduce low carbon measures Honduran Feminists in Resistance
• the ‘limitless growth’ assumption of free market capitalism fails to take into continue their struggle despite
repression, Jennifer Browne reports.
account the environmental impact: a new model is needed whereby humans
Pesticide poisoning legal action
live in harmony with nature that should be protected through a Universal
thrown out by US court 13
Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, a demand that should be taken Suing US companies is fraught with
obstacles: the case of the
up by a world people’s movement to defend the rights of Mother Earth.
Nicaraguan banana workers
• rejection of the Copenhagen Accord, carbon markets, carbon off-setting, ‘War on drugs’ pretext for
agro-fuels and privatisation of water military buildup 14
Cheryl Gallagher questions what
• a demand for 50% reduction of emissions of rich countries, compared 7,000 troops and 46 warships are doing
with 1990 levels, by 2017 in Costa Rica, famous for abolishing
its army in 1948.
• an International Climate Change Tribunal should be set up
See: boliviainfoforum.org.uk & www.cambioclimatico.org.bo Take action 15 – 16

Bolivia and the ALBA countries took the lead in Copenhagen on behalf
of poorer, most vulnerable countries nations demanding immediate action.
In Cancun the ALBA countries will again take the lead reflecting the demands Published by Central America Report,
86 Durham Road, London N7 7DT
of the Social Summit. As Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, commented: Email: info@central-america-report.org.uk
“We go to Cancun to continue the battles of Copenhagen and Cochabamba Editorial committee: Ruth Collins, Cheryl
more furiously and strongly.” Gallagher, James Poke, Megan Rowling,
Helen Yuill
Another development is being led by Miguel D’Escoto, former Nicaraguan
Cover photos: Celebrating the 30th
foreign minister and UN president in 2008 – 9. Profoundly disillusioned with anniversary of the Literacy crusade.
Yo, si puedo materials used for teaching
the state of the UN which he sees as a dominated by a ‘severely diabolically
literacy. Credit: Ruth Moulton
possessed United States’, D’Escoto calls for the reinvention of the UN in a Design: Jane Warring
proposal that he intends to present to regional groupings of heads of State Our thanks to all the contributors for helping
and governments of the G77. See www.reinventingtheun.org to produce this issue of CAR. The articles in
this magazine should be taken as having
been written in a personal capacity, unless
Central America Report is online at: www.central-america-report.org.uk otherwise stated. Any views stated in the
articles should not be taken to represent the
For information and article submissions please contact us at: policy of any of the organisations that support
info@central-america-report.org.uk the production of Central America Report.

Central America Report: Winter 2010 2

 Nicaragua

What Latin America’s alternative

alliance means for Nicaragua
Helen Yuill reports on how resources and other forms of solidarity under the Bolivarian Alliance for the
Peoples of our America (ALBA) have contributed to social programmes in Nicaragua and reduced
dependence on Northern institutions and governments.
ETWEEN LAST December and
B April this year, a Cuban-Nicaraguan
health brigade conducted a national
States that make up ALBA
census to determine the number and Name of country Date joined Population
needs of Nicaragua’s disabled
population. Under the name “A Voice Antigua and Barbuda 2009 85,632
for Everyone” (Todos con Voz), the team Bolivia 2006 9,119,152
carried out 82,501 consultations with Cuba 2004 11,451,652
disabled people and their families. Dominica 2008 72,660
This is the first ever nationwide Ecuador 2009 14,573,101
analysis of disability which will enable
Nicaragua 2007 5,891,199
the government to develop support
Saint Vincent and Grenadines 2009 120,000
programmes. Another initiative that
represents ALBA solidarity is Venezuela 2004 28,199,825
Operation Miracle run by Cuban Total 69,513,221
doctors, which has carried out 65,527
Grenada, Haiti, Paraguay and Uruguay have observer status in ALBA. In August 2008,
free eye operations for Nicaraguans
then Honduran President Manuel Zelaya signed an agreement to join, but after the
with few resources since 2007. June 2009 coup, the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti withdrew from ALBA.
These are just two examples of the
many social programmes based on
solidarity, cooperation and respect for
national sovereignty that are the basis ALBA principles
of the ALBA model. Formed in 2004
Relations between ALBA countries Solidarity: As Caribbean countries
by Cuba and Venezuela, ALBA is a
are based on complementary action, have extremely limited hydrocarbon
regional bloc of Caribbean and Latin
cooperation, solidarity and respect resources, Venezuela helps them obtain
American countries that believe unity
for national sovereignty. fuel at fairer prices through state-owned
is essential to address present and company Petrocaribe in a typical
future challenges. It is inspired by the Complementary action: This
gesture of ALBA solidarity.
ideas of Simon Bolivar, the hero of acknowledges the strengths of each
19th century liberation struggles nation – for example, Nicaragua Respect for sovereignty: All
produces food needed by Venezuela, agreements are conducted with respect
against the Spanish, who fought
and oil-rich Venezuela provides fuel for the sovereignty and right to self-
for national sovereignty and an
for Nicaragua. Another example is the determination of the nations involved.
integrated Confederation of Latin
agreement between Venezuela and There is no set formula, but instead
American Republics. Cuba under which Caracas provides a strong emphasis on appreciating
about 96,000 barrels of oil per day different realities and recognising that
‘Nicaragua has benefited from the in exchange for 20,000 medical staff ALBA will be implemented in varying
most ingenious innovation in and thousands of teachers who work ways according to the local context.
development financing of the 21st in Venezuela’s poorest states. Nicky Hoskyns, who works in rural
Century. This consists in Venezuelan Venezuelans can also travel to development in Nicaragua, explains:
solidarity channeled via the Cuba for free medical care. “ALBA is characterised by spontaneity
PetroCaribe agreements which and directness of action to benefit those
converts half of the petrol costs of Cooperation: One example is the
in most need. It is so dynamic that the
poor countries into low interest, long construction of an oil refinery, a fertiliser
understanding comes after the action
term credit for poverty reduction.’ plant and a milk processing factory in
rather than vice versa.”
Paul Oquist Kelley,
Nicaragua being financed by ALBA
Secretary of National Policy for the Nicaraguan Presidency, funds, with each country contributing Further information
at the UN summit to review progress on the its own specialist knowledge. www.nicaraguasc.org.uk
Millennium Development Goals 20 – 20 September.

