editorial at/@
tortillaconsal punto/dot com
Citizen Power - Nicaragua's experiment with direct democracy
An interview with Francisco Valenzuela, Mayor of Estelí
Tortilla con Sal, 25 de febrero del 2010
Tortilla con Sal: For many years Estelí's local government has had the reputation of being one of the most efficient and responsible local governments in all of Nicaragua. Not long ago, during the previous administration, the local authorities received a formal acknowledgement confirming the truth of that reputation.
Francisco Valenzuela: That's correct.
TcS: One of the most innovative things about the FSLN government has been the project of Citizen Power. As Mayor, do you think this project is producing results?
FV: Today, in the morning, we took part in a meeting with several Citizen Power representatives. During this meeting information was provided about what the local government had done, the amounts that had been invested, the different projects that had been developed during 2009.
We studied the report from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. In quantitative terms, what we found was that we invested more that we had anticipated. We had foreseen investments of C$76 million but we actually invested C$90 million. And we were able to do that despite the economic crisis. We have been negatively affected by that crisis, and yet we invested 17% more than we had anticipated in the different projects we carried out.
However, the most important improvement perceived was in terms of the quality of local government operations, which has to do with the change in our operating model. The change that has taken place involved a move towards governing together with the people - the promotion of the Citizen Power model in which it is the people that make the decisions concerning public investment in the municipality.
We began the great participative Municipal Budget Consultation last year. This process is not just about asking people their opinion, but about the people deciding what specifically the local government should prioritize based on projected income. And it is our responsibility to respect the people's will.
During previous years people were consulted about the budget, but then the Municipal Council came along and made the final decisions regarding what the money should actually be spent on. Now the consultation takes place but it is not just about opinions, it is about decisions being made at a grass roots level by the Councils and Cabinets of Citizen Power.
And it was as a result of this decision making process that Plan Techo, the housing improvement project, was identified as a priority in Estelí. Other priorities that were identified were the provision of plots of land for families to build homes, repairs and improvements to rural roads, improvements to water and sanitation infrastructure. After these priorities were identified we worked out, based on projected income, which projects would be carried out, which projects were really at the top of the list of priorities.
This process is a real novelty, because the budget we inherited last year was based on the previous model in which the Municipal Council was the maximum authority. Now it is the people that choose how the local government should operate. Now the Municipal Council administers and carries out the projects decided on by the people.
Like you said, Estelí has had a very positive experience in terms of community organization dating back to the 1970s with the Church base communities, which organized civil defence, this was called the Civil Defence Council, and it was about preparing for popular insurrection.
In Estelí there were three insurrections. This city has played a very important role in recent Nicaraguan history. Estelí contributed to the Sandinista Front many combatants who helped change the government, overthrowing the Somoza Dictatorship.
All this history of community organization is still valid today but it has been modernized, in view of the new organizational reality in the country and the current socio-economic conditions.
In the 80s we had the CDSs, the Sandinista Defence Committees, then in the 90s the CDCs were formed, the Community Development Councils. Today we have made the qualitative leap to the Councils of Citizen Power.
The Councils of Citizen Power, CPCs, are made up of 16 members of any rural village or urban neighbourhood, each of whom is responsible for a certain area of common concern health, education, environment, culture, water, infrastructure, young people, the elderly etc.. They represent their community before the Cabinets of Citizen Power.
So CPC members can come here and say to us - "look, we have such and such a problem and we want you to help us resolve it," - it might be to do with a road, or a housing issue, about electricity, about drinking water, it might be about public security, or about environmental protection or garbage collection.
These areas of responsibility exist within the CPCs and have counterparts both within the local government and central government which means that they enjoy inter-institutional relationships.
So we have been working on the implementation of this new model. Sharing power with the people means that the people also have responsibilities. It is not just about allowing the people to impose their will but also about assuming responsibilities via community contributions to a locally beneficial project. These contributions do not necessarily need to be financial contributions but could be a contribution of labour or a commitment to look after whatever is being built or provided.
