VZCZCXRO8050
PP RUEHWEB
ZNR UUUUU ZOC STATE ZZH
WSC4192
PP RUEHC
DE RUEHMU #0796/01 0862151
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 272151Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9612
INFO RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS MANAGUA 000796 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS G/TIP: BFLECK, WHA/PPC:MPUCCETTI, G, INL, DRL, 
PRM, IWI, AID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG KFRD PREF NU
SUBJECT: NICARAGUA'S 2007 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS SUBMISSION 
 
REF: A. 06 STATE 202745 
     ¶B. 06 MANAGUA 02717 
     ¶C. 07 MANAGUA 00542 
     ¶D. 06 MANAGUA 02716 
     ¶E. 06 MANAGUA 01898 
     ¶F. 06 MANAGUA 02715 
     ¶G. 07 MANAGUA 00357 
     ¶H. 07 MANAGUA 00583 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: During the April 2006 to March 2007 
reporting period, the Nicaraguan government continued its 
efforts to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) mainly in the 
areas of prevention and detection, while progress in victim 
assistance and prosecution of traffickers was limited and 
overall results were mixed.  While the National Assembly 
approved legislation criminalizing trafficking in persons and 
other forms of sexual exploitation, the law is not in force 
yet, in large part because Nicaragua's November 2006 
elections diverted the Assembly's attention elsewhere for 
months, delaying the legislature's passage of the penal code. 
 An overall lack of awareness and understanding of the 
trafficking in persons phenomenon continues, as well as a 
serious deficit of data collection and registration of 
trafficking cases by law enforcement authorities.  Resource 
constraints, slow pace of judicial reform, the ongoing debate 
over the penal code, lack of border security, weak 
immigration controls, insufficient coordination of efforts, 
the focus on the 2006 presidential election, and changes on 
the political front have kept the issue of trafficking on the 
back burner.  While it continued to make a good faith effort 
to combat trafficking, the Government of Nicaragua (GON) has 
not moved significantly beyond noting a policy and plan on 
paper, to improved, concrete results.  Arrests and 
prosecutions of trafficking cases were limited, marking 
little progress from last year.  However, the GON made 
strides in terms of providing anti-trafficking training of 
government officials and dissemination of public awareness 
information through programs financed by outside donors, 
non-governmental organizations (NGOS), and UN organizations. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary Continued: As the second poorest country in 
the Western Hemisphere, Nicaragua suffers from severe 
resource shortages and weak institutions.  Nevertheless there 
were positive signs that the outgoing Bolanos government made 
a concerted effort to comply with international 
anti-trafficking standards.  It is too soon to tell, however, 
whether the Ortega government, which assumed office January 
10, 2007, will uphold the previous government's commitment. 
Traffickers, ability to operate with impunity and infiltrate 
the country's incipient tourism industry has continued to 
pose a challenge.  Civil Society and international 
organizations have played an instrumental role in increasing 
government attention to the problem of trafficking.  Despite 
the existence of a National Coalition against Trafficking in 
Persons, an apparent lack of coordination among separate 
government ministries and law enforcement agencies continues 
to limit the GON's ability to seriously address the issue of 
trafficking on a national scale.  End Summary 
 
The information provided below is keyed to Reftel A 
paragraphs 27-31. 
 
