GRANADA, Nicaragua – In an effortto curb the widening salary gulch betweenwell-to-do politicians and the mostly poorelectorate that votes them into power, theopposition Sandinista National LiberationFront (FSLN) last week introduced a bill thatwould reduce politicians’ wages by 50%.The proposed measure would halve thesalaries of the President, Vice-President andCabinet members, as well as all 90 lawmakers,253 mayors and their vice-mayors.The Sandinista leadership calculatesthe salary reductions would translate intoan annual savings of $25.3 million in governmentspending, which could be used forpublic education and the purchase ofmuch-needed medicines for state clinics.SANDINISTA secretary general DanielOrtega announced the initiative lastSaturday, during a party rally to commemoratethe 25th anniversary of the Sandinista’s“Repliegue Táctico” – the rebels’ fakeddefeat retreat in June 1979, before theylaunched the final offensive on Managua totopple the Anastasio Somoza dictatorship onJuly 19, 1979.The proposed law also appears to be aneffort to bring the Sandinista movementback to its socialist roots as the party preparesfor the upcoming municipal electionsin November.“Nicaragua demands a new revolution; amoral revolution, an ethical revolution and acivic revolution. A revolution of consciousnessto get rid of the corruption that has been[in government] since 1990 (when theSandinistas were voted out of power),” Ortegatold the large gathering of party supporters,many waving the red-and-black FSLN flag.Ortega went on to explain that all theSandinista candidates for mayor for themunicipal elections in November haveagreed to the 50% reduction in salaries.“FOR us to have the moral authorityto criticize the government, we have tostart by criticizing ourselves,” said Ortega,who has already announced his intentionto run again for President in 2006, followingthree consecutive failed bids. “TheSandinistas can’t fall into the same attitudethat has bled the country.”Ortega did not, however, mention howthe initiative would affect the wages ofcurrent Sandinista lawmakers and mayors,nor if it would affect his annual pensioncheck of $108,000 for being a formerPresident (1984-1990).ACCORDING to the 2004 budget,President Enrique Bolaños this year willreceive $108,669 for being President, plusan additional pension check of $87,301 forbeing the former Vice-President.Bolaños’ total monthly paycheck of$16,330 is nearly 140 times the monthlysalary of a teacher ($120) and 400 timesthe average monthly salary of a farm worker($39).Ministers earn monthly paychecks ofmore than $6,000, while lawmakers takehome $4,560, in addition to receivingallowances for travel expenses and food.The ruling Liberal Constitutional Partyhas not yet commented on whether or notit will support the bill.

GRANADA, Nicaragua – The abortiondebate that enveloped the countryearly last year in response to the pregnancyof a 9-year-old rape victim known as“Rosa” is heating up again, following therecent discovery of another young girlimpregnated by a rapist.“Rosa II,” an 11-year-old girl from animpoverished neighborhood in Managua,has been taken into government custodyand placed in the protective care of a shelterrun by advocacy group Casa Alianza,where she is receiving medical and psychologicalcounseling.The girl’s identity is being protectedbecause she is a minor and a rape victim,but she is reportedly in good physicalhealth despite being nine weeks pregnant.Police are searching for the girl’s stepfather,the suspected rapist, who disappearedearlier this month.Evelyn Palma, head lawyer for CasaAlianza, said police must discover thewhereabouts of the suspect for the investigationto proceed. In Nicaragua, suspectscannot be tried in absentia.UNDER Nicaraguan law, abortion isillegal, except in cases where the mother’slife is deemed to be at risk.Although Rosa II’s pregnancy is consideredhigh-risk because of her age, it hasyet to be determined life-threatening.The Nicaraguan Network of WomenAgainst Violence and several other nongovernmentalorganizations are lobbyingthe government to allow the abortion, aprocedure the victim’s grandmother alsosaid she in favor of, according to nationalmedia reports.THE original Rosa, a Nicaraguan girlwho became pregnant in Costa Rica andwas later taken to Nicaragua by her motherand stepfather, was last reported in goodhealth and recovering in an undisclosedlocation after undergoing a delicate andcontroversial abortion at a private clinic inManagua in early 2003 (TT, Feb. 28,2003). State and private health officials didnot agree on the level of risk the pregnancyposed to her young body.The Catholic Church of Nicaraguaresponded to news of the secretive abortionby issuing a blanket excommunicationof Rosa’s parents, the doctors who performedthe procedure and everyone elseinvolved.The church order prompted theSpanish feminist group Red Feminista tolaunch a solidarity campaign entitled“Excommunicate Me, Too.” Tens of thousandsof Catholics’ signatures from aroundthe world were collected and presented tochurch officials.

