Sandinista election landslide

Nicaraguan elections : FSLN 63.95%

  Daniel Ortega was re-elected President .Voters were also electing members of the National Assembly, with reports indicating that the Sandinistas (FSLN) were on course to win a majority of around 56 seats out of a total of 90.

The People Triumph in Nicaraguan Elections

 

07 de noviembre de 2011, 19:07Managua, Nov 7 (Prensa Latina) Most Nicaraguans are celebrating today the victory of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in the elections on Sunday, after winning 63.95 percent of counted votes, according to preliminary reports.   Early this morning, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) indicated that after the votes were counted in 85.99 percent of polling stations, the FSLN is leading widely the four opposition forces involved in the elections. A rapid count by the University Electoral Observatory also gave pre-eminence to Alianza Unida, Nicaragua Triunfa, led by the ruling FSLN. The head of the National Council of Universities (CNU), Telemaco Talavera, reported the analysis to local and foreign journalists gathered at the conference center in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Talavera presented the report of the Electoral Observer Mission involving thousands of professors, students and management workers of higher education centers grouped by the CNU. According to estimates presented by Talavera, 64.91 percent of valid votes for the president and vice president of the Republic were cast in favor of the FSLN coalition, which had President Daniel Ortega and retired Gen. Omar Halleslevens as candidates. Meanwhile, the alliance led by the Constitutionalist Liberal Party got 5.02 percent; the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance got 0.45 percent; the Alliance for the Republic got 0.27 percent and the group led by the Independent Liberal Party got 29.35 percent, said Talavera. Votes counted by the CSE also give the FSLN the win in the election to choose the deputies to the National Assembly and the Central American Parliament. La Primerisima radio station posted on its website a comment by renowned journalists Adolfo Pastran about what happened in the polls. “A majority of Nicaraguans opted for the stability that the government of Daniel Ortega has represented in the past few years and decided to re-elect him, giving a vote of confidence to his Christian, socialist project of solidarity that defends the poor and generalizes the hope for a better future,” he said. The FSLN also won a majority in the Legislative Power, with more than 56 members in Parliament, said Pastrian in his analysis.

Check out some photos of the teams that participated in the Copa Sandino!

 

 

Trade Unionist Domingo Perez to Visit Bristol

Domingo Perez, General Secretary of Nicaragua’s largest public sector workers union, called UNE (Union Nacional de Empleados), visited Bristol on Wedneday 15^th June and Thursday 16^th June as part of a national speaking tour organised by the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign.

Domingo was invited to Bristol by BLINC to meet with delegates from UNISON, UNITE, and the TUC to express the solidarity of Nicaraguan trade unions with hard-pressed British workers.

 

About Domingo

Mr Domingo Perez

Domingo Francisco Perez is an experienced Nicaraguan trade unionist and the General Secretary of UNE – The Public Sector Workers’ union in Nicaragua (equivalent to UNISON in the UK). He has worked in many different trades, from artisan shoemaking to accountancy and administration. He is also a lawyer but above all he has been a loyal militant of the National Liberation Sandinista Front (FSLN) throughout his entire political life.

He started at UNE in 1980, when he joined the union as a bank worker. In 1983 he was given the responsibility of union branch accountant at the National Bank. In 1984 he took the role of administrator of UNE at the national level. After more than ten years, in 1995 he took on the role of the Union’s finances officer at the National Executive Committee, until 1999 when he was elected General Secretary. His role also involves sitting as a member of the National Directory of the National Front of Workers (FNT), which is the Nicaraguan equivalent of the TUC. At the FNT he currently acts as Departmental Secretary.

 

About UNE

UNE– The National Union of Employees. The Public Sector Workers’ union. Its membership has drastically decreased since 1990 in part because of the privatisation of previously publicly owned services and in part because of attacks on unions carried out by successive right wing governments since 1990. However affiliations have been on the increase in recent years due to successes in organising workers in the newly privatised industries; e.g. banking and transport, in areas where unions have disappeared, e.g. the fishing industry; and in areas that have never been organised, e.g. domestic workers. As a result UNE continues to grow and now represents over 25,000 workers.

