Los niños de la Doctrina Monroe: las raíces militarizadas de la calamidad fronteriza de EE.UU.

por Arturo J. Viscarra y Michael Prentice

- No se puede resolver la crisis de la frontera EE.UU.-México a menos que EE.UU. acepte su papel en la creación de las condiciones terribles de las que l@s refugiad@s están huyendo.

"[E]n el hemisferio occidental la adhesión de EEUU a la Doctrina Monroe puede obligarlos ... al ejercicio de un poder de la policía internacional". -Theodore Roosevelt, 1904.

photo credit: Matthew Cole/Shutterstock.com

Es imposible entender las causas fundamentales de la ola actual de centroamerican@s que llegan a EE.UU., y encontrar la respuesta adecuada de dicho país, sin reconocer la relación histórica entre EE.UU. y América Central. Por desgracia, el debate en el Congreso y en los medios de comunicación convencionales no han considerado un cambio en su política exterior, sino se han centrado en la cuestión de que si EE.UU. tenga o no tenga nuevas obligaciones en virtud del derecho internacional humanitario o el deber moral de tratar a l@s niñ@s indocumentados con respeto. El Vicepresidente Biden se refirió a ell@s recientemente como "nuestr@s niñ@s," enfatizando la importancia del debido proceso en cuanto a sus solicitudes de asilo, pero al mismo tiempo, él propuso una repetición del fallido "Plan Colombia" en Centroamérica. Antes de apresurarse a más militarización dentro del marco de la Guerra Contra las Drogas, EE.UU. tiene que asumir su parte de la responsabilidad en haber creado las condiciones políticas, sociales y económicas actuales de las que l@s refugiad@s están huyendo.

La Doctrina Monroe de 1823, que declaró a EE.UU. como el único poder en el Hemisferio Occidental, allanó el camino para el control estadounidense en Centroamérica, tanto histórico como actual, a través de las intervenciones militares y por financiar, armar y entrenar las élites locales pro-EE.UU. y sus fuerzas armadas. En las décadas siguientes, muchas repúblicas de América Central y el Caribe se redujeron a "protectorados o estados clientes de facto" de EE.UU. según el historiador John Coatsworth. Durante las Guerras Bananeras, el ejército estadounidense intervino en Honduras siete veces en doce años. El golpe de estado guatemalteco, orquestado por la CIA en el 1954, provocó una guerra civil que duró hasta el 1996. En la década de los 80, El Salvador, Honduras y Guatemala fueron inundados con ayuda y asesores militares, lo que resultó en una matanza masiva, igual que una migración masiva a EE.UU. La "república bananera” de Honduras se convirtió en una plataforma para las fuerzas armadas entrenadas por EE.UU. en su lucha contra los izquierdistas en los tres países que lo bordean, ganándose el apodo "USS Honduras.”

La Escuela de las Américas (SOA), establecida en 1946, encarna la política tradicional de EE.UU. hacia Centroamérica: la aplicación de soluciones militares a los problemas sociales y económicos. Los egresados de la SOA incluyen a los más notorios violadores de derechos humanos de América Central: los miembros del Batallón 316 en Honduras; los asesinos del arzobispo Oscar Romero, de cuatro religiosas estadounidenses y de más de 900 civiles en El Salvador; y los presidentes de Guatemala conectados a las campañas militares genocidas. A pesar de las afirmaciones del Pentágono sobre un cambio y más transparencia, se han negado a publicar los nombres de los egresados de la SOA durante los últimos 10 años. Tratese de la Guerra Fría o la Guerra Contra las Drogas, la SOA continúa permitiendo que los aliados de EE.UU. puedan cometer violaciones de los derechos humanos en nombre de la democracia.

El 28 de junio del 2015 se cumplio el sexto aniversario del golpe de estado militar (dirigido por graduados de la SOA) que derrocó al presidente hondureño Manuel Zelaya, un líder democráticamente elegido. Miles de opositores al golpe han sido amenazad@s, golpead@s, torturad@s, desaparecid@s o asesinad@s. Mientras tanto, EE.UU. trabajaba diligentemente para garantizar que el régimen golpista se mantuviera en el poder, y rápidamente reconoció los resultados de las dos elecciones contaminadas que pusieron en el poder a Porfirio Lobo y a Juan Orlando Hernández. Las fuerzas de seguridad hondureñas pos-golpe han recibido más ayuda y entrenamiento militar de EE.UU., a pesar de su historial bien conocido de violaciones a los derechos humanos y a la infiltración por los cárteles que supuestamente combaten. Además, el Pentágono ha construido al menos tres nuevas instalaciones militares de EE.UU. en Honduras desde el golpe, revelando el motivo estadounidense en sus acciones: su apego al "USS Honduras."

No debe ser ninguna sorpresa que Honduras, el país del origen del 29% de l@s menores no acompañad@s que se entregaron a la Patrulla Fronteriza en 2014, ha llegado a ser por primera vez la fuente principal de la migración centroamericana, cuando los regímenes hondureños apoyados por EE.UU. han exacerbado el desorden, la violencia y los problemas económicos en los últimos cinco años. En sus relaciones con América Central, los EE.UU. colabora militarmente con las oligarquías locales para reforzar las desigualdades políticas y económicas, o sea, el staus quo. La ola actual de niñ@s y adultos que huyen de América Central es debida, al menos en parte, a la continuación de la supremacía de los caprichos del Pentágono en cuanto a las necesidades básicas de la mayoría pobre de América Central.

Es importante tener en cuenta por qué l@s nicaragüenses no están emigrando en masa a pesar de enfrentar obstáculos históricos, económicos e imperialistas parecidos a los de los otros países de América Central. Después de décadas de gobiernos brutales apoyados por EE.UU., el gobierno de Nicaragua actual ha sido capaz de escapar, en gran medida, al control de EE.UU. y formar sus propias políticas de seguridad. Los resultados son niveles mucho más bajos de violencia y de migración forzada que sus vecinos, a pesar de niveles similares de pobreza. EE.UU. puede aprender del éxito de Nicaragua en áreas tales como la vigilancia para resolver la crisis migratoria de l@s niñ@s, pero sólo con un cambio fundamental de la cultura de seguridad promovida por las fuerzas estadounidenses en los países vecinos.

Desde el 2008, EE.UU. ha gastado más de 800 millones de dólares en “ayuda para la seguridad” de Honduras, Guatemala y El Salvador a través de la "Iniciativa Regional Centroamericana de Seguridad" (CARSI), así como millones más en la ayuda bilateral al ejército y a la policía en cada país en nombre de la Guerra Contra las Drogas. Pero cuando ese dinero se destina a los políticos infiltrados por los cárteles y las fuerzas de seguridad, como en Honduras, ¿es sorprendente que la ley se deteriore aún más? Los adultos centroamericanos arriesgan sus vidas y las de sus hij@s para escapar del sistema histórico y de la violencia actual en cuya creación EE.UU. ha tenido un papel importante, aunque lo niegue. ¿Quién es más irresponsable, los padres o el Pentágono? ¿Quién es más racional, los padres o el Congreso de Estados Unidos?

En el 2013, después de casi 200 años, el Secretario del Estado, John Kerry, declaró que la época de la Doctrina Monroe había terminado. Sin embargo, parece que el Pentagono sigue con lo de siempre con sus aliados corruptos en Honduras y Guatemala. Mientras una cantidad récord de refugiad@s centroamerican@s son detenid@s en la frontera, los medios de comunicación y los políticos deben reconocer que est@s niñ@s son el resultado de los conflictos armados financiados por l@s contribuyentes estadounidenses. Las reevaluaciones honestas, audaces, y fundamentadas sobre la política exterior en la región deben llevarse a cabo e implementarse para que las condiciones en Centroamérica mejoren dentro de poco.

Arturo J. Viscarra emigró a los EE.UU., de El Salvador, durante la guerra civil. Él es un abogado de la inmigración y el Coordinador de la Abogacía para SOA Watch.