3 Central America Report: Winter 2010

 Central America
Making Fairtrade fairer
Fairtrade is largely regarded as a success story but what more should
be done to make Fairtrade fairer? Megan Rowling reports on the
perspective of producers.
OW OVER 20 years old, the
N Fairtrade market is largely
regarded as a success story. Global
sales have more than trebled over the
past four years and hundreds more
producer organisations have become
certified. The minimum guaranteed
price and additional Fairtrade
Premium that small farmers receive
have brought social and economic
benefits to their communities.
Consumer support has grown:
Photo: Liz Light
Fairtrade coffee producer, 19 July cooperative, Jinotega, Nicaragua
Central America Report: Winter 2010
of whether Fairtrade will have a far-
reaching transformative impact on
international trade. Can it really
play a significant role in making
development more sustainable?
Sharp increase in the price of
free market coffee
in some national markets Fairtrade
accounts for between 20 – 50% of
market share in certain products.
Since the beginning of 2010, coffee
farmers have watched prices rise
more than 45% to a 13-year high,
Yet there are many challenges
with higher-quality arabica soaring
facing the Fairtrade system – not least
on international markets to above
the participation of transnational
$2 a pound compared with the
corporations like Nestlé and volatile
Fairtade price of $1.35 including
commodity prices. Some producers
the premium. That contrasts with
feel Fairtrade has done little to help
the period from 2000 – 2005, when
them gain ownership of brands or
prices plunged to around half the
take control over of the more of
minimum Fairtrade price.
supply chain. This raises the question
When free market prices rise above
the minimum, Fairtrade buyers should
match them. But, as Fairtrade
Labelling Organizations International
(FLO) notes, some farmers don’t
benefit if the price in their contracts is
fixed at an earlier date. According to
a survey carried out earlier this year
of 19 Nicaraguan producers’
organisations by Catalan research
organisation Alba Sud, since 2009, the
Fairtrade price has fallen substantially
below that for uncertified coffee. That
could tempt hard-up farmers to
abandon Fairtrade and deter others
from joining. Price spikes also have a
destabilising effect on small producers,
FLO notes, especially in the wake of
the financial crisis, which made it hard
for farmers to access credit.
Lack of investment in infrastructure
and skills of Fairtrade producers
Albert Tucker, a consultant working in
Fairtrade for many years, including
with CLAC, the Latin American
Fairtrade small producers’ association,
says that Nicaraguan farmers want
Fairtrade to help them do business
better, but this hasn’t happened.
Tucker believes that, with higher-
quality Fairtrade products available,
they can move beyond the traditional
solidarity-focused producer-consumer
relationship. He says companies
involved in Fairtrade should invest
more in building infrastructure and
4

