La Asociación Nicaragüense de Afectados por Insuficiencia Renal Crónica (ANAIRC) ha retomado en las últimas semanas su campaña difamatoria en contra de Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited (NSEL), miembro del Grupo Pellas, con la única finalidad de obtener compensaciones monetarias injustificadas.
La referida campaña descansa en el supuesto que ex trabajadores del Ingenio San Antonio (ISA), propiedad de Nicaragua Sugar, contrajeron la enfermedad de Insuficiencia Renal Crónica debido a las malas prácticas productivas de la empresa.
ANAIRC es una organización muy poco conocida en Nicaragua y sus planteamientos no han tenido eco en nuestro país ya que carecen de fundamento y no guardan ninguna relación con la realidad. Hay que resaltar que quien está siendo objeto de estos ataques es una de las empresas nicaragüenses con mayor prestigio, tanto por su sistema de producción como por sus prácticas de Responsabilidad Social.
Los que están detrás de esto lo saben muy bien y por eso se han dado a la tarea de tratar de desprestigiar a Nicaragua Sugar en el Internet, y últimamente quien dice ser la presidenta de la organización, hizo una gira por algunos países europeos con el apoyo de activistas no nicaragüenses de reconocida trayectoria política.
A los voceros de ANAIRC puede resultarles fácil buscar en determinados círculos internacionales los apoyos que no obtienen en Nicaragua. Para ello utilizan un discurso dramático donde aparecen como “víctimas de los abusos de una empresa egoísta, insensible y depredadora”. No importa si no presentan pruebas, ni estudios que sustenten lo que dicen, ni datos avalados por instituciones respetadas. Tampoco si su única fuente son ellos mismos. Lo esencial es el toque emocional para conseguir respaldos en base a afinidades ideológicas.
Por ejemplo, es absurdo decir que en el Occidente de Nicaragua se vierten anualmente cantidades abundantes de pesticidas contaminantes en las plantaciones de caña de azúcar, ya que en el Ingenio San Antonio se utiliza el control biológico y mecánico de plagas, lo que le ha permitido eliminar casi en su totalidad el uso de pesticidas. Los agroquímicos que se utilizan en el Ingenio para la producción de caña son los aprobados para su uso a nivel mundial, no causan contaminación, tienen los avales de las instituciones gubernamentales competentes de Nicaragua y a su vez están registrados en la Agencia de Protección Ambiental de Estados Unidos (EPA).
Tampoco hay bases para señalar que las fuentes de aguas de Chichigalpa están totalmente infectadas por el uso indiscriminado de pesticidas por parte del Ingenio San Antonio, cuando no sólo no existe ningún estudio que sustente esta afirmación si no que, por el contrario, todos los análisis que se vienen realizando desde hace varios años con empresas especializadas nacionales e internacionales, han coincidido en que las aguas analizadas en esa zona son aptas para el consumo humano de conformidad con los estándares establecidos por la Organización Mundial de la Salud.
ANAIRC afirma que del 2002 a la fecha más de 3 mil personas han fallecido a causa de la enfermedad y 8 mil han sido declaradas enfermas.
Realmente causa perplejidad que los voceros de ANAIRC divulguen en el exterior semejante cantidad de personas afectadas y fallecidas en abierta contradicción con los registros que se manejan en Nicaragua.
ANAIRC no basa sus datos en estudios o informaciones oficiales y sus cifras nunca han sido corroboradas por ninguna institución pública o privada de nuestro país.
En declaraciones recientes, el Secretario General del Ministerio de Salud del gobierno nicaragüense, Enrique Beteta, señaló que en Nicaragua fallecen al mes hasta tres personas por causa de insuficiencia renal crónica (http://www.laprensa.com.ni/2010/04/17/nacionales/22024). Este dato es tanto más relevante si se tiene en cuenta que esta enfermedad es de naturaleza multicausal y constituye un desmentís adicional a las afirmaciones que con el propósito de crear un impacto de opinión favorable, divulga ANAIRC fuera de Nicaragua.
martes, 31 de agosto de 2010
jueves, 22 de abril de 2010
DECIPHERING THE MEDIA CAMPAIGN AGAINST NICARAGUA SUGAR ESTATES AND THE PELLAS GROUP
A stone in the shoe
By Jacob Parker
In a recent article, the most conspicuous organizer of ANAIRC´s disinformation campaign against Nicaragua Sugar and the Pellas Group (Grupo Pellas) and the boycott against Flor de Caña finally decided to make an incursion into a new territory, without completely abandoning his repetitive disparaging epithets, in an attempt to give a new appearance to ANAIRC’s claims and make them seem serious.
Let’s carefully examine what this is all about.
The author persists in his old affirmation that the massive use of agro-toxic chemicals by Nicaragua Sugar contaminated the water in the zone and directly affected workers and their families, except that he says for the first time “that it occurred in the past”. Beware of misleading messages!
This could mean that we are witnessing a change of sign in the campaign because the promoters are probably overwhelmed by evidence showing that the San Antonio Sugar Mill, owned by Nicaragua Sugar Estates, does not use pesticides, but biological and mechanical pest control, which, among other things, has made it an international benchmark in the sugar industry.
There are no grounds for sustaining this reckless affirmation that the San Antonio sugar mill (ISA) has massively applied polluting agro-toxic chemicals in the past. It is a known fact that agrochemicals used by this sugar mill in cane production are approved for use around the world, have not caused pollution, and any interested party can consult this list with the company.
As we continue to read the article, we are surprised that the author states that most of the affected persons “lived in a shantytown… withstanding everything, until they were evicted in 1998 in an effort to hide the alarming increase in CRI mortality rates…”
Is this true?
Keeping in mind the wellbeing of the workers, Nicaragua Sugar (NSEL) determined that it was necessary to rebuild the management approach that until then had governed the population that lived in the sugar mill facilities. In that sense, it was deemed that this population needed to be relocated for the following reasons:
• To provide heads of household with their own house given that they lived in a house owned by the sugar mill. Their relocation to the Candelaria neighborhood allowed them to become homeowners.
• To comply with industrial security standards.
• To expand the facilities as required by the factory´s growth.
The relocation site is still very close to ISA’s facilities, which has allowed the relocated population to keep providing services to the Company.
NSEL offered different options to these people, which were agreed with each family. It is well-known that the San Antonio sugar mill has continued to support residents in Candelaria by repairing streets, supporting immunization campaigns of the Ministry of Health, donating land for a children’s playground, transporting personnel, cleaning septic tanks, supplying trucks with potable water as needed, etc.
But let´s continue with the text. The writer talks about “working conditions, lack of hydration… were other elements that contributed to a direct link between CRI and the sugar industry”.
Let’s see the working conditions of cane cutters.
Adequate practices of hydration and food consumption by ISA workers have been established as a policy by Nicaragua Sugar, which has adjusted its annual operating plans to promote healthy lifestyles.
Each team of field workers is made up of approximately 150 to 300 workers, who arrive in buses to the different plantations in groups of 60 to 70 people. Each worker brings a 4-6 liter container from his home. Each bus carries a 55-gallon plastic barrel filled with water.
On the other hand, the company provides the following benefits to the cane cutters: lunch in the field (contracted with a company and based on a balanced nutritional diet), hydrating fluids and nutritious cookies each day, medical care for each cane cutter and his family, and food supplies. A group of social and health workers supervise that cane cutters receive these benefits.
As we continue to read, we find that the panegyrist affirms that “the manual irrigation of agro-toxic chemicals was another element that contributed to a direct link between CRI and the sugar industry”.
Does this match reality?
The San Antonio sugar mill has mandatory personal protection equipment and safety measures that are strictly enforced in the application and use of agrochemicals. This equipment consists of a work uniform, long sleeve shirt, cap, mask with filters, rubber gloves, boots and raincoat.
Nicaragua Sugar periodically examines agro-chemical applicators to discard any sign of intoxication.
NSEL also provides training in diverse topics, such as use and handling of agrochemicals, biological pollution, environmental management, integral solid waste management and recycling, among others.
Nicaragua Sugar provides adequate facilities so that workers may bathe and change clothes. It has 15 showers that are used by agrochemical applicators before and after each workday. Showers and eye-washers are also available in the factory, laboratories and co-generation areas.
In the next section, the designer of the ANAIRC campaign addresses one of his favorite topics, which is to attack pseudo or white unions in the San Antonio sugar mill and rum distillery, stressing as follows: “… unfortunately one of them is affiliated to a Sandinista union (CST), which in turn is affiliated to international union organizations…”.
But what really exists?
NSEL currently has five unions that are duly certified and registered at the Directorate of Union Associations of the Ministry of Labor. These unions are: Ronald Altamirano Union with 500 members, Union of Democratic Workers with 825 members, Faustino Martínez Union with 1,500 members, Teachers’ Union with 33 members and Employees’ Union with 80 members.
The aforesaid unions represent the most varied political and ideological tendencies and the members of the Sandinista leftist union “Ronald Altamirano” would fall head over heels if they read that the pen-pusher of ANAIRC ranks them as a pseudo or white union.
Ever since NSEL began to operate in 1890, it has never interfered with the right of the workers to form unions, as proven by the fact that unions have existed in the company from the 1960s to date. However, according to the columnist, if the unions do not think like him, they are white, if the workers’ leaders denounce ANAIRC’s absurd campaign, they are in favor of the employer, if the workers demonstrate to defend their jobs and benefits in the San Antonio sugar mill, they are forced to demonstrate, and if the unions are leftist, then he doesn’t know what saint to pray to.