GRANADA, Nicaragua – If the forestsare the lungs of Nicaragua, Lake Cocibolcais indisputably the country’s heart.Bordering 34 municipalities and spanning8,000 square kilometers, CentralAmerica’s largest freshwater lake (alsoknown as Lake Nicaragua) is consideredthe future source of drinking water for allof Nicaragua and the key to the country’sagricultural and tourism development.The lake currently provides drinkingwater for several small communities on theeastern shore of Chontales, but undergroundaquifers now serve as the watersources for Granada, Managua, Masayaand Rivas.The demand for drinking water isgrowing twice as fast as the population,and even conservative estimates here indicateLake Cocibolca will be the mainsource of drinking water for Granada in 10years, and Managua in 20.In two decades, the lake will need toprovide potable water to at least 70% of thecountry, and perhaps eventually exportdrinking water to neighboring Costa Rica.WHEN explained in life-and-deathterms, most Nicaraguans realize the paramountimportance of protecting the lake.But poverty, a lack of education, insufficientsewage infrastructure, lax environmentallegislation and general apathy haveresulted in the lake – particularly the shorelinebordering Granada – becoming pollutedwith industrial chemicals, fecal matter,gray-water runoff and garbage of everyvariety.Frustrated environmentalists are warningthat continued pollution of the lake islike taking a chainsmoker’sgamblewith the future healthof the entire country.“There are nosurprises to the waynature acts when it issick, there are onlyconsequential symptomsof infringingdegradation,” saysleading Nicaraguanenvironmental investigatorSalvador Montenegro, referring tothe disappearing species of fish and freshwatersharks in Lake Cocibolca because ofpollution.Activists and community leaders inGranada are also raising concerns aboutcontamination levels in the lake that hasneighbored their city for the last 480 years.In a letter to several government ministrieslast month, the group demanded to knowwhat the government is doing to protect thelake, and requested technical tests to determinecurrent contamination levels.Roger Monterrey, president ofGranada’s consumer rights organizationACUGRA and author of the letter, said nogovernment authority has responded to thegroup’s request.DESPITE damage already done to thelake, environmentalists and municipal governmentleaders this week found reason tocelebrate a minor victory in their efforts toturn the tainted tides.The Central American Water Tribunal,a non-governmental court that hears waterissues but whose verdicts are non-binding,last Thursday ruled that a Tilapia fish farmlocated off Ometepe Island is guilty of pollutingthe lake and violating environmentallaws.After holding audience last week withenvironmentalists and activists, the fivemembertribunal ruled in favor of the plaintiffs,who argued that the African-importedfish raised in submerged cages were threateningthe lake’s delicate ecosystem, depletingoxygen levels in the water, and depositingan estimated 27,000 pounds of fecalwaste directly into the lake each day.The accused Tilapia company,NICANOR, which has remained tightlippedduring the controversy – only onceoffering a half-hearted “it’s a big lake”argument to the national press – did notappear at the hearing, and instead sent aletter in its defense.The Environment Ministry has scheduleda forum next month to discuss theWater Tribunal’s verdict. The ministry hassaid it will decide the future of the Tilapiafarm following the forum. NICANOR hasnot commented on the ruling.WHILE environmentalistsand municipalleaders areapplauding the decision,both agree it is asymbolic – rather thana strategic – win.Humans, not fish, theyclaim, are causing thereal pollution of thelake.Benjamín Lugo,executive director of the 34-memberMunicipal Association of the Great LakeWatershed, said the lakeside local governmentsare happy about the Tilapia ruling,but stressed that fish poop was not toppingtheir list of environmental concerns.“This is not about Tilapia, it is aboutwater contamination,” Lugo, an environmentalengineer with Granada’s municipalgovernment, told The Tico Times thisweek. “We are aware that the future of ourdevelopment is based on a clean lake.”Lugo explained that the municipalitiessurrounding the lake have implemented acommon development plan for the lakebased on five sustainable and compatiblepriorities: 1) potable water, 2) agriculturalirrigation, 3) sportfishing, 4) biologicaldiversity, 5) tourism.He said all development near the lakemust meet the established priorities; newtextile plants, for example, will be prohibitedfrom setting up shop under the plan.MONTERREY and other communityleaders in Granada, meanwhile, claim theyknow nothing about the government’sdevelopment plan.“How is the government going to findsupport for this plan if no one knows whatit is?” he demanded. “The problem is thatpeople are not involved.”The consumer rights watchdog claimedthat the best way to combat pollution andenvironment abuses is through populareducation and citizen involvement, not“covert legislation.”“What good is legislation when peopledon’t know not to defecate in the lake?” heasked.Nevertheless, Lugo insists the governmentof Granada has made protecting andpreserving Lake Cocibolca a priority,regardless of who knows about it.LUGO said the municipal governmentof Granada has recently secured an$8 million loan from Germany toimprove and expand its 40-year-oldsewer system, which covers only 25% ofthe area’s population of 110,000, mostlyin the center of town.Another 50% of the population hasseptic systems, and about a quarter of thepopulation has no access to any treatmentsystem and uses rivers or the lake to disposeof human waste.With the loan, Granada hopes to get95% of its population connected to a newsewer system within the next five years,and effectively halt human-waste runoffinto the lake, Lugo said. Another loan, allbut signed with Luxemburg, will go towardbuilding a new waste-processing plant, heexplained.THE municipal water expert said pollutionfrom the 12 companies bordering thelake on the Granada coast is “under control.”He said once the runoff from humansand homes is controlled, the lake will naturallyheal itself of pollutants.