Michael Prentice es un estudiante en Vassar College y era pasante en SOA Watch. 

Únete a Arturo, Michael y miles de personas más para la vigilia en la SOA este noviembre: http://soaw.org/november.

Interview with a Nicaraguan Free Trade Zone Worker

By WfP Nicaragua Team

“What I would like and what I hope for (my country) is that in every Free Trade Zone there be a union and that workers would not be mistreated and would be paid a just salary. But that can’t be so one has to continue working like always because that can’t be.” -Free Trade Zone Worker, Nicaragua 

This quote comes from a meeting between a Witness for Peace delegation and a Nicaraguan Free Trade Zone worker, recorded (with interpretation). The delegation came to Nicaragua to learn about the Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) and how it has affected the lives of our Nicaraguan partners. The speaker shared with the group the challenges she has faced working for many years in the Free Trade Zone textile factories that CAFTA helped to propagate. When she began working, she suffered a lot of verbal abuse at her job. She had bosses who screamed and threw things at her. She was obligated to work overtime and didn’t receive adequate medical care or sick leave. 

The most recent factory she worked at was quite different. Despite the owner's attempts to fire workers who were trying to form a union, workers were successful in gathering enough signatures so that is the factory had to recognize them. The union has made big changes in the factory. Our speaker had access to a medical clinic, better safety equipment, and a subsidy for food and transportation; she was not required to work overtime; and, most importantly, had someone to go to if she had any kind of problem.

Working in a factory with a union, she told the group, is not common in her region. Anyone who is found organizing a union will be fired and added to a list shared among all of the Free Trade Zones of people not to hire. Even her daughter who saw the benefits the unionized factory brought her mother is afraid to sign demands for a union in her factory for fear of getting caught. She needs the job.

Nicaragua is supposedly a CAFTA success story. Its GDP is rising steadily and the enforcement of the labor section of CAFTA has been celebrated. When talking to workers, however, we often hear a different story. Many of the workers, often single mothers, are grateful for the jobs created by these factories. The unfortunate truth is that in a development model such as that of CAFTA, where those at the negotiating table are the most powerful corporations, profits are given more value than just salaries and healthy work environments.

Witness for Peace has seen similar situations play out in the other countries in which we work. Since the signing of the bilateral trade agreement with Colombia, violence against union workers has increased making Colombia one of the most dangerous countries in the world for a union member. Mexican workers have seen a decrease in real wages since the signing of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA.)

Today negotiations are happening behind closed doors for the biggest free trade agreement yet. The Transpacific Partnership (TPP) will include 12 nations and the consequences will be catastrophic for workers across the globe. We know what Free Trade Agreements have done to workers. While corporate profit trumps workers rights, these agreements will not benefit workers. Take action to demand that the TPP come out from behind from closed doors, and that workers have a seat at the negotiating table. Audio from the “Labor Radio” program from KBOO Radio in Portland.

Entrevista con una trabajadora de una Zona Franca en Nicaragua

Por Equipo de APP Nicaragua

" Lo que me gustaría y deseaba es que en todos la Zonas Francas tienen un sindicato donde no fueron maltratados y, si, pagan un salaria justo. Pero eso no se puede---siempre uno tiene que trabajar así porque eso no se puede.” Trabajadora de una Zona Franca

Esta cita viene de una reunión con una delegación de Acción Permanente por la Paz y una nicaragüense que trabaja en las Zonas Francas, grabada (con traducción) en el clip de audio. La delegación llegó a Nicaragua para aprender sobre el Tratado de Libre Comercio de Centroamérica (DR -CAFTA) y cómo ha afectado la vida para nuestros companerxs nicaragüenses. La trabajadora compartió con el grupo los retos que ha enfrentado en su trabajo durante muchos años en las fábricas textiles ‘Zona Franca,’ propagadas por CAFTA. Cuando ella comenzó a trabajar, sufrió mucho abuso verbal en su trabajo. Tenía jefes que le gritaban y le arrojaban cosas. Ella fue obligada a trabajar horas extras y no recibió ni atención médica adecuada ni días pagados de enfermedad.

La última fábrica donde ella trabajó era muy diferente. A pesar de los intentos de los propietarios a despedir a los trabajadores que intentaban formar un sindicato, los trabajadores lograron reunir suficientes firmas para que la fábrica tuviera que reconocerlos. El sindicato ha hecho grandes cambios en la fábrica. La trabajadora indicó que en esta fábrica tenía acceso a una clínica médica, un mejor equipo de seguridad, y un subsidio para la alimentación y el transporte; ella no fue obligada a trabajar horas extras; y, sobre todo, tenía dónde ir si tenía algún problema en el trabajo.

Trabajar en una fábrica con un sindicato, comentó al grupo, no es común en la región. Cualquiera que se encuentre organizando un sindicato, será despedido y su nombre será agregado a una lista compartida entre todas las Zonas Franca para que no se contrate a esta persona. Incluso su hija, quien vio los beneficios de la fábrica sindicalizada donde trabajaba su madre, tiene miedo de firmar demandas por un sindicato en su fábrica por miedo de que la descubran. Ella necesita el trabajo.

Nicaragua es supuestamente un ejemplo del éxito del CAFTA. Su PIB se está creciendo cada vez más, y la aplicación de la sección laboral del CAFTA ha sido celebrada. Sin embargo, al hablar con los trabajadores, muchas veces nos cuentan una historia diferente. Muchos de los trabajadores, en su mayoría madres solteras, están agradecidos por los puestos de trabajo creados por estas fábricas. La triste verdad es que en un modelo de desarrollo como el de CAFTA, en el cual los que están en la mesa de negociaciones son las corporaciones más poderosas, se valen más las ganancias que los salarios justos y las condiciones saludables de trabajo.

Acción Permanente por la Paz ha observado situaciones similares en los demás países donde trabajamos. Desde la firma del acuerdo bilateral de comercio con Colombia, la violencia contra los trabajadores sindicalizados se ha incrementado, tanto que Colombia es uno de los países más peligrosos del mundo para un miembro de un sindicato (enlace en inglés.) Los salarios reales de los trabajadores mexicanos se han disminuido desde la firma del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte ( NAFTA) (enlace en inglés.)

Hoy en día se está negociando detrás de puertas cerradas el acuerdo de libre comercio más grande que nunca. La Asociación Transpacífico (TPP ) incluirá 12 naciones y las consecuencias serán catastróficas para los trabajadores de todo el mundo (enlace en inglés.) Sabemos cómo los acuerdos de libre comercio han impactado a los trabajadores. Mientras las ganancias corporativas prevalecen sobre los derechos de los trabajadores, estos acuerdos no beneficiarán a los trabajadores. Tome acción ahora para exigir que el TPP salga de detrás de puertas cerradas y que los trabajadores tengan un lugar en la mesa de negociaciones (en ingles y español.)

Audio del programa “Labor Radio” del estación de KBOO en Portland

¿Qué hemos aprendido del DR-CAFTA en casi una década más tarde?: Comprendiendo la realidad nicaragüense

Por Ileana Valle, Equipo de APP Nicaragua

Según el Banco Mundial, Nicaragua fue capaz de mitigar la crisis económica global en 2008. De hecho, ha tenido un crecimiento económico impresionantemente estable durante la última década. En 2012, el crecimiento del PIB de Nicaragua fue del 5,2 %, ligeramente superior al crecimiento de 5,1 % observado en 2011. ¿Podría ser esta el Tratado de Libre Comercio entre la República Dominicana, Centroamérica, y los Estados Unidos llenando sus expectativas? Este ha sido el debate.

Volvamos a 2003, cuando la retórica en torno a este polémico acuerdo se centró principalmente en cómo el TLC no sólo impulsaría la economía de Estados Unidos, sino también, sin ayuda de nadie, iba a sacar Centro América y la República Dominicana de la pobreza.