training farmers in marketing and
other business skills so they can gain
power and pursue more value-added
activities in the supply chain.
“As (Fairtrade) gets bigger, the
management side is getting larger,
and it costs producers to implement
management and traceability systems.
In terms of investing in the market,
there isn’t enough on their side. One
idea is to use Fairtrade licensing
money to reduce their costs and help
change trade globally,” says Tucker.
Inspection systems for Fairtrade and
organic labels could be simplified,
localised and harmonised, making it
cheaper for farmers, he adds.
Transparency is demanded of
producers but there is no sense of
accountability on the part of the
rest of the chain. There must be
transparency in the whole chain,
exporters, importers, toasters,
shops, supermarkets and also
within FLO. Where does the money
go? Who pays the bill for what?
Role of major transnationals
in the Fairtrade market
A growing number of transnational
corporations like Nestlé, Cadbury,
Dole and Chiquita offer Fairtrade
products, a shift that has divided
opinion among consumers since some
have campaigned against their trade
practices for many years. Albert
Tucker says most producers want
these firms to expand Fairtrade to
more of their range and open up their
practices to better monitoring. “Some
big companies have a weak Fairtrade
product and you don’t hear much
about it – they are not that serious.
They should not just be paying
farmers a bit more and change
practices in that part of the chain
only,” he says. “If we could get the big
players to punch above their weight,
and support the infrastructure and
boost sustainability, farmers could
engage more.”
Cadbury – now owned by US food
giant Kraft – is one example of a
5 Central America Report: Winter 2010
company that has been moving in the
right direction. It decided to make its
annual production of 300 million
Dairy Milk bars – its signature product
– Fairtrade in 2009, and is working
with 100 communities in Ghana to
help farmers boost declining cocoa
yields, as part of a wider sustainability
partnership also covering India,
Indonesia and the Caribbean.
Insufficient consultation
with producers
According to the Alba Sud report, even
though producers’ organisations claim
they have built schools, houses,
bridges and roads thanks to Fairtrade,
it is unknown what proportion of
these were paid for with the Premium.
“Most organisations interviewed
highlighted the fact that Fairtrade
hasn’t produced substantial changes
in the life of members; the funds
received are very small in relation
to the needs,” it says.
Producers feel Fairtrade
certification requirements are fixed
without properly consulting them,
and are becoming more onerous
without an accompanying increase in
benefits at their end, the report notes.
“Some producers are getting quite
sceptical about us here – we are
always demanding more,” explains
Tucker, who is based in the UK.
“We don’t think about them, we just
satisfy ourselves and think about how
to get our system working better.”
Small farmers hope their voices will
be strengthened at the international
level following the announcement of
a formal partnership between regional
producers’ networks in Asia, Africa
and Latin America.
Limited interaction between
producers and consumers
One way farmers believe they could
strengthen their ownership of the
supply chain is to develop closer links
with the consumers – even selling to
them directly where possible. That
may be challenging when it comes to
Fairtrade exports to Europe or the
US, but is it something that could be
promoted more easily closer to home?
Central America
Fairtrade facts
and figures
Thousands of products carry the
FAIRTRADE Mark, with standards in place
for food products ranging from tea, coffee
and cocoa to fresh fruits and nuts. There
are also standards for non-food items like
flowers, sports balls and seed cotton.
There are now 746 Fairtrade certified
producer organisations in 58 producing
countries. They represent over 1 million
farmers and workers; including their
families and dependents, around 5 million
people benefit directly from Fairtrade.
Sales of Fairtrade certified products
have grown at an average annual rate of
almost 40 percent in the last five years.
In 2008, sales amounted to some
$2.9 billion (£2.5 billion) worldwide.
Source: Fairtrade Labelling Organizations
International (FLO)
The Alba Sud survey notes that the
Nicaraguan local market is still at
an early stage, and there are only 10
markets specifically catering for small
farmers in the whole country. “If there
were a small producers’ market in
each of the 153 municipalities... where
the producers could sell their harvests
at a more favourable price to
consumers, this would be a great step
forward and it would represent the
beginning of a producer-consumer
alliance which could be developed
at other levels,” the report says.
According to the findings of the
survey, Nicaraguan Fairtrade
producer organisations generally
consider Fairtrade to best represent
their interests, but there are still major
challenges ahead to achieve greater
fairness. These include taking greater
ownership of more of the Fairtrade
chain, achieving greater participation
in decision making, ensuring the
levels of transparency demanded of
producers are also demanded of the
rest of the chain, and achieving fairer
prices for producers and consumers.
For more information:
www.albasud.org
www.fairtrade.net
www.fairtrade.org.uk
Central America
Regional update
NICARAGUA
Floods claim 66 lives
Exceptionally heavy rains over
a four-month period have
brought severe floods, causing
close to 70 deaths, extensive
infrastructural damage and
the destruction of crops. An
estimated 70,000 people have
been affected, the majority in
Managua, Leon, Esteli and
Jinotega. At the end of
September, 9,000 people were
living in shelters on the shores
of Lake Xolotlan (Lake
Managua), as the lake rose
higher than during Hurricane
Mitch in 1998. On October 1,
a Red Cross truck and
ambulance returning from
distributing supplies to
survivors were swept away
in a flooded river in Boaco
department. Five aid staff and
a journalist lost their lives.
Nicaragua on track
to meet MDGs
On October 6, Helmut Rauch,
the UN World Food
Programme representative
in Nicaragua, said the
government’s National
Development Plan is an
example to other nations. He
applauded as outstanding
Nicaragua’s efforts to reduce
hunger, poverty and
malnutrition among children,
adding the country is “on
course to meet the Millennium
Development Goals by 2015,
especially the goals related
to reduction in hunger and
cutting malnutrition by half.”
Supreme Court OKs
consecutive re-election
On September 30, the Supreme
Court confirmed the 2009
decision of its Constitutional
Central America Report: Winter 2010
Panel that the article
prohibiting consecutive re-
election of the president and
the limiting of presidential
terms to a total of two is
“inapplicable” because it
violates citizen rights. The
panel had ruled that the
decision applied only to
President Daniel Ortega and
the 110 mayors who had
brought the suit, but the full
court determined it applies to
all citizens who run for office.
Ortega condemns Ecuador
coup attempt
President Daniel Ortega stated
that September’s attempted
coup in Ecuador was promoted
by “right wing forces of
Ecuador cheered on by the
most reactionary sectors of the
United States.” He indicated
the move was part of wider
actions against governments in
the Bolivarian Alliance for the
People of Our Americas
(ALBA). The US embassy
in Managua responded:
“Any suggestion that the US
supported the occurrences in
Ecuador is without basis in fact
and any suggestion that the US
promotes coups in Nicaragua
or in any other place is also
without merit.”
Marchers deliver
abortion petition
The Nicaraguan Centre for
Human Rights (CENIDH)
and the Strategic Group for
the Decriminalisation of
Therapeutic Abortion led a
march on September 28 to
deliver 37,000 signatures and
a sample of 6,000 postcards
collected from around
the world by Amnesty
International, to the home of
President Ortega. Bayardo
Izaba, head of CENIDH, called
directly on Ortega to recognise
that therapeutic abortion is
a human right. It was
criminalised during the
government of Enrique
Bolaños and enshrined in
a new penal code approved
under the Sandinista
government. Nicaraguan
organisations presented a
challenge to the ban in the
Supreme Court in 2007, but
three years have passed
without a ruling.
Protecting endangered
sea turtles
In 2009, more than 100,000
Oliver Ridley sea turtles –
listed as threatened – produced
400,000 babies on the beaches
of the La Flor Wildlife
Sanctuary and similar numbers
are expected this year. An
environment ministry official
said nearly 69,000 turtles came
out of the sea to lay their eggs
on the nights of September 28
and 29, the peak of the laying
season. To guarantee their
safety, the wildlife refuge has
put five additional park
rangers and 15 military troops
on duty, together with police
and volunteers for nights when
there are the most turtles.
Community volunteers earn
$38 as an incentive to stop
them taking the eggs to sell.
Building infrastructure, such as
guest houses and foot paths,
and offering eco-tours could
also offer alternative economic
opportunities and help protect
the turtles.
GUATEMALA
US medical tests ‘crime
against humanity’
In early October, President
Alvaro Colom said US testing
that infected hundreds of
Guatemalans with gonorrhoea
and syphilis more than 60
years ago is a “crime against
humanity.” US President
Barack Obama has apologised
for the medical experiments, in
which mentally ill patients and
prisoners were infected
without their consent, telling
Colom they ran contrary to
American values. The US has
promised an investigation.
Hunger expected to increase
Experts say Guatemala should
prepare for a worsening
hunger situation in 2011 due
to climate change and farmers’
dependence on a few basic
crops like corn and beans,
Inter Press Service reported in
October. A drought last year
has been followed by
extremely heavy rains in 2010,
which have ruined harvests in
the south and west and are
expected to continue into 2011.
According to a regional food
security study released by the
UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation, the proportion of
malnourished people rose from
15 percent (1.4 million people)
in 1990 – 1992 to 21 percent
(2.7 million people) in 2005 –
2007. Honduras and
Nicaragua, meanwhile,
reduced their malnutrition
rates from 19 to 12 percent and
50 to 19 percent respectively in
the same period, the report
said. The number of hungry
people in Latin America and
the Caribbean rose in 2009 –
due to the global food price
and financial crises – to 53
million, close to its level in
1990, having dipped to around
47 million in 2005 – 2007.
EL SALVADOR
FMLN celebrates
30th anniversary
On 10 October, the Farabundo
Martí National Liberation
6

