MANAGUA, Nicaragua – His corn and bean fields ravaged by drought, Nicaraguan farmer Leonel Sánchez Hernández grudgingly found a new harvest: tarantulas. He gets...
A clean, affordable fuel source for coffee farmers here in the remote hills outside Yali, Jinotega was a byproduct of a of a wastewater management pilot program in Nicaragua sponsored by the sustainable-certification labeling organization UTZ Certified with support from the Dutch government. Along with purifying the acidic wastewater from the coffee milling process, the so-called biogas is helping improve the quality of life for many small farmers here.
A series of pilot projects in Nicaragua funded by the Dutch government and the sustainable certification label UTZ have seen positive results reducing water consumption, treating wastewater and providing farmers with a clean burning fuel as a byproduct.
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."
Central America, like much of the world, has a high femicide rate, as well as overall violence against women. Of the 25 countries that have “very high femicide rates,” more than half are in Latin America, according to the Small Arms Survey, conducted in 2012.
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.