Overview of Nicaragua,s anti-TIP Activities 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3. (SBU) Paragraph 27 A.  Nicaragua is a country of origin, 
transit, and destination for trafficking in persons.  While 
there is little evidence that victims of other nationalities 
are trafficked into Nicaragua, the country is a source of 
both internal and external trafficking.  According to 
government and NGO sources, sexual exploitation is the 
primary end use for trafficking in persons originating in 
Nicaragua.  Internal trafficking of Nicaraguans for sexual 
exploitation is a growing concern.  As reported in last 
year,s report, during this reporting period, there was some 
evidence that internal labor trafficking was taking place, 
where children were lured to urban areas to work as domestic 
household help or in restaurants but then exploited for 
forced labor.  The government, however, for the most part 
does not recognize internal labor exploitation as a form of 
trafficking, although there is evidence that internal 
trafficking of children to work as unpaid domestics takes 
place. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Paragraph 27 A. Continued: The vast majority of 
cases in Nicaragua involve women and girls trafficked for the 
purpose of sexual exploitation.  The main groups at risk are 
young women and children from poor, rural areas, victims of 
domestic abuse and sexual violence. Children and women from 
the ages of 13 to 25 years of age are deemed the most 
vulnerable, although there were cases of girls as young as 11 
being trafficked during the reporting period.  Poverty, 
illiteracy, lack of economic opportunity, vast areas of 
unpatrolled land along the Atlantic coast, porous borders, 
and geographic location, contribute to making Nicaragua the 
principal source of trafficking victims in Central America. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Paragraph 27 A. Continued: El Salvador and Guatemala 
are the main destination countries for Nicaraguan trafficking 
victims, largely due to CA4 agreement between Nicaragua, El 
Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.  Citizens and residents of 
these countries are only required to show their cedulas 
(national identification cards), to cross the borders between 
these four countries. Passports are not required.  Foreigners 
are subject to passport checks at the borders, but only 
receive a single entrance stamp at the initial Point of 
Entry.  In addition, the C-4 members share watchlist 
information on a weekly basis.  Victims were also trafficked 
to Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States, and were 
trafficked internally.  There was also a media report of a 
28-year-old female who allegedly was trafficked to Spain. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Paragraph 27 A. Continued:  The sources of 
information include the National Coalition for Trafficking in 
Persons (NCATIP), Ministry of Government, Immigration 
Service, the Public Ministry, Ministry of Family, National 
Police Special Crimes Unit, media, and non-governmental 
organizations.  There were gaps in the information provided, 
and some of the reporting was inconsistent.  Attempts to 
contact the government's National Council for the Integral 
Attention and Protection of Children and Adolescents 
(CONAPINA) for information in time to complete the report 
were unsuccessful, as the agency is undergoing an 
organizational change and will possibly be folded into the 
Ministry of Family.  Credible data on the number of 
trafficking cases was difficult to confirm. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Paragraph 27 B.  As reported in last year,s 
submission, traffickers primarily used fraud, coercion, or 
deception to recruit victims, offering false promise of more 
lucrative employment outside the country as domestics, 
nannies, waitresses, models, and appear to be infiltrating 
the country,s incipient tourism industry.  Some traffickers 
lure children with offers of gifts, new cell phones, or food. 
 As part of their modus operandi, traffickers used travel, 
model, and employment agencies as front companies to recruit 
victims.  Some of the classified ads in newspapers seeking 
workers of a certain age &with no experience,8 casting 
calls, or offers for special excursion tours are, according 
to the Public Ministry, another recruitment technique.  Most 
internal TIP cases involved poor rural women and girls being 
drawn to major urban centers to work as prostitutes, although 
the adult prostitutes found working in nightclubs and massage 
parlors are from both urban and rural areas.  According to 
the police, the types of businesses where prostitution is 
most common are casinos, night clubs, discos, beauty salons, 
and massage parlors. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Paragraph 27 B. Continued:  The connection between 
trafficking and tourism appears to be on the rise, according 
to media and government reports.  Increased interest in 
Nicaragua as a tourist destination, combined with the 
availability of out of school children and unemployed 
adolescents from poor and rural communities, and lack of 
impunity in the justice system, create conditions conducive 
to trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation. 
Traffickers are able to take advantage of the increase in 
tourist excursions and travel packages, for example, as a 
means to transport victims in the open by bus.  They also 
used networks of unregulated taxi drivers to assist with the 
transportation.  According to Casa Alianza, traffickers do 
not need to use clandestine methods to smuggle victims; they 
are able to operate freely using regular public and private 
transportation services. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Paragraph 27 B. Continued: In addition to the 
prevalence of children and adolescents along the Panamerican 
Highway who are being recruited by traffickers and taken 
across the border to work as prostitutes in bars and night 
clubs in other Central American countries, they are also 
visibly present in parks in tourist towns like Granada, in 
ports along the Atlantic and Pacific, and in the principal 
streets of Managua. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Paragraph 27 B. Continued:  Quantifying the exact 
number of girls, boys, and adolescents who are victims of 
commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking continued to 
be difficult. The National Coalition Against Trafficking in 
Persons, the Special Investigations Unit of the National 
Police, and the Public Ministry all reported 21 cases of 
trafficking during 2006, 95 percent of the victims were 
female, 62 percent ages 13 to 17, and 38 percent over the age 
of 18.  While there is little information available on male 
victims, there was anecdotal evidence of boys being 
trafficked to Costa Rica, probably for labor exploitation. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Paragraph 27 B. Continued: Another development that 
both NGO and government officials reported was that 
traffickers were preying upon and encouraging individuals 
traveling alone seeking employment outside the country, and 
often approached potential victims at public bus stations. 
To encourage adolescent girls to travel alone, traffickers 
offer assistance with preparation of documents with false 
identities.  Another trend that stood out is that traffickers 
may be targeting victims over the age of 18 because they are 
seen as less likely to draw the attention of the authorities. 
 
