Nicaragua, elecciones (25, XI, 2006)

MI NICARAGUA, NICA....
¡Y dale...!

16 de noviembre de 2006

…Desgraciadamente me salve ya que no podré llegar a la asamblea, los números no dieron en el cse, sin embargo se sigue peleando, ni modo…

… A mis compañeros del colegio Calasanz muchas felicidades por sus cumpleaños, …, espero que la hayan pasado genial y ya saben, a partir de los 40 uno no cumple años, descumple okey?!!!!...

En cuanto a los resultados electorales que les puedo decir... lloré como una Magdalena la noche del 6 de noviembre en Bogotá y, como en todos los momentos cruciales de mi vida... me puse y puse TODO nuevamente en manos de Dios y la Virgen María...

Les paso copia de este correo que me envió …, con una visión que creo es positiva analizando la realidad de lo sucedido en estas elecciones. Soy una creyente ferviente y convencida de que tenemos que orar y trabajar mucho para continuar aportándole a Nicaragua empleos y crecimiento, desde la trinchera de nuestros propios empleos y empresas privadas honestas. Sólo siendo gente de bien como individuos, podremos aportar como sociedad y fuerza económica nuestro grano de arena a nuestra amada Nicaragua, para que las cosas más bien... mejoren.

Un abrazote a todos con todo mi cariño,

(¿Quién se anima a traducirlo?)

I am sure you may have concerns about the status of the election in Nicaragua so we wanted to take the time to give you a realistic "on the ground" view of what is going on and what will be happening in the near future. Here is the real situation and it is far different from what the International Press may be writing...

To begin, it is official, Ortega has won the Presidetial seat. Something you will not read in the US press that is key, is that the Liberal and Conservative parties (ALN, PLC and MRS) have secured a controling number of seats in Congress (Asamblea), which in our opinion is the most important part of the scenario because this branch chooses the Judiciary, writes laws and forms committees for infrastructure development. I can go into the entire dynamic of the political situation here, if you wish to discuss it, but politics are the same everywhere and you know how the game Works.

Daniel Ortega has been shouting to the world for many months that he is not a Marxist nor a Communist, he is pro-growth and pro-development and most importanly he was chosen by the people of Nicaragua to lead them into a bright future. With this said it is not a dire situation or is it remotely similar to the 1980's, Ortega is a pure capiltalist and a successful businessman (he drives a Mercedes G-Wagon!). When inaugurated in January he will be the figure head of Nicaragua, similar to our President. Without the support of the Assembly the President cannot change or alter any rules, laws or most importantly the Constitution. It is totally in his best interest, and that of his party, that Nicaragua continues to grow and prosper.

Ortega has gone through many steps to ensure the world that he is a different person now, and today he is holding a third foreign investor seminar at his personal home in Managua to pledge his alliances with foreign investors, CAFTA, peace and sustain his commitment to growth.

Nicaragua is and has been a democratic country and the current elections were run completely without one incident of violence and thus far there has been nothing but praise from the approximately 18,000 observers in attendance for the democratic process. Jimmy Carter (who has been in country for several weeks leading up to the election and runs the main oversight group) has expressed his full support for the election process and has complimented the entire population of this country for the success throughout this election.

Business here is operating completely as normal, banks are open and operating, stores are bustling, travel and tourism is continuing as normal.

This is how it will be no matter who wins the election. A highly respected, deeply connected Nicaraguan who is President of an influencial development group called me yesterday and said this, "The Nicaraguan government has put so many items in place to move the country forward that it will be impossible to stop the growth here. Nicaragua will not and cannot move any direction but forward, this country will not go backwards." He feels as we do that at worst Ortega is merely a cosmetic blemish on the face of Nicaragua and that in the end it will not affect investment, growth or development but in addition we, as developers and leaders, need to embrace him and his party and give them the support to do the right things as he has promised to do. This is our plan and we feel strongly that given the chance Ortega will deliver the goods, he is a man of action who has the resources to move the country ahead quickly.