If we keep on reading, we will see that the writer abandons the unions and bursts into the academic world, more specifically the University of Leon, to present a study by Dr. Cecilia Torres that allows him to discourse on “the factors that cause CRI”, saying that “among the major risk factors are environmental nephrotoxins, such as heavy metals, arsenic, cadmium and lead, and agrochemicals like Aldrin, Chlorotalonil, Maneb, copper sulphate, Endrin and even DBCP (Nemagon)”.
It’s okay. However, one wonders what all this has to do with Nicaragua Sugar and the San Antonio sugar mill. None of these products have been used or are being used by the company.
But it doesn’t end there. If we scrutinize a little further, we see that the journalist, not satisfied with his unfortunate encounter with toxicology, goes back to his old ways, always under the protective shield of Dr. Torres, and refers to the “disastrous” working conditions of cane cutters in Nicaragua’s sugar industry.
What a disappointment it must be to find out that the San Antonio sugar mill has established a progressive working system so that workers adapt to environmental conditions and avoid heat stroke during the freshest hours of the day until they are able to work full days. Most workers arrive at the plantation at 6:00 a.m., start working at 7:00 a.m., and stop working between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon when food is delivered at the work sites.
On the other hand, as of 2005 the company set a maximum of seven tons from an average of nine tons cut by each worker, and eliminated the higher pay incentive after the sixth ton. This incentive is now distributed among the first seven tons so as to reduce work effort without affecting the income of workers.
Going back to the article, we discovered a really sad situation in which the author manipulates some statements by Dr. Mario Jiménez, an epidemiologist at the Center for Research on Aquatic Resources (CIRA) of the Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-Managua).
With the clear intention of depicting the sugar industry, in particular the San Antonio sugar mill, as the contaminators that caused CRI, the writer tries to illustrate this with an excerpt from Dr. Jimenez’s statements: “the studies we conducted in the country’s western zone revealed the presence of organochlorinated compounds like lindane, toxaphene, DDT and DDE in the well water for human consumption…”.
To what is Dr. Jimenez referring?
To the study titled “PRESENCE AND CONCENTRATION OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINANTS IN THE WATER WELLS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION IN THE LOCATIONS OF THE FORMER BANANA PLANTATIONS IN THE WEST OF NICARAGUA”, which he carried out in Nicaragua’s western region, together with Dr. Salvador Montenegro Guillén, both members of Nicaragua’s Center for Research on Aquatic Resources (CIRA) at the NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF NICARAGUA (UNAN-Managua).
The objectives of this study were 1) to identify the presence of pesticide residues and biological contaminants in the water wells for human consumption in the former banana plantations in Nicaragua’s western region and 2) to establish the potential relation between the presence of pesticide residues in the water wells and the effects on the health of the population that lives in those locations.
The manipulation is more than evident because the CIRA report has nothing to do with sugarcane. It is related to findings linked to mass banana production in the zone.
Chinandega was an agricultural emporium for several decades where tons of chemicals were applied to control banana and cotton pests. Years after the boom of these crops ended, many former agricultural workers began reporting serious diseases.
But there’s still more.
In his eagerness to find a scientific endorsement that legitimizes his statement about the alleged causality link between CRI and sugar production, the representative of ANAIRC goes back to interview Dr. Jiménez and attempts to obtain the endorsement that he yearns so much. Nevertheless, the most he could obtain as an answer was: “although CRI is clearly a multifactor disease, we cannot exclude that it is related to work in the sugar mills”.
As lawyers say, the confession of the parties shifts the burden of proof. Does this have any relationship with the ANAIRC campaign where it is categorically and emphatically stated that it has already been proven so no study is needed, that CRI is unquestionably caused by sugarcane agricultural practices, particularly those of the San Antonio sugar mill, and thus the money demanded by the organization should be granted?
Now then, the man does not give up and persists in going back to the research by Dr. Torres, providing some statistics contained in this study. To quote him: “the results were not homogenous at the community level and revealed a greater incidence of CRI in the mining sector with 37%, as well as agriculture and coffee with 32% and 14%, respectively…”.
On the other hand, CRI has been detected in different occupational groups: cane cutters, miners, banana workers, stevedores and even preschool children. In other words, it does not affect just one specific labor group.
He talks here about miners, coffee growers and agriculture in general. What does this have to do with ANAIRC´s campaign that CRI is caused by the sugarcane of the San Antonio sugar mill?
Let’s look carefully.
As concerns the San Antonio sugar mill, former workers affected by CRI were temporary workers who also performed other types of agricultural activities. Many of them only worked during the harvest season and stopped working for the Company many years ago.
On the other hand, the statement contained in the article that Nicaragua Sugar never mentions the study of Dr. Torres, is not true either. The physicians who work for this company have mentioned it and have indicated that it is one of the research studies that must be known about this health issue.
These statistics appear in the Dr. Torres’s research associated to this other: “However, the community of Isla in Chichigalpa, where the main work activity is sugarcane, the prevalence of CRI is the highest, reaching 41%...” Bingo! The intrepid publicist finally got what he wanted. Although the first statistics are irrelevant for his purpose, the second statistic is the one “that counts” because it serves him as a screen for what he needed.
What the busy reporter does not say is that CRI is present in several zones of the country, including territories where sugar production does not exist and, in the west of the country, the disease rate is higher in Leon than in Chinandega. Even though Leon is not a sugar-producing department, the largest number of patients is reported in the municipality of Larreynaga, where cane cultivation does not exist.
Going back to the tireless narrator, we find him leaving the academia in the following paragraph and entering the detective field like Sherlock Holmes. Let´s find out what he tells us:
“According to a document in the possession of ANAIRC, signed by Marino Castrillo, Director of Human Resources at the San Antonio sugar mill, exhaustive water analyses were made in the San Antonio sugar mill, which showed that the water is heavily contaminated with agro-toxic chemicals and relating this presence to the CRI disease…”
He omits to mention that the referenced document was an outright falsification, for which reason Dr. Castrillo filed a criminal complaint in the Sole Local Court of Chichigalpa in 2008. It is a powerful attention grabber that ANAIRC uses this falsification object of a criminal proceeding in its campaign against Nicaragua Sugar.
But where will this modern version of Caupolican take us now? Surprise! In his obsessive thinking about the Pellas Group and NSEL, he introduces Mrs. Yanirée Alvarez, indicating that she was a member at a given time of the social movement of Leon, and quotes her as saying that Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited tried to purchase 1,500 additional hectares of land to expand cane production “without taking into account that cane cultivation requires the extraction of large amounts of water… which is already seriously affecting water reserves of the population in the rural zones…”
The purchase of land by any company engaged in agricultural production is a normal activity that nobody in his right mind can question. In the case of Nicaragua Sugar, these purchases have been made pursuant to the laws, paying market prices based on supply and demand.
Insofar as that cane production would be detrimental for water availability in the zone, it is necessary to point out that the San Antonio sugar mill has abundant water sources and manages them in a sustainable manner. Water is obtained from 116 wells, 57 river and channel intakes, and 16 diversion dams along the different rivers that cross the sugar mill. Nicaragua Sugar has the necessary permits for the drilling of wells and intakes from rivers, channels and dams issued by the relevant authorities.
It has been estimated that available volume in the hydrologic water basin that supplies ISA and its surroundings is 309 million cubic meters. According to the irrigation use of this watershed, total annual consumption is estimated at 100 million cubic meters, of which 25% percolates through the soil and eventually returns to the aquifer as recharge and the remaining 75% is easily covered by annual precipitations in the zone between the months of May and November, averaging 70 inches per year.
We have an indicator for this in the standards for well measurements performed for over 40 years at ISA, which indicators, such as static level and dynamic level, remain without great variations.
In 1998 and 2000 , hydrological and hydro-geological studies on water availability, extraction and safe yields were carried out in the area of the sugar mill and Chinandega-Leon-Nagarote watershed. The results of both studies show that the San Antonio sugar mill makes adequate use of water resources.
Since the article seeks to be exhaustive, the audacious conjurer later refers to renewable energy and again quotes Mrs. Alvarez, saying that cane cultivation would affect the environment to benefit “only a privileged group of businessmen”, as opposed to the potentials of geothermal, wind and solar energy.
How far-fetched!
In the San Antonio sugar mill, sugarcane bagasse is used to generate electricity, instead of being discarded. Co-generation capacity is 60 MW per hour, which allows for eliminating the use of bunker and providing 7% of Nicaragua’s power consumption during the harvest. It is a clean and cheap energy source. Since bunker is not consumed, it is estimated that over 95 thousand tons of greenhouse gases are reduced per year.
After the harvest, in the months of May through July, 17 MW of electricity are produced per hour, of which 12 MW are sold to the national interconnection system. This clean energy is generated with eucalyptus chips originating from the nursery of the San Antonio sugar mill, where 800 thousand plants are produced each year and renovated in 7,650 acres. To date, more than 6 million trees have been planted.
In his relentless effort to find faults attributable to Nicaragua Sugar, the columnist in question passes to talk with a painstaking air about deforestation caused by cane production.
Let’s analyze this also.
Nicaragua Sugar promotes the planting of native species each year as a way of contributing to the recovery and protection of water sources, the preservation of biological wildlife corridors, forest fire protection and natural regeneration. This reforestation is carried out along the banks of different rivers in the municipalities of Chichigalpa, Quezalguaque, Posoltega, Leon and Chinandega. Some reforestation activities are carried out with students, municipal governments, civil society and government institutions, with the objective of involving all the population in the protection of the environment.
