Position Paper of the Republic of Nicaragua

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Position Paper for the 2019 ESOMAS Summit of Americas

I. GENERAL STATEMENT

The Republic of Nicaragua would like to start by thanking all member states who have

gathered here today to address issues that if resolved will leave our countries better off in than

where we currently stand today. The Republic of Nicaragua is honored to have the opportunity to

participate with fellow delegates, in active and productive conversations in this year’s Summit of

the Americas. We hope to enlighten our fellow countries about all of the wonderful things

Nicaragua has to offer, as well as what other countries have to offer. The Republic of Nicaragua

acknowledges and is fully aware of the importance of coming together to make change happen

for all our delegations. Nicaragua also recognizes the vitality of the Organization of American

States in its promotion of peace, security, and human and civil rights. The Delegation of

Nicaragua plans to continue to contribute agriculturally to the Western Hemisphere as it has for

decades, producing world-renowned coffee, bananas, sugarcane, rice, and other crops.

The Republic of Nicaragua is a nation of democratic values and respect towards others.

The delegation wants the best opportunities for its people so that they may succeed in every

aspect. Nicaragua would like to help other countries gain opportunities for their people.

Nicaragua is the largest of the Central American republics and has earned respect from other

countries; that respect should be spread to other delegations by becoming allies with the

Republic of Nicaragua.

President José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a respected leader in Nicaragua who is willing

to go through great lengths to protect the Republic of Nicaragua. He has and continues to support

the people of the country. The people have respected him since his first term that began on

January 1985. Nicaragua’s outstanding President, José Daniel Ortega Saavedra, also recognizes

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the importance of these values, as he keeps them in mind every time he makes decisions for his

country. President Ortega has served 3 terms as President in Nicaragua, because the people

understand all the great acts he has done for their country and want to see that continued action

being taken. Throughout President’s Ortega’s term, he has learned so many new and innovative

ideas from other countries and has strived to intertwine them into Nicaragua’s government and

way of life, simply because he believes that being open to change and ideas from others is a

worthy endeavor. President Ortega is willing to work with the OAS countries that are allies of

Nicaragua, not just to improve Nicaragua, but the other countries as well.

The Republic of Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America bordering Honduras,

The Caribbean, Costa Rica, and the Pacific Ocean. Managua is the country’s capital and largest

city. Nicaragua is home to many different cultures and people. The multi-ethnic population of six

million includes people of indigenous, European, African, and Asian heritage. The main

language is Spanish. Nicaragua gained its independence in 1821 from the Spanish and has been a

free and fair country since. The Republic of Nicaragua is also home to the second largest

rainforest of the Americas. The country has set a goal of 90% renewable energy by the year 2020

(PowerHome Solar 2019).

The Republic of Nicaragua has many wonderful assets to offer the world. For example,

Nicaragua trades heavily with other leading member states such as the United States, Mexico,

Costa Rica and Honduras. Nicaragua graciously trades our top products of insulated wire, knit t-

shirts, coffee, gold and frozen bovine meat (oce.world). Our country also prides itself with the

fact that a majority of Nicaragua’s main crops are cultivated by small local farmers, and that any

struggle a small farmer might face is offset by government assistance, as the government offers a

large amount of loans that produce up to 30% increase in a farmer’s yields (opportunity.org).

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Nicaragua also prides itself with the decreases in the overall poverty rate for the country.

For example, there have been wells constructed that provide adequate drinking water to over

2,500 citizens. Also, according to opportunity.org, there has been a loan program available to the

community that allows for roofs to be repaired. These amazing programs Nicaragua has

supported directly helps the most vulnerable individuals of our country and creates an

atmosphere friendly to small business creation. We fully intend to continue this work.

The Republic of Nicaragua strongly advocates that each member state work closely to

address the specific topics the OAS has chosen to address for the 2019 session. Our hopes are

that when we all depart the Summit, each member state will embrace all new ideas, including

those on fair trade, the current shrinking OAS budget, youth participation in government,

encouraging the growth of small business development, improving border security, and

addressing high incarceration rates and gang development. It is our hopes that we collaborate to

ensure all member states have the opportunity to prosper alongside each other.