Altough we do not expect any drop in interest from the US (in fact we have received several email requests yesterday and today setting appointments for showings later this month and confirming other future visits) as a safeguard we are planning to put into effect our International marketing plan 3 months ahead of shedule which will focus on Canada and Western European countries.

Canadians and Europeans purchase just as much property here as US citizens do and we have spent no time or effort marketing to this group. We have no reason to believe and no indicators are present anywhere in this country that we will even see a slowdown.

In conclusion we will be sending additional updates as they come in and hill keep you and all of our investors informed, I will be writing a Blog update when the official tallies are counted and will also include any other pertinent details. People are at work, planes are arriving on schedule and it is totally business as usual. The basic fact is that Nicaragua is Nicaragua because of it's people and it's beauty and nothing will ever change that fact.

Take care and rest assured that everyone here in Nicaragua feels OK about this situation and all things are pointing to a bright future here. In Fac. my wife and our 2 young children watched one of the victory celebrations last night in Parque Central in Granada, it was a good time. The event was trouble free and there was nothing but very positive energy all around.

This morning people are heading to work and things are moving forward, just as they were yesterday. Don't buy into the hype, Nicaragua is and Hill remain an excellent place to live and invest

…

Dear Friends,

It seems that Ortega has won the presidency. It is clear that a very significant number of the Nicaraguan population got fed up with both former presidents, Arnoldo Aleman who got heavily involved in Corruption and Enrique Bolaños´ insensitivity toward the poorest of this nation.

Most people in Nicaragua have perceived our current president Bolaños as one who has worked not for the poor of Nicaragua, but for the best interest of the riches families in our nation.

So, while these few families grew astronomically rich in a very short time, the greatest majority grew poorest. That is very unfortunate.

These last two presidents and cabinet members prescribed themselves huge salaries and other big benefits at the expense of great poverty and miserable salaries for teachers, doctors, nurses, for the police force and the army and the general population. The huge unemployment rate has led to more despair for most people.

Additionally, the Liberal party is divided and weakened because too many in it want to be president. That is also very unfortunate.

So, a sizable segment of the population decided to give Ortega a chance. We will have to accept that and move forward as we have done in the past.

Many believe that Ortega is indeed a different man, that he is no longer the young, idealistic and inexperienced revolutionary that he was when he first ruled Nicaragua during the eighties.

In spite of his relationship with Hugo Chavez from Venezuela, we relieve that Ortega knows he must respect private property rights and keep international agreements to continue getting the international support and aid he needs in order to create stability for the private sector and for the nation. He has promised repeatedly to do this.

Ortega knows that he needs the private sector in order to generate the new jobs he has promised to the population to combat Nicaragua's deep poverty.

Furthermore, The Nicaraguan Congress will be, from now on, a more balanced institution than it was in the past, with four strong parties as opposed to the former two we had.

The police force and the army have operated for a while now as very professional institutions, a factor which represents a strong stability for the Nation.

Ortega does not have access to oil as does Chavez, meaning that Ortega is much more limited in what he can do. And then, Ortega is a rich man, a strong business man and so are many in his own party. So, it is in his best interest to play safe and intelligently to help the economy grow.

Differently than Chavez, Ortega has been in power and has ruled from the bottom for many years and not merely from the presidency. He was once a president, allowed free democratic elections, where he yielded the presidency to Mrs. Violeta Barrios de Chamorro. He has astutely controlled Congress, the judicial system and the electorate power. We don´t relieve Daniel Ortega is a saint, but we hope he has also learned his lessons from the mistakes of the past.

We must also bear in mind that not long ago, Ortega and Alemán made some changes to our Constitution by which they limited the power of the executive office. Apparently, Ortega did not expect ever to win, and through his own medication, he has reduced his own power and influence.