The nursery at the San Antonio sugar mill produces 50,000 native tree species each year, such as kapok, strawberry tree, cedar, mahogany, guanacaste and oak, which are used for reforestation. In 2006 and 2007, for example, 53,500 different species were planted to reforest more than 356 acres of river banks. In 2008, 45,000 new trees were planted in 365 acres along the banks of diverse rivers in Leon and Chinandega.
But there´s still more. The officious spokesman of ANAIRC goes back to the trite theme of Law 456 that recognizes CRI as a professional disease in Nicaragua.
Any person with some knowledge about Nicaraguan legislation knows that this recognition does not establish a causality link between a specific productive activity and CRI. It is known and has been stated on numerous occasions that a medical assessment committee exists.
If the spokesperson were right, ANAIRC would have solved the problem and would have obtained all the money it has persistently sought for several years.
In relation to the statements of the INSS Director, which are taken out of context, the official position of the Government of Nicaragua is not known. As far as raising the percentage that farmers pay to the INSS on account of occupational risks from 1 to 5%, the idea is so preposterous that it never prospered.
Unfortunately never satisfied, ANAIRC´s skilled swordsman meddles with ASOCHIVIDA, Nicaragua´s most representative organization of kidney patients, with which NSEL has maintained for more than one year a very positive dialogue on the CRI problem that affects the members of this association.
ASOCHIVIDA is not at all like ANAIRC. While the first tries to find a solution to the problem, the latter, entrenched in its unjustified money demands, has self-excluded itself from being part of the solution. For that reason and that reason only, it is so isolated in Nicaragua.
ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL agreed that an international, impartial and prestigious organization would conduct a study to determine the causes of CRI in the west of Nicaragua.
After an exhaustive process that involved 9 public agencies, 22 U.S. and European universities and 5 private consulting firms, Boston University was chosen to conduct the study.
The final results of the study will provide important knowledge on the causes of this disease in the west of Nicaragua, define potential liabilities, if any, and articulate prevention and response strategies.
Nicaragua Sugar, faithful to its social responsibility tradition and as an expression of support to the community, has offered its solidarity to the people in the nearby communities who suffer chronic renal insufficiency.
Between 2000 and 2004 it delivered humanitarian and economic aid in the amount of approximately two million dollars to over 1,400 people affected by CRI and currently provides nutritional support to 1,800 families that are members of ASOCHIVIDA and medical assistance to the patients consisting of medicines, equipment and inputs for the Chichigalpa Health Center.
In the limits of disinformation and ready for action, the distinguished essayist moves to the financial terrain and says that Nicaragua Sugar “requested a $25 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to purchase 1,500 hectares of land to expand cane cultivation…” And he then adds that “to accede to a loan from IDB, no judicial causes of action can be pending. Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited has administrative and judicial causes of action pending…”
It is really sad that he makes no effort to investigate his information. For that reason, among other things, the sponsors of ANAIRC lack credibility.
Even though it is not a crime to apply for a loan, Nicaragua Sugar has never applied or plans to apply for a loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). If ANAIRC´s apologist has doubts, he can easily confirm this information with IDB.
As concerns the judicial causes of action, some persons did file complaints in this regard, but all of them were dismissed by the courts of justice in separate judgments.
Finally, our illustrious character and the brain behind ANAIRC´s campaign, affirms that ISA has 144 thousand manzanas of land, when any minimally informed person knows that the San Antonio sugar mill owns approximately 19,000 manzanas of land. If the detractor of Nicaragua Sugar wants to verify this through independent sources, the only thing he has to do, which is not very complicated, is to visit the respective offices of the State of Nicaragua where this information can be confirmed.
According to Goebbels, the famous Nazi Minister of Propaganda, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
Maybe this is the source of inspiration of those developing this campaign.
By Jacob Parker
In a recent article, the most conspicuous organizer of ANAIRC´s disinformation campaign against Nicaragua Sugar and the Pellas Group (Grupo Pellas) and the boycott against Flor de Caña finally decided to make an incursion into a new territory, without completely abandoning his repetitive disparaging epithets, in an attempt to give a new appearance to ANAIRC’s claims and make them seem serious.
Let’s carefully examine what this is all about.
The author persists in his old affirmation that the massive use of agro-toxic chemicals by Nicaragua Sugar contaminated the water in the zone and directly affected workers and their families, except that he says for the first time “that it occurred in the past”. Beware of misleading messages!
This could mean that we are witnessing a change of sign in the campaign because the promoters are probably overwhelmed by evidence showing that the San Antonio Sugar Mill, owned by Nicaragua Sugar Estates, does not use pesticides, but biological and mechanical pest control, which, among other things, has made it an international benchmark in the sugar industry.
There are no grounds for sustaining this reckless affirmation that the San Antonio sugar mill (ISA) has massively applied polluting agro-toxic chemicals in the past. It is a known fact that agrochemicals used by this sugar mill in cane production are approved for use around the world, have not caused pollution, and any interested party can consult this list with the company.
As we continue to read the article, we are surprised that the author states that most of the affected persons “lived in a shantytown… withstanding everything, until they were evicted in 1998 in an effort to hide the alarming increase in CRI mortality rates…”
Is this true?
Keeping in mind the wellbeing of the workers, Nicaragua Sugar (NSEL) determined that it was necessary to rebuild the management approach that until then had governed the population that lived in the sugar mill facilities. In that sense, it was deemed that this population needed to be relocated for the following reasons:
• To provide heads of household with their own house given that they lived in a house owned by the sugar mill. Their relocation to the Candelaria neighborhood allowed them to become homeowners.
• To comply with industrial security standards.
• To expand the facilities as required by the factory´s growth.
The relocation site is still very close to ISA’s facilities, which has allowed the relocated population to keep providing services to the Company.
NSEL offered different options to these people, which were agreed with each family. It is well-known that the San Antonio sugar mill has continued to support residents in Candelaria by repairing streets, supporting immunization campaigns of the Ministry of Health, donating land for a children’s playground, transporting personnel, cleaning septic tanks, supplying trucks with potable water as needed, etc.
But let´s continue with the text. The writer talks about “working conditions, lack of hydration… were other elements that contributed to a direct link between CRI and the sugar industry”.
Let’s see the working conditions of cane cutters.
Adequate practices of hydration and food consumption by ISA workers have been established as a policy by Nicaragua Sugar, which has adjusted its annual operating plans to promote healthy lifestyles.
Each team of field workers is made up of approximately 150 to 300 workers, who arrive in buses to the different plantations in groups of 60 to 70 people. Each worker brings a 4-6 liter container from his home. Each bus carries a 55-gallon plastic barrel filled with water.
On the other hand, the company provides the following benefits to the cane cutters: lunch in the field (contracted with a company and based on a balanced nutritional diet), hydrating fluids and nutritious cookies each day, medical care for each cane cutter and his family, and food supplies. A group of social and health workers supervise that cane cutters receive these benefits.
As we continue to read, we find that the panegyrist affirms that “the manual irrigation of agro-toxic chemicals was another element that contributed to a direct link between CRI and the sugar industry”.
Does this match reality?
The San Antonio sugar mill has mandatory personal protection equipment and safety measures that are strictly enforced in the application and use of agrochemicals. This equipment consists of a work uniform, long sleeve shirt, cap, mask with filters, rubber gloves, boots and raincoat.
Nicaragua Sugar periodically examines agro-chemical applicators to discard any sign of intoxication.
NSEL also provides training in diverse topics, such as use and handling of agrochemicals, biological pollution, environmental management, integral solid waste management and recycling, among others.
Nicaragua Sugar provides adequate facilities so that workers may bathe and change clothes. It has 15 showers that are used by agrochemical applicators before and after each workday. Showers and eye-washers are also available in the factory, laboratories and co-generation areas.
In the next section, the designer of the ANAIRC campaign addresses one of his favorite topics, which is to attack pseudo or white unions in the San Antonio sugar mill and rum distillery, stressing as follows: “… unfortunately one of them is affiliated to a Sandinista union (CST), which in turn is affiliated to international union organizations…”.
But what really exists?
NSEL currently has five unions that are duly certified and registered at the Directorate of Union Associations of the Ministry of Labor. These unions are: Ronald Altamirano Union with 500 members, Union of Democratic Workers with 825 members, Faustino Martínez Union with 1,500 members, Teachers’ Union with 33 members and Employees’ Union with 80 members.
The aforesaid unions represent the most varied political and ideological tendencies and the members of the Sandinista leftist union “Ronald Altamirano” would fall head over heels if they read that the pen-pusher of ANAIRC ranks them as a pseudo or white union.
Ever since NSEL began to operate in 1890, it has never interfered with the right of the workers to form unions, as proven by the fact that unions have existed in the company from the 1960s to date. However, according to the columnist, if the unions do not think like him, they are white, if the workers’ leaders denounce ANAIRC’s absurd campaign, they are in favor of the employer, if the workers demonstrate to defend their jobs and benefits in the San Antonio sugar mill, they are forced to demonstrate, and if the unions are leftist, then he doesn’t know what saint to pray to.
If we keep on reading, we will see that the writer abandons the unions and bursts into the academic world, more specifically the University of Leon, to present a study by Dr. Cecilia Torres that allows him to discourse on “the factors that cause CRI”, saying that “among the major risk factors are environmental nephrotoxins, such as heavy metals, arsenic, cadmium and lead, and agrochemicals like Aldrin, Chlorotalonil, Maneb, copper sulphate, Endrin and even DBCP (Nemagon)”.
