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tortillaconsal punto/dot com
by Karla Jacobs, December 20th 2010
As a result of the ongoing territorial dispute provoked by Costa Rica, Nicaragua's Río San Juan has been the subject of news stories run by media outlets around the world over the last two months. As part of an attempt to contextualize the sudden media attention being focused on Nicaragua's south eastern most corner, Tortilla con Sal provides a historical and demographic profile of what until recently has been one of Nicaragua's most forgotten and marginalized departments – the department of Río San Juan – together with a summary of the major public investments that have been made in the region since the FSLN came to power in 2007.
The department of Río San Juan is situated in the south eastern corner of Nicaragua on the border with Costa Rica. Río San Juan is the scene of a continuing frontier dispute between the two countries. The conflict highlights the department's two most enduring characteristics.
Firstly, Rio San Juan is important for historical reasons as a transit route between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Secondly, the area has contemporary geopolitical importance both for its wealth of biodiversity and for its immense and vital water resources. Those resources flow into the Río San Juan via Nicaragua's two great lakes from watersheds along the greater part of Nicaragua's Pacific Coast.
The historical importance of Río San Juan
While its biological wealth and water resources are often considered the region's most valuable asset, other aspects of the department of Río San Juan merit equal interest, not least the historical importance of the region during the colonial era when the River served as a main transportation route for cargo and passenger ships between Central America and Spain in the 16th, 17th and early 18th century.
In the mid 1600s the English established control over all of what is now Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast with the exception of the southern most coastal area including the River San Juan delta which remained under Spanish control.
From this time onwards the River San Juan and the various ports the Spanish had built along the course of the river were the scene of intense battles between English and Spanish forces as the English tried to secure for themselves the lucrative opportunities control of the river implied. Also during this period occasional battles between Spanish forces and pirate ships took place along the river.
Subsequently, in the mid 19th century, the River was used to transport passengers and cargo between the East and West coasts of the USA during the Californian Gold Rush. The route continued to be used by American companies up until the inauguration of the Panama Canal in 1914.
The legacy of that colonial history can still be appreciated today in the Spanish built forts of San Carlos and El Castillo and in Greytown's cemetery where numerous Spanish, English, US and even German citizens who lived in the area during and subsequent to the colonial era are buried.
Between the beginning of the 20th century (after the imperialist powers lost interest in the river as an international transportation route) and the first few years of the 21st century, however, the department of Río San Juan became one of Nicaragua's most forgotten and marginalized regions. With little to no public investment in basic infrastructure, the region became effectively cut off from the rest of the country.
From key international transport route to neglected Cinderella
This transformation of the Río San Juan region from a much coveted key strategic point for both the Spanish and US empires in centuries past to one of Nicaragua's most isolated regions today in many ways adds to the mystical and enchanting nature the area conjures up from an intellectual point of view. For the region's people, however, the decades of neglect have resulted in a poor standard of living for the majority.
Made up of six municipalities (Morrito, San Miguelito, El Castillo, San Carlos, El Almendro and San Juan de Nicaragua) the department of Río San Juan constitutes nearly 6% of Nicaragua's total territory although the population only represents 1.6% of the country's 5.74 million citizens.
Population of Río San Juan and its municipalities
|
|
Total |
Urban |
Rural |
% of population that lives in rural areas |
|
Morrito |
6570 |
1856 |
4714 |
71.7 |
|
El Almendro |
13363 |
2792 |
10571 |
79.1 |
|
San Miguelito |
17031 |
2807 |
14224 |
83.5 |
|
San Carlos |
37461 |
12174 |
25287 |
67.5 |
|
El Castillo |
19864 |
2834 |
17030 |
85.7 |
|
San Juan de Nicaragua |
1307 |
985 |
322 |
24.6 |
|
Dept. Río San Juan |
95596 |
23448 |
72148 |
75.5 |
Source: 2005 Census (www.inide.gob.ni)
Financial poverty in Río San Juan
As can be seen in the table above, the population of Río San Juan is overwhelmingly rural based with a little over three quarters of the total population living in the countryside. It is also a very young population: 50% of the inhabitants of Río San Juan are 17 or younger according to statistics published by the Ministry of Education (MINED) in 2007.
The majority of rural dwellers in the department are subsistence farmers with very little cash income. The main economic activities of large land owners, meanwhile, are cattle farming and the timber trade.
According to the Extreme Poverty Map, published by the Nicaraguan government in 2001, 36.3% of the population has an income of less than the established extreme poverty rate, well above the national extreme poverty rate at that time of 24.2%.
