Yearbook 2010
Nicaragua. The old conflict with Costa Rica over the San Juan border river was dramatically raised in the latter part of the year, despite the fact that the International Court of Justice in Hague had issued a compromise opinion in 2009 explaining the area of Nicaraguan territory but with the right for Costa Rica to operate on the river. In October, Costa Rica deployed armed police at a border section against Nicaragua, and the following month Nicaraguan troops occupied the island of Isla Calero, which belongs to Costa Rica. A trigger in the recent conflict was the Nicaraguan government’s plans to build a hydroelectric power plant on the river.
According to COUNTRYAAH, Nicaragua has a population of 6.466 million (2018). The constitutional problems with the Supreme Court also continued during the year. In April, two members refused to resign even though their term of office was over. They referred to a decision by President Daniel Ortega that outgoing judges can remain if Congress fails to find a replacement. The refusal of the President of the Court, Manuel Martínez, to recognize the two judges and with political deadlock in Congress meant that even the Supreme Court virtually ceased to function and its legitimacy was strongly questioned. The situation was a reminder of how deeply politicized Nicaragua’s supreme court has become; President Martínez is allied with the opposition party PLC (Partido Liberal Constitucionalista) while the two judges have ties to the ruling party FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional).
- Abbreviation Finder: Check to see how the two letter abbreviation of NI stands for the country of Nicaragua in geography.
NICARAGUA. – Division. – Currently the Nicaragua is administratively divided into 16 departments and a comarca; in fact in 1951 the new department of Río San Juan was created, consisting of the southern section of Chontales and the department of Zelaya and the comarca of S. Juan del Norte.
Population. – The 1950 census gave a result of 1,057,023 residents, Which according to an evaluation of 31 December 1959 would have risen to 1,450,349 (9 per km 2).
Economic conditions. – The country’s economy always remains largely based on the cultivation of coffee and cotton.
The latter, above all, had a very strong increase; in fact from 28,000 ha cultivated in 1954 (with a production of about 100,000 q), it goes to 42,000 ha in 1956 (190,000 q) and 110,000 ha in 1958; however, there was a decline in 1959, when only 72,000 ha were cultivated with cotton. The production of coffee, grown on an area that has always been around 75,000 ha, has had a constant increase and in 1957 it was 255,000 q. The production of cocoa, on the other hand, undergoes considerable fluctuations; however it can be said that it is around 6000 q per year. Banana production still offers a large margin for export, although this has been decreasing in recent years (120,000 q in 1955; 100,000 q in 1956 and only 20,000 q in 1957). The increase in corn cultivation was also noteworthy,
The zootechnical patrimony also registers a good increase; its consistency in 1952 was 1,182,000 cattle, 234,000 pigs, 114,000 horses, 5,000 donkeys and 25,000 mules.
The mineral wealth is still limited to gold alone, which in 1957 was exported at the rate of 6171 kg.
The industry is still modest; in 1957 the sugar factory produced 570,000 quintals of sugar; the beer industry gave a production of 40,000 hl and the cement plant of 43,000 q.
The energy installed in 1960 was 42,100 kW of which 8900 was water, with a production of 124 million kWh. New plants have recently been completed which will allow double production.
Foreign trade. – Foreign trade is still passive: in the five-year period 1953-57 the value of imports averaged 64.3 million dollars and that of exports 49 million dollars; 44% of the value of exports comes from coffee, 33% from cotton; gold, timber, cattle, etc. follow. Nicaragua’s exporting countries are mainly the United States: followed by the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands Antilles, Japan.
Routes of communication. – The railway network extends (1960) for 432 km; the road network is 2610 km long, 380 km of which on the Pan American Higway.
Finances. – The Republic’s gross national product, according to an estimate made in 1950, was valued at 1,027 million córdobas. The monetary system essentially comprises the National Bank, which acts as a central institution and as a commercial bank and which is a branch of a British bank, and four local credit institutions, two of which have recently been established. As of December 31, 1960, the amount of means of payment was 267 million córdobas, of which 134.9 represented by the net circulation of notes and coins. As of September 25, 1958, the official exchange rate is set at 7.00-7.05 córdobas per US dollar and the free exchange rate at 7.45 córdobas. per US dollar; for some exports, however, the exchange rate is 6.60 córdobas per US dollar, while for non-commercial transactions there is a series of floating exchange rates. The currency is issued by the National Bank of Nicaragua: the creation of a new central bank is currently being studied.
2018 Rebellion against Ortega Board
In April 2018, a popular uprising against Ortega erupted. The reason was that the government had decided to increase workers’ contributions to the social services and to tax pension payments. The State Social Service Instituto Nicaraguense de Seguridad Social (INSS) had been in deficit for several years, and to correct it the government decided to increase workers’ contributions to INSS from 6.25% to 7%, and at the same time a 5% was added. tax on pension payments. IMFhad instructed the country to cut social budgets and supported the INSS intervention. But in light of the economic crisis in the country, the intervention triggered fierce popular protests and within 5 days 30 had been killed during demonstrations against the government. This led Ortega to withdraw the INSS intervention, but too late. The demonstrations continued and now concentrated on the demand for the departure of Ortegas and the government. Ortega talked about US interference, and it was also true that the US had funded right-wing groups that went to armed attacks on security forces. In previous years, the United States has succeeded in overthrowing the popular governments of Argentina and Brazil and vigorously destabilizing the government of Venezuela. According to softwareleverage, Nicaragua was now the next country to set up a US friendly government. But the uprising was not simply US based.