One of UNE’s major successes in recent years has been in successfully campaigning for a law which protects civil service workers from political changes. Previously, when the political leadership of the local council changed a large amount of staff would be replaced with new staff. This law ensures job security that is de-linked from political affiliation.

UNE’s priorities include: to continue organising public sector workers, to organise previously unorganised and vulnerable workers, to strengthen the structures and sustainability of UNE, to oppose cuts in government spending, to oppose the privatisation of public services including water, education and health, to support the formation of unions in new sectors and to prevent the negative impacts of CAFTA and oppose the potential ratification of the EU.

In 2007 Nicaragua emerged from 16 years of right-wing cuts, plummeting employment, and loss of union membership – UNE lost 90% of its members. Cuts, and government and media hostility, forced Nicaraguan unions to reorganise and re-think their role in society. Today UNE and the Nicaraguan unions are growing once more and have a good relationship with a government that has built trade union concerns into its agenda.

Domingo is a great speaker, and as leader of a union that endured savage cuts throughout the 1990s, he is well placed to understand the threat to UK public sector workers at the moment. Domingo recently sent a solidarity message to UK unions for the March for the Alternative:

http://marchforthealternative.org.uk/why-were-marching/messages-of-support/

 

Domingo leads UNE in a march

Storytelling Workshop

In May, Friends of Morazán sponsored a storytelling workshop for pre-school teachers put on by FoM partner organisation, NECAT. The Nicaragua Education Culture and Arts Trust (NECAT) is a UK registered charity that supports educational initiatives in Nicaragua through sponsorship of after-school clubs and other educational projects that operate through the medium of culture and the arts.

To help overcome the lack of educational opportunities for children from modest backgrounds in Nicaragua NECAT has opened a Learning Re-inforcement Centre in the indigenous barrio of Sutiaba in the city of León. By running this centre for underprivileged children NECAT has a base that can act as a model centre for extra mural education. The centre is run by qualified teachers and supported by Nicaraguan, UK, US and European volunteers.

Four of FoM’s pre-school teachers travelled to León to attend a storytelling workshop that taught the teachers how to bring storytelling to life within their classrooms. Using various props, art supplies, and reading materials, the teachers learned to create a more animated learning environment for their students.

NSC’s Environmental Study Tour

The NSC is launching a new project to build solidarity links between UK and Nicaragua environmentalists and community activists.  As part of this project the NSC will be organising study tours in November this year and in June 2012.

Get involved by:

• · participating in one of the NSC’s study tours
• · helping the NSC to distribute publicity through local organisations you are involved in either through putting leaflets on noticeboards or through elists. Contact the NSC for leaflets or an  electronic version of the leaflet is available on our website www.nicaraguasc.org.uk
• · get involved in the NSC environment working group. This is a subgroup of the NSC Executive and has responsibility for overall planning of our work on environment solidarity linking. Please note that you don’t need to be in London to participate in this group, everyone is welcome.
• · volunteer needed roughly one day per week to research ways in which the NSC could publicise the study tours

Please see the NSC study tour leaflet for 2011 to learn more about how you can get involved!

1,000 Fairtrade Towns

On Saturday 4th June, Bristol will be a part of the international event to celebrate 1,000 Fair Trade Towns worldwide. On this day at 2pm local time Fair Trade Towns and Cities across the world will declare jointly as the 1,000^th Fair Trade Towns, so in real time they will declare sequentially from east to west across different time zones. With Kumamoto, Japan declaring as the first Fair Trade Town in Asia and New Koforidua, Ghana as the first Fair Trade Town in Africa, the joint 1,000^th declarations will see the establishment of Fair Trade Towns in all six major continents.

