Rescuing Nicaraguan Post Offices
Rescuing Nicaragua s Post Offices, the state company that previous administrations used as a piggybank to pay for electoral campaigns and other under-the-table expenses, is a serious task for the new sector authorities.

There are so many problems that I sometimes wonder if I am being punished here, jokes sociologist Ana Lazo, who President Daniel Ortega assigned when the Sandinistas returned to power in January.

In her interview with the press the official explained that the institution had a deficit of 2.7 million dollars as result of mismanagement.

It s a paradox, she said, that despite rendering a social service for modest prices, Nicaragua s post offices do not receive money from the state budget, according to Law 200 that regulates telecommunications in the country.

Our hope is to change that legislation, Lazo says, speaking about the difficulties raising money each month to pay the 600 postal employees.

Meanwhile, they have recently begun issuing commemorative stamps, practically stopped in previous administrations, and are trying to insert the company in the sector of family remittances.