Front (FMLN) celebrated its
30th Anniversary with a
massive mobilization and
rally in San Salvador. More
than 250,000 people formed
a sea of red that stretched
for dozens of blocks. In his
speech, FMLN General
Coordinator Medardo
González made clear that
the massive mobilization
was also a message that
any attempt at a coup in
El Salvador – like that in
neighbouring Honduras or
the unsuccessful attempts in
Venezuela, Bolivia and
Ecuador – would be met with
an organised and tenacious
resistance.
Three convicted for
activist’s murder
Three men have been
sentenced to 40 years
imprisonment for the June
2009 murder of Marcelo
Rivera, an environmentalist
and social activist opposed to
Pacific Rim’s proposed gold
mine near San Isidro in
Cabañas (see page 9). Rivera
was also a prominent
campaigner against electoral
fraud, and publicly
denounced the Mayor of San
Isidro for supporting
fraudulent voting activity.
In the year before his
assassination, he received
numerous death threats. His
friends and family continue
to call for a more thorough
investigation into his murder,
which they believe has been
sidelined as gang activity
by officials unwilling to
investigate the political
motives and ‘intellectual
authors’ behind his
assassination.
7 Central America Report: Winter 2010
Over 1.26 million Hondurans demand
constituent assembly
N JUNE 28 last year, Honduran
O President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in
a military coup, denounced by most of the
world as illegitimate. Fake elections followed
in November and Porfirio Lobo was
inaugurated as president on January 27.
The broad-based National Front of Popular
Resistance (FNRP), which called for the
reinstatement of Zelaya, was left with
a profound sense of betrayal by the
international community. In June this year,
US President Barack Obama accepted the
credentials of Jorge Hernandez Alcerro,
the new US envoy of the post-coup regime.
Obama spoke effusively about the new
Honduran government’s deep love of
democracy, freedom and human rights, and
the wonderful values the two nations share.
The day Zelaya was ousted Hondurans
were due to vote on the inclusion in the ballot
for planned November 2009 elections of
a question about setting up a national
constituent assembly to rewrite the
constitution. The FNRP has continued to
pursue this demand despite increasing
attacks. On July 29, Human Rights Watch
said in a report: “Six months after President
Lobo took office, Honduras has made little
progress towards addressing the serious
human rights abuses since the 2009 coup…
Threats and attacks against journalists and
the political opposition have fostered a climate
of intimidation, while impunity for abuses
remains the norm.” It added that at least eight
journalists and 10 FNRP members have been
killed since Lobo came into power.
The post-coup government claims that
over one million people voted in January’s
sham elections. In response, the FNRP
decided to drum up more signatures in
support of a constituent assembly –
gathering more than 1.26 million. Activists
spent five months raising awareness across
the country of the importance of such an
assembly, and collecting the signatures. The
FNRP reported that many were reluctant to
sign for fear they would later be identified,
then threatened or killed.
The case of peasant leader Maria Teresa
Flores is one example of the severe
repression faced by FNRP activists. She was
Central America
found dead on August 21, with signs she
had been tortured and then executed. Flores,
the mother of 14 children, was part of the
Coordinating Council of Peasant Organisations
of Honduras (COCOCH). She disappeared
on August 7 after leaving Tegucigalpa for her
home in the department of Comayagua. FNRP
leader Carlos H. Reyes called the death of
Flores a “political assassination.”
US resumes military aid
In June this year the US renewed military aid
to Honduras with a donation of 25 heavy
trucks valued at $812,000, according to the
Spanish website infodefensa.com. On June
18, US Ambassador Hugo Llorens announced
that Washington would give Honduras
$75 million through USAID for various
development projects and $20 million as part
of the Merida Program to enhance ‘security.’
These developments signify a major step in
the normalisation of the relationship between
the US and Honduras. In April the US
inaugurated a second US military case and
a third is under construction.
The many ‘offences’ committed by
President Manuel Zelaya
According to Chuck Kaufman of the Alliance
for Global Justice, the key ‘offences’
commited by Manuel Zelaya before he was
ousted include:
•LuisWhen the US had to get Cuban terrorist
Posada Carriles out of Panama, Zelaya
refused a US request to give him asylum.
•Honduras
Zelaya put the franchise to provide oil to
out for tender and the US backed
the companies that already held the
franchise over a low bidder.
•AirZelaya proposed turning the US Palmerola
Base into a much needed civilian airport.
•companies
Zelaya began to investigate internet phone
that were costing the country millions
of dollars and the US reportedly “had a fit.”
•theThe final straw was when Honduras joined
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of
Our America (ALBA).
Further information:
www.resistenciahonduras.net
El Salvador
Fear of gang reprisals sparks national
transport boycott
Christine Damon, Program for Youth Security Guatemala-El Salvador-Honduras, reports on the power
of the gangs and calls for real alternatives to gang membership for disenfranchised young people.
N 1 SEPTEMBER the Salvadoran
O Legislative Assembly approved
legislation to proscribe youth gangs.
The law comes during the first term
of FMLN president Mauricio Funes.
Ironically, the new legislation bears
remarkable similarities to that of the
1990s promoted by the rightist
ARENA party and heavily criticised
at the time by the FMLN.
The country’s gang problem is
fuelled in part by prolonged economic
crises and family disintegration
caused by immigration. Original gang
members were often the children of
illegal immigrants, who learned gang
techniques on the streets of US cities
and were later deported to their
parents’ countries of origin. Estimates
put gang membership at between
nine and 27,000. Gangs have links
with organised crime and narco
activity and are responsible for
homicides, and extorting payment
Central America Report: Winter 2010
from bus companies and residents
of neighbourhoods they control.
This new anti-gang legislation
comes on the heels of a bus burning by
a member of the 18th Street gang on
20 June in which 17 people died from
burns and bullet wounds. The attack
occurred the same day as unidentified
gunmen climbed aboard another bus
and shot dead three passengers, two
of them children. The killings horrified
a nation already numbed by homicide
rates of ten per day, and prompted
new calls for tougher sanctions,
including the death penalty.
In response to the legislation, on
6 September gangs distributed
pamphlets criticising the law and
calling for a bus boycott in the
populous northern suburbs of San
Salvador, threatening reprisals
against drivers and bus owners if
the boycott went unheeded. Over
100 bus drivers have been murdered
this year, providing substantial
impetus to heed the boycott.
The first day of the boycott found
the streets of the metropolitan area
filled with cars and people, but few
buses. During the three-day strike
over 50% of the collective
transportation was paralysed
nationally. On the following days
by 6pm the streets were empty and
universities and shopping malls
closed early. Businesses estimated
financial losses in the millions.
By the fourth day, the president
signed into law the anti-gang
legislation. Soldiers and police were
placed on every bus for the morning
commute. In the weeks that
followed, the legislative and
executive branches negotiated
changes to the penal code necessary
to provide teeth for the new law.
Legal experts argue that the new
legislation will be difficult to apply.
Alongside the question
of how to prove gang
membership, attempting
to sanction individual
members without
demonstrating the
commission of a crime
calls into question freedom
of association.
Meanwhile, youth
organisations and NGOs
working on prevention
analysed the human rights
and civil rights implications
of the measures. This
includes fears that their own
organisations could be
targeted. They highlight the
importance of a commitment
to rehabilitation that
includes realistic alternatives
to gang membership
for disenfranchised
young people.
8
 El Salvador

Bleeding El Salvador dry

Martin Mowforth and Lucy Goodman report on how the free trade agreement with the US, DR-CAFTA
has opened the door for a Canadian mining company to sue El Salvador for protecting its own citizens
and the environment.