This study defines a person in a state of extreme poverty as someone whose “annual income … is insufficient in terms of fulfilling their minimum calorie requirements even if the entirety of their income is spent on food.”
At the time the study was carried out the extreme poverty rate was fixed at US$212 per capita a year.
The Map of Extreme Poverty goes on to classify two of Río San Juan's municipalities (El Castillo and San Miguelito) as severely poor while the other four (San Carlos, El Almendro, Morrito and San Juan de Nicaragua) were classified as very poor municipalities (severely poor and very poor are the two lowest categories used to measure overall cash income in Nicaragua's municipalities as part of the Map of Extreme Poverty).
Of course, this method of measuring poverty is far from perfect given its exclusive focus on cash income which very often is not the defining factor in terms of the population's own perception of their standard of living. More often than not factors such as access to basic health services or to basic sanitation and safe drinking water have more of an impact in this regard than the ability or not to earn a given amount of money each year.
This is especially true in an area like Río San Juan where the majority of the population depends on subsistence farming for their livelihood. Rather than cash income, key factors in terms of the population's ability to satisfy their calorie requirements are things like land ownership and access to basic agricultural inputs.
The Map of Poverty statistics on Río San Juan are valuable though, in the extent to which they permit an understanding of the economic marginalization of the area.
State of education in Río San Juan
According to information published by the Ministry of Education (MINED) in 2007, the state of education in the municipalities of Río San Juan leaves much to be desired. In a study called the State of Education by Municipality (IEEM) (MINED ranked all the municipalities of Nicaragua taking into account factors to do with accessibility and quality of education.
As part of this study, where the municipality with the best IEEM ranking is number 1 and the municipality with the worst IEEM ranking is number 153, the municipalities of Río San Juan were placed in the following positions:
|
Municipality |
IEEM position |
|
El Castillo |
77 |
|
San Carlos |
81 |
|
San Miguelito |
103 |
|
San Juan de Nicaragua |
117 |
|
El Almendro |
134 |
|
Morrito |
147 |
The same study also revealed that the average level of schooling among the adult population is 3rd grade (primary 3) and that, in 2007, only 26.5% of the secondary school age population actually attended school. In total 36.8% of the school aged population in Río San Juan were not studying in 2007. The main reasons given for not attending school were a lack of interest (28.5%), the nearest school being too far away (18.8%) and financial problems (16.9%).
Public investment in Río San Juan since 2007
Since coming to power in January 2007 the FSLN government led by President Daniel Ortega has prioritized Río San Juan as a destination for major public investment. So far the main investments the government has made in the region have focussed on two aspects – road infrastructure and tourist infrastructure – although numerous smaller investment projects in other areas have also been carried out or will be between now and 2014.
The following table details the main public investments that have been made in Río San Juan since 2007 as well as the public investments planned for the region between 2011 and 2014 for which the government has already identified funding sources. (Note: investments by several government institutions including the Ministries of Energy and Agriculture have not been included in this table due to a lack of publicly available specific information).
Public investments in Río San Juan, 2007 – 2014 (C$ millions)
|
|
2007 - 2010 |
2011 - 2014 |
Total |
|
Project to pave Acoyapa – San Carlos road (MTI) |
570.8 |
703.2 |
1274 |
|
Repairs on other key productive roads (MTI) |
211.4 |
119.7 |
331.1 |
|
Rehabilitation of Luis Felipe Moncada hospital, San Carlos (MINSA) |
8.4 |
29.6 |
38 |
|
Construction of health centre, El Triunfo, El Almendro (MINSA) |
7.5 |
|
7.5 |
|
Rehabilitacion of school infrastructure in R.S.Juan (MINED) |
41.9 |
2.2 |
44.1 |
|
Construction and rehabilitation of childcare centres in Dept. R.S.Juan (PRESIDENCIA) |
5.5 |
|
5.5 |
|
Tourist infrastructure projects (INTUR) |
150.8 |
34.9 |
185.7 |
|
Construction of aiport in San Juan de Nicaragua (INTUR) |
58.2 |
276.2 |
334.4 |
|
Environmental conservation projects (MARENA) |
29.9 |
|
29.9 |
|
Improvements and extensions of potable water system, San Carlos (ENACAL) |
|
26 |
26 |
|
Total |
1084.4 |
1191.8 |
2276.2 |
Source:
National System of Public Investments (www.snip.gob.ni)
The other major investment undertaken by the government in the region is the dredging of the River San Juan with the aim of restoring previous water levels in order to permit navegation of the 30 kilometres before the delta of the river on the Caribbean Sea.