 
¶12. (SBU) Paragraph 27 B. Continued: According to the 
National Police, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, and 
other NGOs, trafficking in persons is associated with 
organized crime rings that are allowed to operate with 
impunity.  Some government sources were more inclined to 
suggest that the traffickers are individuals working alone 
and did not demonstrate a clear understanding or awareness of 
who was behind trafficking.  The National Coalition indicated 
that the government policy is to combat organized crime &in 
all of its manifestations.8 
 
¶13. (SBU) Paragraph 27 B. Continued: The Special Prosecutor 
for Children and Adolescents reported that women prostitutes 
and brothel owners are involved in the recruitment of 
potential trafficking victims.  According to government 
sources, female prostitutes, drug addicts, and alcoholics 
help traffickers with the recruitment of young women and 
girls.  (Comment: Since women do not fit the cultural 
stereotype of a trafficker, they are more likely to evade 
standard detection methods and practices, particularly with 
the transport of children and adolescents.  End Comment.) 
 
¶14. (SBU) Paragraph 27 B. Continued:  The National Police 
reported that the increase in sexual exploitation of children 
is happening in the open in border towns and tourist 
destinations, yet they have no reported cases of sex tourism 
during the 2006 reporting period, probably because the people 
involved are afraid to denounce.  Under the law, anyone can 
denounce crimes of trafficking and sexual exploitation. 
Paragraph 27 B. Continued:  Reports of a possible connection 
between trafficking and illegal adoptions also came to the 
attention of the Embassy, and will be discussed in the 
section on corruption below. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Paragraph 27 C.  Although the GON has demonstrated 
political will to address the problem, and has launched a 
number of effective communications campaigns, it is severely 
limited in its ability to address the issue in practice given 
serious resources constraints, insufficient training, overall 
corruption, and much looser immigration controls between the 
borders of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala as 
a result of the CA-4 agreement.  The GON,s anti-TIP program 
is particularly weak in terms of victim's assistance and 
protection, investigation of trafficking instances, and in 
the prosecution of trafficking offenders. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Paragraph 27 C. Continued:  According to the 
Nicaraguan National Police Special Crimes Unit, the main 
impediment to its anti-TIP efforts was the lack of financial 
resources.  There is also a lack of reliable statistical data 
on the number of victims and the true magnitude of the 
problem.  The National Police do not have the necessary means 
to identify traffickers or organized criminal entities who 
police suspect are using more sophisticated technology 
increasing difficult to detect.  According to an NNP report 
issued in late 2006, traffickers are rarely arrested and 
almost never prosecuted, since the penalties imposed for 
trafficking in persons are lenient when compared the 
penalties imposed for drug or arms trafficking. 
 
¶17. (SBU) Paragraph 27 C. Continued: The GON, through the 
inter-agency National Coalition Against Trafficking in 
Persons (NCATIP), developed a plan of action which was 
reported in last year,s submission and made an effort during 
2006 to outline specific steps to improve the response to 
this social scourge, with an emphasis on capacity building 
and strengthening human resources; investigating cases; 
transforming the judiciary and psychosocial spheres; 
facilitating the process of repatriation; improve 
surveillance mechanisms; establishing a database, creating a 
communications strategy for dealing with human trafficking; 
and, developing "Inter-institutional Conventions of 
Cooperation."  Another goal was to establish a system for 
registering trafficking incidents, and to promote social 
research.  In reality, while the plan denotes a commitment to 
the issue, the GON has not set aside budget for 
anti-trafficking activities, nor does it possess the 
necessary funds for adequate victims assistance and shelters, 
technology upgrades; and, capacity building for law 
enforcement personnel and judges. The Managua shelter 
established by the Ministry of Family is the only 
government-run shelter to provide for at risk children and 
youth, and is not properly staffed or equipped to deal with 
trafficking victims, nor is it available to assist victims 
over the ages of 18. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Paragraph 27 C. Continued: By the NCATIP,s own 
admission, the leading organizations responsible for 
anti-trafficking actions--the National Police, Department of 
Immigration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of 
Family are extremely limited in their ability to provide 
adequate assistance for victims, and rely on the help of NGOs 
with expertise in the trafficking in persons phenomenon, as 
well as foreign assistance programs such as USAID, UNICEF, 
and others.  The NCATIP and Ministry of Government expressed 
regret that despite attempts to streamline lines of 
communication, efforts were stymied by a lack of coordination 
and integration.  The Nicaraguan government relies on the 
efforts and resources of the NGO community to compensate for 
the state,s inability to provide services, especially those 
involving victim,s assistance and protection. 
 