It’s okay. However, one wonders what all this has to do with Nicaragua Sugar and the San Antonio sugar mill. None of these products have been used or are being used by the company.
But it doesn’t end there. If we scrutinize a little further, we see that the journalist, not satisfied with his unfortunate encounter with toxicology, goes back to his old ways, always under the protective shield of Dr. Torres, and refers to the “disastrous” working conditions of cane cutters in Nicaragua’s sugar industry.
What a disappointment it must be to find out that the San Antonio sugar mill has established a progressive working system so that workers adapt to environmental conditions and avoid heat stroke during the freshest hours of the day until they are able to work full days. Most workers arrive at the plantation at 6:00 a.m., start working at 7:00 a.m., and stop working between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon when food is delivered at the work sites.
On the other hand, as of 2005 the company set a maximum of seven tons from an average of nine tons cut by each worker, and eliminated the higher pay incentive after the sixth ton. This incentive is now distributed among the first seven tons so as to reduce work effort without affecting the income of workers.
Going back to the article, we discovered a really sad situation in which the author manipulates some statements by Dr. Mario Jiménez, an epidemiologist at the Center for Research on Aquatic Resources (CIRA) of the Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-Managua).
With the clear intention of depicting the sugar industry, in particular the San Antonio sugar mill, as the contaminators that caused CRI, the writer tries to illustrate this with an excerpt from Dr. Jimenez’s statements: “the studies we conducted in the country’s western zone revealed the presence of organochlorinated compounds like lindane, toxaphene, DDT and DDE in the well water for human consumption…”.
To what is Dr. Jimenez referring?
To the study titled “PRESENCE AND CONCENTRATION OF PESTICIDE RESIDUES AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINANTS IN THE WATER WELLS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION IN THE LOCATIONS OF THE FORMER BANANA PLANTATIONS IN THE WEST OF NICARAGUA”, which he carried out in Nicaragua’s western region, together with Dr. Salvador Montenegro Guillén, both members of Nicaragua’s Center for Research on Aquatic Resources (CIRA) at the NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF NICARAGUA (UNAN-Managua).
The objectives of this study were 1) to identify the presence of pesticide residues and biological contaminants in the water wells for human consumption in the former banana plantations in Nicaragua’s western region and 2) to establish the potential relation between the presence of pesticide residues in the water wells and the effects on the health of the population that lives in those locations.
The manipulation is more than evident because the CIRA report has nothing to do with sugarcane. It is related to findings linked to mass banana production in the zone.
Chinandega was an agricultural emporium for several decades where tons of chemicals were applied to control banana and cotton pests. Years after the boom of these crops ended, many former agricultural workers began reporting serious diseases.
But there’s still more.
In his eagerness to find a scientific endorsement that legitimizes his statement about the alleged causality link between CRI and sugar production, the representative of ANAIRC goes back to interview Dr. Jiménez and attempts to obtain the endorsement that he yearns so much. Nevertheless, the most he could obtain as an answer was: “although CRI is clearly a multifactor disease, we cannot exclude that it is related to work in the sugar mills”.
As lawyers say, the confession of the parties shifts the burden of proof. Does this have any relationship with the ANAIRC campaign where it is categorically and emphatically stated that it has already been proven so no study is needed, that CRI is unquestionably caused by sugarcane agricultural practices, particularly those of the San Antonio sugar mill, and thus the money demanded by the organization should be granted?
Now then, the man does not give up and persists in going back to the research by Dr. Torres, providing some statistics contained in this study. To quote him: “the results were not homogenous at the community level and revealed a greater incidence of CRI in the mining sector with 37%, as well as agriculture and coffee with 32% and 14%, respectively…”.
On the other hand, CRI has been detected in different occupational groups: cane cutters, miners, banana workers, stevedores and even preschool children. In other words, it does not affect just one specific labor group.
He talks here about miners, coffee growers and agriculture in general. What does this have to do with ANAIRC´s campaign that CRI is caused by the sugarcane of the San Antonio sugar mill?
Let’s look carefully.
As concerns the San Antonio sugar mill, former workers affected by CRI were temporary workers who also performed other types of agricultural activities. Many of them only worked during the harvest season and stopped working for the Company many years ago.
On the other hand, the statement contained in the article that Nicaragua Sugar never mentions the study of Dr. Torres, is not true either. The physicians who work for this company have mentioned it and have indicated that it is one of the research studies that must be known about this health issue.
These statistics appear in the Dr. Torres’s research associated to this other: “However, the community of Isla in Chichigalpa, where the main work activity is sugarcane, the prevalence of CRI is the highest, reaching 41%...” Bingo! The intrepid publicist finally got what he wanted. Although the first statistics are irrelevant for his purpose, the second statistic is the one “that counts” because it serves him as a screen for what he needed.
What the busy reporter does not say is that CRI is present in several zones of the country, including territories where sugar production does not exist and, in the west of the country, the disease rate is higher in Leon than in Chinandega. Even though Leon is not a sugar-producing department, the largest number of patients is reported in the municipality of Larreynaga, where cane cultivation does not exist.
Going back to the tireless narrator, we find him leaving the academia in the following paragraph and entering the detective field like Sherlock Holmes. Let´s find out what he tells us:
“According to a document in the possession of ANAIRC, signed by Marino Castrillo, Director of Human Resources at the San Antonio sugar mill, exhaustive water analyses were made in the San Antonio sugar mill, which showed that the water is heavily contaminated with agro-toxic chemicals and relating this presence to the CRI disease…”
He omits to mention that the referenced document was an outright falsification, for which reason Dr. Castrillo filed a criminal complaint in the Sole Local Court of Chichigalpa in 2008. It is a powerful attention grabber that ANAIRC uses this falsification object of a criminal proceeding in its campaign against Nicaragua Sugar.
But where will this modern version of Caupolican take us now? Surprise! In his obsessive thinking about the Pellas Group and NSEL, he introduces Mrs. Yanirée Alvarez, indicating that she was a member at a given time of the social movement of Leon, and quotes her as saying that Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited tried to purchase 1,500 additional hectares of land to expand cane production “without taking into account that cane cultivation requires the extraction of large amounts of water… which is already seriously affecting water reserves of the population in the rural zones…”
The purchase of land by any company engaged in agricultural production is a normal activity that nobody in his right mind can question. In the case of Nicaragua Sugar, these purchases have been made pursuant to the laws, paying market prices based on supply and demand.
Insofar as that cane production would be detrimental for water availability in the zone, it is necessary to point out that the San Antonio sugar mill has abundant water sources and manages them in a sustainable manner. Water is obtained from 116 wells, 57 river and channel intakes, and 16 diversion dams along the different rivers that cross the sugar mill. Nicaragua Sugar has the necessary permits for the drilling of wells and intakes from rivers, channels and dams issued by the relevant authorities.
It has been estimated that available volume in the hydrologic water basin that supplies ISA and its surroundings is 309 million cubic meters. According to the irrigation use of this watershed, total annual consumption is estimated at 100 million cubic meters, of which 25% percolates through the soil and eventually returns to the aquifer as recharge and the remaining 75% is easily covered by annual precipitations in the zone between the months of May and November, averaging 70 inches per year.
We have an indicator for this in the standards for well measurements performed for over 40 years at ISA, which indicators, such as static level and dynamic level, remain without great variations.
In 1998 and 2000 , hydrological and hydro-geological studies on water availability, extraction and safe yields were carried out in the area of the sugar mill and Chinandega-Leon-Nagarote watershed. The results of both studies show that the San Antonio sugar mill makes adequate use of water resources.
Since the article seeks to be exhaustive, the audacious conjurer later refers to renewable energy and again quotes Mrs. Alvarez, saying that cane cultivation would affect the environment to benefit “only a privileged group of businessmen”, as opposed to the potentials of geothermal, wind and solar energy.
How far-fetched!
In the San Antonio sugar mill, sugarcane bagasse is used to generate electricity, instead of being discarded. Co-generation capacity is 60 MW per hour, which allows for eliminating the use of bunker and providing 7% of Nicaragua’s power consumption during the harvest. It is a clean and cheap energy source. Since bunker is not consumed, it is estimated that over 95 thousand tons of greenhouse gases are reduced per year.
After the harvest, in the months of May through July, 17 MW of electricity are produced per hour, of which 12 MW are sold to the national interconnection system. This clean energy is generated with eucalyptus chips originating from the nursery of the San Antonio sugar mill, where 800 thousand plants are produced each year and renovated in 7,650 acres. To date, more than 6 million trees have been planted.
In his relentless effort to find faults attributable to Nicaragua Sugar, the columnist in question passes to talk with a painstaking air about deforestation caused by cane production.
Let’s analyze this also.
Nicaragua Sugar promotes the planting of native species each year as a way of contributing to the recovery and protection of water sources, the preservation of biological wildlife corridors, forest fire protection and natural regeneration. This reforestation is carried out along the banks of different rivers in the municipalities of Chichigalpa, Quezalguaque, Posoltega, Leon and Chinandega. Some reforestation activities are carried out with students, municipal governments, civil society and government institutions, with the objective of involving all the population in the protection of the environment.
The nursery at the San Antonio sugar mill produces 50,000 native tree species each year, such as kapok, strawberry tree, cedar, mahogany, guanacaste and oak, which are used for reforestation. In 2006 and 2007, for example, 53,500 different species were planted to reforest more than 356 acres of river banks. In 2008, 45,000 new trees were planted in 365 acres along the banks of diverse rivers in Leon and Chinandega.