Se completó el proceso de negociación inicial con Nicaragua en un tiempo récord - un año. Esto por sí solo creo una nube dudosa sobre las verdaderas intenciones detrás del acuerdo. Dentro de este marco de tiempo, sólo unos pocos estaban realmente presentes en la mesa de negociaciones. Mario Arana, miembra de la Fundación Nicaragüense para el Desarrollo Económico y Social (Funides), y Azucena Castillo, Gerente General de la Asociación de Productores y Exportadores de Nicaragua (APEN) fueron algunos de los representantes nicaragüenses nombrado por el entonces presidente Enrique Bolaños. ¿Pero qué paso con la inclusión de los pequeños productores? Desde el principio, en el lado nicaragüense, vimos la escala desplazándose hacia las grandes empresas en lugar de todas las partes involucradas. Como hemos aprendido del TLCAN, este tipo de acuerdos unilaterales afectan negativamente a los pequeños productores cuya subsistencia depende de su pequeña producción. Ellos luchan por competir con las corporaciones agrícolas masivas de los EE.UU. que cuentan con las políticas de subsidios. Así que sin duda, este acuerdo no es muy justo dependiendo de qué lado de la dinámica de poder se encuentre.

Aunque la evidencia concreta a favor o en desacuerdo del TLC aún no se ha encontrado, me reuni con un economista nicaragüense para poner todos los factores que contribuyen a esta realidad compleja, en perspectiva.

Industria de Res

En primer lugar, la carne de res de Nicaragua es conocida por ser una carne de calidad global superior y más saludable, que su contraparte norteamericana. Además, Nicaragua es el principal exportador de carne de res a Costa Rica y El Salvador, y el número 2 detrás de los EE.UU., a Guatemala (USMEF.org 2014). Ahora pro medio del TLC, la industria de la carne estadounidense ha comenzado a importar en Nicaragua, y el resto de Centro América, a un costo significativamente más bajo - más bajo que el costo de producción de carne local en Nicaragua. Además, la gigante cadena de tiendas depredador Wal-Mart, se ha beneficiado de forma cómoda y se ha convertido en un competidor directo no sólo con su venta de carne de res estadounidense, sino también con su dominio de supermercados en Nicaragua. Así que Wal-Mart se le facilita importar carne de res a Nicaragua con cargos de impuestos mínimos a través de las mismas cuotas establecidas entre Nicaragua y los EE.UU. En otras palabras, Wal-Mart puede aprovechar el menor costo para importar carne en Nicaragua y el resto de América Central con el fin de competir con carne de producción local y a la vez, compiten directamente con los supermercados locales.

¿Qué significa todo esto? Pues bien, teniendo en cuenta que Nicaragua ha sido exitosamente el principal exportador de carne en Centro América, y ahora está siendo amenazada la economía nicaragüense en general. Más importante aún, los productores locales no pueden competir de manera realista con estas exportaciones - así que ¿en dónde se estipula en el TLC medidas de protección a los pequeños productores? Además, ¿será que la economía nicaragüense se beneficia de los incrementos de ventas de Wal-Mart? Por supuesto que no. Estos ingresos vuelven a los EE.UU.

Entonces, ¿cómo podemos explicar el crecimiento económico del que Nicaragua ha podido gozar?

Diversificación de cultivos

La comunidad agrícola ha logrado mantenerse a flote gracias a sus esfuerzos de diversificación exitosos. Agricultores nicaragüenses cambian lo que cultivan de manera que vaya cambiando la demanda internacional. Como resultado, varían sus cultivos de año en año. Además, entre las mayores exportaciones de Nicaragua está el café – debido a su manera de cambiar sus cultivos, les permitió beneficiarse considerablemente de la sequía que ocurrió en Brasil, que hizo que el precio del café se disparara. Por último, el oro es otra de las mayores exportaciones de Nicaragua; por lo que es importante mencionar que tanto el café como el oro - cuyas ventas constituyen la mayor parte del PIB de Nicaragua - son industrias no reguladas por el TLC.

Nuevos mercados

Buscando nuevos mercados es probablemente uno de los factores más importantes en la dinámica económica de Nicaragua. Nicaragua ha exitosamente podido participar en nuevas oportunidades de mercado con la Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América (ALBA). ALBA es una alternativa a los acuerdos de libre comercio del norte que fue iniciado por Venezuela y Cuba - liderados por Hugo Chávez y Fidel Castro, respectivamente.

A través de este acuerdo, Nicaragua es capaz de exportar el arroz que ya no puede competir con el arroz estadounidense que entra a Nicaragua, a Venezuela. Este es uno de otros granos básicos que han comenzado a exportar a Venezuela. Estas estrategias combinadas han aliviado los efectos del TLC, y han contribuido en gran medida al crecimiento continuo. Según el economista que consultamos, las cosas se pondrían feas si ALBA dejaría de existir.

Entonces, ¿se han cumplido las expectativas de DR -CAFTA? Lejos de eso. Creo que se ha creado un espacio difícil en donde la capacidad de recuperación del pueblo de Nicaragua, ha jugado papel importante. La dependencia en la diversificación, en las industrias que no están reguladas por el TLC, y su participación en nuevas oportunidades de mercado les ha permitido no sólo sobrevivir, sino también mantener un crecimiento continuo. Así que al final, ¿quién gana con el TLC? Es evidente que son los EE.UU. y algunas grandes corporaciones privadas nicaragüenses - definitivamente no los pequeños agricultores nicaragüenses. ¿Qué hemos aprendido? Nicaragua ha tenido que ir en contra de - en lugar de trabajar en conjunto - el poder económico masivo que es los EE.UU.

What have we learned from DR-CAFTA Nearly a Decade Later: Understanding the Nicaraguan reality

By Ileana Valle, WfP Nicaragua Team

According to the World Bank, Nicaragua was able to mitigate the global economic crisis in 2008. In fact, it’s had impressively stable economic growth during the past decade. In 2012, Nicaragua’s GDP growth was 5.2%, slightly higher than the 5.1% growth seen in 2011. Could this be the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) living up to its high expectations? This has been the ongoing discussion.

Let’s go back to 2003, when the rhetoric around this controversial agreement was mainly focused on how DR-CAFTA would not only boost the United States’ economy, but also, single-handedly catapult Central America and The Dominican Republic out of poverty.

The initial negotiation process with Nicaragua was completed in record time - one year. This alone casted a dubious cloud over the actual intentions behind the agreement. Within this timeframe, only a select few were actually present at the negotiating table. Mario Arana, member of the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (In Spanish: Funides), and Azucena Castillo, General Manager of the Association of Producers and Exporters (In Spanish: APEN) were some of the Nicaraguan representatives present– appointed by then President Enrique Bolaños. But what about the small producers? From the very beginning, on the Nicaraguan side, we saw the scale shifting toward larger corporations instead of all parties involved. As we have learned from NAFTA, these types of unilateral agreements negatively affect small producers whose entire livelihood depends on small production. They struggle to compete with the massive agricultural corporations in the U.S. aided by subsidy policies. So arguably, this deal isn’t very fair depending which side of the power dynamic you may find yourself on.

Although concrete evidence to favor or condemn DR-CAFTA is yet to be found, I sat down with a Nicaraguan economist to put all the contributing factors of this complex reality, into perspective.

Beef Industry
First, Nicaraguan beef is known to be leaner and is a healthier, overall higher quality meat, than their North American counterpart. Further, Nicaragua is the leading beef exporter to Costa Rica, and El Salvador, and number 2 behind the U.S., to Guatemala (USMEF.org 2014). Now through DR-CAFTA, the beef industry in the U.S. is able to import into Nicaragua, and the rest of Central America, at a significantly lower cost - lower than the cost it requires for local Nicaraguans to produce their beef. Additionally, the gigantic retail predator Walmart has been conveniently benefiting and has become a direct competitor not only with their sale of U.S. beef, but also with their domination of the supermarket scene in Nicaragua. So Walmart is actually able to import beef into Nicaragua with tax breaks through the same quotas established between Nicaragua and the U.S. In other words, Walmart can take advantage of the lower cost to import beef into Nicaragua and the rest of Central America in order to compete with locally produced beef and, thus, directly competing with local supermarkets.

