Nicaragua is in a political crisis. Over 300 people since April of this year, the protests lost their lives. Add to that a weakening economy. The country is sick of the Venezuelan Virus?
In April, the Outlook was still rosy. The Nicaraguan economy, it seemed to go well. Hajo Lanz, representative of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) for Nicaragua, finds it “amazing that such a small country like Nicaragua could have in the last 15 years, a relatively high level of economic growth”. In the first quarter of 2018, the growth of the Nicaraguan economy was, according to the national Bank of 9.3 percent compared to the same period in the year 2017.
However, with the beginning of the political crisis at 18. April, the sign had changed dramatically. The Nicaraguan government prior to the outbreak of the crisis, a growth rate for 2018 of 4.5 to 5 percent. Currently, the Central Bank expects only 0.5 to 1.5 percent growth.
Hajo Lanz: “There is no Alternative to fair elections”
“The economy of Nicaragua was liberal, although the government referred to itself as socialist, Christian and in solidarity,” says Hajo Lanz. But “large portions of the Nicaraguan economy in the hands of the family of President Daniel Ortega and his supporters,” he adds. “Many people do not feel sufficiently in the growth of the last years involved. The social inequality in the country is growing and that’s why many Nicaraguans are now going on the road.”
A second Venezuela?
The wave of protests in the country and their suppression by Pro-government militias, which has claimed more than 300 lives, affected the country’s economy in a sustainable way. Barricades to hinder the Transport of goods and the way of the people to work.
For 2018, the credit rating Agency Fitch Ratings expects a rise in the deficit to 8 percent of gross domestic product; the reasons for the rise in Oil prices, the losses in the tourism and agricultural sector and the institutional crisis in the country. The Agency estimates that the economic growth for 2018 to 1.7 percent.
Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega: Large parts of the economy are in his hands
Could lead to the political and economic crisis in Nicaragua to a similar cul-de-SAC, as in Venezuela? “There are several Parallels between Venezuela and Nicaragua, both in terms of the authoritarian, short-sighted, and to claim callous style of government, as well as in the type, you’ve found the best political and ethical solution in the Form of a certain ideology and a single party,” says Hajo Lanz; he says, Nicaragua is still on the precipice, but “in order to become a second Venezuela”.
Not everything got done, the government of Ortega, was wrong, as the representative of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. In the population, no one has to starve, and there are many social projects have been launched. “But this does not help to bring the demands for more democratic freedoms to Silence,” says Hajo Lanz. The economic collapse of the country go Hand-in-Hand with the socio-political crisis, and no one knows what will be in a few months.
The downward trend of the country both politically and economically, to stop, see Lanz is only one way out: “the descent to stop, there is no Alternative to early, transparent and fair elections.”