Nicaraguan Independence Day
Nicaraguan Independence Day
Washington, DC
September 14, 2009
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On behalf of the people of the United States, I extend my congratulations to the people of Nicaragua as they celebrate 188 years of independence on September 15. As Nicaraguans continue the tradition of reading the Act of Independence of Central America in schools throughout the country tomorrow, showing solidarity with all the people of the isthmus in commemorating the freedom and independence of the five Central American republics, they can be proud of their country and confident in the friendship of United States.
On this historic occasion, let me reaffirm the commitment of the United States to build a stronger partnership with the people of Nicaragua in support of their journey toward a more prosperous future. Together we can work to build a more secure, democratic, and thriving hemisphere.
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Nicaragua’s San Cristobal volcano spews ashes, gas
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Nicaragua’s San Cristobal volcano has let off a series of explosions, spewing gases and showering ash on nearby towns.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
Civil Defense Maj. Carlos Caceres says Sunday’s blasts prompted officials to issue an alert for 25 districts near the volcano.
The 5,725-foot (1,745-meter) volcano is located about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Managua, near the Honduran border.
San Cristobal’s last such activity occurred three years ago.
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Nicaraguans make proxy war of Honduran coup of President Manuel Zelaya
In polarized Nicaragua, lawmakers are linking their domestic political agendas to the drama next door in Honduras — and the specter of violence is growing.
Presidents of neighboring countries closed ranks around toppled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on Monday, with some withdrawing their ambassadors and others closing their borders to commercial traffic with Honduras.
Leaders from throughout the region — including Cuba’s Raúl Castro — flew to Nicaragua for an emergency meeting, as international condemnation of Sunday’s coup grew louder.
Honduras, meanwhile, remained calm Monday although the military used tear gas to disperse some protesters around the presidential residence.
International support grows for ousted Honduras leader
Presidents of neighboring countries closed ranks around toppled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on Monday, with some withdrawing their ambassadors and others closing their borders to commercial traffic with Honduras.
Leaders from throughout the region — including Cuba’s Raúl Castro — flew to Nicaragua for an emergency meeting, as international condemnation of Sunday’s coup grew louder.
Honduras, meanwhile, remained calm Monday although the military used tear gas to disperse some protesters around the presidential residence.
Costa Rican president to mediate Honduras crisis
The dueling Honduran governments agreed Tuesday to allow Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to mediate their political dispute, paving the way for a possible resolution to a crisis that has stretched for nearly two weeks and polarized the country.
Negotiations are expected to begin as soon as Thursday.
Arias’ role as mediator was announced soon after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met privately with ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, and as supporters of Roberto Micheletti, the de facto president, arrived to press their case in Washington.
Honduras braces for border face-off
Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya made his way toward the Honduran border on Thursday, bracing for a showdown that could lead to the presidency, prison — or worse.
Speaking to reporters in Managua, Zelaya said he would cross into Honduras either Friday or Saturday with the hope of ending the nearly month-old political dispute that has divided his nation and rattled the region.
Since his ouster on June 28, Zelaya has vowed to reclaim the presidency. His rival, interim President Roberto Micheletti, has said Zelaya will be arrested on sight and must face charges of treason and abuse of power, among others.
MANAGUA — The aftershocks from the military coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya on June 28 continue to rattle Nicaragua, where politicians are using the neighboring conflict as a proxy war to slug out their own internal disputes.
Though President Daniel Ortega insists a coup d’état in Nicaragua is unthinkable because of the military’s Sandinista roots, the upheaval in Honduras has intensified Nicaragua’s political polarization and led to a recent bout of violence in this already divided nation.
Mónica Zalaquett, director of the Center for Prevention of Violence, says the problem in Honduras has become a “political instrument” in Nicaragua, used by both the Sandinistas and the opposition to promote their own agendas.
“The problem of Honduras,” she said, “can be an opportunity to change the model of conflict resolution through dialogue, or it can be the path to total chaos and violence.”
So far, dialogue doesn’t appear to be winning out.
On Aug. 4, a group of four Nicaraguan opposition lawmakers who tried to travel to the Honduran border to express their discomfort with what they called Zelaya’s two-week “occupation” of northern Nicaragua were turned back 12 miles before the town of Ocotal. Sandinista and Zelaya supporters blocked their caravan on the highway and attacked their vehicles with sticks and rocks.