¶19. (SBU) Paragraph 27 C. Continued.  The Vice Minister of 
Government under the Bolanos Administration, Deyanira 
Arguello, pledged the government,s commitment to fighting 
trafficking (Ref. B), but was skeptical of the new Ortega 
government,s ability to tackle the problem.  The current 
Minister of Government Ana Isabel Morales, also promised to 
intensify the government,s efforts to combat the problem of 
TIP, but reiterated serious resource limitations prevented 
the government from taking all necessary actions to defeat 
this "social scourge."  She informed Embassy officers of her 
intention to submit a proposal for a state-run shelter at the 
PRM and DHS/CIS Regional Conference on Migration in New 
Orleans in April 2007. 
 
¶20. (SBU) Paragraph 27 C. Continued: Despite sincere 
expressions of political will, much of the government,s 
commitment to eliminate trafficking remains on paper.  In 
addition, as the law is written, individuals involved in 
transporting victims are difficult to prosecute. 
 
¶21. (SBU) Paragraph 27 C. Continued: While the GON pledged 
its commitment to increasing coordination among agencies, it 
largely relies on international organizations, NGOs, and 
outside funding to implement programs.  The GON,s response 
to trafficking was related to increased civil society 
pressure against child pornography, sexual exploitation of 
minors, and spread of transnational crime rings.  Such 
efforts to change the legislation, however, had more to do 
with the outcry over child pornography and sexual 
exploitation of children and minors, rather than to an 
increased awareness or understanding about the magnitude of 
the trafficking in persons phenomenon. 
 
¶22. (SBU) Paragraph 27 C. Continued: Cultural and class 
prejudices present another obstacle.  NGOs, civil society, 
and the Public Ministry all complained judges and police 
investigators lack proper training and an understanding of 
TIP as a human rights concern.  There is a cultural bias 
against trafficking victims who are often perceived as the 
guilty parties and treated as ignorant "vagabonds."  This 
cultural insensitivity has permeated the psyche of the 
trafficking victims themselves who refuse to cooperate with 
the police when they return because either they do not 
understand that their rights were violated, or because they 
believe that they were at fault and are ashamed of the stigma 
after being repatriated and returned to their communities. 
According to the International Organization of Migration 
(IOM), many of the victims who are repatriated and returned 
to abusive situations without receiving any therapy or 
intervention are vulnerable to being retrafficked. The 
victims, unwillingness to denounce their captors combined 
with the lack of training for judges and local prosecutors 
are factors that could explain the dearth of actual 
trafficking prosecutions. 
 
¶23. (SBU) Paragraph 27 C. Continued: Overall corruption in 
the Nicaraguan political and judicial system is another 
obstacle that undermines the GON,s ability to deal 
effectively with the problem, and will be discussed in 
greater detail below. 
 
¶24. (SBU) Paragraph 27 D.  The National Coalition Against 
Trafficking in Persons has made efforts to coordinate actions 
by distinct agencies.  However there is no systematic review 
of anti-trafficking efforts. The Coalition does not 
periodically provide assessments of anti-trafficking efforts 
and much of the reporting on government activities is 
provided through NGO channels.  Although the NCATIP lists the 
establishment of a monitoring capability and development of a 
database as a priority goal, the government lacks a 
capability to systematically monitor data, and does not have 
the funds necessary to invest in adequate surveillance 
technology. 
 