What does this all mean? Well, considering that Nicaragua has successfully been the leading exporter of beef in Central America, now the Nicaraguan economy as a whole is being threatened. Most importantly, local producers can’t realistically compete with these exports – so where in DR-CAFTA does it protect the livelihoods of small producers? Further, does the Nicaraguan economy relish in the increased sales of Walmart? Of course not. This revenue goes back to the U.S.

So how do we explain the economic growth that Nicaragua has still managed to experience?

Crop Diversification

The agriculture community has managed to stay afloat due to its successful diversification efforts. Nicaraguan farmers change what they grow depending on international demand. As a result, they vary what they grow from year to year. Additionally, among Nicaragua’s largest exports is coffee - so their being able to change what they grow allowed them to strongly benefit from the drought that happened in Brazil that caused the price of coffee to skyrocket. Finally, gold is another one of Nicaragua’s largest exports; so it’s worth mentioning that both coffee and gold -whose sales make up the majority of Nicaragua’s GDP - are industries not regulated by DR-CAFTA.

New Markets

Looking for new markets is probably one of the most important factors in the Nicaraguan economic dynamic. Nicaragua has been able to successfully engage in new opportunities with the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (ALBA). ALBA is an alternative to the free trade agreements of the north that was started by Venezuela and Cuba - led by Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, respectively.

Through this agreement, Nicaragua is able to export the rice that can no longer compete with U.S. rice coming into Nicaragua, to Venezuela. This is among other basic grains they’ve began exporting to Venezuela. These combined strategies have alleviated the effects of DR-CAFTA, and have greatly contributed to the continued growth. According to the economist we consulted, things would get ugly if ALBA would cease to exist.

So, have the expectations of DR-CAFTA been met? Far from that. I think it’s created a difficult space where the resilience of the Nicaraguan people has played an important role. Being able to diversify, depend on industries that aren’t regulated by DR-CAFTA, and engaging in new market opportunities has allowed them to not only survive, but continue to grow. So in the end, who gains with DR-CAFTA? Clearly the U.S. and few large private Nicaraguan corporations - definitely not the Nicaraguan farmers. What have we learned? Nicaragua has had to go up against - instead of working alongside - the massive economic power that is the U.S.

Election Blog Series - Honduras: Why U.S. Policy Needs a Re-Set

-by Witness for Peace Honduras/Nicaragua Team

Why U.S. Policy in Honduras Needs a Re-Set

Although neither candidate mentioned Honduras in the last presidential debate on foreign policy, Mitt Romney has cited the Obama administration’s reaction to the coup in Honduras as an example marking Barack Obama's failure in Latin American policy.

He is not alone in criticizing the Obama administration’s response to the 2009 coup in Honduras. For reasons starkly different than Romney's, ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Howard Berman, wrote in a recent letter to Secretary Clinton: “U.S. policy in Honduras needs a re-set.” The current policies overlook the human rights crisis that has erupted in Honduras over the past few years. Out of concern for the alarming rate of human rights abuses and repression, almost 100 members of Congress have called for a suspension of U.S. military aid.

The example of Honduras can say a lot about the presidential candidates’ positions on Latin America. Historically the United States has intervened heavily in Honduras. The former "banana republic" played a key role in Reagan’s Cold War-driven mission to crush revolutionary movements in Nicaragua and El Salvador in the 1980s by providing a haven for U.S.-funded military operations.  More recently it was brought to the international radar when the Honduran military ousted democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, 2009.

So, what do the two major party candidates have to say about the Honduran coup d’état and human rights crisis?

Obama:

The Obama administration provided a lukewarm response to the 2009 coup. While Obama condemned the coup and called it illegal, the State Department avoided using the term “military coup” in order to maintain greater control over its funding to Honduras. As negotiations about Zelaya’s return to Honduras dragged out, the U.S. government stated it would recognize elections even if Zelaya were not returned beforehand-- which is exactly what it did.

The 2009 elections in Honduras were heavily boycotted by civil society, and well-respected election observation bodies like the E.U. and the Carter Center refused to participate. In the weeks leading up to the elections, the coup regime cracked down of freedom of speech and assembly. Resistance members were detained and beaten by security forces.  While the overwhelming majority of Latin American countries rejected the elections, the U.S. immediately recognized them as free and fair, and reinstated military and police aid soon after the inauguration of Porfirio Lobo Sosa.

Obama was left with a difficult legacy from the Bush years. He attempted to step back from the military interventions and “nation-building” under the Bush era. Obama promised that his foreign policy would re-focus on diplomacy and working within the international community. 

However, in the aftermath of the Honduran coup, the ambivalent U.S. response diverged greatly from other countries in the hemisphere that were calling for Zelaya’s unconditional return and a rejection of the dubious elections. Leaders from other countries that make up the Organization of American States were critical of the U.S.’ position.

In response to criticism that the administration didn’t take a strong enough stance in Honduras, Obama responded:

 “The same critics who say that the United States has not intervened enough in Honduras are the same people who say that we're always intervening and the Yankees need to get out of Latin America. You can't have it both ways.”

Rhetorically, the U.S. did take a step back.  In practice, the U.S. has intervened. Three years later, Honduras is becoming the newest epicenter for the War on Drugs. The U.S. has focused its attention on training and equipping the Honduran police and military, as narco-trafficking has been somewhat pushed from Colombia and Mexico into Central America. In addition, the U.S. has plans to increase military bases in Honduras. The Pentagon increased its contract spending in Honduras to $53.8 million in Fiscal Year 2011, up by 71% from the previous year.

For Hondurans involved in the opposition movement against the coup and post-coup governments, the increased presence of military and police does not make them feel safer. In the words of a member of a Garífuna community that has seen increased military and police presence: “It actually creates fear. It is destroying our communities.” Many indigenous and Afro-indigenous communities as well as small farmers are in the midst of land disputes with large landowners that supported the military coup. They witness collaboration between state forces and private security guards to harass, repress and even murder community members in disputed territories.

From the millions given in security assistance and construction of military bases, to the presence of embedded U.S. officials in Honduran agencies, the U.S. has clearly taken a position.

Romney:

While Obama’s administration has failed to get Honduras policy right, Romney would bring us even further backwards. Romney’s position on Latin America is full of Manifest Destiny and Monroe Doctrine discourse that also borders on invoking Cold War-era warnings of socialism creeping in from our Latin American neighbors.

Romney’s campaign states:

“[Obama] has allowed the march of authoritarianism to go unchecked. In some cases, he has actually encouraged it, as when he publicly backed former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya—a Hugo Chavez ally—despite Zelaya’s unconstitutional attempt to extend his term as president in defiance of the Honduran Supreme Court and legislature.”

Romney’s characterization of the coup misrepresents the facts. Leading up to the coup, Zelaya was promoting a non-binding referendum asking Hondurans whether they wanted include a ballot measure in the upcoming elections that would allow them to vote for an assembly to reform the constitution. The spin perpetuated in U.S. media painted Zelaya in a similar way that Romney has- that he was trying to stay in power indefinitely, thereby insinuating or stating that that warranted the illegal coup. In reality, if Zelaya were hoping to change the constitution so that he could have had another term as president, he was many steps removed.  After the coup, the resistance movement collected 1,250,000 signatures in support of a national constitutional assembly.

If Zelaya were authoritarian, as Romney believes, what does that make the U.S.-trained military generals who kidnapped Zelaya from his home and wrecked havoc on civilian protests? What does that make the Lobo administration, which took power under highly-contested elections and has done little to change the pattern of repression? 

Romney’s response to Obama’s policies grossly misses the mark and does not discuss the realities of Obama’s policies in Honduras. If Honduras is an example of how Obama and Romney approach Latin American policy, one thing is clear: no matter who wins the elections on November 6^th, the U.S. needs to drastically change its course. The War on Drugs and militarization in Latin America is a human rights disaster throughout the region.

