NICARAGUA:
"The Women’s Movement Is
in Opposition"
Interview with Sofía
Montenegro of the
Nicaraguan Autonomous
Women’s Movement
MONTEVIDEO (IPS) -
The action taken on
abortion by the
governing Sandinista
National Liberation
Front (FSLN) in
Nicaragua is "a
betrayal" of women, who
were "key allies" of the
1979 revolution.
Therefore there has been
a "radicalisation of the
women’s movement," which
is declaring itself in
opposition, activist
Sofía Montenegro told
IPS.
In the past few months,
members of Nicaraguan
non-governmental
organisations have
accused the government
of President Daniel
Ortega of persecution
and threats against
them, including nine
women’s rights activists
who face criminal
charges as accomplices
in the abortion
undergone by "Rosita," a
nine-year-old girl who
was raped and
impregnated by her
stepfather in 2003.
The charges are
unfounded, because at
that time therapeutic
abortion was legal, said
Montenegro, the
political coordinator of
the Nicaraguan
Autonomous Women’s
Movement.
Women’s organisations
are fighting for the
repeal of the October
2006 law that
criminalised therapeutic
abortion, said
Montenegro, a former
FSLN member who is one
of the country’s leading
women’s rights
activists.
Before the law came into
force, the Criminal Code
permitted termination of
pregnancy when the
mother’s physical or
mental health was in
danger, including
psychological harm from
pregnancy arising from
rape, when certified by
at least three doctors.
"If this were influenza,
a national epidemic
would already have been
declared," Montenegro
said, referring to the
deaths caused by the
criminalisation of any
kind of abortion.
Montenegro reflected on
these issues and
Nicaraguan politics in
an interview with IPS
correspondent Ana
Artigas at a Jun. 18-20
meeting of
representatives of Latin
American and Caribbean
women’s groups and
Spanish development aid
agencies, on women’s
rights and development
aid instruments, held in
the Uruguayan capital.
IPS: The Autonomous
Women’s Movement has
reported government
harassment of some
activists. What sort of
things are happening?
SOFÍA MONTENEGRO: There
is harassment of civil
society organisations,
especially those
involved in the struggle
for human rights. But we
particularly protest the
accusation against nine
women activists,
relating to the case of
a nine-year-old girl who
became pregnant after
she was raped by her
stepfather.
These women helped find
a solution for the
little girl. She had an
abortion, which at the
time was permitted under
the constitution.
After the right to
therapeutic abortion was
revoked, an agency with
ties to the Catholic
Church and to the
government brought a
lawsuit against these
women, which is
completely groundless.
IPS: What arguments have
been presented by the
defence?
SM: They have repeatedly
argued that the
accusation is invalid
and should be dismissed,
but it is being upheld.
And as in Nicaragua the
justice system is being
increasingly used for
political ends, these
women have a sword of
Damocles hanging over
their heads.
IPS: What about the
judges?
SM: Seventy five percent
are controlled by the
governing party, so
there is no independent
justice system. The
state powers are
subordinated to Ortega’s
will. This government
has trampled on the
constitution since its
very first day in
office.
IPS: How did therapeutic
abortions come to be
criminalised?
SM: The Church had
always wanted to repeal
that right. The
appropriate conditions
were created by the
political opportunism of
Ortega and his wife,
Rosario Murillo. For
electoral reasons, they
aligned themselves more
closely with the Church
in order to neutralise
its influence.
It was the votes of FSLN
lawmakers, not the
right, that made the
repeal of therapeutic
abortion possible. It
was a betrayal of women,
who were key allies of
the 1979 Sandinista
Revolution.
IPS: Could
unconstitutionality be
used as an argument, as
it was in Colombia in
order to decriminalise
abortion under certain
circumstances?
SM: Thirty-six lawsuits
challenging the law as
unconstitutional have
been brought before the
Supreme Court, but a
year and a half has gone
by and it still hasn’t
issued a ruling.
IPS: Are there
statistics indicating an
increase in the
mortality rate because
of the law?
SM: It’s difficult to
produce figures because
information is withheld.
In spite of the fact
that there is a law on
access to public
information, the
government keeps it all
under wraps.
What we do have are
estimates from
organisations that
monitor such cases,
which indicate that 110
women have died since
therapeutic abortions
were banned. If this
were influenza, a
national epidemic would
already have been
declared. But the voices
of women, of all the
sensible people who have
challenged the law, and
of the international
community have not been
heeded.
IPS: Haven’t doctors
reacted at all?
SM: They face a
five-year prison
sentence if they carry
out an abortion,
although 95 percent of
Nicaraguans are against
the ban. The black
market for abortions has
grown, and consequently
the price of the illegal
service has gone up.
IPS: But aren’t abortion
practitioners subject to
a five-year jail term?
SM: The state is not
able to prosecute
everyone -- the problem
is performing abortions
in the public health
service: they take away
your license and you go
to jail. As always, the
problem hits poor women
the hardest. Well-off
women can go to Costa
Rica, or even Cuba.
Women in the FSLN go to
Cuba for abortions.
There is an appalling
double standard here.
This explains the
radicalisation of the
women’s movement, which
has declared itself a
social movement in
opposition. If the
government won’t
recognise us as
citizens, we will not
recognise its authority.
IPS: What are the
relations between the
Church and the
government like now?
SM: There is a concordat
between the government
and one sector of the
Catholic Church
hierarchy, and also with
Protestant churches.
Ortega created a
National Reconciliation
Commission, presided by
Cardinal Miguel Obando y
Bravo.
Meddling by the Church
in politics is
outrageous. Although
Nicaragua is a secular
state, there is
confusion now between
state, Church and
family. You could say we
have reverted to the
Middle Ages.
IPS: What role does the
opposition play?
SM: The Supreme
Electoral Council has
just cancelled the legal
status of two parties,
the Sandinista Renewal
Movement which was
founded by FSLN
dissidents, and the
Conservative Party, by a
resolution that is seen
as arbitrary by civil
society organisations
that act as election
observers. These groups
say that the parties had
met all the requirements
to be legally registered
for the municipal
elections in November.
IPS: What is the Liberal
Party (an FSLN ally)
doing?
SM: It is subordinate to
the FSLN because of the
imprisonment of its
leader, former president
Arnoldo Alemán
(1997-2002, convicted in
2003 for corruption and
sentenced to 20 years in
prison, which he is
serving under house
arrest). Ortega uses the
threat of incarcerating
him, and Alemán gives
in, in order to stay out
of jail. They have a
mutual need of each
other, partly to
establish a rather
forced two-party system.
IPS: Given this
scenario, what do you
think might happen in
the November municipal
elections?
SM: The people can
declare the elections
void. Either there are
free and fair elections,
or there are none at
all. A balance must be
maintained, there is
consensus on this. It
(democracy) has cost us
too much.
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