This is what we have been working on as part of this new model which is practically fully implemented in this municipality. In the municipality of Estelí, the area that we attend, the Citizen Power model has become something normal. We are working within the logic of Citizen Power, we participated in the Budget Consultation, the budget was drafted and now we have to respect what the people decided, we have to meet the people's demands as outlined in the budget.
This is the new operational method that we have been successfully putting into practice. And I believe that we will continue to succeed in terms of growing popular participation as people become more able to identify their roles, their responsibilities, their needs, and as people become more able to use that awareness to actively participate to improve their quality of life together with a Municipal Government willing to support them, and, of course, a Central Government that fully welcomes its responsibility to support this process.
TcS: Mayor Valenzuela, many political opponents in the country are very critical of the CPCs. They say that the CPCs are a party mechanism. What do you make of this sort of criticism?
FV: Those arguments are completely false. There is a tendency within the right wing opposition to manipulate the facts surrounding the CPCs in the sense that they try to make out that the CPCs are part of the the FSLN's party structure. But there is no truth in that claim.
Logically it is the FSLN that promotes the CPCs. It is the FSLN government that promotes this model. As Sandinistas we promote and support this model. The make up of the CPCs, however, is politically plural. There is a common denominator of all members of the CPCs which is that they are citizens and that they perceive different problems in their community. It is a result of the community's ability to organize itself that the local people are able to come together to work towards solutions to their common problems.
The FSLN has its own party structure, we have the Sandinista Leadership Councils which are present at a grass roots level. These Leadership Councils are the organic life of the party. We also have the Sandinista Municipal Councils and the Sandinista Departmental Councils. The different party structures are separate from the CPCs.
The Cabinets of Citizen Power are community organizations. And of course they have been attacked, they have been stigmatized, it has been claimed that they form part of the FSLN structure. But that is not true. They are citizen organizations and their function is to do with solving existing problems in the local community.
And, as we continue to develop the CPCs along the lines of this logic, we have been able to overcome the stigma surrounding the new model. There are many CPC leaders who belong to the Liberal Party, the resistence party or some other party, but what they want is for their road to be repaired, they want running water, they want better garbage collection services. That's all.
And that is why, within the CPCs, we don't have an area of responsibility focusing on propaganda, on political education, on ideological aspects. Within the CPCs there are no formal political discussions like the ones held within the party structures. The areas of responsibility include things like the elderly and environmental protection. These are not subject areas specific to any one political party.
The opposition has tried to make out that the CPCs are part of the FSLN structure. But we haven't paid much attention to that attempt to confuse things. We have worked hard in terms of making sure our explanation about the reality of Citizen Power is made clear to people. And, like I said, the model is being implemented. The importance of this model is being established.
TcS: Political criticism aside, such a profound change - the implementation of a participative democracy - can't be an easy process. I assume that you have encountered many organizational and technical difficulties in the way of widening the scope of the Citizen Power model. What are the greatest difficulties you have encountered?
FV: Like you say, of course it is not easy to transform our operational model. But we have been doing it step by step. The first step was the government's promotion of the new model as a real necessity for the nation. Then, after 2009, when we won 109 local governments out of 153 then we began the work of establishing the model.
One of the difficulties we have encountered is in terms of the acceptance that the CPCs and the Citizen Power Cabinets are not subordinate to the municipal government nor to central government, they are autonomous, and they have their own work dynamic.
A lot of the time it is tempting for the Mayor, or for the different institutions, to treat the CPCs as subordinates. But that would be a mistake. The CPCs and the institutions of government complement each other's work. The government must make itself available to serve the needs of the entire population.
So it is wrong for a mayor, a municipal council or some other institution to act on this sort of temptation because the people are capable of making their own decisions, of pointing things out, of making criticisms or proposals. And it is very important that the CPCs are sovereign, that they are not subordinate. The idea is that they should be autonomous.