Along with key individuals, organisations and other Fair Trade Towns, Bristol Fairtrade Network has demonstrated their support for fair trade by signing up to a policy statement that calls to ‘Make Trade Fair’. The local group have also prepared a photograph with the words ‘Make Trade Fair’ that will be displayed on the international Fair Trade Towns website.

Alix Hughes represented BLINC at the photo shoot aboard the SS Great Britain to commemorate Bristol's part in the 1,000 Fairtrade Towns celebration

 

The Bristol photo was taken on board the SS Great Britain, where Bristol was declared a Fairtrade City in 2005. Bristol has since become one of the most successful Fairtrade cities in the world. The Lord Mayor joined representatives from many of Bristol’s leading organisations on board ship to declare support for Fairtrade. The SS Great Britain itself is a key supporter of Fairtrade, using Fairtrade products wherever possible, as well as an iconic symbol of international trade.

Copa Sandino Pics

Many thanks to everyone who came to support the Copa Sandino on Sunday! Congratulations to the Southside Duffers, the winners of the Lucrecia Lindo women’s tournament, and to team Sleep When You’re Dead, the winners of the Copa! Both winning teams received gift bags, bottles of Nicaraguan rum, and specially-made Sandino t-shirts from the Nicaraguan Embassy. Also, congrats to team La Ruca for winning the plato collette in the runners-up category. Team Stoneybroke Celtic  was the winner of this year’s Copa Quiz, receiving a bottle of 7-year aged Nicaraguan rum as the prize! BLINC enjoyed guest appearances from Guisell Morales, chargee d’affaires from the Nicaraguan Embassy, and the Lord Mayor of Bristol. So far, BLINC has estimated that we’ve raised over £1,500.00 to donate to the installation of rural community water tanks in Puerto Morazan. Again, many thanks to everyone who came to show their support.

 

BLINC's Team

Please find more pictures from the Copa Sandino by following the link below:

http://s1134.photobucket.com/albums/m619/constancef/Copa%20Sandino%202011/ 

The Copa Sandino will take place this Sunday 22 May at Ashton Park School, BS3 2JL – from 12pm onwards. Stop by for some great latino food, Mexican beer, a DJ and fútbol! Picnic areas are available. We look foward to seeing you there!

 

Nicaraguan Fairtrade Coffee Producer Report

Click on the link below to check out BLINC’s final report on Jitzy Centeno’s visit to Bristol!

 

FT Coffee Producer Final Report

 

Jitzy with students from Brislington Enterprise College

Visit Nicaragua on an Environmental Study Tour

Currently, the Sandinistas are trying to combat massive deforestation, water pollution, dry rivers and lakes, and food shortages. The Nicaraguan government and social movements are carrying out many innovative initiatives to protect people, their communities and the environment. NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN will be working with a variety of organisations, including the Young Environmentalists and the Nicaraguan Community Movement. NSC will be publicising their work, organising environmental tours to Nicaragua and speaker tours of the UK, and funding small projects. NSC’s aim is to build solidarity links between Nicaraguan organisations and their UK counterparts.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

1.) Make a donation!

All these things take time and need to be paid for: doing research, building links both here and in Nicaragua, visiting communities working on environmental projects, setting up the study tours and so on.

2.) Consider visiting Nicaragua on an environmental study tour!

With mountains, tropical rainforest, lakes and coasts, it is a beautiful country with exquisite flora and fauna, a revolutionary history and many innovative initiatives to protect people, their communities and the environment.

The first study tour will take place in late November or early December of this year. You will be living with the rural community in the beautiful Matagalpa region and visiting organisations in other parts of the country, working on indigenous seed production, re-forestation, community tourism, organic farming, increasing local food production, recycling, alternative energy and much more.

Details will be available very soon, so contact NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN if you would like further information about this or future tours. Do you know anyone else who might be interested?

020 7561 4836 or nsc@nicaraguasc.org.uk

NSC, 86 Durham Rd,

London N7 7DT

www.nicaraguasc.org.uk