Christian Aid Calls on Nicaragua to Use Anti-Poverty Programmes

Christian Aid calls on the new president of Nicaragua to use international debt relief for anti-poverty programmes, as the country welcomes former Sandinista, Daniel Ortega, back to power next week.

Nicaragua was one of the 18 countries identified to benefit under the HIPC debt relief agreed at Gleneagles, Scotland, during the UK presidency of the G8 countries in 2005.

The previous Nicaraguan administration bowed to International Monetary Fund pressure to service internal debts with the money released by external debt relief. In September 2006, the internal debt stood at $1.2 billion.

Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, only slightly better off than Haiti. Nicaragua also has the world's highest level of per capita debt at $13,000.

The external debt now stands at $4.4 billion and the government social spending budget is just $1.5 billion.

Daniel Ortega previously held office from 1979-1990 after he led the Sandinista movement to overthrow the Somoza dictatorship. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration in the US illegally funded the 'Contras' to oust Mr Ortega from power. With Mr Ortega's re-incarnation, Washington is more worried that Nicaragua will be influenced by the controversial Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Mr Chavez is expected to attend Mr Ortega's investiture on 10 January 2007 along with Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Alvaro Uribe of Colombia.

But Christian Aid fears that, far from being a threat to US interests, Mr Ortega will not do enough for the country's poorest people.

Moises Gonzalez, who runs the Nicaragua programme for Christian Aid, said: "Ortega's rhetoric is very clearly in favour of helping the poorest sections in Nicaraguan society. But the fear is that in order not to lose international investment or fall out of favour with the International Monetary Fund, Ortega's actions will not match his pledges."

"For example, it is very important that the country uses money from debt relief to fund social programmes. This has not been done in the past and would make a huge difference in providing education and medical care to those most in need."