Back to Wales from Nicaragua

15Mar07

The 9th Welsh delegation has returned from Nicaragua, finding the country more hopeful than at any time since the end of the Revolution in 1990. Many organisations and individuals were placing a lot of hope in the new Sandinista government, but some were worried that these expectations would not be met.

To many of their critics surprise, the new government has instigated a number of sweeping changes already, including: abolishing fees for education and health; joining the ALBA economic solidarity bloc; signing up to the alternative media group Telesur; signing an agreement with Venezuela to site an oil refinery in Nicaragua, which should go a long way to curing the country’s energy crisis; beginning the renegotiation of its agreement with the IMF; appointing radicals in charge of water and its zero hunger programmes.

On the minus side it tried, but then pulled back from, centralising control over the amry and police; has created a parallel structure for engagement with municipal councils and civil society which has caused concern; is centralising the government’s advertising budget, which has worried many in the media; and is keen in push ahead (with other Central American countries) a free trade agreement with the European Union, which it says would be a counter-balance to CAFTA. The government is still also heavily promoting a dry canal, which would cut the country in half, would have a serious impact on indigenous lands, and would be an environmental disaster.

The Welsh visit has already been featured on Radio Cymru, Radio Bro Blaenau, the Flintshire Chronicle (click here), the Gwynedd Chronicle, the Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald, Y Cymro, the Caerphilly Observer, the Pontypridd Observer, amongst others. Members of the ten strong delegation are available to speak, particulary on fair trade, water campaigning, and free trade zones and globalisation (contact the campaign on our e-mail).

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