Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background
Central America. It is the largest country in the Central American isthmus and as of July 2017 has a population of 6,025,951 according to IndexMundi (2017). While the official language of Nicaragua is Spanish, the Republic also contains several ethnic groups, each with their own officially recognized language. It is a country with a rich and diverse history that marks important moments in the long path that has led the Nicaraguan people to where they are today.
Nicaragua contains 15 departments, 153 municipalities, and 2 autonomous regions. The country is divided into 3 geographic areas: The Pacific region with 7 departments, includes the capital city of Managua and other relatively developed cities (with regard to their infrastructure) and is historically the oldest region since colonization by the Spanish; The Central region in which agriculture and animal husbandry are the major industries driving the regional economy;
and the Atlantic region, where the two autonomous regions are located along with the historical home of almost all Nicaragua’s ethnic groups. Many people from these groups are leaving the region and while sadly this part of the Nicaraguan republic is of the least importance to the government, it is nonetheless home to the Bosawas biosphere reserve, which at 15% of the country’s total land mass is the second largest rainforest in the Americas. In 1997, the rain forest was designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. By possessing such diversity in soil and climate, Nicaragua is able to produce a great variety of crops not only for domestic consumption but also for export. These include coffee, which is produced mainly in the mountainous and colder areas of the country, as well as corn, beans, milk and dairy products, and seafood and meat, while the country’s mineral rich areas also produce gold.
Nicaraguan people have long lived under continuous pressure both internally and externally, many of which have been caused by wars since the beginning of its history, as well as revolution, the fight for independence and migration. In addition, Nicaragua has faced external economic and political pressure from more powerful neighboring countries that have exerted their military might over Nicaragua.
The first wave of migration that we can point remotely to is the colonization period. With the discovery of America, Spanish and English citizens settled in the lands of all America thus originating the miscegenation of the newly discovered population and the old continent.
‧
That period of time hundreds of years ago, included an emigration of citizens that sets the tone to consider in retrospect the fact of selecting migration as an important variable for carrying out this research.
Thus, the movement of Nicaraguan citizens seems to derive naturally from the period of the discovery of America with the settlement of European citizens. We could, in this way, state that regardless of the later findings of this research, without considering economic, social or political aspects, the perception of migration in Nicaragua is equivalent to the acceptance of this phenomenon or, in its absence, the impossibility of rejecting the veracity of migration and its impact.
In addition to a wave of emigrants to areas throughout America, emigration led to the process of forming a new society in the continent. But the differences in each country would become noticeable as the phenomena of migration differs under particular circumstances from country to country. To be specific, a lack of safety affects society in Honduras, our neighbor to the north, a factor that is not observed in Nicaragua nor in our southern neighbor of Costa Rica. Therefore, individual country level characteristics make Nicaragua migration a particular case for study using the corresponding country influencers.
War in particular has been present throughout Nicaragua’s history even over the decision of which city would be its capital. Yet Nicaragua is characterized by hardworking people who are always willing to achieve progress not only through cultural development, but also and more importantly through economic advancement. That is why under the mandate of President Anastasio Somoza DeBayle, Nicaragua was known as the barn of Central America, given that its economy was able to supply the rest of Central America with all kinds of goods that it produced at that time. Unfortunately, in July 1979, Nicaragua fell under civil war where not only the duties of the government in command were taken over, but the economy also suffered greatly. Indeed, some studies have suggested that the economy has not yet fully recovered from the effects of this period and that Nicaragua is perhaps today enduring the worst days of its history. This has forced many people to leave the country not only because of scare resources but also because of fears over personal safety.
In 1990, following a period of turmoil, Nicaragua was finally able to hold free elections where by a near unanimous vote the government that had ruined the nation was removed from power and Nicaragua began a new era under the government of the first democratically elected female president. Later, elections were established every five years to allow the people to choose their leaders, elections that at least in 1996 and 2002 seemed to indicate Nicaragua was
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
on the road to recovery. During those years, Nicaragua achieved noticeable, albeit not tremendous economic progress, accompanied by solid progress in its democracy.
However, in 2007 there was a new election where tragically the same government that in 1979 had risen to power by means of war, once again took office, only this time as the result of the democratic vote using a softer, different policy to that in the past. Regrettably, when after some time the government held fresh elections and the same president was reelected only this time amid widespread allegations of corruption and a lack of political transparency. Over time, he gave increasing power to the legislature and resultantly Nicaragua’s economy has deteriorated in every way.
Given this background, it is now clear to see how Nicaragua truly depends on foreign assistance (Official Development Assistance per Capita, or ODA as the selected indicator of aid effectiveness in this research) obtained via loans from numerous organizations to keep the Nicaraguan economy flowing, help improve GDP per capita, and get the economy back on the road to recovery. It is also possible to see that migration is an important factor in Nicaragua’s development; therefore, this research will utilize these two indicators as the main sources for study.
The World Bank (2018g) defines Net ODA per capita under detail information as:
Disbursements of loans made on concessional terms (net of repayments of principal) and grants by official agencies of the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), by multilateral institutions, and by non-DAC countries to promote economic development and welfare in countries and territories in the DAC list of ODA recipients;
and is calculated by dividing net ODA received by the midyear population estimate. It includes loans with a grant element of at least 25 percent (calculated at a rate of discount of 10 percent).
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
The following figure shows a chronological disbursement (Net ODA received per capita.
World Bank):
Figure 1. Net ODA received per capita of Nicaragua. Adopted from “World Bank,” 2018g, Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/DT.ODA.ODAT.PC.ZS?locations=NI&view=chart
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2018a), defines the distribution of net ODA as:
Geographical aid allocations. Net ODA may be distributed by income group (least developed countries, other low-income countries, lower middle-income countries, upper middle-income countries, unallocated and more advanced developing countries and territories) or by geography (sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia, other Asia and Oceania, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, and unspecified).
At the same time, there are different ways loans can be made, in a direct monetary way (money given from the donors to recipient’s countries), this given money will be implemented in the areas of education, health, and economic infrastructure among others. It also can be given in a technical way (more likely for agricultural assistance) as showed in the following figures:
(Foreign assistance distribution in Nicaragua, OECD)
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 2. Summary charts by aid (ODA) recipients. Adopted from “Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development,” 2018b, Retrieved from
https://public.tableau.com/views/OECDDACAidataglancebyrecipient_new/Recipients?:embed=y&:display_cou nt=yes&:showTabs=y&:toolbar=no?&:showVizHome=no
Meanwhile, the United Nations (2017, p13) International Migration Report refers to net migration as:
Net migration, for a given country and time period, refers to the difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants, irrespective of citizenship. If more people immigrate than emigrate, the country gains population due to positive net migration, or net immigration; when more people emigrate than immigrate, the country loses population through negative net migration, or net emigration.
Moreover, the World Bank (2018f) defines Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP per capita in current US$) as:
Gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in current U.S. dollars.