VZCZCXYZ0006
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #1552/01 1951949
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141949Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6980
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0092

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001552 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID PGOV SOCI NU
SUBJECT: REMOTE RIO SAN JUAN HAS MUCH UNDEVELOPED POTENTIAL 
 
REF: MANAGUA 1400 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: During a June 21 to 23 trip to the remote 
Nicaraguan department of Rio San Juan, poloff and political 
specialist met with political, business, and religious 
leaders to discuss economic and social conditions in the 
area.  We learned that the economy is largely based on the 
exploitation of natural resources, with small but growing 
tourism and craft industries.  As with most areas in the 
Central and Atlantic Coast regions, the department suffers 
from a lack of transportation infrastructure and utilities. 
Many Nicaraguans emigrate from and through Rio San Juan to 
Costa Rica for better wages and employment opportunities.  We 
also visited the Solentiname archipelago, whose residents 
developed an art and handicrafts industry in the late 1970s 
and 1980s under the tutelage of Sandinista activist and (now 
ex-) priest Ernesto Cardenal.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The largely rural department of Rio San Juan's 
population is about 96,000 -- the fewest inhabitants of any 
Nicaraguan department or region.  The economy of Rio San Juan 
is based on fishing, ranching and milk cows, lumber, tourism 
and handicrafts.  The senior Catholic priest in the 
Department, Father Luis Zavala, characterized the population 
as 10 percent middle class and 90 percent lower class.  Most 
agricultural producers in Rio San Juan operate on a small 
scale, largely subsistence farming, and are unable to obtain 
commercial loans to increase their holdings. 
 
¶3. (U) Economic development is stymied by a generalized lack 
of utilities and transportation infrastructure.  Power 
failures for up to three days are routine.  The "highway" 
from Juigalpa to San Carlos is a potholed disaster -- a bus 
ride to Managua takes six to eight hours.  The San Carlos 
airstrip is a dirt track with no security features, not even 
a fence.  (The daily flight from Managua must often circle 
the runway to check for grazing livestock.)  A ferry from 
Granada arrives in San Carlos two days a week, but the 
journey across the lake to central Nicaragua also requires 
several hours.  El Almendro mayor Ufredo Arguello explained 
that Rio San Juan producers are not competitive with others 
in Nicaragua because of the small scale of their holdings and 
high transportation costs. 
 
LUMBER INDUSTRY: "DAMAGE ALREADY DONE" 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to Father Pablo Alexis, lumber is an 
important economic activity in the municipality of El 
Castillo; however, independent lumberjacks only receive about 
30-50 cordobas (US$1.70-$2.85) per tree for lumber that is 
worth hundreds of dollars when processed.  Ufredo Arguello 
complained that the heavy trucks used to remove the timber 
have further degraded roads in the Department.  He stated 
that the current GON prohibition on lumber exports was 
instated "too late" -- "the damage has already been done." 
 
FISHING EMPLOYS LARGE PERCENTAGE OF WORKFORCE 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5. (U) Martin Aguilar Bendana, President of the Rio San Juan 
Fisherman's Association, explained to us that Rio San Juan 
has a "great potential for export of fish" but lacks the 
necessary infrastructure to develop the industry.  The 
Association represents three cooperatives and is trying to 
obtain legal recognition ("personeria juridica"), but cannot 
pay for a lawyer in Managua to process the paperwork. 
 
¶6. (U) According to Bendana, the fishing industry employs 
3,000 people in the Department, all of whom use "traditional 
methods" to fish.  The fishermen are trained to only take 
adult fish of a certain size to preserve the stocks. 
Apprentices are at least 16 years old (though Bendana 
admitted that the law specifies a minimum age of 18 years). 
The average fisherman can earn 600-700 cordobas per day 
(US$34-$40) gross, but can usually only fish for three days a 
week due to lack of supplies.  The catch is shipped to 
Managua and points abroad via ice-packed coolers. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Despite the importance of the fishing industry, 
Bendana complained that neither the GON nor the international 
community has provided assistance to improve conditions. 
Apparently the Italian Association for Rural Cooperation in 
Africa and Latin America (ACRA) allocated 300,000 euros to 
build a modern processing plant in the Department, but the 
project was never completed. 
 
