Economy: Venezuela, ALBA, Nicaragua - Past, Present & Future

In Nicaragua, ALBA became an everyday reality for millions of people. Though critics argue it’s impossible to account for the estimated $2.6 billion in ALBA aid that entered Sandinista coffers over the past six years, that money did allow the government to stabilize the country’s desperate energy sector by increasing power production and putting an end to daily blackouts. ALBA also provided electricity subsidies for low-consumption households, transportation subsidies for the working poor, and fellowships for university students. It funded road construction through dust-clouded barrios, provided roofing materials for leaky shanties, monthly cash handouts for thousands of government employees, and other assorted eleemosynary programs for the poor and not-so-poor.

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Politics: Nicaragua in Permanent Prayer for Chavez

Maduro, who warned incessantly about right-wing plots and foreign conspiracies to destabilize the country, seemed rather destabilized himself as he lashed out repeatedly at the opposition,  accusing them of being “traitors” and “enemies of the country” who were conspiring to create chaos in Venezuela to justify a foreign intervention by the “imperialists.” As proof of the international conspiracy, Maduro announced his government has expelled U.S. embassy official David Delmonaco for plotting to destabilize the country.

Maduro also talked about forming a specialized scientific commission to prove that Chávez’s cancer was the result of an “attack by his enemies.” Maduro said his government already has “lots of clues” to prove that Chávez’s cancer was some sort of act of biological warfare against the Venezuelan revolutionary leader.

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POLITICS: Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, Dead

"It has been reported in Venezuela that President Hugo Chavez has died after a long battle with cancer. Vice President Nicolas Maduro reportedly took to Venezuelan television to announce the 58-year-old had passed away.
He had been suffering an undisclosed pelvic cancer since June 2011 and had undergone four operations in Cuba. His last surgery was on December 11 and he had not been seen in public since."

This report could POTENTIALLY be huge for Nicaragua, as they depend on Venezuela for so much - particularly in terms of their relationship through ALBA.

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Political: Chavez's Win feeds Nations' Venezuela Addiction

what could shake things up far more than the elections in Venezuela is the little matter of the US’ Nov. 6 vote, with Republicans taking a seriously hawkish tone. “In the last three years, Venezuela has become a narco-terrorist state, turning it into an Iranian outpost in the Western hemisphere,” says the 2012 Republican Platform.

“The current regime issues Venezuelan passports or visas to thousands of Middle Eastern terrorists offering safe haven to Hezbollah trainers, operatives, recruiters and fundraisers,” the GOP claims. Were Romney to become president, the big question would be whether he would follow that campaign rhetoric with equally tough actions — or would he also continue the Obama administration’s policy of containing Chavez while keeping the oil flowing?

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Politics: Nicaraguans Don't Want to Follow Chavez Toward Socialism

As Ortega’s approval ratings and popularity continue to soar, an overwhelming majority of Nicaraguans say they are feeling confident about the country’s direction and future. Indeed, 73% of those polled say they are pleased with Ortega’s leadership—a remarkable turnaround from four years ago, when the same polling firm found that 70% of Nicaraguans thought Ortega was leading the country in the wrong direction.

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Politics: Will a Chavez Victory Fulfill Nicaragua's Megaproject Dreams?

“Chávez needs to focus on increasing his country’s level of oil production and investing in logistics for the future. This project is a no-brainer; it’s the perfect arrangement because Nicaragua is an ideological ally and the refinery will give Chávez strategic access to the Chinese market, ” says Nicaraguan political analyst Arturo Cruz, President Daniel Ortega’s former ambassador to Washington and a professor of political science at INCAE.

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Politics: Venezuela's Chavez Wins Presidential Race

Since taking power in 1999, the flamboyant former soldier has become a global flag-bearer of "anti-imperialism," gleefully baiting the United States government while befriending leaders from Iran to Belarus whom the West views with suspicion.

At home, casting himself as an heir to independence hero Simon Bolivar, Mr Chavez has poured billions of oil revenues into anti-poverty programs, and skilfully used his humble roots and folksy oratory to build a close connection with the masses.

While that connection ensured his re-election, the opposition's big share of the vote reflected a real and growing anger at Mr Chavez's failure to fix basic problems such as violent crime, potholed roads, electricity blackouts and entrenched corruption at all levels.

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Politics: Could Nicaragua’s president survive a Chavez loss in Venezuela?

Six years on, the inner workings of ALBA in Nicaragua remain a mystery to all but a select coterie. That’s because Ortega’s inner circle of family members and confidants has privatized Venezuelan aid through a web of businesses linked to a main holding company called “ALBANISA,” short for ALBA of Nicaragua, S.A.

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Politics: Nicaraguan President Warns of Heathen 'puppets' on eve of Venezuelan Elections

Of course wealth is good, but the wealth of the few, at the cost of the immense majority of people on this planet who live in extreme poverty, who are living in hunger, who are dying due to lack of medicine, who can’t go to school, that is bad wealth.

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Business: Nicaraguan Business Leaders to Meet with US Dept. of Commerce

Commerce between Nicaragua and the United States represents 35% of Nicaragua’s Gross Domestic Product. Last year, Nicaragua exported $648.7 million in goods to the United States, more than twice as much as Nicaragua exported to Venezuela, it’s second biggest market.

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Politics: Nicaragua Warms to Chinese Investments

Nicaragua’s leftist government, which has diplomatic relations with Taiwan, is seeking to lure investments from China - in part to offset a possible loss of support from its regional ally Venezuela. 

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Economy: The Nicaragua Canal

The Nicaraguan Congress, controlled by Ortega's allies, approved a bill on July 3 authorising construction of the inter-oceanic canal project, a joint public/private venture in which the state will have a 51 per cent stake and offer the remaining 49 per cent to countries, international organisations, corporations or individuals... Nicaragua is studying six potential routes, all of which traverse a section of Lake Nicaragua and one that would have ships navigate a portion of the San Juan River, the Nicaraguan-controlled waterway that forms the country's border with Costa Rica.

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