S REPORTED IN the summer

A issue of CAR, in April 2009,
under the terms DR-CAFTA,
presented a report to the Canadian
Congress on the damage the company
is doing. They sent out a call to the
Canadian gold mining company President of Pacific Rim, Thomas
Pacific Rim filed a lawsuit against the Shrake but he denied any link to the
Government of El Salvador (GOES) homicides and the acts of violence
with the International Centre for and held ADES (Association for
Settlement of Investment Disputes Economic and Social Development,
(ICSID), a World Bank institution. The Santa Marta) responsible for these
GOES had refused mining permits to kinds of events. He said that officials
Pacific Rim largely due to widespread of Pacific Rim had been trained to
public concern over environmental show a profile like that of Mahatma
and social problems related to Gandhi and that it’s us who have
opencast gold mining and the cyanide generated the violence against the
Photo: Martin Mowforth

heap leaching technique used to company, damaging and holding

separate gold from the spoil. The up the development of the country.
lawsuit amounts to a $100million He used very aggressive language
compensation claim for loss of in his speech, very violent.”
investments and profits.
Hector Berrios, National Roundtable
In May and June 2010 the ICSID
against Mining, with the letter denouncing
heard the GOES objections to the mining that the Canadian Embassy
claims. On 22 July, along with In a related case, in September
refused to accept.
representatives of communities the Costa Rican Second Circuit
affected by the mine in Cabañas, we In August, the ICSID tribunal Court held a hearing on the
participated in an attempt by the ruled in favour of Pacific Rim. The legality of a concession for a
National Roundtable Against Metal company’s claims for compensation
Mining (a coalition of environmental, controversial open pit gold mine
will be considered at a later date.
faith-based and community activists) awarded to the Canadian
However, the ICSID’s decision does
to deliver a letter to the Canadian not mean that Pacific Rim is any company Infinito Gold.
Ambassador. Access to the embassy closer to securing mining exploitation Environmentalists claim the
was denied and the Ambassador permits. Public support for mining mining operation would threaten
not only refused to receive the in the department of Cabañas has
delegation but even more rudely the biodiversity and water
reached an all time low: Voices El
and unnecessarily, the letter was Salvador reports that even Mayor quality near the Rio San Juan.
returned to the delegation’s leader, Bautista (once a Pacific Rim The stakes are high as Infinito
Hector Berrios. promoter) from San Isidro – where Gold projects that it will mine
Berrios commented, “we want the El Dorado mine is located – has
to deliver a letter asking the one million ounces of gold at
expressed his opposition to mining.
ambassador to use her good offices The decision does, however, take it the site. Infinito Gold claims that
to withdraw companies of Canadian a little closer to bleeding the coffers it has a good environmental
origin from our country. … A PNC of El Salvador dry. record and has prevented the
[national civil police] official offered As regards the assassinations of
to take the letter in. All the embassy area from being deforested. If
four anti-mining activists in the
did was to put their stamp on it… If the court rules against Infinito
department of Cabañas, where Pacific
only we could do the same when Rim wishes to operate, Hector Berrios Gold, the company is likely to
they arrive with their machinery – explained, “Professor Richard Steiner sue Costa Rica for ‘lost profits’
not receive them when they arrive in [a member of the International Union under the terms of DR-CAFTA.
our community…” for the Conservation of Nature],

9 Central America Report: Winter 2010

Nicaragua
Nicaragua turns the page
on illiteracy once again
HIS YEAR MARKS the 30th
T anniversary of Nicaragua’s
National Literacy Crusade, a five-
month campaign starting in March
1980 that sent more than 60,000 young
people across the country to participate
in community life and teach local
people to read and write in areas where
over half the adult population was
illiterate. The initiative also built a new
relationship between the countryside
and the city. One volunteer commented:
“I want to go into the countryside and learn
what it means to be a peasant in Nicaragua,
to get rid of this stupid idea that here’s the
town and there’s the countryside, that
they’re two different things. We’re all in
this revolution together.”
Four hundred thousand people
learned to read and write, reducing
“It’s all about the loss of fear…the
fear of expressing oneself, the fear
of learning. All that has gone.”
Catalina Torres,
Nicaraguan Minister of Education, 1980
illiteracy from 50.3 percent to 12.9
percent. The crusade was
internationally acclaimed, with the
United Nations Education, Science and
Culture Organization (UNESCO)
awarding Nicaragua a prize in 1980.
UNESCO Permanent Secretary Juan
Bautista Arríen said: “The Literacy
Crusade impacted on everything that’s alive
in a society. Nicaragua became a kind of
beacon, a symbol of what a country can
do, above all through its young people.
It was extraordinary.”
When the Sandinistas returned to
power in 2007, illiteracy had once again
risen to a quarter of the adult population.
In July that year, the new government
launched a national campaign with the
aim of eradicating illiteracy in two
years. Thousands of university students
worked with community leaders to
carry out surveys and act as literacy
facilitators, with support from Cuban
advisors and equipment supplied by
Venezuela. The method used – “Yo, sí
puedo” (Yes, I can) – was developed in
Cuba and has been used successfully
in more than 30 countries.
An independent UNESCO
commission declared in June 2009 that
Nicaragua had achieved a nationwide
illiteracy level of 4.73 percent, qualifying
it as a country free of illiteracy – the
fourth Latin American nation to achieve
this distinction. The others are Cuba,
Venezuela and Bolivia, all members of
the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples
of Our America (ALBA).

On August 22 – 23 this year, an NSC education study tour

Photo: Ruth Moulton

joined a celebratory cavalcade making a 24-hour journey

from Waspam on the Atlantic Coast to join celebrations in
Managua. Study tour member Ruth Moulton reports: “Pickup
trucks with flag-waving people riding in the back echoed
the spirit of the original brigadistas of 30 years ago. The
celebratory energy which still fires the literacy campaign
today was obvious. We joined the gathering crowd in
Revolution Square. As the crowd waited [for the speeches,
including from President Daniel Ortega and UNESCO
representative Juan Bautista Arríen] human pyramids formed,
topped with flag-waving men and women.”
Photo: Ruth Moulton

The banner reads: “Everyone, fists held high, books open. 30 years of the National Literacy Crusade.”