MANY IN RIO SAN JUAN DEPEND ON COSTA RICA FOR JOBS, SERVICES 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8. (SBU) Migration from and through Rio San Juan to Costa 
Rica is considerable.  Father Alexis noted that many 
Nicaraguans leave the Department during the Costa Rican 
harvest season from November to March.  He claimed that the 
Costa Ricans have instituted a policy of deporting 
Nicaraguans far from their zone of entry to try to avoid 
immediate returns (for example, a Nicaraguan who entered 
through the Department of Rivas in western Nicaragua would be 
deported to Rio San Juan).  Father Zavala stated that 
families use remittances from the migrant workers "to 
survive, not buy luxuries."  Ufredo Arguello complained that 
"the best workers go to Costa Rica" for wages three to four 
times greater than what they could expect in Nicaragua. 
 
¶9. (U) The residents living in the remote area of Rio San 
Juan lying south of Lake Nicaragua between the Rio Frio and 
the border of Rivas department must depend on Costa Rica for 
basic services.  The common currency in this area is the 
Costa Rican colon, the children attend school in Costa Rica, 
and the citizens receive medical care from Costa Rican 
clinics.  San Miguel mayor Carlos Fletes told us that the 
children in this area know the Costa Rican anthem by heart, 
but are ignorant of Nicaragua -- "it is a disgrace," he 
lamented. 
 
SOLENTINAME: A UNIQUE LOCALE 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶10. (U) The archipelago of Solentiname, part of the 
Department of Rio San Juan, is located in the southern part 
of Lake Nicaragua, about a one-hour boat ride from the port 
of San Carlos.  The population of approximately 1,000 lives 
primarily on the three largest islands: Mancarron, San 
Fernando, and Isla Venado (Deer Island).  Solentiname's 
economy is based on fishing, subsistence agriculture, 
handicrafts, and tourism.  Most families rely on multiple 
sources of food and income, with one adult dedicated to 
fishing and another to painting, for instance.  The school 
age population is served by several primary schools and a 
secondary school on Mancarron. 
 
¶11. (U) Like the rest of Rio San Juan, the development of all 
industries on Solentiname is hampered by a lack of 
infrastructure and transportation links.  All electricity 
comes from solar or diesel powered generators.  Those who can 
afford the service use Costa Rican cell phones (Nicaraguan 
service providers only have a signal at the highest points of 
San Fernando and Mancarron) and must pay international 
charges to communicate with clients in Managua.  A public 
ferry services the islands only three days a week from San 
Carlos, and private "lanchas" charge US$120 for a round-trip 
visit to the islands. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Unlike most of the rural population in Rio San 
Juan, whose loyalty is with the Liberal parties (reftel), the 
people of Solentiname sympathize with the FSLN and regard 
priest, poet, and FSLN activist Ernesto Cardenal as virtually 
their patron saint.  Island native and owner of the 
Solentiname Guesthouse Maria Guevara Silva spoke reverently 
of Cardenal, dividing Solentiname's history into two eras: 
pre-Ernesto (before 1975) and post-Ernesto.  According to 
Guevara, Cardenal spearheaded literacy and environmental 
awareness campaigns in the islands.  He taught people how to 
paint their surroundings in the now-famous "primitivist" 
style.  Cardenal gave the islanders a "reason to live" and a 
"sense of community," explained Guevara.  According to her, 
Cardenal still visits Solentiname frequently, and we 
witnessed on Mancarron a village constructed to house 
pilgrims visiting Cardenal.  The village contains a giant, 
incongruous red and black iron monument to the FSLN, as well 
as a "library" displaying indigenous artifacts, international 
awards given to Cardenal, portraits of FSLN revolutionary 
leaders, moldering stacks of socialist literature, and the 
Harry Potter series translated into Spanish.  The Hotel 
Mancarron, one of the oldest and largest in the archipelago, 
is currently closed due to a legal dispute between German 
investors and local Cardenal supporters. 
 
¶13. (U) International groups have supported the construction 
of two artists cooperatives in Solentiname -- one in 
Mancarron and the other in San Fernando.  The San Fernando 
cooperative, with over 50 members, is sponsored by the 
"Massachusetts Friends of Solentiname" and takes a 20 percent 
commission on all artwork sold to sustain itself.  The best 
"primitivist" artists are able to charge several hundred 
dollars for their work -- a fortune in the islands.  ACRA has 
constructed a museum on San Fernando that illustrates the 
islands' history and natural resources. 
TRIVELLI