MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega confirmed Friday that U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Senator Marco Rubio – both from Florida – are on an official list of foreigners banned from entering the country in retaliation for travel restrictions placed on Nicaraguan officials by the U.S. government.
“No to the canal,” “Get out Chinese,” “Ortega, sell out,” shouted a chorus of demonstrators Wednesday as thousands took to the streets of Managua to protest the construction of a mega-canal that threatens to expropriate land from small holders and Lake Cocibolca, the largest freshwater lake in Central America.
Former guerrilla leader Edén Pastora, the Nicaraguan government's point man for the ongoing dredging of the Río San Juan, on Tuesday evening called accusations by Costa Rican officials that Nicaraguan workers had violated Tico sovereignty "lies."
Costa Rican officials on Tuesday afternoon shared with members of the press photo and video evidence of Nicaraguan workers allegedly using chainsaws to remove trees in Costa Rican territory, near the two countries' border. The images, made public by Costa Rica's ministers of foreign relations and public security, Manuel González and Celso Gamboa, respectively, also show a dredging boat on the Río San Juan that – according to González – is eroding the riverbank on Costa Rica's side of the border.
Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister Samuel Santos on Saturday told media from his country that crews are working to "provide maintenance" to the Río San Juan because the International Court of Justice reiterated that the border river belongs to Nicaraguan and the court “recommended and practically demanded that we take proper care of it and maintain it."
Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister Manuel González on Thursday sent a formal protest note after confirming evidence of logging on Costa Rican land by Nicaraguans traveling on the Río San Juan, a natural border between the two countries.
MANAGUA, Nicaragua – The number of Nicaraguans living in extreme poverty – defined as less than $1 a day – increased from 7.6 percent to 9.5 percent from 2012 to 2013, according to a survey by the Managua-based Fundación Internacional para el Desafío Económico Global. This means that living conditions worsened last year for some 355,000 Nicaraguans following a slight improvement the previous year.
Today, privately held Grupo Pellas runs four sugar mills, produces ethanol and provides the raw material for Pellas' Flor de Caña brand of rum. The group controls more than 20 companies, with stakes in media, distribution, insurance, citrus, health care and auto dealerships. It boasts $1.5 billion in annual sales — equal to 13 percent of Nicaragua's gross domestic product.