But there´s still more. The officious spokesman of ANAIRC goes back to the trite theme of Law 456 that recognizes CRI as a professional disease in Nicaragua.
Any person with some knowledge about Nicaraguan legislation knows that this recognition does not establish a causality link between a specific productive activity and CRI. It is known and has been stated on numerous occasions that a medical assessment committee exists.
If the spokesperson were right, ANAIRC would have solved the problem and would have obtained all the money it has persistently sought for several years.
In relation to the statements of the INSS Director, which are taken out of context, the official position of the Government of Nicaragua is not known. As far as raising the percentage that farmers pay to the INSS on account of occupational risks from 1 to 5%, the idea is so preposterous that it never prospered.
Unfortunately never satisfied, ANAIRC´s skilled swordsman meddles with ASOCHIVIDA, Nicaragua´s most representative organization of kidney patients, with which NSEL has maintained for more than one year a very positive dialogue on the CRI problem that affects the members of this association.
ASOCHIVIDA is not at all like ANAIRC. While the first tries to find a solution to the problem, the latter, entrenched in its unjustified money demands, has self-excluded itself from being part of the solution. For that reason and that reason only, it is so isolated in Nicaragua.
ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL agreed that an international, impartial and prestigious organization would conduct a study to determine the causes of CRI in the west of Nicaragua.
After an exhaustive process that involved 9 public agencies, 22 U.S. and European universities and 5 private consulting firms, Boston University was chosen to conduct the study.
The final results of the study will provide important knowledge on the causes of this disease in the west of Nicaragua, define potential liabilities, if any, and articulate prevention and response strategies.
Nicaragua Sugar, faithful to its social responsibility tradition and as an expression of support to the community, has offered its solidarity to the people in the nearby communities who suffer chronic renal insufficiency.
Between 2000 and 2004 it delivered humanitarian and economic aid in the amount of approximately two million dollars to over 1,400 people affected by CRI and currently provides nutritional support to 1,800 families that are members of ASOCHIVIDA and medical assistance to the patients consisting of medicines, equipment and inputs for the Chichigalpa Health Center.
In the limits of disinformation and ready for action, the distinguished essayist moves to the financial terrain and says that Nicaragua Sugar “requested a $25 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to purchase 1,500 hectares of land to expand cane cultivation…” And he then adds that “to accede to a loan from IDB, no judicial causes of action can be pending. Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited has administrative and judicial causes of action pending…”
It is really sad that he makes no effort to investigate his information. For that reason, among other things, the sponsors of ANAIRC lack credibility.
Even though it is not a crime to apply for a loan, Nicaragua Sugar has never applied or plans to apply for a loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). If ANAIRC´s apologist has doubts, he can easily confirm this information with IDB.
As concerns the judicial causes of action, some persons did file complaints in this regard, but all of them were dismissed by the courts of justice in separate judgments.
Finally, our illustrious character and the brain behind ANAIRC´s campaign, affirms that ISA has 144 thousand manzanas of land, when any minimally informed person knows that the San Antonio sugar mill owns approximately 19,000 manzanas of land. If the detractor of Nicaragua Sugar wants to verify this through independent sources, the only thing he has to do, which is not very complicated, is to visit the respective offices of the State of Nicaragua where this information can be confirmed.
According to Goebbels, the famous Nazi Minister of Propaganda, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
Maybe this is the source of inspiration of those developing this campaign.
viernes, 26 de marzo de 2010
Responsabilidad Social de Nicaragua Sugar (Grupo Pellas): Reconocimiento a Ingenio San Antonio de parte de Comunidad Indígena de Sutiaba
COMUNIDAD INDÍGENA DE SUTIABA
León 19 de marzo de 2010
Año de la solidaridad
Dr. Álvaro Bermúdez
Director Administrativo
Ingenio San Antonio
Sus manos…
Reciba cordiales saludos y deseos de mucho bienestar por parte de la Junta Directiva de la comunidad indígena de Sutiaba.
El motivo de la presente es para agradecerle de manera formal todas las actividades y apoyo que se han realizado conjuntamente con el Ingenio San Antonio, institución que ha sido representada ante nuestras instancias por el Lic. Norman Meza, Gerente de Servicios Generales, ya que a lo largo de todo este tiempo nos ha brindado todo tipo de apoyo solicitado dentro de los cuales están: entrega de mochilas, entrega de juguetes, servicios de transporte y alimentación en todas las actividades realizadas por la Comunidad Indígena de Sutiaba, apoyo a las ligas deportivas pertenecientes a la Comunidad de Sutiaba y apoyo médico entre otros beneficios.
Sin más a que hacer referencia me suscribo, deseándole el mayor de los éxitos en sus labores.
Ernesto Fidel Bervis Roque
Presidente
Comunidad Indígena de Sutiaba
Francisco S. Muñoz Hernández
Secretario
Comunidad Indígena de Sutiaba
Responsabilidad Social de Nicaragua Sugar (Grupo Pellas): Reconocimiento a Ingenio San Antonio de parte de la Alcaldía de Posoltega
Alcaldía Municipal de Posoltega
Departamento de Chinandega
Marzo 19 de 2010
DR. ÁLVARO BERMÚDEZ CASTILLO
Ingenio San Antonio
Su Despacho
Estimado Doctor:
En esta oportunidad me dirijo a usted para hacer de su conocimiento que la municipalidad de Posoltega ha estado trabajando en coordinación con la dirección de Servicios Generales del ISA dirigida por el Lic. Norman Meza Garrido, recibiendo beneficios en Deportes, Alimentación, Salud, Reforestación, Infraestructura, etc.
Demás está manifestarle que todos los beneficios aquí recibidos han venido a palear en gran manera muchos problemas que como Gobierno Municipal se nos han presentado y que por falta de medios económicos se nos ha hecho imposible resolver, por lo que por toda la ayuda recibida expresamos nuestro sincero agradecimiento; así como también manifestamos el deseo que esta coordinación y comunicación entre ambas instituciones continúe a través de los servicios que recíprocamente podamos brindarnos.
Sin otro particular a que hacer referencia, sólo me resta agradecer una vez más todas las consideraciones que hemos sido objeto.
GERARDO RAMÓN GARCÍA CASTELLÓN
Alcalde de Posoltega
miércoles, 10 de marzo de 2010
DIALOGUE BETWEEN NICARAGUA SUGAR, GRUPO PELLAS AND ASOCHIVIDA REGARDING CKD
Report from the Compliance Advisor and Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank: Dialogue process between the San Antonio Sugar Mill and ASOCHIVIDA advances.
In November 2008, Nicaragua Sugar Estates Ltd. (NSEL) and the Chichigalpa Association for Life (ASOCHIVIDA) agreed to participate in a dialogue process on chronic kidney disease (CKD), which was convened by the World Bank’s Compliance Advisor and Ombudsman (CAO) following a complaint filed by ASOCHIVIDA and other community members.
In accordance with the guidelines established in the Framework Agreement for Dialogue proposed by the CAO on November 20, 2008, to which NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA acceded, the dialogue aims to identify alternative solutions to the CKD issue. Since February 2009, seven dialogue tables have been held, in which the good will of NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA has prevailed to move towards concrete solutions on two fundamental topics:
(a) Identifying and addressing the causes of CKD
In the framework agreement, the parties agreed to jointly define the criteria and principles for conducting a study to identify the causes of CKD, the results of which would be transparent and trustworthy for everyone and would provide feasible solutions. As a result of the dialogue, it is expected that the parties will agree on the criteria and guiding principles of the study and will accept the results and alternative solutions to the problem.
Achievements thus far are as follows:
• Boston University was selected by both parties to conduct the study, as the institution that deserves the confidence of NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA. The selection process was carried out as follows:
(i) Following a first meeting in which ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL discussed the criteria and guiding principles for the study, the CAO drafted the Terms of Reference for selecting the scientific team, which were widely circulated in English and Spanish;
(ii) The CAO also agreed on a timetable with NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA and the deadline for submission of proposals was Friday 3 April 2009;
(iii) The CAO also drafted and shared with NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA a methodology proposal for qualifying the proposals based on these criteria and a scoring system;
(iv) The CAO invited 9 public agencies, 22 universities in the United States and Europe, and 5 private consulting firms to submit proposals for the study. It also published a notice on its website;
(v) The CAO received nine proposals on April 3, 2009, four from prestigious universities and five from private consulting firms. As of that date, the CAO began a process to review the proposals based on the criteria and scoring matrix that had been shared with the participants of the dialogue table.
(vi) The CAO held separate preparatory meetings with the participants to analyze the proposals and to reflect before a decision was made; and
(vii) Finally, during a dialogue session in April 2009, the dialogue participants selected a team from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) to conduct the study.
• In December 2009, BUSPH completed a preliminary study and proposed next steps for conducting a comprehensive study on the causes of CKD. To carry out this phase of the study in a serious and rigorous manner, the following activities were undertaken:
(i) The BUSPH reviewed all available literature and documentation on CKD in Nicaragua and in other parts of the world;
(ii) The BUSPH made a fact-finding trip to Nicaragua to interview people and organizations concerned with the problem of chronic renal failure.
(iii) The BUSPH team returned to Nicaragua to present to ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL their first findings and hypotheses on the problem of the IRC and to perform an initial proposal on how should undertake the comprehensive study. On this occasion, the BUSPH heard questions, criticism and reviews of both organizations.