PREVENTION 
- - - - - - 
 
¶25. (SBU) Paragraph 28 A.  The government of Nicaragua has 
acknowledged that trafficking is a problem in the country. 
Vice President Jaime Morales, former Contra leader who ran on 
the ticket with Daniel Ortega in the November 2006 national 
election, noted the importance of working with the United 
States government to combat trafficking during a meeting with 
a visiting Codel and Embassy officials in February 2007 (Ref. 
C). According to officials at the Public Ministry and the 
Federation of NGOs working for minors (FECODENI), VP Morales 
was instrumental in introducing reforms on anti-trafficking 
legislation that was approved by the National Assembly in 
April 2006. 
 
¶26. (SBU) Paragraph 28 B.  The Ministry of Government, which 
oversees the National Coalition Against Trafficking in 
Persons established in 2004 and controls the National Police 
and the Immigration Department, is the lead government agency 
responsible for trafficking in persons issues.  The NCATIP is 
an inter-agency liaison office which coordinates efforts with 
16 other ministries and government agencies. In addition, the 
Ministry of Family is responsible for assisting victims and 
their reintegration with families. The Foreign Ministry, 
National Police, and Immigration Services also provide 
limited assistance to Nicaraguan victims found in other 
countries. The Ministry of Education plays a role in 
increasing awareness among children, adolescents, and 
teachers. 
 
¶27. (SBU) Paragraph 28 B. Continued: Within the Ministry of 
Labor, the National Commission for the Progressive 
Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of the Young Worker 
(CNEPTI) is the designated authority for developing and 
coordinating Nicaragua's national strategy for the prevention 
and eradication of child labor (Ref. D).  CNEPTI works with 
other government ministries, international organizations and 
NGOs to coordinate programs.  However, CNEPTI's effectiveness 
is limited by a chronic lack of support and resources from 
the Ministry.  The Commission is often excluded from the 
planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects funded by 
international donors, preventing it from gauging the 
effectiveness and sustainability of projects. 
 
¶28. (SBU) Paragraph 28 B. Continued: The police increased its 
network of women's police stations from 23 to 27, which 
investigate cases of abuse against women and children, 
including allegations of trafficking.  The Office of the 
Human Rights Prosecutor has separate Special Prosecutors for 
Women and Children and trafficking is included in their 
portfolios.  The Office of the National Prosecutor prosecutes 
trafficking cases when sufficient evidence exists, and has a 
specialized Women's and Children's unit dedicated to handling 
such cases. 
 
¶29. (SBU) Paragraph 28 B. Continued:  The GON,s National 
Council for the Integral Attention and Protection of Children 
and Adolescents (CONAPINA) directs a 10-year National Action 
Plan for Children and Adolescents and a five-year National 
Plan to combat the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of 
Children. (Comment:  Efforts to contact CONAPINA for its 
input for this year,s TIP report were unsuccessful.  Embassy 
officers learned from several sources that the government may 
be terminating CONAPINA.  It is not clear whether CONAPINA 
will be abolished or incorporated into another ministry, most 
likely the Ministry of Family.  End Comment.) 
 
¶30. (SBU) Paragraph 28 B. Continued:  The director of 
FECODENI, one of the key NGO players involved in pressuring 
the National Assembly to enact anti-trafficking legislation 
expressed frustration with the lack of government resources 
obligated to the fight against trafficking.  Several sources 
indicated that because of the inability of the GON to 
adequately control the trafficking situation, NGOs such as 
Casa Alianza, Save the Children, IOM, UNICEF, and are 
&filling the void.8  The NCATIP concurred with this 
assessment. 
 
¶31. (SBU) Paragraph 28 C.  The GON, in particular the NCATIP, 
deserves credit for its efforts to expand anti-trafficking 
information and education campaigns.  In November, the GON 
represented by the Ministry of Government and Ministry of 
Family implemented its first pilot "Call and Live" campaign 
which is being funded by the Inter American Development Bank, 
IOM, and the Ricky Martin Foundation. The campaign includes a 
youth-oriented media communications strategy to raise 
awareness and promote the use of a free 24-hour emergency 
hotline, provided by the Ministry of Family. The awareness 
campaign targets the Department of Chinandega considered one 
of the most vulnerable areas for TIP and important gateway 
for trafficking outside the country.  Government ownership of 
the hotline is intended to guarantee sustainability after the 
international funding runs out in June.  At the time the 
program was publicly launched in December, some government 
sources expressed skepticism about Ministry of Family,s 
ability to run the hotline and provide the necessary services 
to support it (Ref. B).  However, according to IOM, in the 
first two months of being operational, there have been 690 
calls related to child trafficking, and 13 reports or 
"denunciations."  No reported cases have been solved as a 
result of this initiative. 
 