COSTA Rica was accused this week ofimpeding efforts by the rest of CentralAmerica to open up borders and create aneconomically unified region.The accusations came the day before asummit of the region’s Presidents Tuesdayin Guatemala to discuss the future ofregional integration.The primary goals of the summit wereto put integration efforts back on the righttrack and reform the Central AmericanParliament (PARLACEN), which has beensharply criticized in recent years.Though the Presidents made a handfulof formal agreements at the summit,reform of PARLACEN was put on hold fortwo months.SINCE the 1950s, Central Americancountries have been taking steps to integratetheir economic and political systems.After being halted by civil wars in the1980s, the process was revived in 1991with the establishment of the CentralAmerican Integration System (SICA).Since then, progress has been slow.While some – perhaps most notably PARLACENPresident Mario Facussé – blameCosta Rica, others insist integration hasbeen plagued by inefficient financing andinability to address regional needs.COSTA Rica is the only CentralAmerican country that is not part of PARLACEN,created in 1991. Nor does thecountry participate in the judicial branch ofSICA – the Central American Court ofJustice.It also has been slow to join a customsunion that would allow the free passage ofgoods, and eventually people, across bordersin the region. Guatemala and ElSalvador initiated efforts toward a customsunion in 1992, and in March this year theyintegrated their mutual border to facilitatethe movement of people and goods.Honduras and Nicaragua joined the customsunion process in 2000. Costa Ricaentered the efforts in 2002 and in November2003 joined an official agreement that willultimately lead to its participation in theunion, planned since the 1990s.FACUSSÉ on Monday blasted CostaRica as “anti-integrationist.”“In their schools they teach about thebenefits of not being integrated intoCentral America. It is considered the Switzerlandof CentralAmerica, but fromSwitzerland to CostaRica there is a worldof difference,” hesaid.However, PresidentAbel Pacheco –along with the Presidentsof Honduras,El Salvador, Nicaragua,Guatemala andDominican Republic,Vice-President ofPanama and Vice-Prime-Minister of Belize– on Tuesday signed an accord adopting ageneral framework for the negotiation ofthe customs union.This customs union could be completeby the end of the year, GuatemalanPresident Oscar Berger told the pressTuesday.“December 31 is a goal, but we hopebefore this date we are going to have thefree movement of all people in CentralAmerica and the free movement of commodities,”Berger said.Costa Rican Foreign Trade MinisterAlberto Trejos was more cautious.“The customs union is very importantto Costa Rica. However, to address thecomplex and ambitious project, we shouldcontinue making firm steps in the rightdirection,” he said in a statement.Pacheco did not comment on the possibilityof opening borders with Nicaraguaby the end of the year. However, he diddeclare at the close of the summit thatCosta Rica would consider joining PARLACENif it becomes an organization thattruly debates the future of CentralAmerica, “for all Central Americans andnot just some.”Although the details will not be determineduntil August, the Presidents agreedTuesday it would be good to reduce thenumber of PARLACEN seats from the current20 officials and20 substitutes.It was also agreedthat former Presidentsand Vice Presidentsshould not automaticallybe given seats inthe parliament, as theyare now. PARLACENhas been condemnedfor providing immunityfrom prosecution toformer leadersaccused of corruptionand, in one case, drug trafficking.PARLACEN has also been sharplycriticized for its apparent inefficiency, anddoubts have arisen about its purpose.“The parliament has almost no drivingcapacity to assure their decisions are followed.So they are not followed – not bythe organizations within the integrationsystem, much less by the member countries,”said Ricardo Sol, director of thecivil society program of the Foundation forPeace and Democracy (Funpadem).Participating countries pay $1.7 millionannually for PARLACEN’s operation,which amounts to 40% of the total budgetof all Central American integration programs,according to Funpadem.Funpadem, based in San José, releasedan analysis last month on how to reformCentral American integration. The reportwas based on a May forum of SICA officials,ambassadors, ministers, universityprofessors and leaders from the UnitedNations and non-governmental organizationsin the region.SICA needs to focus more on interregionalissues, rather than topics that can beaddressed in each country individually,according to the Funpadem report.While SICA facilitates the sharing ofinformation, the current integration structurehas been unable to deal with borderconflicts, regionwide negotiation of theCentral American Free-Trade Agreement(CAFTA) with the United States, and therole of the region in globalization, accordingto Sol.The Presidents did agree Tuesday topush forward the ratification of CAFTAand to arrange an economic and politicalsummit between Central America andJapan in August 2005.BUT these accords are as ineffective asPARLACEN, according to Sol.“In these presidential summits, therehave been maybe 2,000 accords madebetween the Presidents. I would say maybe200 have been carried out,” Sol said.SICA’s financing structure also needsreform, according to the Funpadem report.When each country contributes to theseentities individually, favoritism and corruptioncan arise regarding how, when andif payments are made, Sol said.Funpadem proposes that the CentralAmerican Economic Integration Bank –which recently completed a new buildingin San Pedro, and has offices throughoutCentral America – instead handle all thefinancing of SICA entities. Countrieswould supply one lump sum to the bankfor distribution, according to the proposal.