Central America Report: Winter 2010 10

 Nicaragua

Ruth Moulton, a maths teacher and member of

“Yo, sí puedo” the NSC education study tour, reports on visits
(Yes, I can) to two classes in Managua.
HIS METHOD IS based on
T self teaching using videos,
and takes into account students’
social circumstances. A facilitator
provides support and
encouragement, while the
education ministry, local councils
and NGOs are responsible for
Photo: Ruth Moulton

supervision, training and logistical

support. Eighty Cuban
educationalists have provided
overall support, and Venezuela Literacy students Maria and Noami
technical equipment. The initial

Photo: Ruth Moulton

ARIA (67) and Noami (21) were
12-week course takes place in
people’s homes or community
M completing a “Yo, sí puedo”
course. Maria had learned to read and
centres. A graduation exercise write during the first literacy crusade,
involves writing a letter. If but lost her skills due to lack of
practice. This time, she is determined
resources allow, this is followed
to use them at home, and enrol on the
by a 10-week programme, follow-up course. “I didn’t want to be
“Yo puedo leer” (I can read), and in darkness – not to be able to read
an accelerated 18-month primary and write is like being blind,” she said.
Naomi had been unable to finish
education course.
her schooling because she became
pregnant. The course has given her
“For people in Waspam on the another opportunity to continue her
Honduran border, literacy education and further her interest in
maths and literacy. The women
means the opportunity to take explained the difference that literacy
more control of their lives, has made to their lives: the ability to
participate in decision making, understand and claim their rights; to
help their children and grandchildren
write letters, run their own with their school work; and to
small businesses, and improve support and encourage others to
things for themselves, their start classes. Noami explained it
had been difficult for her to be seen
children and their communities. to join the course, but now she is
Their vision of a better future is pleased she has and hopes to
what motivates them – that and become a teacher herself.
The Institute for Qualifications and
their realisation of the long- Training (IHFOCATT) is a school run
denied right to education.” by the Confederation of Self-employed
Workers (CTCP), whose members
NSC chair Ruby Cox comments work in very tough conditions, often on
on the literacy campaign run the streets. It provides free primary
by the Carlos Fonseca Amador and secondary education for adults
Popular Literacy Association on over eight years through classes once
the Atlantic Coast. a week on Sundays. Attendance
increases students’ employment
www.nicaraguasc.org.uk opportunities.
Hairdresser Claudia in a literacy class
Hairdresser Claudia said learning
both literacy and maths has enabled
her to manage her business. She
can now negotiate micro-loans from
banks, whereas previously her
husband or daughter had to help
her. In the past, unscrupulous
people would try to cheat her,
knowing she was illiterate and
innumerate. She described the
courage she had to pluck up to
attend classes, and how she felt
insecure and awkward. But she has
been encouraged and supported
by a dynamic teacher.
I was impressed by the
dedication and motivation of the
students. Everyone spoke about
doing their homework, on top of
their day jobs and family duties.
Completing primary and secondary
grades in this way requires a lot
of independent learning. The
concentration and attention evident
in every class contrasted sharply
with some of my experiences in the
UK. The people we met placed a
very high value on education… to
have the opportunity to learn as an
adult is considered a very precious
and special thing.

11 Central America Report: Winter 2010

 Honduras
Honduran feminists fight
growing harassment
Jennifer Browne of the Central America Women’s Network (CAWN) charts
the challenges facing the women’s movement following the 2009 coup.
INCE THE COUP 15 months ago,
S Feministas en Resistencia/FER
(Feminists in Resistance), a coalition of
feminist and women’s organisations,
have continued their struggle for the
recognition of their rights as workers,
mothers, wives and most importantly
as equals to men. This period has
been punctuated by an increase in
disappearances, death threats, rape,
harassment and a shocking rise in the
number of femicides (176 by June 2010,
according to the Centre for Women’s
Rights – www.derechodelamujer.org).
The targets of these violations are
mainly women leaders of the
resistance, and even those who
have merely taken part in peaceful
anti-coup demonstrations.
Impunity for such crimes continues,
with the majority not even being
investigated. Although some of the
institutions mandated with the
protection of women’s rights, such as
the Women’s Public Prosecutors Office
and the National Women’s Institute
Photo: Sara Tome/CEM-H
Feminists in Resistance protest outside Congress in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on
International Women’s Day, March 2010
Central America Report: Winter 2010
(INAM), have remained in place, they
fulfil little more than a symbolic role for
the government. Grassroots women’s
organisations have decided against any
working relationship with them.
Against this background, the need
for these organisations to work
effectively and collectively towards the
protection of women’s rights is greater
than ever. Among the many cases
of harassment, a leader of the local
women’s groups supported by
CAWN’s partner CEM-H (Centre for
Women’s Studies – Honduras) was
forced to leave Tegucigalpa when a
criminal gang killed her partner in her
own house, while another is too scared
to leave her home after receiving daily
death threats. Although CEM-H has
reported this situation to the
authorities, no action has been taken.
Indeed, CAWN has been informed
by CEM-H that the police refuse to
intervene in communities that have
fallen under the control of organised
criminal gangs.
Emphasis on grassroots
An additional source of concern for
women is the militarisation of the
country, despite the apparent
stabilisation of the political
environment. This is reflected in
Honduras opening its second US
military base, and the declaration
signed with Colombian ex-president
Álvaro Uribe in which both nations
agreed to implement an “action plan
in security matters.” CAWN shares
the concerns of the Inter-American
Commission of Human Rights, which
in May challenged the status of
prominent perpetrators of the coup
in positions of power within the
new government.
Despite the difficulties Honduran
women have encountered since the
coup in accessing political spaces and
the lack of dialogue with Porfirio Lobo’s
government, the movement has refused
to give up, and through hard work and
persistence has created a voice for itself
as Feminists in Resistance. Through
this network, women have supported
peaceful demonstrations, rejected
the adoption of arms by resistance
groups, and continued to denounce
violations of women’s and human
rights through the avenues offered
by international law.
The challenge is that the exclusion
of the women’s movement from the
political space and the strong influence
of pro-coup agents over the media
mean the struggle to guarantee that
women’s voices are heard has to take
place through grassroots action –
meetings, demonstrations and
denunciations. However, continuing
this kind of action is more difficult than
in the past, as the intimidation and
repression of women is increasing
due to growing social violence, the
impunity of criminal gangs and
the failure of the police and rights
institutions to improve women’s
security and prevent violations of
their rights. The voice of the feminist
movement is thus being weakened
significantly at a time when it is
needed more than ever.
Further information: www.cawn.org
12