So, it is important to bear in mind that Congress will no longer be in the hands of Ortega, but in the hands of four parties, and that it is Congreso who appoints Judges to the Judicial Power, it is Congress who appoints Magistrates to the Electorate Power, and to the other important government institutions, and furthermore, because of such recent changes to the Constitution, the Cabinet members to the Executive Office have to be elected by the President, with the Approval of Congress. So, Daniel Ortega is not in control of Nicaragua any more as he has been in the past.

That is my opinion and perspective about the political situation in Nicaragua.

We, at Esperanza Coffee Group are committed to continue being instruments of Light to oppose Injustice. We are confident that Nicaragua will continue to rise above all difficulties and challanges. But we ask for your support and trust in our country people.

We are still the same Nicaraguan people and hopefully our negligent and insentitive and egocentric polititicians and the few too wealthy ones Hill learn from this lesson. We pray that Ortega may lead himself wisely and intelligently for the best of Nicaraguan people and himself as well.

Saludos ...

17 de noviembre de 2006

... Rectifico el dato enviado no es de la Ley electoral si no del Acuerdo sobre el CONTROL Y ADMINISTRACIÓN DEL FINANCIAMIENTO ESTATAL, DONACIONES Y APORTES PRIVADOS A LAS ORGANIZACIONES POLÍTICAS EN LA CAMPAÑA ELECTORAL DE LAS ELECCIONES NACIONALES DEL 05 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2006

Artículo.-2 PARTIDA PRESUPUESTARIA

Para efectos del cálculo del monto de la asignación presupuestaria a que se refiere el Artículo 99 de la Ley Electoral , el Consejo Supremo Electoral solicitará al Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público la Certificación de la partida presupuestaria correspondiente al financiamiento de los Partidos Políticos y Alianza de Partidos Políticos que participan en el proceso electoral y que se encuentra incluida en la Ley de Presupuesto General de la República del 2006, Ley No. 569 publicada en La Gaceta, Diario Oficial No.248 del 23 de Diciembre de 2005 que prescribe que los ingresos corrientes para el año 2006 serán de Dieciséis mil quinientos setenta millones, veintiséis mil novecientos setenta Córdobas netos (C$ 16,570,026,970.00). En lo conducente, el Artículo 99 precitado establece que la partida presupuestaria para gastos de campaña electoral es del 1% de los ingresos ordinarios resultando un monto de Ciento sesenta y cinco millones setecientos mil doscientos setenta Córdobas netos (C$ 165,700,270.00), cantidad que se dividirá entre la suma total de votos válidos obtenidos por las organizaciones políticas que alcancen el 4% o más de dichos votos en las elecciones de nacionales del cinco de Noviembre del año dos mil seis.

ESTE ES EL ARTO 2 DE LA ACTUAL LEY ELECTORAL. USTEDES PUEDEN SACAR POR CONCLUSIÓN PROPIA QUIÉN O QUIENES SON LOS QUE NOS TIENEN A NUESTRA NICARAGUA TAN MAL ECONOMICAMENTE. Y lo más triste es que las personas piensan que los que salen perdiendo de las campañas electorales son los partidos políticos.

...

P.D: Pobrecitos nosotros los Nicaragüenses.

…Asi es …, aquí el proceso es complicado cuando los números entre una fuerza y otra están muy pegados, es cuando el pacto funciona, los que mandan en el Consejo Supremo Electoral son de facción PLC y FSLN y hacen de las suyas para negociar y quedarse con aquellas diputaciones que puedan manipular a través de recursos de impugnación, el proceso es complicado y lo enredan todo, como dice el dicho en rio revuelto ganancia de pescadores. Saludos, …

… Ideay no diputado?... Estoy confundido con vos ahora no sos diputado... Perdona la ignorancia pero que es el CSE (me imagino que es quien decide si sos diputado o no)?. Que proceso mas complicado...con razón gano el XXX Ortega. ¡Tienen al pueblo confundido!...

… Estoy de acuerdo contigo, …! Espero que Dios te de fuerza moral para lograr tus metas en la política de Nic….

…Paciencia, honestidad y trabajo duro!!! Good Luck!!...