(iv) The BUSPH team incorporated comments from ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL in their report and sent them to other experts in the United States and Nicaragua for a peer review. Experts emphasized the importance of this study and made recommendations which were taken into account by the BUSPH team.
(v) At the beginning of December, the CAO convened a new meeting in which Boston University presented the final report and made a proposal to conduct a comprehensive study.
(vi) At the end of January, a new meeting adopted the terms of reference so Boston University leads the activities under the first full year.
ASOCHIVIDA, NSEL, and CAO would like this process to move forward faster.
However, in order for a scientific study to be considered serious, it is necessary to complete all the steps that have been detailed. The CAO will be in charge of managing the funds and looking for other possible sources of funding.
(b) Options to support local communities where there is a prevalence of CKD.
On the basis of good will and without entailing any legal obligation, the parties agreed to find ways to alleviate the situation of the families affected by CKD by involving local resources and state institutions.
Among the main achievements, NSEL committed to provide short-term assistance to alleviate the situation of families affected by CKD as follows:
• Provision of food supplies for a period of two years with an annual cost of US$ 300,000 for 1,153 households that are members of ASOCHIVIDA. This amount could be extended to US$ 500,000 per year for 1,800 households. Food supplies will be purchased at wholesale prices and NSEL can also deliver food supplies for that same amount of money through an intermediary organization. So far, four deliveries have been made. To make this possible, several activities were undertaken:
(i) ASOCHIVIDA was responsible for gathering all the necessary documents so that its members may receive this benefit. This task was carried out very efficiently and within a short period of time.
(ii) NSEL agreed with the American Nicaraguan Foundation (ANF) on the operating mechanisms that will be used to distribute food provisions;
(iii) ASOCHIVIDA turned over all the documents to the San Antonio Sugar Mill for approval and distributed the requisite food coupons quickly and efficiently; and
(iv) The dialogue table met to address the difficulties that emerged during the implementation of the food aid program in relation to several beneficiaries. Little by little, this benefit has reached 1,800 families.
• Provision of backpacks for 1,545 school children less than 18 years old. The delivery began in mid-January 2010 in two phases: in the first delivery, backpacks were distributed, and in a second delivery, notebooks and pencils.
• Health care assistance: NSEL committed to:
(i) Purchase and deliver an ultrasound machine for the Chichigalpa health center and to support the health center by hiring a radiologist to operate the ultrasound equipment.
This commitment has been already achieved and the health center has the equipment and radiologist. ASOCHIVIDA has asked to increase the frequency of care provided by the radiologist.
(ii) To complement the provision of medicines and reagents in the health center. This still needs to be discussed in further detail with MINSA and INSS representatives in order to ensure that the additional provision of medicines and reagents reaches the recipients. The CAO, ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL have held several meetings with the representatives of these institutions and work is underway to find a solution.
(iii) To provide two hemodialysis machines to the health center. This has not yet been completed and, to a large extent, will depend on the number of people who are willing to undergo this treatment. For this purpose, the CAO is trying to organize a series of workshops for ASOCHIVIDA members in relation to the disease and treatment options.
In addition, ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL are talking with MINSA (Minister of Health) and INSS (Social Security Institute) to improve health services that are provided to CKD patients in the area.
• Beyond this short-term assistance, NSEL has expressed its willingness to support families affected by CKD by giving them access to sources of income or employment that may be sustainable over time and that do not involve any indebtedness. NSEL is ready to begin providing this support through the San Antonio Foundation.
As an example of the projects that could be implemented, NSEL has suggested establishing a textile factory in Chichigalpa that could be owned by former workers with CKD and which would provide families with work uniforms. The CAO has accepted the request of NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA to include in the process an expert in new productive enterprises to advise ASOCHIVIDA in this process. To select this expert, the CAO carried out an open bid process and the finalists were interviewed by the Board of ASOCHIVIDA, which decided to hire Rogerio Cuadra. Mr. Cuadra’s work began on January 4 and is expected that by the end of March he will design, together with ASOCHIVIDA members, several projects to be funded by the San Antonio Foundation.
Finally, it is worth noting that this dialogue process has helped to gradually build a bridge of communication between ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL that is beginning to bear fruit in finding solutions to the CKD problem. It is important to note the efforts carried out by representatives of both organizations to engage in a productive and respectful dialogue. ASOCHIVIDA leaders have successfully reflected the most important needs of their members at the dialogue table and have reported back the results to the assembly. NSEL representatives have shown that the company is genuinely interested in finding out the causes of CKD and that it is willing to collaborate actively in order to alleviate the situation of the families. It is on this basis that the process is solidly moving forward.
In November 2008, Nicaragua Sugar Estates Ltd. (NSEL) and the Chichigalpa Association for Life (ASOCHIVIDA) agreed to participate in a dialogue process on chronic kidney disease (CKD), which was convened by the World Bank’s Compliance Advisor and Ombudsman (CAO) following a complaint filed by ASOCHIVIDA and other community members.
In accordance with the guidelines established in the Framework Agreement for Dialogue proposed by the CAO on November 20, 2008, to which NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA acceded, the dialogue aims to identify alternative solutions to the CKD issue. Since February 2009, seven dialogue tables have been held, in which the good will of NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA has prevailed to move towards concrete solutions on two fundamental topics:
(a) Identifying and addressing the causes of CKD
In the framework agreement, the parties agreed to jointly define the criteria and principles for conducting a study to identify the causes of CKD, the results of which would be transparent and trustworthy for everyone and would provide feasible solutions. As a result of the dialogue, it is expected that the parties will agree on the criteria and guiding principles of the study and will accept the results and alternative solutions to the problem.
Achievements thus far are as follows:
• Boston University was selected by both parties to conduct the study, as the institution that deserves the confidence of NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA. The selection process was carried out as follows:
(i) Following a first meeting in which ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL discussed the criteria and guiding principles for the study, the CAO drafted the Terms of Reference for selecting the scientific team, which were widely circulated in English and Spanish;
(ii) The CAO also agreed on a timetable with NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA and the deadline for submission of proposals was Friday 3 April 2009;
(iii) The CAO also drafted and shared with NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA a methodology proposal for qualifying the proposals based on these criteria and a scoring system;
(iv) The CAO invited 9 public agencies, 22 universities in the United States and Europe, and 5 private consulting firms to submit proposals for the study. It also published a notice on its website;
(v) The CAO received nine proposals on April 3, 2009, four from prestigious universities and five from private consulting firms. As of that date, the CAO began a process to review the proposals based on the criteria and scoring matrix that had been shared with the participants of the dialogue table.
(vi) The CAO held separate preparatory meetings with the participants to analyze the proposals and to reflect before a decision was made; and
(vii) Finally, during a dialogue session in April 2009, the dialogue participants selected a team from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) to conduct the study.
• In December 2009, BUSPH completed a preliminary study and proposed next steps for conducting a comprehensive study on the causes of CKD. To carry out this phase of the study in a serious and rigorous manner, the following activities were undertaken:
(i) The BUSPH reviewed all available literature and documentation on CKD in Nicaragua and in other parts of the world;
(ii) The BUSPH made a fact-finding trip to Nicaragua to interview people and organizations concerned with the problem of chronic renal failure.
(iii) The BUSPH team returned to Nicaragua to present to ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL their first findings and hypotheses on the problem of the IRC and to perform an initial proposal on how should undertake the comprehensive study. On this occasion, the BUSPH heard questions, criticism and reviews of both organizations.
(iv) The BUSPH team incorporated comments from ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL in their report and sent them to other experts in the United States and Nicaragua for a peer review. Experts emphasized the importance of this study and made recommendations which were taken into account by the BUSPH team.
(v) At the beginning of December, the CAO convened a new meeting in which Boston University presented the final report and made a proposal to conduct a comprehensive study.
(vi) At the end of January, a new meeting adopted the terms of reference so Boston University leads the activities under the first full year.
ASOCHIVIDA, NSEL, and CAO would like this process to move forward faster.
However, in order for a scientific study to be considered serious, it is necessary to complete all the steps that have been detailed. The CAO will be in charge of managing the funds and looking for other possible sources of funding.
(b) Options to support local communities where there is a prevalence of CKD.
On the basis of good will and without entailing any legal obligation, the parties agreed to find ways to alleviate the situation of the families affected by CKD by involving local resources and state institutions.
Among the main achievements, NSEL committed to provide short-term assistance to alleviate the situation of families affected by CKD as follows:
• Provision of food supplies for a period of two years with an annual cost of US$ 300,000 for 1,153 households that are members of ASOCHIVIDA. This amount could be extended to US$ 500,000 per year for 1,800 households. Food supplies will be purchased at wholesale prices and NSEL can also deliver food supplies for that same amount of money through an intermediary organization. So far, four deliveries have been made. To make this possible, several activities were undertaken:
(i) ASOCHIVIDA was responsible for gathering all the necessary documents so that its members may receive this benefit. This task was carried out very efficiently and within a short period of time.
(ii) NSEL agreed with the American Nicaraguan Foundation (ANF) on the operating mechanisms that will be used to distribute food provisions;
(iii) ASOCHIVIDA turned over all the documents to the San Antonio Sugar Mill for approval and distributed the requisite food coupons quickly and efficiently; and
(iv) The dialogue table met to address the difficulties that emerged during the implementation of the food aid program in relation to several beneficiaries. Little by little, this benefit has reached 1,800 families.
