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: 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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