Four days later, a group of Sandinistas attacked a peaceful march in Managua and beat a journalist they accused of supporting the Honduran coup. Though the violence was strongly condemned by the Nicaraguan political opposition, business groups and the Catholic Church, Ortega justified the attack by saying the demonstrators had been “yelling in favor of the coup.”
ADOPTING THE CAUSE
Ortega has likened the coup in Honduras to a coup against all members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our Americas (ALBA), a leftist group of countries led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In the past, Ortega has said that an attack against one ALBA country is an attack against all.
Nicaraguan opposition leaders, too, have milked the situation in Honduras. They are using it to undermine Ortega’s attempts to follow the ALBA model of reforming the constitution to remain in poer.
“The situation that Honduras is living today is a product of the constitutional violations by Manuel Zelaya and the intervention and meddling of Hugo Chávez,” said Nicaraguan opposition leader Eduardo Montealegre, upon returning from a trip to Honduras in late July to meet and greet the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti.
“We aren’t the government and so it’s not our role to recognize other governments, but as lawmakers, political leaders and Nicaraguan citizens, we recognize what happened in Honduras as a constitutional succession,” Montealegre said.
Lawmaker María Eugenia Sequeira said the situation in Honduras is “the first visible symptom of the abuses that Chávez is promoting in other countries.”
She said it should serve as a “warning bell” for what is happening in Nicaragua, too.
Opposition lawmakers have attempted to introduce a bill calling for Zelaya’s expulsion from Nicaragua, which has become his de facto home base during his six weeks of exiled suitcase diplomacy. They argue Zelaya’s use of Nicaraguan territory to call for insurrection in Honduras violates the constitution and is a flagrant abuse of his privileges as a guest here.
Wilfredo Navarro, first secretary of the National Assembly, said the legislative body is also launching a special congressional investigation of Zelaya’s activities during his recent stay in the border outpost of Ocotal.
Navarro said the commission will be investigating claims that Honduran gang members were among some 1,000 Hondurans who reportedly crossed into Nicaragua illegally to support Zelaya in late July and early August.
“We have reports that Hondurans have been stealing from farms in the Northern Zone because they don’t have any food to eat,” Navarro told The Miami Herald. “This is an offense to Nicaraguans.”
TRADING RHETORIC
Following the Aug. 8 Sandinista attack on the march that Ortega claims was in support of the coup, the criticism of the Nicaraguan government has become increasingly heated.
The Catholic Church released its strongest-worded condemnation to date, expressing its “profound worry and sadness” and criticizing the Sandinista government’s “policy of intolerance and total disrespect for the liberties of free expression and movement.”
Both the church and human rights organizations are denouncing what they call “paramilitary groups” formed by the Sandinista Front to squelch any expression of dissidence.
“[The Sandinistas] talk about changing the model of the country, but the model they are imposing is one of terror and intimidation,” said Gónzalo Carrión, of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights.
Carrión said Nicaragua needs to avoid at all costs entering into armed conflict with Honduras, which he says “would benefit the authoritarian project of Daniel Ortega” by allowing the government to further suppress rights as a wartime measure.
Ortega, who has already been accused by Micheletti of mobilizing troops in Nicaragua — a claim both Ortega and the Nicaraguan military have denied — insists Nicaragua doesn’t want war with Honduras. But Ortega has also sent mixed messages by quoting the adage, “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
Ortega critics say that strategy hasn’t worked out too well in Nicaragua’s past.
“The 1980s taught us painfully that those who prepare for war end in war,” said opposition politician Edmundo Jarquín, in a weekly radio address. “Ortega should have said, `If you want peace, prepare for peace.’ ”
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7 steps to Nicaragua Cultural Immersion
There are many ways to enjoy and immerse you in this wonderfully diverse country in Central America. Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America, but one of the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. The country is bordered in the north by Honduras and the south by Costa Rica. To the west of Nicaragua is the Pacific Ocean and to the east the Caribbean sea. There is much to see with its pre-Columbian historical sites to its biodiversity. It is a small adventure waiting to happen and below are some things you can do to get the most from your experience on your visit to Nicaragua.
1. To really immerse yourself into the Nicaraguan culture you need to experience a little of the country’s past. The best way to learn about Nicaragua’s past is to visit some of the historical locations that are available. You could start with Huellas de Acahualinca (the Ancient footprints of Acahualinca) found near the southern shore of Lake Managua. It is a good way to start your immersion into Nicaraguan culture.