But all this doesn't mean that the original concept of the CPCs didn't come from the Sandinistas. Of course it did. We are the ones promoting this new model, we are the ones with vested interests in the implementation of effective community organization, because only by organizing society can we start to overcome problems. ...
Another problem might be a confusion between the Sandinista Leadership Councils and the Councils of Citizen Power. The Sandinista Leadership Councils that exist in different institutions and in the neighbourhoods are the FSLN's grass roots committees which represent the ideological base of our party.
So, often competition between the two might exist which might be a fraternal sort of competition. Or the roles of the two might become confused. In which case the opposition would take advantage of the situation and say - "the CPCs are part of the FSLN." But that is not correct.
We have reiterated many times, the CPCs are politically plural. The only prerequisite for members is to be a citizen, and to want to take part.
Another difficulty is to do with the potential tendency for the CPCs to feel dependent on, or subordinate to the municipality and the institutions. It shouldn't be like that, the CPCs, should make themselves heards as a result of their own dynamic, as a result of their autonomy.
But I believe that these are problems that are being overcome. The CPCs do have their own identity, they have their own operational dynamic. They are progressing along the right path.
Now, the right wing media and opposition's attempt to stigmatize the CPCs is borne from the fact that they see the new organizational model as an enormous threat. Because, without doubt, the opposition forces are very scared about the amount of power being placed in the hands of ordinary people. They want all the power for themselves, they want to be able to do what they like, to make themselves rich, to exploit the people, to treat them like idiots, this is the undeniable trend registered during Nicaragua's history.
And with the Citizen Power model, what we are talking about is effectively permitting the people to assume power. In other words, not to limit democracy just to elections, to the right to vote, but to create permanent democracy, to allow decision making, social audits, to allow the people a real and effective voice. In other words to allow the people to become active subjects within society and not passive beings represented by unaccountable representatives. Because representation is about the people handing over a blank cheque to their mayor or their deputies - they elect you so that you can go and do whatever you like.
And it shouldn't be like that. Elected officials must be accountable. We must act correctly, and that is made possible within a model of direct democracy.
TcS: Talking with people from the different neighbourhoods and communities of Estelí, a common complaint, and I think it is legitimate to call it a complaint, is that they feel that there has not been sufficient follow up in terms of training for members the CPCs. Do you think this is a legitimate complaint?
FV: Yes, to a certain extent. That is one of the problems that exist. We have tried to make the institutional counterparts to the different areas of responsability in the CPCs as effective as possible.
For example, if you take a look at the CPCs in action, you will see that the most effective area of responsibility is health. This is mainly because they have such a competent and active counterpart in the form of SILAIS, the Local System of Integral Healthcare Assistance. The members of the CPCs responsible for health are, effectively, volunteer support workers involved in an institutional work program. So when there is an epidemic like 'flu, or when the mosquito population is multiplied during the rainy season, then they have a specific role to carry out with the support of an institution. So, really the health representatives are the most effective, they are the most active.
Another effective area is public security which has the police as their counterparts. The CPCs carry out joint patrols with the police to ensure the security in the community.
Another area that works well is the one to do with young people who are involved with different institutions to promote sports and other recreational activities in their local area.
The areas that are less dynamic include infrastructure and the elderly. I think infrastructure is a bit passive.
But definitely, with this model, great expectations have been created and there is a lot of demand for services. And really, the demand exceeds the institutions' capacity to respond. So sometimes people start to criticize, often because they have a history of being active, of being belligerent. So what we want is to be as aware of the information as possible so we can work out what we can do to help.
When thinking about what the community can contribute to any given project, one should not think only along the lines of financial contributions but about what the community can bring to the project - how can we combine our work? How can we develop the project more effectively taking into account initiatives from the local people?
And yes, I do believe that training is important, it is important for roles to be discussed, and for a clear set of regulations regarding CPC-government relations to exist. Because up until now, CPC members are elected each year. But those annual elections haven't been established in a formal way. And the people are asking for a more formal outline of the CPC's functions.
