Category: Central America

Campaigning has officially opened in Nicaragua ahead of presidential elections on November 5. Left-wing Sandanista leader, Daniel Ortega, former president (1985-1990) and one-time bête noire of the US, is one of the front-runners. His main rivals are the right-wing candidates: former vice-president José Rizo of the ruling Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) and e- finance minister Eduardo Montealegre of the Liberal Nicaraguan Alliance-Conservative party (ALN). This will be the fifth time Ortega has run for president, losing his bids in 1990, 1996 and 2001. However, this time around his more friendly overtones to the private sector may well secure him the presidency. To avoid a second round of voting, the winning candidate must secure 40% of the votes or 35% and a clear five-point margin over the nearest rival.

The value of Nicaragua’s exports for the months January through July rose 23% to $629.5 million, up from $511.3 million for the same period last year, according to the public-sector center for export services (CETREX). Heading up the list of exports was coffee, which accounted for 24.7% of total exports, followed by beef (12.6%). The United States continues to be the largest export market for Nicaragua’s mainly agricultural commodity exports, which also include bananas, sugarcane, beans and lobster.

Nicaragua’s government has sent a bill to Congress to approve the issuance of $9 million worth of Treasury bills to help alleviate the country’s energy crisis. The money raised would be used to inject fresh funds into Spanish-owned utility Unión Fenosa to enable it to buy electricity in the Central American energy market. Fenosa controls Nicaragua’s electricity distribution. Power outages have been a common problem since last year but the situation has worsened recently due to technical failures and the rising price of oil. Nicaragua has been struggling to meet its daily electricity needs of 450 MW per day and has been forced to introduce rationing.

Guatemala’s foreign minister, Jorge Briz, is to step down from his post possibly to seek elected office in next year’s November elections. Briz has served as foreign minister since the start of 2004. President Oscar Berger, a close friend of Briz, denied that the minister was stepping down because of disagreements with vice-president Eduardo Stein over the handling of certain diplomatic matters. Deputy minister Juan José Cabrera will also resign his post. Possible replacements for the post of foreign minister include: Gert Rosenthal, Marta Altolaguirre and Francisco Villagrán De León.

Guatemala’s president, Oscar Berger, has said he is confident that Guatemala will win out against Venezuela to secure the second Latin American seat in the non-permanent Security Council at the United Nations. The seat becomes free next year when Argentina ends its two-year term. The successful candidate country will need to garner a two-thirds majority of votes from the 192 UN General Assembly members. Although voting is secret, the US has openly rejected Venezuela’s bid and is supporting Guatemala’s candidacy. Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, is currently on a world tour in what, some say, is a public relations drive to secure votes. Peru holds the region’s second seat for another year.

Nicaragua’s Sandanista Renovation Movement (MRS) has appointed its new presidential candidate and running mate to replace Herty Lewites who died earlier this month. Edmundo Jarquín and Carlos Mejía Godoy will stand for president and vice-president, respectively, for the MRS in the country’s elections slated for November 5. Jarquín, an economist and son-in-law of former president Violeta Chamorra, had been Lewites’ running mate prior to his death. Mejía Godoy is a well-known Nicaraguan singer with close associations with the Sandanista movement.

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, the country’s fifth-largest bank – Banco Agromercantil – is in talks to buy Banco del Café, the next largest bank. The deal would be financed via a capital increase and with loans from Cabei, Citibank, and Wachovia. Banco Agromercantil was formed six years ago from the merger of two of the country’s oldest banking groups – Banco del Agro and Banco Agrícola Mercantil. Although one of the country’s smaller banks, with less than 10% market share, it is considered one of the most profitable and has been consistently voted best bank in Guatemala by financial publications. It is now in what it calls its “third phase”, which is one of expansion.

Guatemala’s inflation was down to 7.55% in the first half of the year, compared with 8.80% for the same period last year. However, monthly inflation in June rose 0.6% against the previous month and the central bank, Banguat, chose to raise the benchmark interest rate from 4.50% to 4.75% to keep prices in check.

Costa Rica’s government has chosen to keep the country out of the Central American parliament, Parlacen, saying it is a costly institution that brings no benefit. Guatemala, which plays host to Parlacen, had asked the new government of Oscar Arias to reconsider the country’s decision to remain out of the parliament. Costa Rica has earned criticism from its neighbors and has been accused of isolationism for its stance. Permanent members of the parliament are Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemela, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama.

Nicaraguan presidential candidate Herty Lewites, of the Sandanista Renovation Movement (MRS), has died of a heart attack in the capital, Managua. The center-left ex-mayor of Managua had served as tourism minister under Daniel Ortega in the 1980s but later broke away from the Sandanista Party to run for the presidency later this year against Ortega. He had been expected to take away votes from the former president.