• Provision of backpacks for 1,545 school children less than 18 years old. The delivery began in mid-January 2010 in two phases: in the first delivery, backpacks were distributed, and in a second delivery, notebooks and pencils.
• Health care assistance: NSEL committed to:
(i) Purchase and deliver an ultrasound machine for the Chichigalpa health center and to support the health center by hiring a radiologist to operate the ultrasound equipment.
This commitment has been already achieved and the health center has the equipment and radiologist. ASOCHIVIDA has asked to increase the frequency of care provided by the radiologist.
(ii) To complement the provision of medicines and reagents in the health center. This still needs to be discussed in further detail with MINSA and INSS representatives in order to ensure that the additional provision of medicines and reagents reaches the recipients. The CAO, ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL have held several meetings with the representatives of these institutions and work is underway to find a solution.
(iii) To provide two hemodialysis machines to the health center. This has not yet been completed and, to a large extent, will depend on the number of people who are willing to undergo this treatment. For this purpose, the CAO is trying to organize a series of workshops for ASOCHIVIDA members in relation to the disease and treatment options.
In addition, ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL are talking with MINSA (Minister of Health) and INSS (Social Security Institute) to improve health services that are provided to CKD patients in the area.
• Beyond this short-term assistance, NSEL has expressed its willingness to support families affected by CKD by giving them access to sources of income or employment that may be sustainable over time and that do not involve any indebtedness. NSEL is ready to begin providing this support through the San Antonio Foundation.
As an example of the projects that could be implemented, NSEL has suggested establishing a textile factory in Chichigalpa that could be owned by former workers with CKD and which would provide families with work uniforms. The CAO has accepted the request of NSEL and ASOCHIVIDA to include in the process an expert in new productive enterprises to advise ASOCHIVIDA in this process. To select this expert, the CAO carried out an open bid process and the finalists were interviewed by the Board of ASOCHIVIDA, which decided to hire Rogerio Cuadra. Mr. Cuadra’s work began on January 4 and is expected that by the end of March he will design, together with ASOCHIVIDA members, several projects to be funded by the San Antonio Foundation.
Finally, it is worth noting that this dialogue process has helped to gradually build a bridge of communication between ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL that is beginning to bear fruit in finding solutions to the CKD problem. It is important to note the efforts carried out by representatives of both organizations to engage in a productive and respectful dialogue. ASOCHIVIDA leaders have successfully reflected the most important needs of their members at the dialogue table and have reported back the results to the assembly. NSEL representatives have shown that the company is genuinely interested in finding out the causes of CKD and that it is willing to collaborate actively in order to alleviate the situation of the families. It is on this basis that the process is solidly moving forward.
With regard to ANAIRC’s campaign against Nicaragua Sugar and the boycott against Flor de Caña and Grupo Pellas
To this date, there is no recognized formal scientific study that establishes a relationship of causality between sugarcane cultural practices and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Nonetheless, ANAIRC persists in its defamation campaign against Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited (NSEL) and Grupo Pellas, with the objective of demanding compensation without submitting any evidence to support its claims.
All trade unions that are present in the San Antonio sugar mill, regardless of their political or ideological leanings, have rejected ANAIRC’s campaign and have made public statements and demonstrations where thousands of workers have participated.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global public health problem. In Nicaragua, it affects several areas throughout the country, especially in the west region, including territories with no sugarcane production.
The data on sickness and death rates that ANAIRC talks about has not been corroborated by any public or private Nicaraguan institution.
In the case of the San Antonio sugar mill, former workers affected by CKD were temporary workers, who also engaged in other types of agricultural activities. Many of them only worked during some harvest seasons and stopped working for the company several years ago.
In the country’s west region, CKD cases have been detected in different occupational groups, including sugarcane workers, miners, banana workers, stevedores and even school children.
While ILO has not classified chronic kidney disease as an occupational disease, its recognition as such by our legislation does not mean that it is caused by sugarcane activity. Each case must be assessed by a medical committee. CKD is commonly caused by high blood pressure and diabetes, which are not linked in any way to sugarcane cultivation.
ASOCHIVIDA, the organization that represents most of the renal patients, and NSEL have been holding for over a year a positive dialogue on chronic kidney disease and on the best way to help the sick.
ASOCHIVIDA and NSEL agreed that an impartial and prestigious international institution would conduct a study to determine the causes of CKD in Nicaragua’s west region.
After a comprehensive process involving 9 public agencies, 22 U.S. and European universities and 5 private consulting firms, Boston University was chosen to conduct the study.
The final results of the study will provide important knowledge about the causes of this disease in the west region, and the best way to articulate strategies for prevention and response.
In keeping with its corporate social responsibility, Nicaragua Sugar has provided support and solidarity to the people in the nearby communities who have been affected by CKD.
Between 2000 and 2004, Nicaragua Sugar delivered humanitarian and economic aid totally approximately $2 million to more than 1,400 CKD patients who worked for the company in the past.
Nicaragua Sugar currently provides food aid to 1,800 families that are members of ASOCHIVIDA, as well as medical assistance to the Chichigalpa health center for CKD patients, consisting of medical drugs, equipment and supplies.
ANAIRC has turned down various invitations to participate with ASOCHIVIDA, Nicaragua Sugar, NGOs and health institutions in the west region in the joint actions that are being promoted to benefit people who have been affected by this disease.
It is not with misinformation and defamation campaigns that a solution is found to the problems.
Carlos Pellas Chamorro: Innovación y Compromiso
“Nuestro grupo ha sorteado exitosamente todo tipo de crisis. Parte del secreto ha sido mantener los mismos principios éticos y valores”, aseguró Carlos Pellas Chamorro.
Carlos Pellas, destacado empresario nicaragüense, asumió la presidencia de la junta directiva del Grupo Pellas tres décadas atrás, a inicios del decenio de los 80, la época más convulsa y compleja para la región y sus empresarios, ya que se vio inmersa en sangrientos y prolongados conflictos bélicos.
Bajo su liderazgo corporativo, Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited, propietaria del ingenio San Antonio, se transformó en un complejo agro energético que produce azúcar, energía y etanol. Hoy, este ingenio fundado 120 años atrás, es líder en la exportación de etanol de Centroamérica.
Pero su toque innovador y su compromiso de responsabilidad social se observa también en más de 15 empresas que son parte del grupo corporativo Pellas. En Compañía Licorera, donde se produce el famoso y premiado Ron Flor de Caña, funciona desde el 2003 un biodigestor cuyo resultado final es evitar una emisión anual de más de 120.000 toneladas de dióxido de carbono, una hazaña medio ambiental, ya que equivale a que cerca de 21.818 vehículos salgan de circulación anualmente.
En términos corporativos, a su vez, el liderazgo de Carlos Pellas Chamorro se traduce en una acelerada y exitosa expansión de los negocios en Nicaragua, en Centroamérica y en países de América del Sur, en el sector financiero, real estate, tarjetas de crédito, agropecuario y telecomunicaciones, entre otros. Antes de la crisis financiera mundial, se estimaba que el Grupo Corporativo Pellas era una fuente de empleo directo para más de 125.000 personas en toda Centroamérica y representaba US$8.000 millones en activos.
A la par de los negocios, Carlos Pellas Chamorro, sobreviviente de uno de los más gravea accidentes aéreos en la región junto a su esposa, Vivian, viene emprendiendo un sobresaliente programa de responsabilidad corporativa que beneficia a colaboradores, comunidades donde actúa el Grupo Pellas, al medio ambiente y a la sociedad en general.
Carlos Pellas Chamorro, quien ha confesado a E&N en varias oportunidades que su mayor legado es social, ha sido destacado por tercera ocasión consecutiva entre los Empresarios Más Admirados de Centroamérica, de acuerdo con el sondeo anual de Estrategia & Negocios entre hombres y mujeres de negocios de la región.
En esta entrevista concedida vía correo electrónico, Carlos Pellas Chamorro hace un análisis oportuno, a profundidad, de la crisis mundial, los efectos en nuestros países y sociedades y sobre el papel que debe jugar el empresariado regional junto a los gobiernos y la sociedad civil.
¿Qué enseñanza le dejó a usted como hombre de empresa las circunstancias que haya tenido que enfrentar?
Nuestro grupo ha sorteado exitosamente todo tipo de crisis. Parte del secreto ha sido mantener los mismos principios éticos y valores compartidos en toda la organización y al mismo tiempo adaptarse a tiempos cambiantes. Es un balance no siempre fácil pero absolutamente necesario.
¿Cuáles son las tres (o más) estrategias centrales que ha adoptado en su compañía a raíz de la crisis, para enfrentar el impacto?, ¿Qué tipo de resultados consiguió con ellas?
Desde mucho antes de esta última crisis hemos procurado mantener excelencia de clase mundial en todo lo que hacemos, promoviendo la innovación continua, el liderazgo de mercado y la responsabilidad social corporativa. Hemos buscado compaginar la solidez financiera con la responsabilidad con nuestros colaboradores y la responsabilidad social y ambiental con nuestras comunidades. Obviamente que la crisis nos afectó en algunos negocios pero salimos de ella mucho mejor que empresas líderes en otros países. El oportunismo a la larga es muy costoso.
¿Cómo visualiza el año que comienza para el grupo empresarial y los sectores en los que participa?
Decía el economista John Keynes que sus colegas hacen pronósticos para hacer quedar bien a los astrólogos. Obviamente que la situación se vislumbra mejor que hace un año pero existen todavía muchos problemas no resueltos tanto en la región como a escala mundial.