So, as is natural in the construction of a new model, these sorts of problems exist and are discussed, but in practise I think we are working towards solutions.
TcS: An important socio-political trend during the last ten or fifteen years in Nicaragua has been the rapidly increasing presence and influence of the non-governmental sector. Certain commentators suggest that the CPC model is not looked on kindly by NGOs, because, like the representatives of the oligarchy, they too consider the new model as a threat to their influence. Can you mention any experiences that might either support or undermine this analysis?
FV: Each NGO is different. In the case of Estelí we have very good communication with the majority of the NGOs - many of them even work within the Citizen Power model.
For example - at least here in Estelí, I don't know if this is the case in the rest of the country - but here INPRHU works together with the local authorities on housing projects, road repair projects and communal infrastructure projects. INPRHU communicates with the community and carries out different coordinations through the members of the CPCs. That is just one example but there are many.
At the same time, though, there are organizations, usually those that work on political issues, whose actions are like those one would expect from the political opposition. They seem to feel threatened by the CPCs. And they are very negative about the Citizen Power model.
These organizations call themselves, quote, civil society, unquote, and their role is to attack the Citizen Power model, to attack this model that promotes sharing responsibility and power with the population. It is with those organizations that you will find the tendency you asked about.
But I wouldn't say that all NGOs have that attitude. I'd have to go through the list one by one in order to say which are the NGOs working in good faith and communicating well with the local authorities.
Yes, there have been a number of problems relating to the tendency you mentioned, and not just in terms of each organization's work, but in the sense that we are trying to make the use of all development funds more transparent. We want to know what the funds are invested in and what the role and function of each NGO is.
Very often development efforts are duplicated. Many times the resources made available are not used in the best possible way due to a lack of knowledge or because certain NGOs want to be protagonists, they want to do what they do and not necessarily tell the authorities about their work.
We have always said that there are some lucky communities but also many unlucky ones. There are certain communities that work with numerous organizations and others that have never been benefited by an NGO project. So, a lot of the time, that can create bad feeling between communities.
So we are trying to include in our investment plan, not just our own municipal investment budget and the central government's budget for Estelí, but also the budgets of all the different organizations and programs presence in the municipality. We want to make development aid and non-governmental influence more democratic.
We also want to be able to identify where the greatest need is and avoid the tendency for organizations and institutions to work in a certain community just because it's convenient or to look for problems as a way of earning a living. We want to be able to say - such and such a problem exists in this community and so this program is going to that community, and this other program is going to another community where another specific problem exists. We want those kinds of decisions to be based on a poverty and development map and on a publicly agreed municipal strategy. We want to promote development that is equal, balanced and fair.
It is necessary for the non governmental sector to be more transparent about their work, but sometimes they refuse to do that. A lot of the time no one knows how much their budget is, or how much staff are paid, how much money is invested and on what. I believe we all need to work towards greater transparency, because development investment in Estelí is enormous, but a lot of the time the local authorities don't know whether funds are being used well or whether relatively insignificant projects are being used to validate very big budgets. And I don't think that situation is acceptable.
TcS: A final question. How do you evaluate the development of the Citizen Power model? Are you optimistic? Do you feel confident that it is developing in the right direction?
FV: I am very optimistic about it. I am a real fan of the Citizen Power model. I have been to most parts of the country to promote it. In Estelí the implementation of the model is pretty advanced, and, I have on occasion sacrificed my presence here to visit other parts of the country, because this is a national mission which I feel I have to support.
I am very optimistic about the model because people definitely feel like active subjects within society, people propose things, there is a sense of personal development. Nowadays some of the best initiatives come from the poor neighbourhoods, from the rural communities, and problems get solved.