¶32. (SBU) Paragraph 28 C. Continued: The Ministry of 
Government continued its awareness and capacity building 
activities throughout the country and sponsored an education 
program in Granad with the Tourism Ministry to train taxi 
drivers and hotel owners to agree or encourage zero tolerance 
of commercial exploitation of children. 
 
¶33. (SBU) Paragraph 28 C. Continued: The successful public 
information campaign sponsored by Save the Children Canada 
and IOM, reported in last year,s TIP report, continued 
throughout the reporting period, and is a useful tool for 
educating children and youth about the threat of trafficking 
and information on how to prevention techniques and how to 
report instances of suspected trafficking. The NCATIP also 
reported producing spot TV ads to promote prevention and 
denunciation of TIP crimes with funds from the Department of 
State, the implementation of a notebook "Learning to Prevent 
Trafficking in Persons" with MECD, a communications strategy 
financed through a USAID regional project based in Guatemala, 
and the distribution of leaflets, brochures, and other public 
information materials, primarily aimed at boys, girls, and 
adolescents. NCATIP also increased efforts to promote the 
need to denounce or report trafficking in persons through a 
publicity campaign targeting highways, public spaces, 
schools, etc. but acknowledged that to date, it had not 
obtained the desired results. 
 
¶34. (SBU) Paragraph 28 C. Continued:  The current Minister of 
Government, along with the Director of Immigration, informed 
Embassy officers that the government stepped up prevention 
and detection activities by installing closed circuit 
television monitors at immigration centers to run 
anti-trafficking videos.  The videos are intended to help on 
the prevention side by increasing awareness and warning about 
the dangers of human trafficking to people seeking to travel 
outside the country. Due to resource constraints, these 
televisions are available only in the Managua offices and are 
not set up at immigration centers along the border areas.  It 
is estimated that during the peak travel and holiday seasons 
(Christmas, Easter, patriotic celebrations, etc.), the 
messages reached an average of a thousand travelers per day. 
 
¶35. (SBU) Paragraph 28 D.  The Ministries of Family, Labor, 
Health, and Education support a variety of programs that have 
some impact on alleviating poverty, hunger, and poor 
education-underlying factors associated with trafficking, but 
these are not programs specifically earmarked to deal 
directly with trafficking in persons.  Virtually all 
anti-trafficking programs in Nicaragua are funded by NGOs and 
the international donor community.  While the Ministry of 
Labor offers programs to prevent women from resorting to 
prostitution, there is no government program in place 
specifically to prevent trafficking other than in terms of 
raising awareness of the phenomenon.  There are no government 
initiatives in place to promote women,s participation in 
economic decisionmaking, and efforts to keep children in 
school are not effectively enforced.  The Ministry of 
Education under the Bolanos government implemented a program 
in high schools throughout Nicaragua to warn at-risk 
teenagers about trafficking and to encourage denunciations. 
It also was a factor in helping raise awareness about the 
incidence of trafficking and educating parents about the 
importance of prevention among people who had no previous 
knowledge of the existence of the problem.  The Ministry of 
Education also conducted another program aimed at training 
and sensitizing teachers to recognize and properly handle 
cases of child sexual exploitation of any type. 
 
¶36. (SBU) Paragraph 28 D. Continued: Although the Ortega 
government has made pledges to strengthen education and 
access to healthcare, and now provides free public education 
for primary and secondary grades, education is not compulsory 
in Nicaragua.  Given the rate of poverty in Nicaragua, many 
families are so poor they cannot afford basic school 
supplies, and some rely on the income the children earn to 
survive. There were reports that some families who cannot 
afford shoes for their children will not send them to school. 
If the state cannot adequately provide supplies, facilities, 
and trained educators, one public official asserted, it would 
be "perverse" to obligate parents to send their children to 
school. 
 
¶37. (SBU) Paragraph 28 E.  Government officials dedicated to 
the TIP cause, NGOS, civil society, churches, and ot