Join the voices calling for change now! Click here to send a letter to your Senator and Representative asking them to support real change in Honduras policy that promotes human rights and an end to the militarized approach to the War on Drugs.

U.S. Threatens to Cut All Aid to Nicaragua

By: Christine Goffredo
     WFP Nicaragua Team Member

Small chile farmers like Don Orlando (left), Don Roger (center) and Don Roger's son (right) are those that have benefited from USAID funded programs in Nicaragua like Chiles de Nicaragua, S.A.

Many people in the U.S. know about Nicaragua from the Sandinista revolution in the 1980’s, or they may have heard about the Iran-Contra affair.  But there is a 150 year history of tension between the United States and Nicaragua, and this history has continued to the present day.


Currently at issue in U.S.-Nicaraguan relations is the renewal of two separate “waivers”, without which Nicaragua would not receive any foreign aid from the United States in the upcoming fiscal year.  Last week Washington announced that Nicaragua would not receive one of the waivers, and the prospects of receiving the second so-called “property waiver” are not looking positive either. The new U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua Phyllis Powers’ comments at a May 11 American Chamber of Commerce luncheon signaled as much:


 “I must be honest with you, the persistent failure in fiscal transparency, the incapacity of the government of Nicaragua to make concrete decisions in resolving the property invasions of U.S. citizens, and especially the grave irregularities in the electoral process of last year; and the absence of means that indicate that the conditions are improving for this year, make the decision for the disbursement of funds very difficult.” 


The first waiver deals with transparency in budgeting, and its denial will cost the Nicaraguan people $3 million in aid for the next fiscal year.  The approval of the property waiver still remains uncertain and could mean a cut of over $13 million in education, health, and small business development funding.  


The property waiver comes from Section 527 of a U.S. law called the Foreign Relations Authorization Act that gives the Executive Branch authority to cancel all aid to a country if cases concerning land confiscated or appropriated from U.S. citizens by that country’s government are not resolved in a satisfactory manner.   In addition, the U.S. government would have to veto any decisions by international financial institution, such as the IMF where the U.S. holds veto power, to disburse funds.  


While such a law may seem logical on its face—a way to protect U.S. citizens’ property—such laws have almost exclusively been used to punish government’s that disagree with U.S. policymakers.  


And this legislation is particularly problematic for Nicaragua. In the first place, due to the Hickenlooper Amendment that dates back to 1962 but was resurrected by Senator Jesse Helms and Representative Henry Gonzalez when they authored Section 527, the definition of U.S. citizen can be applied retroactively.  This means that Nicaraguans whose land was confiscated before they became U.S. citizens are applicable under this law.  One of the main motivations for this amendment is the Nicaraguan Agrarian Land Reform, passed after the Revolution in1979 that put an end to a 40-year long dictatorship by the U.S.-supported Somoza family.  The Reform confiscated land primarily from  Somoza family members,  soldiers in Somoza’s army that had committed war crimes, and those that had taken out hefty mortgages for their properties and then left the country for the United States, taking all of their wealth with them, and leaving the burden of the unpaid-for properties with the Nicaraguan government.   Following the U.S.-funded Contra War in Nicaragua, the democratically elected president of 1990, Violeta Chamorro, formalized the land turnovers, an act lauded by many as a great aid in the war reconstruction effort of the country.  The Agrarian Reform benefited over 60% of Nicaragua’s rural population by providing them with land after over a decade of war and destruction.  


In 1994, however, the U.S. passed Section 527 and even advertised it in stateside newspapers, urging new U.S. citizens from Nicaragua to file claims.  According to César Zamora, the vice president of the American Association of the Chambers of Commerce of Latin American and the Caribbean (Aaccla), these property claims have cost Nicaragua over $1.4 billion in 15 years, and that the resources that the country has utilized to return and compensate these confiscated properties makes up around 45% of the internal debt of the country.  This is on top of a $4.12 billion external debt that represents 52.6% of the country’s GDP, thanks to U.S. supported neoliberal policies that pushed borrowing from the IMF and World Bank.  


Today the Attorney General of Nicaragua, Hernán Estrada, has reported that in this year alone, 50 cases have been resolved, leaving 193 claims, representing 366 properties, still unresolved.  This shows a real effort to escalate the pace of case resolution, as there were 48 in 2009, 61 in 2010, and 62 in 2011.  Of the 193 claimants still remaining, only 6 are U.S.-born citizens, the rest are Nicaraguan who became citizens during the 80’s and 90’s, according to the Attorney General’s Office.  Estrada has also noted that some of the difficulty in resolving the remaining cases has to do with poorly filed claims, or lack of documentation for claims.  


Nevertheless, the decision that the Executive Branch will make is still uncertain.  In the case of the negation of the first waiver, the major reason cited was lack of transparency in the Nicaraguan budget. The other issue mentioned was inconsistencies in the 2011 Nicaraguan Presidential election.  This, despite that fact that the first waiver is based on the Department of State’s Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, which evaluates only fiscal spending (specifically, making the national budget public).  In regards to the elections, there have been several documented instances of issues with that election, while the Nicaraguan government and its supporters maintain that the election was free and fair.  


Clearly these waivers are powerful diplomatic tools that raise very serious questions not only about national sovereignty, in terms of producing a national budget or electing a leader, but also about what the goal of foreign aid really is. Should U.S. assistance be used to ensure that a country obeys the will of the United States? Or to aid the millions of Nicaraguans that could benefit from financial assistance in health, education, and environmental programs?  


Sociologist Cirilo Otero told Witness for Peace in a recent interview, “I think that the two waivers are necessary for Nicaragua, in relation to the country’s interests with multilateral institutions and the commitments of the country to multilateral lending institutions.”  But he left an important reminder concerning these international lending institutions, their programs, and the majority of Nicaraguans:


“With or without the waiver, poverty will continue to be a difficult and denigrating situation for a large percentage of Nicaraguans, for many Nicaraguan families - I am speaking about roughly 3.5 million people, principally young people.  Up until now, the projects that have been executed with these loans have not succeeded in benefiting the poor of Nicaragua.”


Nevertheless, loss of United States development aid would seriously damage and possibly eliminate programs currently operating in Nicaragua that assist Nicaraguans around the country.


The decision will be made by July 30, so there is still time to act. Call John Ballard at the State Department’s Nicaragua Desk (202-647-1510) and tell him that you support extending both of these waivers to Nicaragua this year. 

Foreign Direct Invasion: What “Free Trade” means for small producers

By Riahl O'Malley
Witness for Peace International Team - Nicaragua

In Spanish, the verb “invadir” can mean a number of things: to encroach, to overwhelm, or to invade or attack. This is the verb that Maria Selina Valladares, co-founder of a small womens’ sewing cooperative operating out of Somoto, Nicaragua used to describe the role of big producers in Nicaragua under the Dominican Republic - Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). “Nos invaden,” she told me. “They’re invading us.”

Yesterday Congress passed three new Free Trade Agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, respectively. These agreements follow the same model as DR-CAFTA. By reducing taxes on imports and exports and expanding the ability of companies to set-up abroad they are said to create “a level playing field for U.S. investors.” But since DR-CAFTA came into effect, María Selina has felt anything but level with large multi-national corporations.

Four years ago María Selina was one of 12 women in Nicaragua’s rural town of Somoto who decided to start a sewing cooperative.

“The idea was to generate employment, find the market and export our product abroad, to let them see that we have the capacity to work and to make a good product,” she said.

They received legal council, attended meetings with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Investment, Industry and Business, and even received a government grant to purchase their equipment. So far they have had few opportunities to sell their product. Even people in their own region would rather import than buy their local product, which ends up being more expensive.

“We have to charge the cost of the cloth, the thread, all of the materials plus our labor,” she explained. “We have very strong competition… The products that come from Managua don’t give us the opportunity to work.”