But, of course, the more organized people are, the more demand there is and the more pressure there is. Because, if you don't allow people to organize, if you only think about the people each time an election comes round then you don't have to worry about much, there won't be that much pressure - but if people are organized then everyone demands their rights, you get criticized, people say "hey, what happened about our road? You haven't done anything about the river, about housing ... !"
When I go to the football stadium kids come up to me and say, "hey, you haven't done anything about the road, what happened?" But it's because people are organized. If the people are passive, if they are isolated by so much indirect democracy, then they're not going to say anything to you.
So public officials need to be open to criticisms, and we need to put all our effort into meeting people's demands. That is why I am optimistic about this model. And I can say, that during different acts, lobbies and meetings I have been blown away by the extent of popular participation.
Now, of course the right wing media and other opposition forces are going to treat the CPCs as their enemies, and they will go on repeating their manipulations until a number of people actually believe them.
But really, we should feel proud of this model which is helping to restitute the rights of all Nicaragua's citizens without taking into account their political, ideological or religious views. This models restitutes rights, it creates spaces.
And we know that there are members of the CPCs who aren't going to vote for the FSLN. They are there because they want to overcome problems. They are there because they want to express their opinions, they want to have a say and help overcome different problems in their community.
Of course I see this model with optimism. And I think it is going to be around for a while. We have to work hard, we have to convince people to get involved. This ideological struggle is not easy, the struggle against the right wing media isn't easy either, but we believe in our arguments, and our secret weapon is our ability to talk to people personally, and to carry on reiterating our version of what the CPCs are all about.
I think that the expectations created are gradually being fulfilled as the government works towards providing results for the people who need it most. A lot of the time, the ones negatively affected by this model are the ones who made a living from the elitist political system.
Here in Esteli, thousands of people have been benefited with the micro credit program, Zero Usury. At the moment we are preparing to benefit 1,400 former members of the Resistence movement with the program Roof Plan which provides a new roof for their homes. And during the the rest of the year we will be investing C$20 million on roof and housing improvements for 4,000 families in the municipality.
We have worked on water projects, sanitation projects, we have facilitated rural communities connection to the national grid, we have worked to get people involved in the production bonus program - Zero Hunger. 2,000 families have been benefitted with the Zero Hunger program just in the municipality of Estelí. That's 2,000 cows. We are talking about a large herd of cattle!
And for a rich person, a cow and a pig doesn't mean much, but it might mean everything for a poor person, because it means they can eat and they can produce.
But of course, a poor person doesn't necessarily feel able to go to the radio and talk about this, or to get out and talk to people outside their community about it. But from person to person this message is comunicated.
The important thing is that people don't lose hope. For this reason, as part of the new model, the people don't just identify their prioritized projects but they identify the people to be benefited, and the beneficiaries should always be those most in need of support. But the ones who aren't benefited at the start shouldn't lose hope because with time everyone will be benefited in some way.
We don't want to be the ones to choose beneficiaries from our offices in the government institutions, we want it to be the local people who decide. And there are places where poor people who are not as badly off as their neighbours need to make a sacrifice so their neighbours can benefit. That is called solidarity and it happens a lot with different projects.
Learning to show solidarity means changing our attitude, it means not putting one's personal interests first - it means giving a chance to the people who need it most.
This is the basis of an enormous discussion going on in Nicaragua. We are talking about changing the predominant attitude, which is not something that's easy because we all live in this world where we are encouraged just to think about ourselves, we are encouraged to be selfish, we are penetrated by a sectarian, save-yourself-if-you-can mentality. These are ills that we are exposed to.
And in order to transform this country we have to change our attitudes starting at a grassroots level where the people are more receptive to change. Because it is the poor people who are most willing to contribute, they are the ones who are always willing to help whether that involves helping to cook a communal meal or helping organize a party. They are the ones that open their doors to each other.
The people who have most do things differently, they are elitist, they have a different sort of life. But considering that the majority of Nicaraguans are poor, the transformation process will be quicker. It will be quick because, by nature, poor people show great solidarity.