II. PARTICULAR STATEMENTS

A. Committee: General Committee (GC)

The people of Nicaragua support free and fair elections. Some in the world have had a

negative view of the Nicaraguan government and President Daniel Ortega. However, President

Daniel Ortega has taken steps to ensure the people of Nicaragua are ruled under free and fair

elections. It is obvious by the number of votes Daniel Ortega receives that the people of

Nicaragua favor him and his family as leaders of the nation. Ortega’s presidency has been special

because he ran alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. Running alongside his wife has brought a

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special dynamic to the country, by introducing a woman with strong political power (Alexander

2016).

It is impressive how much power was allotted to a woman, as she voices her opinion out

to the Republic of Nicaragua (Alexander 2016). The first time President Ortega was sworn into

office, he used his position to appoint the First Lady to oversee the healthcare, culture, and

education of the country (Debusmann 2007). Having a woman in such a high position speaks to

the liberalism and fairness the country of Nicaragua possesses. She has been known to use her

power for good as she smooths over alliances with known enemies (Debusmann 2007).

Naturally, when she was elected as Vice-President, she continued her role as the spokeswoman

of the nation (Alexander 2016).

It became obvious in 2014 when the Ortega administration amended the constitution

that resulted in the elimination of how many times a person could serve as a president, that the

people did in fact want Ortega to continue as president (Alexander 2016). President Ortega

would win his third consecutive term by a landslide 72.1% of the vote, when 33.7% of the

polling stations had not even been counted (Watts 2016). This is an apparent victory as 3.8

million individuals had participated in voting (Watts 2016). Although some might view the

elimination of term limits as a negative, the people of Nicaragua are still able to vote into office

whomever they feel can adequately perform the duties of the country.

B. Committee: Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI)

It has come to the attention of The Republic of Nicaragua that the lack of participation the

youth have within government can become an issue for future generations of the citizens of the

OAS member states, which is of deep concern. The Secretariat for Executive Integral

Development wants to increase the amount of youth participation. This is important to the

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Republic of Nicaragua, where 62.26% of its population are youth. According to UNICEF, the

region of Latin America has the highest ever proportion of youth, where 20% of the population

are ages 15 – 24 (UNICEF 2019). The SEDI also acknowledges the efforts of member states’

governments in trying to involve this new generation of youths into their governments.

Nicaragua addressed this challenge with its Plan de Action of the National Politics for the

Developing Involvement of Youth. It was created in 2005 and implemented through 2015,

making youth follow the motto “Wanting to Participate, Knowing How to Participate and Where

to Participate.”

The Republic of Nicaragua wants to comply with resolutions that continue the

creation of easier ways for the youth to find out how they can participate. Nicaragua aims to

create a program in all public schools where youth are able to learn more in depth what the

government is about, what decisions are made within the courts, and also one which allows the

students to voice their opinions on topics being discussed. This will lead to an increase in the

youth participation if they are allowed inside court rooms and the ability to be present and heard

in decisions made by the Asamblea National. The Republic of Nicaragua intends to cooperate

with public schools and gather teachers to teach classes and programs directed towards learning

about the government’s duties. These classes and programs can also inform all youth of what is

going on in politics and what they can do to change it, depending on their view of it. This

resolution that the OAS has put together will be funded by the Republic of Nicaragua, since it is

seen as a small investment for our new generation that will pay off in the end. These funds will

go towards paying teacher salaries, including training and further classes that allow teachers to

have sufficient knowledge in politics and current events. Funding will also go towards materials

needed for students and trips made to court rooms, giving even low income students the ability to

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participate in their government. This fund will be handled and discussed with the Ministry of

Education, therefore allowing them to see the needs of all students. An annual report will include

the program’s successful rate and how many students are now integrating themselves into

government decision making as a result of this program. These programs create the ability for

volunteer opportunities and political events be offered to the youth to participate in and as a

chance for further discussion in each class.

The Republic of Nicaragua recognizes the importance of having Micro and Small Businesses

in the OAS countries. Nicaragua provides opportunities for micro and small businesses by

creating spaces and funds for them to begin. Nicaragua has both Nicaragua’s Micro, Small and

Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and its Foundation for the Development of Microenterprises

(FUDEMI) that both strive to better the micro and small business development in Nicaragua. The

delegation would like to extend similar efforts to the other delegations.

Nicaragua’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is a project that allowed for

the country’s small and micro businesses to improve. By Creating MSME’s, there has been

economic growth, better jobs for the people, and new products and services. According to an

article from The World Bank, MSMEs have been successful by creating 1,196 permanent jobs,

351 temporary jobs, 469 new firms, 736 new products and processes with a 628 improvement

rate in their products and procedures as well as 617 firms that have increased sales. By

continuing MSMEs, the delegation of Nicaragua would like to create a commission that will

ensure that other delegations reach a stable micro and small business development environment.