Foreign textile and apparel producers have been on the rise in Nicaragua since DR-CAFTA came into effect. They are said to benefit hugely from the agreement. Under DR-CAFTA, they can import a significant amount of cloth from a cheaper country like China, assemble it in Nicaragua and ship it duty-free to the U.S. in a box labeled “made in Nicaragua.”

It was mostly foreign companies from countries like the U.S. that were included in the negotiations that formed DR-CAFTA, so it is of little surprise that the agreement was designed for their benefit. Meanwhile, those who have little access to the same networks and resource as large multi-national corporations, like María Selina’s sewing cooperative, are, according to María Selina, “completely drowned out.”

Lessons from a Canine Immigrant

By Sara Joseph
Communications Associate, Witness for Peace

During the year-and-a-half that I worked in Nicaragua with Witness for Peace, I lived less than two blocks from the U.S. Embassy. The colossal building is sandwiched between agencies that advertise help secure a “visa for a dream.” And long before the day heats up, the line for visa interviews extends well onto the sidewalk in front of the Embassy.

Of course, even after submitting all your paperwork and paying for an embassy interview, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be granted even a visitor’s visa to the United States. A few years ago, a friend of mine was denied a visa to visit his cousins even though his mother, stepfather, and half-siblings were all granted travel documents.

Fortunately, I was able to help one friend secure a visa to the United States: my dog Dino. I adopted Dino two months after arriving in Nicaragua and was soon unable to imagine life without him. But would I be able to take him with me when I returned to the United States?

When I inquired at the U.S. embassy I was informed that a new embargo against shipping dogs had recently been established. My heart dropped.

“There are two ways to skirt around the embargo,” I was told. “The first option is to ship another animal to the U.S. first, say, a duck or a chicken.”

Huh. It wasn’t looking good. “And the other option?” I asked, almost scared to hear the answer. I couldn’t imagine having to leave Dino behind – he’s part of my family!

“You can join Continental’s frequent flyer program,” he told me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Clearly, this was nothing compared to the hoops Nicaraguan people are forced to jump through to get a visa to the U.S. And although I was nervous about whether Dino would be scared or uncomfortable traveling from Managua to Boston in the airplane’s cargo, the risks can’t compare to what many Nicaraguan immigrants undertake when forced to reach the United States by land – and undocumented.

Today, as I write with Dino happily munching on a mango pit at my feet (he is a Nicaraguan pooch, after all), I can’t help but think about the pain our immigration laws cause to families throughout the Americas – and the discomfort of knowing that as a U.S. citizen, I was able to bring even the most rebellious of mutts home with me without much difficulty. Now, it is my appreciation for being able to maintain my own odd family that inspires me to keep working against the arbitrary, punitive, and often hypocritical legislation that keeps so many family members separated.

Small Victory in the Struggle Against Dole, Thousands Still Waiting for Justice

By Brooke Denmark
International Team - Nicaragua

Last Thursday there was a rare excitement in the air when we met with the group of former banana plantation workers camped outside the Nicaraguan National Assembly. For almost 20 years, workers suffering from medical conditions due to their exposure to a dangerous pesticide popularly known as Nemagon have been struggling to receive compensation from large corporations such as Dole. On August 11, representatives of a U.S.-based law firm, Provost Umphrey, announced that they had reached a settlement with Dole for 3,153 workers affected by the chemical. The details of the settlement have not yet been announced.

ASONEF members' protest community in front of the Nicaraguan National Assembly from 2004-2010

Despite celebrating this small victory, large questions remain unanswered. An estimated 17,000 workers were affected by the toxin. The fates of the thousands of unrepresented workers remain unclear. Dole has said that this is not a precedent decision or admittance of guilt. The Dole spokesperson who announced the settlement stated,

“Dole Food Company reiterates that there was no harm through exposure nor proof that supports there were damages to health, but in order to fulfill our social responsibility, we have taken this monumental step, but it should not be interpreted as the basis for an economic model for other groups still claiming settlements.”

But how monumental is this step really if only a fraction of those affected will benefit?

The President of ASONEF, the Association of Ex-Banana Workers Affected by Nemagon, Altagracia del Socorro Solis Navas, is one of the thousands of workers still waiting for an answer. She worked on banana plantations for 11 years. The effects of the pesticides began to set in by her 6th year. Today she suffers from long-term effects of the pesticide such as kidney problems and skin cancer. Solis is hopeful about the settlement announcement with some workers, but remarked,

“We are all the same, we worked together and need to be paid, not just one of us, but all of us worked. If we had known that the transnational corporations were using this poison, we would not have worked there. They didn't provide us with protection or warn us that this poison was deadly.”


The ASONEF board members, July 2010

The pesticides did not only harm workers that had direct contact. The next generation is also feeling the effects. In Chinandega, where many of the banana plantations were located, during the 1990s children began to be born with deformities and studies showed alarmingly high rates of chemicals found in breast milk.

The son of Leonardo Ernesto Gonzalez Herrera, another member of ASONEF, was born after Leonardo was exposed to the chemicals. He was born with brain damage that continues to affect his daily life as an adult. None of the settlements so far have addressed the long-term damage done to other generations or the environment.

ASONEF board members in front of one of the houses recently
constructed for them by the Nicaraguan government, August 2011

Solis raised another important concern about the recent settlement: the speed in which it will reach workers in grave condition. She warned that over the years many of her colleagues have already died waiting for a response from the transnational corporations, some before even reaching the age of fifty. “They died without anything but hope,” Solis warns.

Please call Dole today to pressure the corporation to provide compensation to everyone suffering the effects of Nemagon:

David A. DeLorenzo
, President, Director and Chief Executive Officer
David H. Murdock
, Chairman of the Board

 


Phone:818-879-6600 
Fax: 818-879-6615

"We Returned Home Changed:" Reflections on the 2011 Teen Delegation to Nicaragua

Gail Phares, one of Witness for Peace's founders and the organization's Southeast Regional Organizer, leads an annual teen delegation to Nicaragua. Here are some reflections from 2011's participants on their recent experience.

“When you return to the United States you will not be the same,” Yamileth Perez told us as we visited the Chureca – the Managua dump in Acuhualinca. Yamileth used to live and work in the dump. Now she is a health promoter and works with youth in a soccer league to help young people who might have joined gangs. She is an inspiration.

During our two weeks in Nicaragua, the teens would have two home stays. One in Mirna Urgarte – an urban community and a rural home stay in a community in Matagalpa called Ramon Garcia.

We visited the Free Trade Zone and met with Emilio Noguera, a lawyer who negotiates with the labor unions, toured a Taiwanese factory that produces North Face garments and also with workers’ movement leader Maria Elena Cuadra. North Face jackets retail in the U.S. for $150-$170 dollars each. The women and men working in the factory earn about $4 dollars a day. We learned that real wages have fallen 20% under free trade agreements such as NAFTA and CAFTA. Poverty rates have reached 81%. Since l994, when NAFTA passed, income inequality has increased and here in the United States, we lost over 1 million jobs. Over 4 million Mexican corn farmers have gone bankrupt due to U.S. subsidized agriculture and have migrated north order to be able to feed their families.

Julio Sanchez from the Humboldt Center told us “We need people that can make change…Change will only come if people demand it and work for change. The whole earth is connected....Think about others not just about yourself.”

While in the rural farming community, we met with an agronomist named Alexis Ochoa Garcia. He described some of the programs supported by the Nicaraguan government called Zero Hunger (Cero Hambre). The Agrarian Productive Loan gives a pregnant cow, a pregnant pig, nine chickens and a rooster, and five goats plus wood, zinc and nails for a fence as well as seeds to rural families who qualify. This is an attempt to improve the diet and the standard of living of people living in the countryside. The Nicaraguan government also gives small loans – Zero Debt – to groups of five people who qualify to begin a small business. A salary bonus is given to workers such as teachers, police, municipal workers, the military and policy, and doctors to supplement their salary.

The government subsidizes fuel/transportation through a program received through Venezuela – ALBA- so that the cost of transportation will not rise. They are also improving the roads. We drove on the road between San Ramon and Ramon Garcia, which has been repaved.