Award for Nicaraguan pesticide victims
thrown out by US court
An award of damages to six Nicaraguan banana workers exposed to the banned pesticide DBCP by Dole Food
Company has been thrown out, despite evidence that witnesses were bribed by Dole, writes James Poke.
N 2007 SIX OUT OF twelve
I
Nicaraguan banana workers were
awarded damages of $2.3 million by
a Los Angeles jury, after it concluded
that the sterility suffered by the
banana workers had been caused
by exposure to the chemical
Dibromochloropropane (DBCP), more
commonly known as Nemagon.
The chemical was developed in the
1950s and widely used until the 1970s,
when concerns about its health effects
led to it being banned in the US.
However Dole Food Company
continued to use it on its plantations
in Nicaragua until 1985. It is well-
documented that Nemagon causes
sterility in men, disrupts menstruation
in women, and can lead to various
cancers as well as many other
unpleasant effects such as migraines,
hair-loss and liver damage.
In 1992 Dow Chemical, who
manufactured DBCP, was forced to pay
$22 million in compensation to 812
Nicaraguan banana workers affected
by Nemagon, although reputedly only
$132,000 found its way to them, the
rest being swallowed up by the law
firms representing them in the US.
But by the end of the 1990s,
increasing pressure in Nicaragua from
former banana workers, who marched
to Managua in their thousands in 1999
to press their case, led to Law 364
being approved by the Nicaraguan
National Assembly, which facilitated
legal action by Nicaraguans against
foreign companies.
As a result of this law, a Nicaraguan
court awarded $489 million to 583
workers in December 2002 – but to no
avail, as Dole and the other companies
involved refused to pay, and described
the award as “unenforceable.”
However by July 2007, a Los
Angeles lawyer, Juan Dominguez,
13
Photo: Ralph Gayton, Banana Link
Encampment of Nemagon victims, Managua
had taken up the case and sued Dole
on behalf of twelve workers, resulting
in the award of $2.3 million.
Dole appealed the case, claiming
that it was fraudulent and that some
of the workers had not even worked
on the plantations, and alleged that
the workers’ representatives had
conspired in 2003 to extort money
from Dole. In July 2010 Judge Victoria
Chaney ruled that Dole had no case
to answer and dismissed the lawsuit.
This was despite the fact that Steve
Condie, a lawyer representing the
defence, had produced a wealth of
evidence indicating that Dole witnesses
had been bribed. Video tapes and
sworn affidavits were produced to
demonstrate that representatives of
Dole had offered money to witnesses,
including Sergio Antonio Garcia
Gomez, who stated on his deathbed
that he had been offered $500,000.
Seven of the witnesses formally
retracted their testimony in May 2009.
Many also stated that Dole had gone
back on their promises and that the
bribe money had never been paid.
In addition to this, Judge Chaney
took the unprecedented step of
sealing the case, preventing the
Nicaragua
identity of the witnesses becoming
known and hearing testimony in
secret, making it virtually impossible
for the claimants’ lawyers to contest
the witnesses’ evidence.
Nonetheless Judge Chaney ruled
that there had been “blatant fraud,
witness tampering and active
manipulation” by the lawyers –
and she was not referring to
Dole’s representatives.
Other similar cases were thrown
out in the process, and it sets an
unfortunate precedent for many other
workers from Central American
countries attempting to gain
recompense in US courts for the
deleterious effects of working for US
multi-national corporations. More
than $2 billion has been awarded by
Nicaraguan courts against various US
companies, including Dole, but these
awards have been virtually impossible
to enforce in US courts.
Steve Condie commented that the
ruling “has effectively destroyed
any Nicaraguan’s ability to seek
compensation in [a US] court,”
but has stated that he will appeal
the decision.
Central America Report: Winter 2010
Costa Rica
‘War on drugs’ serves as pretext
for US militarisation
Costa Rica is famous for abolishing its army in 1948. However, the government’s decision to allow a massive
US military build-up calls into question its commitment to peace. Cheryl Gallagher reports.
OSTA RICA HAS long been
C applauded for protecting the
environment and promoting human
rights and peace in a region that has
experienced so much violent conflict.
In fact, peace is so fundamental the
armed forces were abolished in
1948, the country is home to the UN-
mandated University for Peace and it
became the first state to recognise the
constitutional right to peace. However,
despite these longstanding traditions,
on 1 July this year the Legislative
Assembly approved a measure
allowing the US to send 7,000 troops,
200 helicopters, and 46 warships to
the Central American nation.
The agreement is part of a
controversial trend of militarisation
across Latin America which has seen
11 “anti-narcotic” military bases
opened in Panama, seven new bases
in Colombia and the deployment of
20,000 troops to Haiti as part of the
“humanitarian” response to the
earthquake. The US now has close to
40 military facilities in Latin America.
According to article 12 of the Costa
Rican constitution, military forces can
only be formed for national defence or
through continental agreement and
must be under civilian control. The US
– Costa Rica Maritime Cooperation
Agreement is in clear violation of this.
Ostensibly, the deployment is to tackle
drug trafficking but the conditions of
the Agreement show that the remit of
the US could extend well beyond anti-
narcotics. According to a letter obtained
by the Costa Rican newspaper Nación,
the US will have “the right to carry out
activities it deems necessary to fulfil its
mission” amounting to what some see
as a carte blanche for the US.
The military build-up has been
heavily criticised by opposition
leaders and civil society. Opposition
Central America Report: Winter 2010
Credit: Alliance for Global Justice
parties have
denounced the lack
of transparency and
debate in parliament.
The People’s
Movement party said
the deal turns Costa
Rica into a “US
protectorate.” Luis
Roberto Zamora
Bolaños, a Costa Rican
lawyer who has sent
an appeal against the
agreement to the
country’s Supreme
Court, said that it
amounts to “allowing
the US military to play
war games on our
sovereign land as if it
were a game of chess.”
For some, the so-
called “war on drugs”
is a veiled attempt to
halt the proliferation
of progressive governments. Dr Cano military base in Honduras and
Francisco Dominguez, head of Latin the Camalapa base in El Salvador. If
American studies at the University of one adds the US military deployment
Middlesex, says: “Since the collapse to Haiti, the access to military bases in
of Communism the US has been Panama and the resuscitation of the
using the ‘war on drugs’ as a pretext 4th Fleet in the Caribbean and South
to militarily and politically interfere Atlantic, then not only is Nicaragua
in the internal affairs of Latin surrounded but also Guatemala,
American countries. It is used as Cuba, Venezuela, Honduras, Panama,
a powerful weapon to justify US Mexico, El Salvador, Haiti, Cuba,
military deployment, sanctions and Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and
aggression against governments the Costa Rica itself.”
US doesn’t like.” The US-Costa Rica Maritime
Dr Dominguez also underlines the Cooperation Agreement is due to
geographical significance of Costa expire on 31 December but whether
Rica: “the stationing of a large amount that deadline is respected remains to
of US military personnel and the be seen. History shows that once the
deployment of military equipment US moves forces into a country on
in Costa Rica has the objective of such a massive scale, it rarely moves
militarily surrounding Nicaragua with them out.
US military bases from its Southern
border and to its North with the Soto
14

