Nicaraguans Demand
Justice From World
Bank-Financed Sugar Cane
Company
Written by Sydney Frey
In Chichigalpa,
Chinandega, a company
town in the hottest part
of Nicaragua – former
full-time cane workers
have set up a permanent
presence with tents and
banners outside the
entrance of the mill to
draw attention to the
prevalence of kidney
disease among former
workers, and to protest
the Ingenio San Antonio
sugar cane company's
refusal to acknowledge
its responsibility.
They're there because
they've been diagnosed
with Chronic Renal
Insufficiency (CRI), or
because they've been
widowed by it.
Once workers are
diagnosed by company
doctors with CRI, they
are fired from their
jobs. Once they're fired
from their jobs, they no
longer have access to
the company clinic. They
join together to demand
justice as they watch
their companions die.
Juan Salgado, a member
of the leadership of the
organization ASOCHIVIDA,
Association of
Chichigalpeños for Life,
reports that he and his
partners are burying
former workers at the
rate of about one a
week.
The leadership of
ASOCHIVIDA attributes
high rates of CRI among
cane workers to exposure
to chemical fertilizers
that the Ingenio San
Antonio requires them to
apply to the cane -- the
chemicals leak from
their containers onto
workers' clothing,
seeping into their skin.
Former workers testify
that they've been made
to burn the original
containers' of the
chemicals, and the
company has not released
information of exactly
what chemicals workers
are handling.
The sugar produced by
the Ingenio San Antonio
is sold for export, but
also used to make the
famous and award-winning
national rum of
Nicaragua, Flor de Caña.
It has also recently
begun investing in
ethanol production.
Laws and Loans
The Ingenio San
Antonio is part of
Nicaragua Sugar Estates,
Ltd. (NSEL), which in
October 2006 received a
$USD55 million loan from
the International
Finance Corporation (IFC),
the arm of the World
Bank that gives private
sector loans. Long
before the loan was
approved, former workers
from Chichigalpa were
protesting the
destructive
environmental and labor
practices of the
company. However, as
NSEL is part of
Nicaragua's Pellas
consortium, the most
powerful economic entity
in Nicaragua, workers'
protests were ignored by
government agencies and
local media.
Former workers and
community members say
that the Ingenio San
Antonio is violating not
only the IFC's own
regulations around labor
conditions, pollution
prevention, and
community health, but
national Nicaraguan laws
as well, and that it was
doing so long before the
loan was approved.
Threats and Table
Crumbs
Members of
ASOCHIVIDA are demanding
access to specialized
medical care, and
compensation for their
widows and children.
They are also demanding
that the company do a
better job of protecting
on-the-job workers from
exposure to chemicals.
The company has
responded to these
demands by threatening
current workers,
forbidding them to talk
to foreign journalists
and requiring them to
sign a statement saying
that they disagree with
the complaints and
demands of former
workers and surrounding
community members.
Far away from the mill
itself, communities
surrounded by sugar cane
fields depend on the
cane as a source of
temporary labor, and are
also feeling the
negative effects of the
industry. In the
department of León,
residents report
environmental damage as
a result of
agro-chemical use. The
frequent and controlled
burning of the sugar
cane makes harvesting by
hand easier, but
residents say that the
smoke is also damaging
to their respiratory
health.
The company has
responded to these
complaints by stepping
up a small-scale
philanthropy program in
the poor affected
communities, which
includes building
classrooms and giving
out free backpacks to
all the kids. To some,
the company's weak
response to the this
dire issue is just
adding insult to injury.
Sonia Matute is a head
teacher at a primary
school in a poor
indigenous Sutiava
community in the
department of León, and
she is suffering from
respiratory problems
exacerbated by cane ash
in the air. When asked
about Ingenio San
Antonio's philanthropic
efforts, she said
"they're buying us."
One Available
Recourse
These communities
have joined together to
file a complaint with
the Compliance Advisory
Ombudsman (CAO), the
internal auditing office
of the International
Finance Corporation (IFC),
to demand that the IFC
and World Bank pressure
Nicaragua Sugar Estates,
Ltd. (NSEL) to abide by
the environmental and
labor regulations on the
books in Nicaragua, and
to respect the IFC's own
stated regulations.
Take Action!
People wishing to
act in solidarity with
these families can write
to Lars Thunell,
Executive Vice President
and CEO of the IFC, at
International Finance
Corporation, 2121
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20433
USA, and ask that the
IFC heed the concerns
and demands of
communities affected by
the Ingenio San Antonio.
Sydney Frey lives and
works in León, Nicaragua |
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