The people in Ramon Garcia taught us many lessons:

• “The importance of family.” 

• “I learned that I do not need much to be happy.” 

• “How to live simply.” 

• “I hardly every think about who in my life sacrificed so that I can live a luxurious life.”

Carlos Vidal – Director of Los Quinchos – a program for former “street children” was one of the many inspiring people we met. He gave us an overview of Nicaraguan history. Many children must live on the streets because their parents do not have a job. These young people lived in the Eastern Market and sniffed glue in order to stop their hunger. With the help of an Italian woman, Los Quinchos takes children and brings them to a farm in San Marcos where they receive food, housing, go to school and learn a trade. The day we spent with these children ages 6-18 was one of the most moving of our trip.

As Yamileth promised on our first day in Nicaragua, we returned home changed. We pledged to give talks in our churches and schools and to help educate our family and friends about Nicaragua. We are grateful to our parents and all who contributed so that we could make this life-changing trip to Central America.

Back from the Campo

This week students from the College of New Jersey's Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement are in Nicaragua with a Witness for Peace delegation. This is a direct account from those students.

I can not believe that this trip is already coming to an end. It seems like just yesterday I was packing up the car to head to Newark airport. I know I have not written too much since the beginning of the trip, but that is not to say that what I have been experiencing has not impacted me. On Monday we got back from the campo (the country side) where we each stayed with different families. After experiencing a glimpse of what it is like to live in Ramon Garcia, an impoverished agricultural-based village, I have come to realize on a more personal level how macro-level policies and decisions have negatively impacted the lower-class of a society. On the other hand, I was exposed to the hard working and persistent mentality of the Ramon Garcia peoples who are determined to do better for themselves, but have limited resources to do so. Although Daniel Ortega seems to be making an effort to help and advocate for the poor, I can not help but be skeptical about the work he is doing. Overall, I left the community with mixed feelings of both anger and frustration. Mainly because of the fact that the children have to pay to go to secondary school and college is not even an option for most if not, all of them. To think it only takes $300 per year to send a child through college. In the back of my mind I feel I can not help but want to just pull that money out of my savings account to give those children a chance to get out, but at the same time, I feel it is more important to address the root causes of the problems.

This post was originally published here.

Nicaragua: "There is so much the world can learn from you. There is so much I have learned from you."

This week students from the College of New Jersey's Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement are in Nicaragua with a Witness for Peace delegation. This is a direct account from those students.

Today I found a little bit of peace… in a place with a very uncertain future, filled with big hearts and hopeful spirits. Nicaragua. I came to visit you with no expectations, with no idea, but with the intention to become inspired and to let your history, your story, your beauty influence me… to allow you to bear motherhood over me for a few days… to feel your love, to feel your pain, even if it’s just for a little while. I came here with the idea that I could stop it all. Or at least do something to induce change. But after learning that you’ve become victim to unfair policies, unjust political figures, ignorance and corrupt authority, pesticides, homicide, false and unkept promises… that your children live in garbage dumpsters, that your children are being exploited by foreign companies, that your daughters carry on their backs the blame of all the misfortunes of their families, and your sons have lost themselves in their anger and disillusionment… I’ve become hopeless… soaked in guilt and despair. Yet somehow, magically, you have not. You still remain. You have been sucked dry of your milk by sons you did not bear, and still, you continue to produce nutrients for your children and a surplus. You have been covered by pollution and masked with the discards of the world, but you bloom, no matter the season, providing a corner of shade for any tired soul seeking relief from the sun above you. Your children have found a way to grow with their devastations, and not be consumed by them. They have learned how to move in a world that has no path for them. Chameleons of time and circumstance. You parade your scars of battle and revolution with grace and humility. You know the true definition of beauty. Blessed are you because you know what the true definition of honor is. You practice nobility, honesty, and you labor every single moment of the day in hopes to teach your children the joy in true and just work ethic. Most amazingly, you have forgiven all offenses made against you. You hold no grudge. You walk with love. There is so much the world can learn from you. There is so much I have learned from you. And today, as I was drowning in my guilt, exasperated by the sufferings I am witnessing, you sent one of your children to sing to my colleagues and I… and I heard your song of peace. You rescued me from my doubts, from my thoughts. You told me that you have not lost hope, nor have your children, and in turn, I cannot either.

-Maria

This post was originally published here.

Environmental Lessons from a Witness for Peace Delegation to Nicaragua

Last year a University of Portland student said that before joining a Witness for Peace delegation, "I was not politically aware, but going on this trip has opened my eyes. It has motivated me to be more aware and keep updated on what's going on in the world."

Now you can follow the experiences of 2011 University of Portland delegates to Nicaragua live.

It's Madie P. and Colton! We thought that this would be a good time to grab the computer while we had the chance and write a little something. Since we are the only ones with science majors (Environmental Science and Environmental Engineering), we want to reflect a little bit more on the environmental issues and impacts happening in Nicaragua. Last Saturday (May 14th) we had a speaker come to us at CEPAD. The speakers name was Julio Sanchez and he is an environmentalist that works with an organization called Humboldt Center. He came and talked to us about the environmental issues that are facing Nicaragua. So we are just going to lay out some facts first:

Nicaragua’s main source of revenue is from its natural resources. According to Julio, 75% of all Nicaragua’s income comes from the environment, but only 0.13% of the GDP goes toward preserving their land. Julio raised a point that if they did increase the amount of money for investment in the environment, it would reduce the amount of money for medical attention and would increase ecotourism. Nicaragua has 5% of the world’s biodiversity and if Nicaragua would invest more in preservation, this would boost the GDP dramatically. This extra money essentially could start a movement to create a stronger infrastructure.

From what we learned in the past couple days, countries are being encouraged to come and use these resources to increase jobs and create a flow of money to the economy. However, these companies are not being penalized for their overwhelming destruction to the environment. Luckily, this is recently changing. The Humboldt Center is making movements towards working with the government to making stronger policies, as well as increasing the actual enforcement of the policies.

What makes us the most upset is that even though in U.S. we have our environmental movements towards making a smaller carbon footprint, we are still creating pollution and deforestation in other countries. It’s basically canceling out all of our efforts that we make back at home. These companies need to be held responsible for their destruction to the environment in and outside the United States. Nicaragua has some truly unique wildlife and BEAUTIFUL landscapes. It deserves to be preserved so that our grandchildren will have the opportunity to see this biodiversity and beauty.

Overall, Julio’s talk definitely tied all of the issues we have been learning about together. In the midst of focusing and seeing all of the social and economical issues, Julio brought up a powerful point that nature is the basic foundation of these issues. Nature is the one that gives values to social, economic, and cultural to each and every country. It gives people an identity and life to communities. This alone should be a strong motivation to preserve something that gives us all life.

Woooh. Alright. A little longer than expected but hopefully you made it through. We just got back from the campo today (countryside for all those nonspanish speakers) and are pretty pooped. Dinner was delicious from the restaurant across the street and ended it with an ice cream run. On our way to “The Igloo”, we discovered some break dancing. Of course, our Witness for Peace leader, Riahl, joined and surprised all of the locals. Now some chitchat and cards are being played, but the night is wrapping up.

-Madie P. and Colton

This post was originally published here.

The Campo Homestay: "It's outside our comfort zone but stepping out for 3 days and embracing it is the way to go!"

This week students from the College of New Jersey's Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement are in Nicaragua with a Witness for Peace delegation. This is a direct account from those students.

It's day 3 in Nicaragua and everything is so far so good. Nicaragua this year has been great thus far. When I arrived here I wondered if I was going to have a similar experience then the last time I was here.. and so I concluded that I did not want to compare one Nica trip to the other. I want to take this second trip as a second chance. Today I realized that I have not done enough to help Nicaragua last year and this coming year I need scream to the top of my lungs and raise awareness about the social injustices that Nica is going through every single day.