The Foundation for the Development of Microenterprises (FUDEMI) is a foundation

located within Nicaragua that grants credit to micro-businesses. By having FUDEMI, micro

businesses are able to get a grant that would help improve and start-up their business. According

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to FUDEMI, it is a great foundation to have to help expanding economic and social development

for micro and small businesses, because they help create financial security and create an

environment friendly to growth.

Nicaragua understands that not all delegations have the opportunities and resources.

However, Nicaragua is willing to provide such resources in return for a partnership with different

countries. The delegation of Nicaragua hopes that the other delegations understand that micro

and small businesses are essential in improving economic and social growth. By increasing and

improving micro and small business development, it will create opportunities for the people of

the countries.

C. Committee: Secretariat for Multidimensional Security (SMS)

The Delegation of Nicaragua recognizes that by gathering here today, members are

dedicated to improving border security throughout our countries. We acknowledge the functions

of the Organization of American States (OAS) in security. We support the OAS goal to

“strengthen the peace and security of the continent” as indicated in the OAS charter, Article 2.

Our main focus today will be regarding border security and ways to improve equipment as well

as the performance of employees in this sector. As we all know, crimes such as drug trafficking,

human trafficking, and consumption of illegal weapons are happening and increasing in our own

region. We are here today looking for safe and functional ways to decrease these crimes, to

improve vision, and to put a stop to future trafficking. Working along with our current human

rights organizations and community watch organizations, we hope to have levels of violence

decrease in our countries. These programs have been a big help to keeping our country united

and protected.

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Although The Republic of Nicaragua is known for having some crime along its borders,

this is seen in other countries as well. Border crime has increased by more than 23% since 2002.

With 500 kilometers of coastline on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, it allows for

people to take advantage of open spaces where security is not located, allowing drug, human and

weapon trafficking to occur. Nicaragua’s current security situation has been greatly affected by

the Sandinista-Contra conflict which took place in the Central American nation of Nicaragua

between 1981 and 1988; this is known to be one of the major reasons why crime has increased

along borders.

At the same time, violence occurring inside the Republic of Nicaragua has been stable,

while crime between borders has increased because of trade occurring between countries.

Traffickers have taken advantage of Nicaragua’s surrounding body of water to conduct their

crimes. The safety of the people and the countries affected are our main concerns regarding any

sort of trafficking; we also wish to see improvement of functions for border security such as

equipment and officials. Nicaragua and the United States signed an agreement in 1998, A

Bilateral Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, that addresses criminal and civil penalties for

infraction and appears to provide a level of protection that exceeds commitments in the WTO

Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). As you can see

from our previous efforts, with help from each of you here today, we believe we can accomplish

more together and provide more security for our borders as well as our people.

The Republic of Nicaragua is committed to solving the challenges of high incarceration

rates and gang activity. Nicaragua is the safest country in Central America and one of the safest

in Latin America, according to the United Nations Development Program, with a homicide rate

of 8.7 per 100,000 inhabitants. The Republic of Nicaragua has one of the lowest incarceration

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rates compared to other Central American countries (The World Prison Brief). Nicaragua will

work to repair and prevent other Central American countries from struggling to find enough

resources to decrease incarceration rates, just as Nicaragua has done.

In Nicaragua’s efforts to better the country as a whole, the government has formed a

partnership with the Nicaraguan National Police’s Juvenile Affairs Division, to come up with a

National Youth Crime Prevention Strategy to decrease the amount of incarceration in future

generations. Also, Nicaragua chose to support the Ministry of Interior in administering a five-

year program, that targets and focuses on 11 different municipalities in Nicaragua to educate and

protect the youth from further pursuing a life in a gang and educate families about gang

development in hopes of decreasing gang development. This program would be funded by the

Inter-American Development Bank, and the 11 municipalities included are, Chichigalpa,

Chinandega, San Juan de Cinco Pinos, Corinto, Buenos Aires, Acoyapa, Belen, Bonanza,

Camoapa, Cardenas, and Ciudad Antigua.

In this pivotal time in society, Nicaragua hopes that fellow member states will adopt the

initiatives that will be presented in the spirit of diplomacy to bring awareness and action to

efforts across Central America in regard to border security, rising incarceration and gang

development rates.

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