cries@mtxinu.COM (10/14/89)
/* Written 3:52 pm Oct 13, 1989 by cries in ni:cries.regionews */
/* ---------- "Nica: I'view Sergio Ramirez" ---------- */
SANDINISTA ECONOMIC OPTIMISM
INTERVIEW WITH VICE-PRESIDENT SERGIO RAMIREZ - FSLN
(cries.regionews from Managua October 13, 1989
At the end of September, the ruling FSLN party announced its
candidates for the posts of President and Vice-president in
the upcoming elections. Once again, the Sandinista formula
will be Daniel Ortega and Sergio Ramirez. At the same time,
the FSLN platform was released. Its central slogan of
"Everything will be better!" expresses an optimism rare in
Nicaragua today considering the problems faced by the
country. An interview by Monica Zalaquett with Ramirez about
the prospects for the economy was published in the October
10 FSLN daily Barricada.
*******************
**Q. What are the economic priorities of the "Everything
will be better!" platform?
**A. The first priority will be to win a definitive victory
with the economic stabilization plan. The phenomenon of
hyperinflation which is linked to that of destabilization
due to the war will be relegated to a black chapter in
Nicaragua's history. This means there will be more stable
salaries, prices, and exchange rates which will make export
production an attractive proposition. As well, real interest
rates will be set instead of the monthly rates that, because
of the emergency, we have been obliged to establish. Annual
interest rates will be fixed for production and commerce.
These elements of stability are the essence of the
government's economic plan and the axis of the economic
aspects of the election platform. We have put it forward in
a responsible manner, with concrete goals for economic
growth and reactivation of production. If the country agrees
to have the FSLN lead it, it will be possible to go forward
with an economic stabilization program.
**Q. Why does the platform propose the goal of annual growth
rates of 3% for the economy and 12% for exports?
**A. We are being realistic, if not a bit conservative. It
shouldn't be forgotten that in 1980, the country's economy
grew by almost 20% in one year when, after the defeat of the
dictatorship and with the help of outside resources, there
was a chance for immediate economic reactivation. Later,
these figures remained high - 12% in 1981 and close to 10%
in 1982 - until the war of aggression began and the economy
had no chance for accelerated growth.
In peacetime, an economic growth rate of 5% would have to be
backed up by an increase in exportation somewhere in the
neighbourhood of 12% on the average. Of that, 10%
corresponds to traditional agro-exports and the other two
from mining, fishing, forestry, and industrial production.
Another basis for this growth has to be the pace of
investments which would support the installed industrial
capacity, small and medium-scale projects in the different
regions, and social investments which also generate
productive activity and growth.
**Q. Has the idea of doing big projects put forward in the
first years of the revolution been set aside?
**A. Yes, certainly, but it shouldn't be forgotten that we
speak in the platform of a seven year perspective. We aren't
going to go from the most complex to the most simple, but
naturally, we will take another look at the technical
studies which were underway before the war of aggression
began for things like hydroelectric projects or an increase
in geothermal energy capacity.
There are also other projects which will be reactivated such
as the production of African palms for cooking oil, the wood
industry in the North Atlantic region, and expanding the
fishing fleet and the transportation network. These will
generate economic activity in the area of public sector and
private construction.
**Q. What are the main economic reserves that Nicaragua has
and how will they be reactivated?
**A. First, we aim to return to the historical levels of
agro-export production, an area where we already have a
useful infrastructure. There will be accelerated programs
for renewing coffee production, a doubling of the area of
cotton cultivation next year, and a strengthening of the
productive capacity of tobacco, bananas, and meat, an area
which has once again begun to grow rapidly. For this very
specific undertaking we could put into effect programs with
concrete incentives such as tax exemptions, soft credits,
and technical training in the management of new products so
that we could export them.
Second, we hope to use our industrial installations to their
full capacity, repairing them and guaranteeing a flow of
inputs and raw materials. This comes before thinking of a
technological renovation of the country's industrial plant
which is basically obsolete. We can substantially expand the
amount of industrial exportation from plants such as the one
making bleach and the metal and textile industries.
Third, there is the very rich resource base of the country.
After agriculture, there is the gold, gold-silver
concentrate, and zinc mining, forestry, and fishing.
**Q. What perspective is there for the mixed economy?
**A. In terms of national stability, guaranteeing different
forms of property ownership is essential in order to be able
to make this program work. We are going to stimulate the use
of national capital in mixed investments with private
companies and foreign capital which will be regulated by the
recently passed law to that effect.
We are ready to agree to concrete terms for an economic
"concertacion" with the private sector represented by COSEP
[High Council of Private Enterprise], for example. I mention
this group because, in political terms, it is a pole of
conflict with the revolutionary State, although in reality,
"concertacion" will be carried out with all sectors - big,
medium, and small businesspeople and workers. We won't be
speaking in political abstractions. Instead, we'll talk
about real rules for guaranteeing production, credits,
salaries, and property, all of which implies a real program
of economic "concertacion".
**Q. What do you think of the proposal for privatization
included in the economic platform of the right-wing parties?
**A. The big structural failings of the country are not
going to be corrected by reprivatizing everything like they
do in the super-developed countries. That would create
unhealthy illusions if you take into consideration the
foreign debt, unfairness in the terms of trade, and the
enormous technological abyss which separates us from those
countries.
The right wants to copy exogenous models into our realities,
but we are convinced that in a poor country like Nicaragua
and in a mixed-economy system, there are economic and
financial tools that have to serve a common end, that of
economic development. And basic levers for economic
transformation such as the banks cannot be in private hands.
They will be at the service of all producers and not just
financiers and people with economic power only who work with
their own selfishness and enrichment in mind.
In the same way, we cannot give up control over foreign
trade nor the dominion that the nation has over its natural
resources. The neo-liberal model already failed here, that
model which left everything in the hands of a small interest
group and handed over to the State only those businesses in
a state of bankruptcy, the ones that were not profitable.
**Q. Is an end to the economic blockade by the United States
likely, and what perspectives are there for the opening of
sources of foreign credits?
**A. When we speak of normalizing relations with the United
States, we are presupposing that its government must abandon
its efforts to continue isolating the country in economic
and financial terms. Everything is prepared so that in March
in Italy a second conference of donor nations will be held.
There, the needs of the economic stabilization program for
the coming year will be set down in order to allow for a
beginning of the reactivation of the economy.
If the electoral process, as it is currently organized and
being under international observation, results in a real
certification of legitimacy, we are sure that even if the
United States doesn't change its attitude, the international
financial institutions that have been pressured to end their
aid to Nicaragua will see themselves with much more freedom
to cooperate in the normal manner.
Nicaragua will offer to the world domestic stability and a
possiblility for national reconstruction that only the FSLN
can guarantee. The international community is well aware of
that.
**Q. What kind of relation does Nicaragua want with the
United States?
**A. In the first place, that the United States, once the
electoral process is over, recognizes as an irreversible
phenomenon the independence and self-determination of
Nicaragua in the community of sovereign nations and that it
allows Nicaragua, in peace, to take its place in Latin
America.
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us via e-mail. Address cdp!ni!cries)
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