Why are the Constitutional Reforms in Small Nicaragua, Relevant for the
US?
One might think there is very little relevance of an
act which is sovereign for an independent nation located south of the border
and which apparently will only affect its population of about 5 million
Nicaraguans.
Yet this small nation has been a source of large
headaches for the United States during the past two centuries. Historians might have different views on this
history, but we will provide a simple version:
Compressed
Historical Facts:
Since Central America became part of the Spanish
Kingdom, Nicaragua was a just province belonging to a Spanish Viceroyship which
was managed from Guatemala City. Within
the Nicaraguan Province, two rival and important cities were left within, and
when Central America declared independence from Spain -and afterwards did so
the provinces, on a case by case-, the five Central American Nations were born,
except for the British enclave of Belize which remained a colony until recently.
The two cities that were left within Nicaragua, Granada
and Leon, were founded by two completely different groups of Spanish people. Granada, was originally populated by a more
traditional, more conservative people which had a more commercial and land
lording attitude; whereas Leon’s founders, had more of a liberal frame of mind
basing their society more on the merits of the person rather than on its nature
(inherited rights). These two differences,
created a war wedging nation that since the 1800’s have continuously been at
war.
South of Nicaragua, Costa Rica developed as a more
educated and civic society which was in fact nurtured by the continuous exit of
ideologists and intellectuals from the Nicaraguan intestinal wars and did not
want to remain as spoils or victims of war.
In order to save their lives and that of their families, fled to Costa
Rica. Costa Rican History rests on the shoulders of
civic and democratic prone people born in Nicaragua. Some of their founding fathers and revered scientists
were born in, or their families can be traced to Nicaragua.
This compressed historical reference can serve us as a
base to explore the last 30 years in Nicaraguan history.
In 1979 the Somoza Regime came to an end after 40
years in power. Its founder came from
the military (graduated from the West Point Academy). Even while they tried to vest their regime in
a kind of democratic dress, the regime ended with the last of the Somoza’s, who
was a 5 star General, killed in Asuncion Paraguay. Then a Revolution became Government.
The Revolution which was led by the Sandinistas, was
in fact helped out by the Conservative Party, an expression of the Granadian
politics. This “alliance” permitted a
more popular international support for an appearance of “consensus of the
Nicaraguan Society” vested the “muchachos” with legitimacy. Tons of help arrived in Managua (the Capital)
in 1980 and there were lots of expectations placed on this revolution.
Soon enough, the Sandinistas neutralized the
Conservatives who were represented by two Members of an original five member
Junta. Then they rapidly turned to Cuba
and the URSS and became a nuance to the US and friendlier regimes in the area
because they had become the spearhead of the revolution in the continent. As a result, the Contra war began with
authentic peasants which who were later organized and financed by our
Government until the Contra-Iran affair hit the Press and then Congress placed restrictions
on the help flowing to Honduras to finance this Contra war against the Sandinistas.
But the Contra effort encountered an incredible and
unexpected ally. The USSR disbanded and
soon enough Cuba and Nicaragua were left with no resource to maintain their
impetuous drive and had to roll back.
Cuba went to survival mode and Nicaragua was left to fend for itself.
That situation forced elections. About two thirds of the Nicaraguan population
voted against the Sandinistas and Ms. Chamorro (an original Member of the five
member Junta of 1979) came into power.
The Conservatives thought were back again into power.
The Liberals (the philosophical expression of ancient
Leon) reorganized before and during the Chamorro Presidency and they regained
control through the ballots, twice in a row.
Both times they did it with about and around 50% of the votes. Henceforth, sixteen years of democratic
reforms were achieved in a fragile but effective peace, from Chamorro to
Bolaños (1990 to 2007). Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas meanwhile remained on
the sidelines and with incredible imagination and limited resources, played
under the democratic rules and regained control in 2007. A now divided coalition of liberals and
conservatives split the 50% coalition they had held until then, and Ortega
became President with less than the 35% of the votes.
He was reelected in 2012. Through extremely doubtful legitimacy and
with a bottomless check book provided by Hugo Chavez, he gained two thirds of
the Legislative Branch of the Government.
The elections were questioned worldwide yet time played in Ortega’s
favor and he proved a master of patience and resilience. He previously had control of the Executive,
the Judicial and the Electoral branches, so the Legislative was the icing on
the cake.
Now, using the legislating Body as the writing tool
and the Private Sector as the legitimation instrument, he is trying to redesign
the Nicaraguan Constitution to fit him and his Party.
We have, as history has shown us, always reacted to
events in Nicaragua which in turn has proven to us that they have always managed
to spill beyond its borders, one way or another.
Will we react once more, or we will go ahead and live
on a parallel universe to Ortega’s?
Let’s see:
What does the
Ortega’s Reforms carry?
1.
First and foremost, his capacity to reelect himself or his political
heirs, indefinitely. Until his
reelection in 2012, in Nicaragua a President could rule for one period and
could reelect himself again, gaining the votes of course, one more time but not
continuously.
2.
Install Socialism. Socialism will
be the official philosophical economic and political form of governing,
according to his Party’s proposal.
3.