Solidarity and campaign news
LATIN AMERICA
■ New research on violence
against women
The Central America Women’s
Network (CAWN) has published
a research paper on discrimination
against women entitled “Intersecting
Violence: a review of feminist theories and
debates on violence against women and
poverty in Latin America.” The review
considers, among other things, the
effects of religious fundamentalism,
patriarchy-derived discrimination and
neo-liberal policies on the perpetuation
of women’s subordination and thus
their vulnerability to violence and
poverty. The report was released in
Honduras in July, where it was well
received by academics, activists and
policy makers, in particular CAWN’s
local partner CEM-H (Centre for
Women’s Studies – Honduras).
Further information: www.cawn.org
EL SALVADOR
■ Scholarship scheme enables
young people to go to university
A scholarship scheme in the village
of Dimes Rodriguez, north of San
Salvador, gives students the chance to
go to university. Local work prospects
are limited and a lack of funds has
prevented many young people from
accessing higher education, one of
the main reasons why such a large
number migrate to the US. Funds go
directly to community leaders who
decide which students should receive
support. In return, the young people
agree to undertake community work
so that the whole village benefits.
Details of past and current
scholarship students are available
at: www.educationforthefuture.
blogspot.com.
To contribute, contact Topsy Page:
topsypage@hotmail.com
15
NICARAGUA
■ Fresh perspectives
on fair trade
This was the theme of a public
meeting in London in June,
organised by the Nicaragua
Solidarity Campaign (NSC) and
addressed by Guisell Morales-
Echaverry from the Embassy of
Nicaragua, NSC’s representative in
Nicaragua Julian Guevara, Albert
Tucker, a leading figure in the
Fairtrade movement, and Silvio
Cerda from the coffee network of
the Latin American Fairtrade
Producers. The meeting focused
on a new form of fair trade linked
with food security that is emerging
through the Bolivarian Alliance for
the Peoples of our America (ALBA),
a regional integration initiative (see
page 3). ALBA will also be the focus
of the Latin America conference on
December 4 at which Walter Castillo
Sandino (grandson of Augusto
Cesar Sandino) will be one of the
keynote speakers.
Further information:
www.nicaraguasc.org.uk
www.latinamericaconference.org.uk/
2010
Photo: Will Embliss
NSC supporter Gay Lee completes
the London half marathon and raises
funds for environmental projects
in Nicaragua.
Take action
■ Mobile library fosters
love of learning
Members of the Nicaragua Solidarity
Campaign (NSC) Education Study Tour
and students from Cheney School in
Oxford visited León in August, where
they encountered a mobile library with
a difference. The tricycle library,
operated by the Nicaragua Education
Culture and Arts Trust (NECAT), visits
local schools that lack library facilities
and takes books and scientific
experiments to schoolchildren who
eagerly await the visits.
Further information:
www.necat.org.uk
Photo: Martin Roger
The mobile library in Leon
■ Santa Rosa Fund, Tavistock
Plymouth University graduates, Amy
Haworth Johns and Rachael Wright,
spent two months in the summer
providing computer training to pupils
and teachers at the Santa Rosa School
in Managua. The volunteers also
visited a range of other Nicaraguan
educational initiatives supported
by the Santa Rosa Fund.
Interested in volunteering?
See www.santarosafund.org
■ Leeds e-auction raises £1,000 for
La Concha community projects
Leeds Central America Solidarity has
been providing support for the
Community Movement (MCN) in its
twin community of La Concha since 1995.
(Continued overleaf)
Central America Report: Winter 2010
Take action
This summer’s fundraising included
an e-auction featuring salsa lessons,
house cleaning, church bell ringing,
tetrapack purses, homemade ice
cream from a secret family recipe
and a week’s accommodation at the
La Mariposa ecohotel in Nicaragua.
The funds raised will go to
community projects in La Concha.
Further information:
leeds.laconcha@yahoo.co.uk
■ Verifying results of
literacy campaign
Asun Machin from the Nicaragua
Learning Exchange (NLE) in Edinburgh
joined an international brigade of
31 people who visited indigenous
communities on the Atlantic Coast to
verify the results of the “Yo, sí puedo”
literacy programme carried out by the
Carlos Fonseca Amador Popular
Literacy Association (see page 10). The
brigade then travelled in a celebratory
cavalcade to join the 30th anniversary of
the literacy crusade in Managua. Asun’s
visit was part of a two-way learning
programme between Europe and Latin
America that includes the Edinburgh-
based NLE.
Further information:
nicaragualearningexchange@gmail.com
■ Swindon Ocotal Link celebrates
20th anniversary
Swindon Ocotal Link (SOL) had
planned to bring over two dancers
from Ocotal to take part in
celebrations in Swindon, but
unfortunately they were refused
transit visas for the US. However, SOL
founder member and Ocotal Rotary
chair Jorge Calderón arrived safely.
Jorge visited and danced at several
schools, attended Rotary meetings,
spoke at the Swindon Mela and had
lunch with the mayor. Links were
established between two secondary
schools and three local Rotary clubs
committed to joining up with a
fledgling club in Nicaragua. The
Swindon clubs have pledged to raise
funds to bring electricity to a new
school for disabled students in Ocotal.
Further information:
gilliantiff@yahoo.com
Central America Report: Winter 2010
Photo: G.Perez/BLINC
Volcanoes, bridges and balloons feature in a mural to celebrate twenty years of
solidarity between Bristol and Puerto Morazan. It was painted by local young people
and artists and a volunteer from Bristol. Funds from the Lord Rootes Trust were used
to prepare the surface, buy materials and provide snacks for participants.
■ Linking UK and Nicaraguan
young trade unionists GET IN TOUCH
In April eight trade unionists from
UNISON, Unite, GMB and NASUWT Wales NSC:
took part in the second NSC Action Betws,
Group (NSCAG) Trade Union Youth Fford Haern Bach,
Delegation. Participants learned about Pen Y Groes LL54 6NY
the historical context, the situation for
Tel: 01286 882359
workers and trade unionists, and how
Email: benica@gn.apc.org
trade unions are involving young
people. Delegates joined the www.walesnsc.wordpress.com
International Workers Day
celebrations, took part in cultural NSC, ENCA and local links:
activities, strengthened existing 86 Durham Rd,
solidarity links and formed new ones. London N7 7DT
Further information:
Tel: 020 7561 4836
www.nicaraguasc.org.uk/nscag
Email: nsc@nicaraguasc.org.uk
“What impressed me most was the way www.nicaraguasc.org.uk
young people have been engaged in the www.enca.org.uk
political process and how... they see the
need and have the desire to participate. GSN:
Their youth committees are so much more 6 Marylands,
focused on trade unionism as well,
Haywards Heath,
whereas in the UK we are constantly
West Sussex RH16 3JZ
pushing for young people to take on roles
within the union in young members’ Tel: 01444 443401
structures...” Fazia Hussain, Unite (North East) Email: gsn_mail@yahoo.com
www.guatemalasolidarity.org.uk
CAWN:
c/o One World Action,
Bradley Close,
White Lion Street,
London N1 9PF
Tel: 020 7833 4174
Email: info@cawn.org
UK and Nicaraguan young trade unionists
www.cawn.org
celebrate May Day
16