SECCIÓN: Nicaragua IRC

 

With Denis Meléndez, of CISAS

 

Center releases study

on agrochemical “genocide”

 

“The last harvest: Chronic Renal Failure in Nicaragua’s agricultural labor history” is the title of a study presented last January by Denis Meléndez Aguirre, head of the Incidence Area of the Center for Health Advisory Services and Information (CISAS).

 

In his foreword, Meléndez pays tribute “to the people that were sacrificed and in whose memory we are called to act to stop the genocide. The study is also dedicated to the people who devote their energies to making the goals of Primary Health Care a reality in Nicaragua, and everywhere.”

 

Sirel spoke with the author to discuss what “actions should be taken to stop the genocide,” as the death toll is already up to 2,600 victims.

 

-Over the past few weeks, the Nicaraguan Association of People Affected by Chronic Renal Failure (ANAIRC), formed by sugar cane workers and widows, has been denouncing Nicaragua Sugar States Ltd, owner of Ingenio San Antonio and a company member of the Pellas Group, for its absolute indifference to their tragic situation and that of thousands of CRF victims who worked for that sugar mill. How did the situation get this bad?

-It’s important to give an overview of what has happened in connection with the possibility of negotiations between the ANAIRC and the company. In late 2006, during the transitional period of government, when the newly elected authorities were getting ready to take over the administration, CRF was one of the issues on the national agenda, and it received extensive coverage in the media. Unofficially, representatives of Ingenio San Antonio were marginally involved in communications with the ANAIRC. However, as the months went by, the efforts of both the company and the government began to visibly slacken. Because of the number of registered cases and fatal victims, CRF constitutes a public health problem in Nicaragua. And any serious and responsible country should devote all its efforts and energies to solve such a situation. But apparently the prevailing stance in Nicaragua is that since CRF is an illness that requires very costly treatment, neither the Social Security system nor the Public Health system can tackle the issue with the necessary force. This lack of firm action is affecting the situation of those suffering from CRF and the widows of fatal victims, and both the company and governmental institutions must assume their share of responsibility.

The families of these people whose lives were cut short must also be guaranteed a compensation in proportion to the damage caused

 

-In the case of the governmental bodies like those you mention, they claim to be doing everything they can. According to the victims themselves, the Social Security agency has already approved 3,800 pensions in the past three years, while the MINSA has just told Sirel that it invested a great amount of money in specialized care for CRF patients. What is it they are doing wrong and where are they being slack?

-There are several aspects to consider in the problem of CRF. After many demands and protests, Social Security authorities finally agreed to deal with the issue of pensions. This was not done out of the kindness of the institution, as the agency had refused to support the Social Security Act and the current authorities had to provide solutions to deal with that omission. A considerable number of pensions have been granted, but that doesn’t solve the problem. We’re talking about a public health problem. This is an emergency situation that every governmental authority, and civil society as a whole, must deal with. To date, however, nobody has said absolutely anything about the proven sources of water and soil contamination, even though there are enough studies that evidence this problem.

 

-What kind of studies?

-A study by the Department of Biology of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) in Leon found that approximately 80 percent of the wells monitored revealed synthetic agrotoxic substance residues. Studies that monitored nursing mothers and infants categorically proved the presence of traces of these chemicals in breast milk. Analyses of perishable goods, such as melons and watermelons, have also revealed the same evidences. Despite the existence of regulations and laws on the subject, Nicaragua has failed to solve the “Dirty Dozen” problem, and many of these products are distributed freely or stored in open spaces, thus constituting sources of contamination. There is, therefore, a great problem with respect to the causes of CRF, and it’s not true that everything possible has been done to solve this.

 

-With respect to the company, one of the most debated issues has been whether there is effectively specific proof connecting CRF to the tasks performed by laborers in the sugar mill. In your work, “The last harvest,” we see that there are in fact sufficient studies to prove this hypothesis.

-It is recognized throughout the world that the use of synthetic agrotoxic substances causes adverse effects on human health in exposed sectors of the population. Some are affected because they are directly involved in the application of these substances, as is the case of workers, and others are exposed indirectly without being aware of it. These chemicals are lodged in people’s fatty tissue, and from there they cause a host of adverse effects. Various national and international universities have conducted studies in the western region of the country, focusing in particular on waterways and soils, on products fit for human consumption, and on nursing mothers. Traces of these chemicals have been found in every case. One of these studies even detected DDT, which was last imported into the country over 30 years ago, but which is still found in the environment. This reveals that contaminants known as Persistent Organic Compounds (POCs) subsist in the country, with the most dramatically affected area being western Nicaragua. All the studies of water fit for human consumption indicate that there is a historic buildup of chemical products that were harmful in the past and are still harmful today.

We have to give global visibility to our situation, and involve actors that are not necessarily in Nicaragua, so that the company will start to feel the pressure

 

-There has been great speculation over whether the company that owns Ingenio San Antonio should recognize the affected population by paying them a compensation for the damages suffered or if it should grant them humanitarian aid. What do you think?

-In principle, you cannot put a price on a person’s life. However, not only was harm done to the lives of former sugar workers; their families and communities suffered collateral damage as well, so that the damage involves more than just the cane laborers themselves. As for the issue of humanitarian aid or compensation, the problem in Nicaragua is that at one point a group of victims negotiated with this company and accepted a certain amount of money in the form of humanitarian aid. This set a very negative legal precedent, as it prevented the company from being sued and having to pay damages to this group of people whose health and lives were harmed. This legal precedent had a detrimental effect on the interests of other affected groups, who continued to be exposed to contamination, and who are now claiming compensation. And the families of these people whose lives were cut short must also be guaranteed a compensation in proportion to the damage caused.

 

-In these struggles, like that of the former banana workers affected by Nemagon, a weakening factor has been the existence of internal differences that divide the former workers. In the ANAIRC’s case, what do you need to watch out for to avoid divisions in your struggle?

-In the case of CRF it is important to bear in mind what happened in this first negotiation that was conducted between the company and a group of 1,300 victims. The company paid a considerable sum of money in the form of humanitarian aid, but according to the beneficiaries themselves, only a small group of about ten or twelve people received 38 thousand Cordobas a piece (2,400 US dollars). The rest were given a much smaller sum, and a large amount of money did not even reach the affected people, it simply “got lost along the way.” The same thing has happened to those affected by Nemagon. As for the ANAIRC, I think that in any negotiation it conducts it must proceed with the utmost transparency. The prospective beneficiaries must know how much money is being discussed and exactly how much each of them is going to receive; it must be open and clear. We have also demanded additional social benefits from the company, in the areas of health, education and recreation.

 

-In view of the company’s current lack of response, what are the next steps you are planning to take?

-A first step is to involve other sectors of society, but we also have to give global visibility to our situation, and involve actors that are not necessarily in Nicaragua, so that the company will start to feel the pressure. For example, there’s been talk that it will be investing about 170 million dollars in new sugar cane plantations in Honduras. In that case, workers in Honduras must know what happened in Nicaragua, so that they can organize and prevent thousands of Hondurans from falling victim of CRF because of inadequate working conditions.

 

 

En Managua, Giorgio Trucchi

Rel-UITA

February 19, 2008

 

 

 

Fotos: Giorgio Trucchi 

 

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