TEGUCIGALPA – A man the U.S.government has identified as a top al-Qaeda terrorist was in Honduras for severaldays in May and reportedly plotted tobomb the Panama Canal, Security MinistryOscar Alvarez said in a news report publishedWednesday in the Honduran dailyLa Tribuna.The Security Minister warned thatintelligence forces have established theexistence of other terrorists from theMiddle East in Honduras.The alleged al-Qaeda member, identifiedas a 38-year-old Egyptian nationalwho goes by the names Adnan Guishar ElShakri Jumah or Adnan G. El Shukrijumahand Yafar al-Taya or Ja Far Al Tayyar, wasreportedly seen May 27 in an Internet caféin the capital, Alvarez said.Authorities are coordinating with otherCentral American countries in an attemptto locate the suspect.“HE was detected in Panama and laterhere in Honduras,” the Minister told thepress. “According to intelligence, he wasplanning on putting explosives in thePanama Canal to block the traffic of shipsthrough the area.“He is a supposed high criminal of al-Qaeda who was in Panama, trying to organizea criminal act, and then later in ourcountry, but he has now been identified,”Alvarez said.The Minister said terrorists are enteringHonduras both legally, across theNicaraguan border, and illegally throughmafia contacts. Once in the country, theyare moving around “like common citizens,even going to Internet cafés to communicatewith other terrorists,” Alvarez added.The Minister charged that the terroristshave been attempting to recruit Honduranyouth to carry out bombings in CentralAmerica and the United States.“THESE are not inventions of theSecurity Minister,” Alvarez said. “I wantthe Honduran people to know there existsthe possibility that our country is beingused as a base for international terrorists.”The Minister said he was not trying tocause panic in Honduras, but warned thatterrorists might be planning something inthe country as a response to Honduras’support for the U.S. war on terrorism.He said the Honduran SecurityMinistry is currently monitoring severalforeigners in the country to determine ifthey have links with foreign terrorist organizations.He reminded Hondurans that theinternational bounty for a terrorist is ashigh as $5 million.IN Costa Rica, the Public SecurityMinistry announced that border police areintensifying their normal duties to preventthe Egyptian from entering the country.Costa Rican Security Minister RogelioRamos asserted in a statement Wednesdaythat the suspected terrorist had not steppedonto Costa Rican soil.

TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) – More than35,000 striking educators from around thecountry marched through the Hondurancapital Tuesday as a show of forceagainst the government’s unwillingness tomeet teachers’ salary demands.The strike was declared more than amonth ago to demand government compliancewith salary and budget increasesagreed to in 1997. The administration ofPresident Ricardo Maduro claims compliancewith teachers’ demands violatespublic-spending restrictions imposed bythe International Monetary Fund (IMF).The march, which blocked transportationthroughout the capital, ended with aprotest outside the government buildings.Teachers handed out fliers that read: “Thetime has come to rescue the country fromthose who have sold it to the IMF.”“We will agree to return to classes ifthe government pays us what it owes usand agrees to remain at the negotiatingtable,” said Angel Martínez, president ofthe Honduran High-School Teacher’sUnion.A government commission Mondayoffered the teachers a salary adjustmentpackage of $11.2 million worth of bonds.The teachers are demanding $17.4 million.Martínez blamed the government forpresenting educators with the same proposalfive times disguised “with differentmakeup” since the negotiations beganJune 14.Protest leaders claim the government’sunwillingness to pay teachers is acovert step toward privatizing public education.

THE Catholic Church has proposednew sex-ed guidebooks to the Council ofSuperior Education, which is studying theproposal, La Nación reported.The material in the guides adjusts previousproposals by the church and isbased on the human being as a whole, noton biology and genitals, San José Arch-bishop Hugo Barrantes told La Nación.The guides also promote personalitydevelopment, parental love, friendship,chastity and virginity.The issue of discussing sex inschools has a long history of controversyin Costa Rica, where 90% of the populationis Catholic and Catholicism is theofficial religion.Sex education has been included inscience, religion and achievement classesin schools since the 1990s and even earlierin many cases.However, instruction varies fromschool to school, and no official sexual educationbooks exist. Instead, teacherscan elect to distribute portions of theDidactic Guide for Education inPopulation in the Area of HumanSexuality, whose publication in 1993 wassurrounded by controversy.At the start of the school year, theMinistry of Education began distributingnew policy guides that attempted to“comprehensively” address sex ed inschools, focusing on values and ethics(TT, Feb. 27). The guides were releasedwithout approval from the CatholicChurch.A year ago, Esmeralda Britton,Minister of Women’s Affairs until thisweek (see separate story), accused thechurch in Costa Rica of slowing the formulationof policies in education onsexuality.

YOUNG Costa Ricans place morevalue on protecting the environment thanfostering economic growth, according to acomparative study of political culture inCentral America conducted by the nongovernmentalorganization PROCESOS.The study involved Central Americanhigh school students between seventh andeleventh grades.According to the study, 69% of CostaRican students said protection of the environmentshould be a top priority, comparedto only 8% that mentioned economicgrowth as their main concern. The studyrevealed that young people throughout theregion are deeply concerned about the environment.More importance was given to reducingpollution and protecting people in needthan attracting high-tech firms. In CostaRica, only 7.5% considered high-techfirms a priority. Honduras has the highestpercentage (14%) of young people whoconsidered high-tech firms a priority.Students throughout the region mentionedthe importance of democracies, butin general expressed limited trust forpolitical parties.Most students also said taking careof people should be one of the government’stop priorities.

THE number of foreign students inCosta Rican public and private elementaryand high schools has more thantripled in 20 years, according to theMinistry of Public Education.The majority of this increase camefrom Nicaraguan, Colombian and U.S.students.In 1985, there were 13,485 non-Ticostudents. This year, there are 45,899.The largest jump came fromNicaraguan students – 7,038 in 1985compared to 36,042 this year. TheColombian student population grew fromaround 180 to 2,426 in the same period,and the number of U.S. students grewfrom 872 to 1,665 in the past twodecades.

THE high oil prices reported duringthe past five months are starting to havean effect on Costa Rican gasoline consumption,according to the Costa RicanPetroleum Refinery (RECOPE).In May, RECOPE’s sales of hydrocarbon-based products (gasoline, diesel,bunker, asphalt and jet fuel) dropped1.66% compared to April.Sales of “regular” gasoline dropped4.40% or by approximately 1.82 millionliters (502,000 gallons). Sales of “super”gasoline dropped 5.61% or by approximately1.65 million (435,000 gallons).Costa Rica consumes between 16 and17 million barrels of oil each year. Each$1 increase in the price of a barrel of oilincreases the country’s trade deficit by asmuch as $17 million, according to theCentral Bank.