From WCCN's Executive Director

I just returned from our June study tour of Nicaragua, which focused on women’s empowerment. While there, we witnessed the deterioration of the political situation, as it becomes more and more polarized. In fact, the institutional pact between the Sandinista Front for National Liberation (FSLN) and the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) has continued to erode state institutions and is severely damaging the democratic gains Nicaragua has made over the last 18 years. The latest action by the FSLN-PLC pact has resulted in the cancellation of the legal status of two political parties, the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS) and the Conservative Party (PC).

As a result, many people from across the political spectrum, from left to right, are increasingly critical of Ortega’s administration, and refer to it as an “institutional dictatorship.” A few days before our arrival, Sandinista hero Dora María Tellez started a hunger strike in a public place in Managua to call the attention of the entire population about the danger of this situation. Her protest lasted 12 days, and she was able to spark an opposition movement that has started to take to the streets to defend democracy and ask Ortega to change course.

To make things worse, the economic situation has become very difficult for the majority of Nicaraguans as a result of the increase in the international prices of oil and food. I have to confess that this is a difficult topic to talk about. Some of our members have expressed to me their disappointment in our criticism of Ortega’s government. Some people still believe that being critical of the new FSLN administration makes us accomplices of right-wing policies toward Nicaragua. I am convinced that we have a moral obligation to tell the truth, and not keep quiet about something that seems wrong to us and many people we partner with in Nicaragua. In my opinion, this is one of WCCN’s most important legacies of the last 24 years.

***

In this edition of Nicaraguan Developments, we discuss a diverse set of topics. I have an article about the possibility of WCCN expanding its lending operations to other Central American countries as a way to diversify our credit program and avoid the concentration of risk inherent to lending in a single country. Anne Reynolds, our new board president, has a message to our membership. We have two contributions from participants of our last two study tours in January and June. Russ Rutter writes about his impressions of our visit to poor neighborhoods in Managua last January. Cody Rothschild writes about our recent visit to the scholarship recipients in the rural community of La Loma, in the municipality of Malpaisillo, last month. Susan Frisbie also has an article about the visit of Armando Gutierrez, General Manager of Prestanic, to Madison to attend our annual meeting in April. I also wrote a report on our most recent partnership, with the Humberto Aguilar Cooperative. We also have our permanent sections: the current status of the NICA Fund portfolio and a borrower profile. Finally, we report that we have produced two new videos, one on WCCN’s women’s empowerment initiatives, and the other one on a NICA Fund borrower. You can watch those video in our website (www.wccnica.org).

Enjoy the reading and please send us your feedback!

In solidarity,
Carlos Arenas
WCCN Executive Director