Despite being a kind of ‘announced blow’, businessmen and managers organized in the 19 union entities that were canceled this Monday, March 6, they did not expect a blow like that that was unexpected because it was basically unnecessary. “Both the chambers and the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep) itself, were operating at their minimum expression,” he told CONFIDENTIAL the former president of one of the closed chambers, who asked to be omitted for security reasons.
However, the former president and the former treasurer of the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur), Lucy Valenti and Alfredo Gutiérrez, respectively, maintain that “the legal disarticulation of our chamber will undoubtedly leave dozens of micro, small, medium and large partner and non-member tourism companies established in our country, sharpening the deep crisis that our nation has been experiencing since 2018as well as by the adversities resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic”.
In a joint statement, both former representatives assured that “the legal basis considered to dismantle our union is based on a series of legal prerogatives contrary to the Constitution of Nicaragua, as well as against the right to free enterprise and organization, which seriously threaten the stability and continuity of private companies in the tourism sector… both those with national capital and those with foreign capital”.
The criteria of both businessmen is that the State “has exceeded all rational limits and is determined to destroy the productive and wealth-generating base of our beloved Nicaragua.”
Scorched Earth Policy
For the economist Enrique Sáenz, decisions like this, or that of confiscate the properties of 94 citizens declared “traitors to the country”scare away investment, which means less hiring and, consequently, less income for families, but also, loans with higher interest rates, once the risk rating agencies lower the country’s rating, and banks have to contract more expensive credits.
For the academic and former politician, Félix Maradiaga, “the closure of Cosep and its chambers is one more step towards the accelerated path of ‘Cubanization’, undertaken by Ortega. Like other illegal and tyrannical measures, this new blow to public liberties is also a blow to the economy and the well-being of all Nicaraguans, without exception.”
In addition to recalling that “the right of association is a human right”, Maradiaga argues that in the case of organized chambers and unions, business associativity is “essential for economic and social development” and “key to agree on actions that generate employment and attract investment”, for which reason he considers that “the closure of Cosep is not only a blow to the private initiative, but also to the working people”.
A businesswoman affiliated with a chamber in the services sector opined that “the cancellation of legal status… is yet another blow by the dictatorship against all vestiges of what remains of the regime’s independence. It is part of the process of ‘Talibanization’ of the dictatorship. Another example that the only thing that matters to them is to stay in power no matter what. It is a scorched earth policy, ”she sentenced.
Chambers may not have employees or bank accounts
The cancellation of these 19 private sector entities add to that of the Nicaraguan Development Institute, (INDE) in June 2022, and that of the Association of Private Banks of Nicaragua (Asobanp), on February 3. In July 2022, the regime had also canceled the Livestock Exhibition of the Central American Isthmus (Expica).
However, these cancellations -according to part of the affected sector- will not prevent these entities from continuing to develop some of the initiatives they promoted, although there are many other things that they will not be able to continue doing… like having employees.
“It is too soon to tell you how we are going to proceed, because we are just analyzing the scope of this cancellation. What I do know is that we can no longer have bank accounts, hire staff, or many other things for which legal status is needed,” said the executive of a financial sector company that was affiliated with one of the chambers. cancelled.
When talking about those decisions that can be implemented, a businessman who provides services to the construction sector said that “in practical terms, this does not change anything” because “both the chambers and Cosep were at a minimum.”
By way of example, he said that chambers like the Urbanizadores (Cadur), “didn’t do anything more than fairs and meet with the banks to talk, but the Government no longer served them”, explaining that they could continue holding fairs, if they wanted to. they want, because “you don’t need legal status to do them.”
He added that Cadur had just announced a fair, for which it had the support of the banks, and although they received this sudden bad news, that will not prevent them from carrying it out, if it is their decision. He considered that the same is valid for the Association of Automotive Vehicle Distributors (Andiva), which had a fair planned, and they will be able to develop it, because when doing it inside a shopping center, they do not need to ask for permission.
For his part, the director of a chamber in the agricultural sector explained that “legal status serves to have a clear relationship with the Government, in accordance with the laws of the country, but nothing prevents us from continuing to carry out union activity, always within the framework of the law”.
Are there reasons for this unreason?
The reason why the chambers do not have clear definitions about their future is precisely the surprise factor mentioned by their directors.
“I did not expect it,” said the businessman who provides services to the construction sector. “The question is what happened for them to remove them – and all of them – if they had already decided not to give importance to the trade unions, which is, in fact, what they were already doing. It is very simplistic to believe that they did it just because it occurred to them. It was so sudden that it was published on a Monday in La Gaceta. Something had to happen, ”he mused without offering an answer.
For the administrator of a chamber of companies dedicated to the production of animal protein “this follows a pre-designed script to eliminate all forms of organization: NGOs, chambers, institutions, etc.”, so it was predictable, but “it was a surprise in the sense that it happened today, although we were determined to comply with the law, but we were clear that they could do this at any time,” he admitted.
“At Cosep, we had all received observations from Migob and we were trying to correct them. With this surprise, each chamber declared itself in permanent session and withdrew to assess its situation. The ministerial agreement says that some failed to deliver their financial statements, but the maximum delivery date is March 7, so the reception period has not ended, ”he specified.
In his opinion, “this is an anomaly that shows the pre-existing intention, beyond the logic of compliance and adherence to the laws.” On the other hand, he considered that “unionism is inevitable. It does not arise because there is a law that allows it, nor does it disappear because they take away our legal status. Having a legal status is a strictly legal matter, but it does not prevent us from continuing as a union, as long as the laws are respected”.