During the last two centuries, the final stretch of Nicaragua's River San Juan has become increasingly sedimented as a result, in part, of Costa Rica's dredging of its River Colorado. The current dredging of the river, which involves a public investment of over US$2 million according to some sources, is being carried out with the aim of facilitating tourism in the region. Thus the dredging project forms part of the government's integral tourist investment strategy for the area.
Rio San Juan and ecological tourism
That strategy is based on the area's unequalled biodiversity. Over a third of Río San Juan's 7,473 km squared of territory forms part of the UNESCO designated Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve including vast swathes of virgin tropical humid forest and wetlands areas. Among the major species found in the Río San Juan biosphere are the jaguar or american tiger, the tapir and the red and green parrot.
According to the UNESCO website's general description of the Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve, the area “covers an important variety of ecosystems representative of tropical humid forests and wetlands, tidal marsh, coastal lagoons and estuaries which are important shelters for rare or threatened animals and plant genetic resources of the meso-American tropics.”
The government's emphasis on tourist investment, including the construction of an airport in San Juan de Nicaragua among many other projects, confirms the government's vision of the department of Río San Juan as a major tourist destination in Nicaragua, based for the most part on the region's enviable biodiversity and water resources.
Among the various projects financed by INTUR since 2007 are the construction of tourist information centres in Solentiname and San Juan de Nicaragua, the construction of an immigration office at Los Guatuzos facilitating the entrance of tourists from Costa Rica, major improvements to San Carlos' lake front and port, restauration of historical sites in Greytown and extensive training and support for micro, small and medium tourist businesses.
The extent to which this government has prioritized tourist investment in the region is underlined by the fact that roughly 90% of the Nicaraguan Tourist Institute, INTUR's entire investment budget over the last four years has been designated to different investments in Río San Juan.
With the growth of tourist generated income in Nicaragua from US$230 million to US$345.9 million between 2006 and 2009 (a 50% increase in three years) the FSLN government's efforts to facilitate and promote Río San Juan as a tourist destination are more likely than ever to produce positive short term results in terms of increased economic activity in the area.
Road to San Carlos set to transform life in Río San Juan
The project to pave 125 kilometers of road between Acoyapa in the department of Chontales and San Carlos, the capital of Río San Juan, is probably the one infrastructural improvement most anticipated by the local population. Until recently, the road connecting San Carlos to the rest of the country was in infamously dire condition with long stretches of road that became basically impassable during the six months of the rainy season each year. Even during the dry season it used to take eight hours to travel the approximately 235 kilometers between Managua and San Carlos (an average of 29 km an hour).
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI) expects that once the road paving project is completed over the next year or so the travelling time to and from Managua be reduced to four hours.
Mayor of San Carlos, Johnny
Gutiérrez, describes
the completion of this project as “an age old dream for the
population of Río San Juan, not just because we will be able to
travel in more comfort, but because our region has great economic
potential.”
According to Gutiérrez, the main benefit this project will bring is a reduction in the cost of living for the local population which in turn will facilitate greater economic activity for the different productive sectors.
MINED hopes to build 27 new schools in Río San Juan over the next few years
Although funding is as yet unconfirmed, it is worth pointing out that the Ministry of Education has selected the departments of Río San Juan and Chontales as the recipients of over US$8 million in cooperation funding as part of the proposed Japan Phase VI project which would involve the construction of 48 new schools (27 in Río San Juan and 21 in Chontales) during coming years. In 2009 the proposed project was presented to the Japanese Ambassador in Managua who committed himself to securing funding for the project from the Japanese government.
In prioritizing Río San Juan, government demonstrates radically different approach to that of Neoliberal governments
The evident intention of prioritizing the department of Río San Juan as the destination for major public investments is a sign of the radical change that has occured in Nicaraguan public policy since the right wing parties left office.
The neoliberal logic on which the previous three governments based their policies encouraged the designation of public resources for the development and benefit of big international businesses operating in the country, provoking in this way a state of human and economic stagnation in most regions of the country particularly in remote and rural areas.
The logic behind the Sandinista government policies, on the contrary, prioritizes and benefits small scale economies by investing public resources in the most cut off and neglected areas as part of what appears to be a strategy to initiate a process of wealth redistribution.
The government's focus on the department of Río San Juan also suggests the patriotic nature of current public policy in as much as it demonstrates the government's willingness to protect and defend the territorial integrity of Nicaragua in a more profound sense than the conventional implementation of millitary or juridical border defense policies. In this case the government is defending the nation's territorial integrity by creating a sense of belonging, even a feeling of pride of being Nicaraguan, among the population of one of the most remote areas along Nicaragua's southern border.