2. The second place to continue with your Nicaraguan culture immersion experience is to experience the natural preserves that are all around the country. Experience the natural and ecological surroundings around you with the volcanoes, rainforests, beaches, lakes and wildlife. Getting to know your immediate environment is essential to understanding how Nicaraguan people interact with different parts of their environment.
3. As you continue to progress in your new found culture it is important to not forget that history and nature are only the start. The next place on your list will be to fulfill your hunger so the next stop needs to be somewhere to eat, to taste something from the past now. A good place to start is gallopinto, Nicaragua’s national dish. An excellent way to taste the local cuisine.
4. The time to go to Nicaragua varies depending on where in the country you go and what you intend to do. Typically the best time would be between December and March as it is less likely to rain. During that time you could immerse yourself in the Nicaraguan Christmas and New Year. There are other holidays throughout the year that you could enjoy. These holidays will show you how the Nicaraguans celebrate and in this way you further immerse yourself into their culture.
5. In modern Nicaragua the community gathers near the markets, in the main areas of the towns as did the people in the past. It is an opportunity to get immersed in daily life, in the culture, and to see or buy national products such as clothing, shoes, handicrafts and souvenirs. In Masaya you will find clothing, leather, hemp and wood goods, shoes, and pre-Columbian ceramics. Walk round the town, savour the smells, sights and sounds that will invade your senses, feel the culture through every pore of your body. With everything you see, touch, taste and smell you will find yourself wanting more of the Nicaraguan culture.
6. The next step is to meet people and talk to them about their lives, making new friends in the process. The markets, local shops and cafes are ideal places to do this. You can meet the local artisans in their shops; learn about their family roots first hand. Catch up with people in the cafes while relaxing. This is a great way to go for a cup of coffee and mix with the locals in an unstressed atmosphere.
7. Another great way to immerse you in the Nicaraguan culture is to volunteer in one of the programs from around the world that go to Nicaragua each year. Some are set up to help with education and health projects, as well as development and social projects. As with other countries these nongovernment organizations’ purpose is to help the poorer inhabitants of this country. This would be a great opportunity for you to experience Nicaragua on the ground and not as a tourist.
Any one of these ways is the perfect way to truly immerse you in a foreign culture. To see the world through the eyes of the people who lives there is eye opening and yet a great experience. However you decide to do it you will forever be changed. Plan your itinerary carefully, making sure you make the most of the time you spend here. Following a few of these guidelines will help you make your trip to Nicaragua unforgettable.
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Nicaragua’s Ortega eyes recall, end to term limits
Is nicaragua gonew end of term limits biding to follow honduras in a ?
Nicaraguan opposition lawmakers on Monday condemned a public appeal for constitutional changes by President Daniel Ortega as an attempt to extend term limits and eventually allow the leftist leader’s re-election.
At a massive celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution on Sunday, the president and former guerrilla fighter proposed to allow recall elections and criticized presidential term limits for being stricter than other public offices.
“If we are going to be just and fair, let the right to re-election be for all and people with their vote can award or punish,” Ortega told a crowd. “This is the principle that we have to defend.”
Nicaraguan law bars presidents from consecutive terms in office or more than two terms in all. Ortega ended a first stint as president in 1990 and was elected again in 2006 to a five-year term.
Opposition lawmaker Jose Pallais said Ortega’s proposals appeared to follow the example of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has expended presidential term limits and powers by public referendum, and President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, who was ousted by a coup last month over plans for a referendum on a constitutional convention.
Many Hondurans saw the latter vote as an attempt to impose a Chavez-style socialist government and perpetuate himself in power.
“Ortega would be using the same Chavista recipe that Zelaya used in Honduras to say, if the constitution prohibits something, direct democracy can authorize him,” Pallais said.
Officials at Ortega’s office could not be reached Monday, an official holiday.
Pallais said the president appears to be seeking the congressional votes to obtain the 60 percent majority needed to revise the constitution, but he worried Ortega might seek a public referendum on the issue despite legal obstacles.
Ortega is better positioned than Zelaya was to initiate constitutional changes, said Daniel Erikson of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.
“Ortega has a much stronger political base in Nicaragua than Zelaya did in Honduras,” Erikson said. “At the end of the day, Zelaya’s political support had dwindled and basically any institution with any weight had turned away.”
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