The data resulting from the 2024 National Census, which begins this Tuesday, April 30, is necessary to plan the development of the country, but, due to the discredit and lack of credibility that the Ortega-Murillo regime carries, it is suspected that they could be manipulated and even used for purposes of political control and repression, warn analysts consulted by Article 66.
The Nicaraguan Institute of Development Information (Inide), will send to the streets, this week, about 8 thousand enumerators or enumerators, who have the mission of collecting all the demographic information, which includes the names and surnames of each resident, address exact, number of family members, age, number of children, educational level of each one, deceased members of each family unit; if you work, in what and where; who has left the country, what they live on, etc.
A demographic and social data analyst, who for security reasons asked not to be cited by name, highlighted that population censuses are very important for governments, since “they allow economic and social information about the population of a country to be updated.”
Censuses allow us to identify how a country has changed in terms of demographics, social indicators, and economic conditions; in such a way that the information that results from them is fundamental for the formulation of public policies and for making projections in both the social and economic spheres,” explained the analyst.
Related news: Rosario Murillo announces a population census for 2024
However, he warned that, if when the “registration” or house-to-house visits by the enumerators are carried out, they arrive accompanied by police, the veracity of the resulting data would be called into question.
«It is not usual for the people who carry out the census to visit the houses accompanied by police; That only happens in Nicaragua and it is, clearly, a measure of coercion and scaring the population into receiving the interviewers and answering their questions,” said the expert.
Likewise, he announced that the questions related to the people in the family nucleus who have emigrated and the reasons for emigration, “are susceptible to being used for political purposes by the regime.”
Data could be manipulated in favor of the regime
For his part, opposition leader Juan Diego Barberena initially recalled that Nicaragua has not carried out a national census for 19 years to indicate the social and demographic changes that the country has experienced. Consequently, until now, development plans, social works, etc., have been made by calculation, without knowing exactly the population and its characteristics.
Barberena insisted on pointing out that, since 2005, when the last National Census was carried out, until now, that is, in the last 19 years, Nicaragua has experienced many changes, “many demographic alterations, since the Covid 19 pandemic and migration massive that there has been since 2018.
The opposition leader observed that this census is not being carried out with international support or cooperation, only with funds from the General Budget of the Republic, “so that we cannot affirm that this census is really going to contribute to the improvement of public policies.” of the state, of the improvement of social policies,” he noted.
Likewise, the political leader questioned whether the Ortega-Murillo regime uses the data resulting from the census for strategic planning and work plans.
Related news: Ortega makes official the execution of population, housing and agricultural censuses for 2024
He announced that the Census data are susceptible to being manipulated by the regime and from experience, he believes that the dictatorship will manipulate the data as it did with the deaths from Covid-19, which disguised them as if they had died from other diseases, or as It does so with data from the electoral roll in each national, municipal or regional election.
«In such a way that we cannot say that it will be a reliable census and even worse, because it is being carried out in the middle of a police state. “This census can be used to strengthen control (of the population).”
Barberena insists that this study could be used by the dictatorship to tighten control, map and x-ray citizens and also to know their “political mobility.”
With the Police to force them to receive the interviewers.
Barberana analyzed that, if the interviewers are sent accompanied by police, the objective would be in two directions, firstly, to demonstrate that we are under the iron police state, and secondly, to frighten the population and force them to answer the questions, since One of the main fears of the dictatorship is that the population will demonstrate their rejection of the regime by expelling the pollsters.
In that sense, the opposition leader in exile Douglas Castro He recalled that, in one way or another, a national census should contribute to knowing the demographic structure, and “in theory, it should contribute to the development of public policies because when there are no censuses, when they are really outdated, governments are blindly executing his actions”.
Related news: Lack of access to water and situation of extreme poverty in Nicaragua are reflected in the latest INIDE reports
Regarding the reliability of the data resulting from the census, Castro pointed out that the problem with the Ortega regime is that “no one trusts it.”
However, the opponent recommended that the population should receive the pollsters and not expose themselves to an interpretation by the dictatorship that they are boycotting the national census.
«I think it is always difficult to give blank recommendations, but I do believe that the best thing is to avoid confrontations or attitudes that are interpreted by the regime as boycotting the census, which would turn it into a source of danger for people. too big, so act normally and answer the questions that are asked,” Castro recommended.
The last population census in the country was carried out in 2005, which was called the VIII Population Census and IV Housing Census 2005. The population density for that date was 42 inhabitants per square kilometer and a total of 5,483,000 citizens. According to data from the United Nations, for that year only 0.64% of the population was migrant.
