IMF Tramples on Nicaraguan Law
The government of Nicaragua, pressured by the international institutions (IMF, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank) initiated plans two years ago to privatize the hydroelectric plants of Nicaragua (Empresa Hidrogesa-GEOSA) and the distribution of potable water (ENACAL) beginning in the departments of Chinandega, Leon, Matagalpa and Jinotega and continuing in Managua. The strategy is to privatize this vital liquid using the euphemism ‚operation and management contract” or ‚management consultation,” etc.
The Nicaragua National Network in Defense of Consumers publicly denounced on July 17, 2002 the government‚ plans to solicit bids from foreign companies for the four ENACAL plants referred to above. The National Network convened a demonstration against the privatization of water that was welcomed in the many sectors that had spoken out against this.
Since the beginning of 2002, the National Network has denounced the privatization of the hydroelectric plants and demanded that the generation of low-cost energy be maintained in the hands of the state since privatization translates into higher costs and higher consumer tariffs, the exclusion of producers in the subsistence economy (farmers, irrigators, fisherman) from using water, and large environmental damages. In addition, the bid for Hidrogesa was offered at less than a third of its real value at terms totally unfavorable to the state.
Due to the public outcry and public pressure, in September, the National Assembly approved a law (Law 440) that suspended the privatization of water and this has created an obstacle to the plans to sell Hidrogesa and ENACAL. In addition, the Comptroller General of Nicaragua has nullified the bidding for Hidrogesa due to alleged corruption and irregularities that have surrounded the process.
President Bolaños of Nicaragua has requested a veto of Law 440 from the National Assembly in order to give a green light to the sale of the hydroelectric plants. In order to conserve water, which is life, and in support of the Nicaraguan people, this veto should not move forward and should be denounced for its complicity with the plans of the IMF, World Bank and Inter-American Development bank to bury our nation in more poverty.
Taking into account all of the above, one has to ask what is the rule of law that institutions such as the IMF, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank refer to when they trample on the laws on our country to impose the law of the jungle, their law, the law of savage capitalism? This is our plea not to privatize water and the hydroelectric plants. The IMF loan with privatization conditions should be FORCEFULLY DENOUNCED before the world so that all will know the procedures by which these institutions ‚help” the third world. They plant the seeds of windstorms and then cannot understand where the tornado comes from. In Nicaragua the proposal to privatize water and the hydroelectric plants is a very sensitive topic that, not surprisingly, generates a lot of resistance. These institutions (such as the IMF) take an Olympic leap over the laws of our country, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Comptroller General, the National Assembly and the Constitution and one has to ask, is there something these institutions of interference are inclined to respect?