To covert his control over all other Powers into the Constitution,
therefore, officially destroying what until now was a precarious balance of
powers.
4.
Disassembling all traditional forms of associations including political
affiliations and supplanting them with so called Family Organizations (kind of
Root Organizations) which are controlled by the Sandinista Party.
5.
Other cosmetic touches that are designed to camouflage the important
ones, such as venerating Mother Earth (yes, it will be official).
Why this
matters?
Ortega had to face that there was almost no
international acceptance of his regime beyond the Alba. He found legitimacy
re-inventing the close relation between Government and Private Sector (Hitler
was the first one). What an absence of opposition could not fill, Cosep (the
Private Sector’s organized expression) became an effective formula to handle
the country’s internal affairs (what is political the Sandinistas handle, and
what is economic and commercial, the Private Sector does). This has drawn the attention of neighboring
politicians. Even reputed organizations
such as the World Bank have begun to mention Ortega’s formula as an “admirable
one”.
Neighboring leaders have come to realize that if they
could install a similar scenario of peace between these two sectors, they too
can reign unchallenged. The neighboring
private sectors have begun to notice the practicability of this formula. This
in itself presents a seemingly good thing in the short term, but it carries
within the seeds of chaos.
Wise, independent and respected groups in Nicaragua
are voicing their concern, but their minority status in a low educated nation
renders them as a “lonely voices in the desert”. These groups, which include the Catholic
Church, are pointing out that this efforts on the part of Ortega are exactly
the right formula to breed another revolution.
When find themselves with no option but to submit to the will of the
few, only violence provides an answer.
The United States have been putting out fires in the
region and beyond for more than a century.
Economic resources are now limited in our country, but imagination and
planning has not.
We can foresee what is evident (and what might not be
so evident too) and prepare to act in a more rational and economic way but to
continue to have the region remain secure for our future generations. Nothing can be more economic (at least more
economic than war or than financing wars) that structuring a policy that could
be carry out consistently, independent of who governs in the White House. In that respect, consistency with adaptation
looks like the better option, based on economic growth that permit the US
growth to lead the effort:
Security with
Economic Growth: Create a joint economic buffer zone in our
borders to the South. Create an immense
Free Zone on the border with Mexico and with countries that are friendly in
Central America and the Caribbean. This
Buffer Zone will provide thousands of middle and upper management jobs for the
US, it will again create goods made in the US (those in the borders with Mexico
and in the US Virgin Islands) and it will give good paying jobs to millions of
citizens of those countries which are the source of illegal immigration. An icing on the cake, would be a reduction of
the imbalanced trade with China, for there will be less dependency on their
manufacturing. An icing on the icing of
the cake: a reduction of fuel
consumption worldwide, therefore contributing in a grand scale to ease Global
warming.
Consistency: To maintain our neighbors to the South
dependent in a commercial and social relation with the United States -which is
not as derogatory as it might sound-.
Growing together all of the nations that live in the same continent is
healthier than growing spots in diverse continents to try to avert differences
that are deeper than those that lay amongst us.
In the American continent we share Christian values, we share a drive
for freedom (Totalitarian Socialist ideas are imported experiences, not native
ones) and most important of all, we share a land that communicates us all.
Adaptation: The US has to engage its neighbors in a
different way depending of their individual drive. During the late 70’s, a Professor of
Political Science at Boston University, Ernest Halpering, use to say: “our
worries should be “ABM”, meaning Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Well I’m sure he would agree now that the
growing tigers among our Latin neighbors are CBC, Chile, Brazil and
Colombia. Dealing with Chile for example,
demands from us a respectful treatment on the basis of more equal partners, for
Chile is a First World Economy in South America. We cannot treat Chile and Brazil the way we
used to treat them when Pinochet ruled and in the latter, and a succession of Military
leaders in the former. They have
successfully overcome their historical mistakes and have made incredible
strides towards a more educated and sophisticated society. If the rest of the American Countries see
that this respect takes action they will be more open and receptive to the
interests of the US. Our common
interests intertwine more than what we think.
Conclusion
To analyze what Ortega is doing right now in Nicaragua
is a must if we want to assure our region when other regions of the world seem
to be stubbornly dedicated to annihilate us.
What appears to be an irrelevant action by a petit dictator in a small
country, has tremendous potential to affect the Continent and therefore, us as
a nation. To plan and act now is cheaper
and healthier than waiting to resolve violent situations in the future.
Although this Blogged expression cannot aspire to
fully express each segment as desired because of the inherent limitations of
the space provided by its framework –but also limited by the time most readers
have-, it is nevertheless an attempt to contribute by opening doors that can
provide discussions that can in the future all of them contribute to a better,
more progressive and effective Foreign Policy for the Americas where there are
no small nor isolated issues because all have a dynamics that interact with one
another.
Nicaragua has proven the hypothesis herewith
expressed, but it can prompt new scenarios and all of them interacting in a way
that we cannot deal with one and send the rest to backgrounds where we can
assume they will rest and wait for our timed response. Today, we must act in a parallel and
coordinated way to remain ahead of events.
Our own survival as a civilization depends upon it.
