The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) authorized disbursement of 10 million dollars to cushion the economic losses left by Hurricane Julia, category 1. This amount is part of a loan greater than 186 million that Nicaragua established with that entity in 2014, to be used in cases of emergencies due to natural disasters.
The authorization of this disbursement occurred on October 28, 2022, three days after the Daniel Ortega regime presented to three multilateral organizations and the United Nations agencies in Nicaragua, a consolidated report on the losses left by the cyclone in Nicaragua, as part of an open campaign to raise funds.
With this disbursement, the Ortega regime already accumulates 19.4 million received to address the damage caused by the hurricane which come from a policy for 8.9 million from the insurance company Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) and a donation of 500,000 dollars from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).
This serious the second disbursement that the scheme occupies de Ortega as part of the millionaire loan with the IDB. In 2020, after the passage of category 4 and 5 hurricanes Eta and Iota, this multilateral organization authorized the disbursement of 35 million that were used to “finance extraordinary public expenses aimed at responding to the emergency caused by the hurricanes.”
These hurricanes left economic losses of 742 million dollars, according to the Government at the time. However, in the General Budget of the Republic of 2022 raised losses to 999.2 million to seek more resourcesrevealed an investigation by the Pro Transparency and Anti-Corruption Observatory, which points to the regime hiding the use of these funds and the donations obtained.
According to the research “One year after the hurricanes that devastated the North Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, what happened to the donations?“, government received more than 500 million in loans and donations, but “that help did not translate into repairing houses, roads and bridges, which for the locals is the priority to maintain access between communities.”
Seeking more funding for Hurricane Julia
With Hurricane Julia, which made landfall on October 9, 2022, the Ortega regime initially estimated 402.6 million in economic losses. However, in the presentation of the consolidated report reduced them to 367.8 million. The head of the Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Iván Acosta, did not explain the reason for this decrease. They also do not admit the five deaths reported by the municipalities and local media.
Given these losses, officials of the Ortega regime have begun the search for funds. In the meeting with the multilateral organizations that was directed by the head of the MHCP, Iván Acosta, representatives of the IDB, the World Bank (WB) and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) were invited, which in other natural emergencies have authorized disbursements .
At the meeting, the IDB representative announced that the Ortega government had requested the activation of the contingent line that they would use mainly for the energy and food sector.
Meanwhile, the director of CABEI in Nicaragua, Uriel Pérez, assured that they are “working to identify the availabilities that exist within the signed loans and that they can be used more quickly to cover the most immediate needs of the impact of the hurricane”.
The WB representative did not advance if they provided financing, as they did with hurricanes Eta and Iota, when They allocated 80 million dollars.
donations
In addition, representatives of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the Pan American Health Organization ( PAHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Until now, it is known that the WFP has delivered food aid to populations affected by Hurricane Julia. According to press releases from the organization, they have disposed of some 975 metric tons of food, amounting to 1.8 million dollars. UNICEF also delivered a donation of clothing and play kits for families in the affected areas.
The Government of China also made a donation. However, they did not report what it was about. This was received by Laureano Ortega, son of the presidential couple, and by the Minister Director of Sinapred, Guillermo González.
The regime of Ortega has limitations to access international financing due to the series of international sanctions that some state institutions, political operators of the dictatorship and relatives of the president have received for the repression against the people of Nicaragua.
