Nicaraguan Health Workers Strike Again
The strike semi-paralyzing Nicaraguan public hospitals since November was renewed Wednesday after the failure of negotiations expected to resolve the crisis.

Talks between the physicians, the members of the Nicaraguan Health Workers Federation (FETSALUD), and the Executive were suspended Tuesday due to irresolvable differences.

Doctors of the Medical Federation, demanding a 30 percent wage increase, now intend to negotiate their conditions separately.

According to their leader, they demand respect for the 1998 salary agreements, while FETSALUD affiliates demand a 48 percent salary increase and better working conditions.

Gustavo Porras, president of the union of over 20,000 paramedics, nurses and other employees of the sector, criticized his colleague, a well-known member of the Conservative Party, for encouraging political intrigues.

Sandinista leader Porras reaffirmed his demand to benefit all health employees and announced FETSALUD would now demand a 100 percent salary increase.

The Nicaraguan Executive has admitted it is facing a very difficult situation due to the commitments assumed with the International Monetary Fund, which has warned that any salary increase over nine percent would take the nation out of its economic credit programs.

Outpatient clinics have been closed and programmed operations suspended in the country's 32 hospitals and workers are just attending emergencies.