VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #1532/01 1922127
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 112127Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6960
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001532 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN, DRL JFARRAR AND NTONGOUR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL NU KCRM KDEM KWMN
SUBJECT: HRDF PRODEM PROJECT PROMOTES CREATING SPACE FOR CIVIC PARTICIPATION IN THE FACE OF "CAUDILLISMO" 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY: On June 21-22, Foreign Affairs Officer and 
POL Intern attended a Catholic Relief Services 
(CRS)-sponsored conference for mayors from four of 
Nicaragua's departments.  CRS is executing a $350,000 Human 
Rights and Democracy Fund (HRDF) grant to undertake the Civic 
Participation and Democratic Planning pilot project (PRODEM) 
in Honduras and Nicaragua.  The HRDF grant term is from 
August 1, 2005 until January 31, 2007.  PRODEM is operating 
in 10 Nicaraguan municipalities in the departments of 
Chinandega, Chontales, Matagalpa and Nueva Segovia.  The 
conference provided all participants with an excellent 
opportunity to exchange views and to challenge old 
assumptions about dynamics between public officials and the 
citizenry in municipal governance.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) The purpose of the conference -- titled "Encuentro de 
Alcaldes Que Promueven La Participacion Ciudadana8 -- was 
for PRODEM mayors to share their experiences in accommodating 
citizen participation in municipal decision-making and to 
learn new approaches to democratic governance, including the 
importance of incorporating the views of women in development 
decisions.  The two-day event provided ample opportunities 
for the mayors to deliberate over topics that challenge the 
traditional &caudillismo8 way of running municipalities. 
 
INTRODUCING HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTING/HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY FUND
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
¶3.  (U) Foreign Affairs Officer spoke before the conference 
on the Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 
Labor (DRL),s human rights reporting and HRDF activities. 
The presentation emphasized aspects of the PRODEM project 
that support USG democracy and human rights policy objectives 
including: strengthening the capacity of civil society, 
especially women,s groups, to negotiate with local 
governments;  increasing citizen familiarity with national 
laws that protect democratic rights and with legal mechanisms 
that enable citizens to have a voice in municipal 
decision-making; creating space for permanent constructive 
dialogue between mayors and other municipal officials and 
civil society; and, realizing important social and economic 
development benefits through civic participation in municipal 
affairs. 
 
¶4.  (U) Among the 32 participants were 13 mayors (11 from 
Nicaragua and 2 from Honduras), advisors to some of the 
mayors, and staff members from PRODEM,s social partners who 
are executing the project for CRS, including CARITAS and 
Justicia y Paz, and CRS officers.  Of the Nicaraguan alcalde 
attendees, 2 were FSLN and all of the others were PLC 
members.  Only one of the mayoral participants was a female, 
a vice-mayor representing her Honduran municipality. 
 
¶5.  (U) The conference appeared to be well-organized and 
professional,  and it stimulated significant animated 
discussion among the participants.  The first day,s program 
included power point presentations on achievements thus far, 
findings from surveys about perceived project strengths and 
weaknesses in the public participation process, and 
interactive discussion sessions.  The social partners and 
mayors from Ciudad Dario in Nicaragua and Tuepasenti in 
Honduras collaborated in giving individual presentations on 
experiences and lessons learned from their own 
municipalities.  These sessions generated robust feedback 
from other mayor attendees. 
 
¶6.  (U) On the second day, Alejandro Bravo, a Nicaraguan 
political scientist, discussed the historical evolution and 
practical application of democratic decision-making from its 
elective (ancient Greek), representative (Roman) and more 
recent participatory forms, stressing the importance of 
participatory democracy in addressing the weaknesses (and 
vulnerability to corruption) of traditional representative 
democracy.  Mexican-born anthropologist Araceli Garcia 
Gallardo's presentation focused on gender dimensions of civic 
participation.  She underscored the reality of unequal power 
relations between the sexes in the public sphere, and on how 
to overcome biases regarding women,s traditional 
&reproductive8 role in relation to men,s &productive8 
role in social and political decision-making. 
 
MAYORS' VIEWS ON CIVIC PARTICIPATION 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7. (U) Opinions and perceptions from the alcalde participants about the virtues of civic participation in municipal decision-making and on advances of the PRODEM project varied. The Mayor of Trinidad admitted that citizens in his municipality aren,t interested in civic participation; he seeks new ways to motivate them to participate in PRODEM. However, Chichigalpa's FSLN mayor countered that in his "cabildos8 (town meetings), more than 300 men and women actively participate. Another mayor asserted that many citizens are afraid to come to town meetings because they believe the mayor will tax them if they show up. Others suggested that more citizens would participate if they could afford transportation from remote rural areas.
 
¶8. (U) One PLC mayor opined that citizens from opposing political parties were reluctant to participate in PRODEM activities. Another mayor averred that citizen attendance is low because the town meetings are often held during regular work days and many rural folk lack motivation to attend events consider irrelevant to their needs. The mayors agreed that Nicaragua,s civic participation laws are new and thus many people have minimal awareness of the opportunities they offer. Nonetheless, several mayors indicated that PRODEM activities have raised awareness among them and their constituents concerning the importance of civic participation in municipal decision-making in identifying community priorities, sometimes with constructive results, including the purchase of road building equipment.
 
OBSERVATIONS BY THE SOCIAL PARTNERS 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶9.  (U) CRS Acting Director Jefferson Shriver and the 
Justicia y Paz and CARITAS social partners shared the 
following observations: 
 
-- Through PRODEM, studies reveal that as of March 2006, 
civic participation by women in these municipalities has, on 
the average, risen from a very low baseline to about 30%. 
(COMMENT: the objective is to have 50/50 male/female 
participation by the end of the project). 
 
-- PRODEM's goal is not to undermine mayoral authority, but 
to enable citizens to complement that authority through 
broad-based decision-making. 
 
-- PRODEM's major thrust has been to find ways to improve 
citizens' access to information about the importance of 
municipal decision-making for their welfare, and regarding 
when and where town meetings and PRODEM support activities 
are held. 
 
TRIVELLI