Today I had the opportunity to talk to some people that are staying at CEPAD (the name of the place we are staying) as well.. and I really want to know what they personally think about the current president and what they thought about the fact that he is going to run for the third time for office. Something that was against the law but he personally made sure to change that just so he can run again. They really were opinionated about the president and what they expected from him.. The people in Nica especially college students are iffy about the president, he has done good things but he has not been to transparent with the things he is doing. So I guess what worries many people here is if he is changing the law and running again to just become another Fidel Castro? or Chavez? Which by the way they are all buddies along with my very own Ecuadorian president.. So the college students expressed concern about all these relationships and hope that only good comes out of these relationships and they also hope that all these presidents are working for the people and not to get richer or steal from the country. However, if we look at Chavez case.. I am sure he is praying (like one of the speakers today mentioned) that the "petrolio" cost gets higher so that Venezuela gets richer.. Something to think about

Before I engaged in conversation with the Nicaraguense college students, Witness for Peace allowed us to talk to 3 speakers today. We first learned about Neo-liberalism.. which was actually good because it was a refresher and definitely helped me understand everything else that happened through out the day. After breakfast at 7am.. may i mention. We took a trip with Yamilette Perez who helps her community by having her very own small clinic. This clinic is a free clinic so many people that have flu or any type of sickness come to her for help and she is there! Her story however is very interesting she lived in a dump for a big chunk of her life and she worked there as well, collecting bronze, plastic and basically sorting out the garbage that all of Managua (the capital city of Nicaragua) dumps daily. She had her only daughter in the dump and she showed us pictures of her daughter very un-healthy because of her economic status. She did not have money so she often had to eat meat that was thrown away by other people. She told us that she would rub these guava leaves on the meat so that the smell of the meat is canceled out and help her eat it better. She would often not eat breakfast or lunch so that she would be really hungry at night.. enough to allow her self to eat the passed away meat. It was hard to her her story but I realized how strong of a woman she is. She is now helping others, no longer working in the dump but instead has a house in a community next to the dump. This allows her to still have the opportunity to help her community. Its amazing to see people go though some really tough times in their lives and they still have time to think of others or still have that burning passion to help others even though your very own life still needs help too. She is a great example of a strong woman.. she got though it all and she is still standing tall and with a smile on her face. She is a very happy person and not many people in the USA can even imagine going through what she did and not be mad at God or at the world. Life can be tough for me.. finals, personal problems but once you hear her story my problems become so small compared to hers. It just makes you appreciate everything you have.. but that's it? Do you appreciate and walk away? NO! You take action.. you do something about all this! This leads me to mention the reflection we had with the whole group about what we are going to do when we get back from Nica. We obviously realized that "this is not ok!" like my roomie Jenn would say.. In our reflection and through out this whole trip I want to brainstorm ideas with others on this trip.. and see what we can do.. Last year we had a Nica forum and that was it.. YES! its hard to balance school and Bonner and other activities on campus and still try to organize an event.. but its not impossible.. So I have challenged myself .. to do more then what I did last year for Nica this year. Actually, this new Nica group silently challenged me to do something more for Nica then a simple Nica forum..Which I do not down talk it because I think last years forum was great.. it took a lot of planning and everyone who spoke did a great job.. but this is just a motivation to do more.. to basically improve and build upon the other ideas that have already been implemented by other delegations to help raise awareness for Nica. I just don't want to get carried away by "life" once I get back to the USA and not remember the things I have experienced here.. and so I hope that everyone in this years delegation from TCNJ can push each other and nudge each other when we go back to the U.S. and remind each other that we need to take action! Its been REAL.. I can not wait until we go to Ramon Garcia which is el campo.. and see my host family from last year.. I hope she remembers me because I sure do! I also hope that everyone that is on this trip gets excited for it too.. its hard to get excited because everyone is a but anxious about what to expect in el campo.. Bears, tigers, BUGS.. ha ha.. I hope that everyone worries do not get in the way of learning from their families and really listening to what they have to say about their own economic issue. Its natural though to be nervous about el campo.. heck I was when I first went.. its outside our comfort zone but stepping out for 3 days and embracing it is the way to gooo! I am excited for the following days.. i hope to meet more Nicaraguenses..and talk to more people about politics which I really think is interesting right now.. hot topic..

-Kat

This post was originally published here.

The Senselessness of Hate

by Mark Stevens

I recently saw an article on abcnews.com that investigates whether Arizona law SB1070 has sparked or intensified anti-immigrant sentiments and violence. As I read about the growing number of these hate crimes, I immediately thought about those people I have met here in Nicaragua who have told me why they decided to venture to the U.S. illegally. With these stories in mind, the facts the article reported no longer made sense to me.

Maybe it was my awareness of the fairly recent history between the United States and Nicaragua that made the internet article seem illogical. Here’s the basic story: In 1979, a revolution occurred against a family of U.S.-backed dictators that had held power in Nicaragua for nearly 40 years. The government that was born out of the revolution was socialist, led by the Sandinistas. The United States was fearful that Nicaragua would be drawn into the Soviet-led bloc of leftist countries, becoming another Cuba. This led Ronald Reagan’s administration to financially and militarily support an insurgency against the Sandinista government in the mid-1980s. Essentially, he started a civil war in Nicaragua, fought between the Sandinista government and the rebel “contras.”

What happens when a government has to fight a war against its own people, on its own land? Here are a few consequences:

• Families broken up by violence. Imagine the deterioration of the Nicaraguan family structure when fathers (and even sons) would go off to fight, many never to return.
• War over development. The Nicaraguan government had to use what little money it had to finance the war instead of using that money for the country’s development.
• Little or no economic growth. Why would businesses want to invest in a country ravaged by war? Unemployment is an obvious consequence of little economic progress.

Clearly the effects of these problems are still felt in Nicaragua, where the poverty rate is greater than 45% and where 65% of the population does not have a formal job. The war that we started in this Central American nation isn’t fully responsible for its status as the 2nd poorest nation of the Western Hemisphere of course, but we can’t deny that it was a contributor. Now that we’re clear on the facts, hopefully you understand my bewilderment. After nearly destroying a country from the inside only 2 or 3 decades ago, now some are infuriated because the victims of our destruction want to find a way to survive in our country? This is not to say that undocumented migration is right, or that all those without papers in the U.S. come from countries with this kind of history. To practice such abject discrimination against those who have so been negatively affected by U.S. foreign policy, however, is simply senseless.

Mark is an intern with Witness for Peace studying the causes of migration in Nicaragua.

Searching for the “American Dream”and falling victim to the “American Nightmare”

At a recent workshop for migrants and their families that Servicio Jesuita para los Migrantes hosted in rural Nicaragua, one of the participants was willing to share his tragic, but not uncommon, story. Pedro has four children, and like any father, he wants the best for them. He knows that having an education gives them a chance to escape from the poverty that afflicts his home country, but his family lacked the financial resources to put them through school. With virtually no opportunities available for him, it was out of sheer desperation that he decided to search for work in the United States.

He was not successful in making it to the U.S. But his determination to give his children a better future would not allow him to quit. He made the journey two more times, in spite of the perils and difficulties of the journey north to Nicaragua. He would not be as lucky on his fourth attempt, receiving irreversible damage to his feet while trying to board a fast moving train.

“Sometimes the American dream is an American nightmare,” he admits. “And that dream will kill you.”

Heartrending stories such as Pedro’s reveal that there is a crucial element missing from the immigration debate: the fact that U.S. economic policies force many of Latin America’s poorest to try their luck on the journey to the U.S., even when the odds are so heavily stacked against them. Unfortunately, very little has been said about how U.S. foreign policy encourages or perpetuates the economic weaknesses that prevented Pedro from being able to find work in his community.

Through international education and grassroots advocacy, Witness for Peace calls for Congress to consider these economic realities as representatives prepare to craft legislation for immigration reform. We must ask our legislators this question: Does it truly make sense to create laws addressing symptoms of migration without addressing the root causes?