¿Hacia dónde enfocará este año las principales estrategias de su negocio: ampliar mercados, invertir en tecnología, incorporar innovaciones, invertir en recursos humanos, mejorar la estructura financiera, etc?
No esperamos cambios en nuestra estrategia general aunque las tácticas varíen de sector a sector. La constante innovación es un elemento central en nuestra cultura y forzosamente nos lleva a cuestionar nuestras operaciones y probar nuevos modelos aunque nunca comprometiendo nuestros valores centrales. Obviamente la calidad de los recursos humanos de una empresa y el apoyo que reciban para experimentar es crucial. El presidente de Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, decía que cuando introdujo el Mac sus competidores gastaban más de cien veces en investigación pero sus estructuras bloqueaban el ingenio. Desarrollar una cultura innovadora es un reto que toma tiempo pero ayuda a enfrentar cualquier situación.
¿Cómo observa el entorno económico y político de su país y los de la región donde participan sus empresas?, ¿se podría esperar un 2010 con crecimiento, con mayor volumen de negocios y generación de empleo?
Cada país y sector tendrán su propia dinámica pero siempre habrá muchas oportunidades. Alguien dijo que muchos no ven las oportunidades porque vienen disfrazadas de trabajo.
Un dato generalizado este año en toda la región ha sido el anuncio de reformas fiscales, con las que cada gobierno busca estabilizar las cuentas del Estado: ¿qué piensa al respecto?, ¿considera que puede ayudar a una mayor estabilidad macroeconómica?, ¿impactará en el desarrollo de sus negocios y en las utilidades?
Las reglas del juego claras son importantes para un buen clima de negocios. El problema surge cuando estas reglas se cambian con demasiada frecuencia por la incertidumbre que generan. En algunos países hemos visto sectores enteros paralizados por impuestos mal pensados que a veces han tenido que reformarse. Son tantas las reformas con reglamentos a veces contradictorios que a menudo nadie sabe cuál aplica. Los gobiernos debieran de tratar de consensuar de la mejor manera posible las reformas fiscales con el sector privado ya que sobre este recae la responsabilidad fundamental de la actividad económica y de la generación de empleos.
¿El empresariado se opone a pagar más impuestos o desconfía de la gestión que los gobiernos están haciendo de los recursos públicos? ¿Qué deberían hacer los gobiernos para hacer más eficiente la ejecución del gasto?
No creo que nadie disfrute de pagar impuestos pero con frecuencia el problema en nuestros países no es el monto de los impuestos como la complejidad de la estructura impositiva. Necesitamos un sistema impositivo mucho más sencillo y estable para atraer inversiones. Sé que en algunos países se está discutiendo el flat tax o impuesto único que ha dado buenos resultados primero en Estonia y ahora en la misma Rusia. Sin llegar a este extremo, hay mucho que admirar de un sistema bastante más simple que la telaraña impositiva que tenemos.
Cada vez está más arraigado en el acervo empresarial centroamericano el ejercicio de las políticas de responsabilidad empresarial. ¿Cree ud. que están bien encaminadas? ¿Qué se está haciendo todo lo que se pudiera?, ¿Qué están abordando todas las áreas que las RSE pueden y deben cubrir?
El tema de responsabilidad social corporativa es central para nuestro Grupo. El reto es integrar la RSC a nuestra estrategia de negocios para que sea un pilar y no una acción filantrópica intermitente. Nuestra estrategia incluye sostenibilidad financiera, responsabilidad con nuestros colaboradores y responsabilidad social ambiental. Tiene que ser una estrategia que ayude a mejorar la calidad de vida de nuestro personal, de sus familias y de nuestra comunidad. Queremos una estrategia que nos identifique no sólo como empresarios exitosos, sino como personas que han hecho una diferencia marcada y positiva en la sociedad.
El diálogo, el consenso y la concertación de intereses se volvieron parte de un camino imprescindible para las democracias de la región… ¿cómo podrían los empresarios participar de esta dinámica y contribuir a que se concreten?
El empresario por naturaleza es propenso al diálogo. Lo practica al interior de sus empresas a través de las mejoras en el clima organizacional, negociando los convenios colectivos con los sindicatos o estimulando la participación de los colaboradores para impulsar las prácticas de innovación.
En un ámbito más general, defendemos el principio de que es a través del diálogo y la negociación que se pueden y deben encontrar soluciones a los problemas planteados, sean estos de orden económico, político o social.
La construcción democrática en Centroamérica, que no ha sido fácil, ha exigido precisamente una enorme dosis de diálogo aún en circunstancias en que parecía imposible dado los antagonismos que se crean en el marco de conflictos armados.
Ahora bien, el camino democrático está lleno de escollos y siempre será necesario que haya diálogo entre los actores para poder resolverlos.
Los empresarios apostamos a eso y lo estimulamos por medio de nuestras relaciones con los liderazgos nacionales; dialogamos también con los gobiernos sobre asuntos de interés, no importándonos la ideología que tengan y si nos simpatizan o no. No nos involucramos directamente cuando son problemas que no se inscriben en el ámbito estricto de nuestras competencias.
En particular, el caso Honduras, y ahora probablemente lo que empieza a vivirse en Nicaragua, ha dado señales de que la democracia en la región aún tiene partes muy sensibles. ¿Los sistemas políticos de Centroamérica son fuente de preocupación para el empresariado?, ¿qué necesitan nuestras democracias para resolver las tensiones internas que se están haciendo evidentes? ¿Es un problema de liderazgos, de leyes, de moral?
La solución está en profundizar la consolidación institucional, lo que también incluye a los partidos políticos que a mi juicio deben modernizarse. Por supuesto las situaciones no son las mismas en todos los países ya que algunos van más adelante que otros, pero todavía queda mucho camino por recorrer.
¿Cree usted que los empresarios deberían entrar más abiertamente a participar de la actividad política partidaria?
Probablemente depende de las situaciones que se presenten cada país. Tenemos ejemplos recientes en América Latina de líderes empresariales que se han transformado en líderes políticos, tal es el caso de Ricardo Martinelli en Panamá o de Sebastián Piñeira, presidente electo de Chile.
No hay una receta en cuanto a esto si no que está ligado a vocaciones personales y a ventanas de oportunidad.
Se siente a gusto con las sociedades que tenemos en nuestros países?, ¿cómo sueña que deberían ser o hacia dónde deberían evolucionar para garantizar que sean sociedades sostenibles desde lo económico, político y ambiental?
Nunca podemos estar a gusto cuando existe tanta miseria, tanto daño ambiental, tanta corrupción y tanta inequidad. Como grupo empresarial podemos hacer nuestra parte pero resolver los problemas necesitará del concurso de todos.
¿Cuánto de participación de Estado y cuánto de mercado deberían tener estas sociedades para alcanzar un desarrollo sostenible?
Creo que es un falso debate discutir cuánto debe de ser la participación del Estado y cuanto la del mercado en nuestras sociedades. Ambos tienen roles importantes y diferenciados que no compiten entre sí.
El rol del Estado es como ente regulador y normativo a la vez que juega un papel importante para garantizar los equilibrios macroeconómicos y en materia de inversiones en infraestructura productiva y social. El papel del Estado como agente económico ya fue desvirtuado por la historia.
Walk The Talk
¿Cuáles son las experiencias empresariales-personales que han marcado su vida y sirvieron para construirlo como persona y como hombre de negocios?
Creo que como líderes lo más importante es walk the talk. Nuestro actuar debe ser consistente con nuestro predicar. Tanto mi esposa como yo estuvimos al borde de la muerte. Este evento marcó nuestras vidas y hemos logrado comprender que Dios nos dejó en este mundo para utilizar nuestros medios económicos no sólo para nuestro beneficio, sino también para el de la gente que nos rodea.
¿Cuáles son las principales ideas y pensamientos que ha ido construyendo a lo largo de su vida empresarial y profesional que desea legar como herencia a sus herederos, a sus colaboradores, a la sociedad de la que participa?
El culto a la excelencia, una cultura de innovación en las empresas del grupo y nuestras inversiones en RSE.
No me canso de repetir que tan importante como el éxito empresarial son las inversiones que estamos haciendo directamente y a través de aliados estratégicos, para transformar la sociedad y proteger el medioambiente. Esto último será nuestro verdadero legado a las generaciones futuras.
Estrategia y Negocios
http://www.estrategiaynegocios.net/revista/Default.aspx?option=331
Carlos Pellas, destacado empresario nicaragüense, asumió la presidencia de la junta directiva del Grupo Pellas tres décadas atrás, a inicios del decenio de los 80, la época más convulsa y compleja para la región y sus empresarios, ya que se vio inmersa en sangrientos y prolongados conflictos bélicos.
Bajo su liderazgo corporativo, Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited, propietaria del ingenio San Antonio, se transformó en un complejo agro energético que produce azúcar, energía y etanol. Hoy, este ingenio fundado 120 años atrás, es líder en la exportación de etanol de Centroamérica.
Pero su toque innovador y su compromiso de responsabilidad social se observa también en más de 15 empresas que son parte del grupo corporativo Pellas. En Compañía Licorera, donde se produce el famoso y premiado Ron Flor de Caña, funciona desde el 2003 un biodigestor cuyo resultado final es evitar una emisión anual de más de 120.000 toneladas de dióxido de carbono, una hazaña medio ambiental, ya que equivale a que cerca de 21.818 vehículos salgan de circulación anualmente.
En términos corporativos, a su vez, el liderazgo de Carlos Pellas Chamorro se traduce en una acelerada y exitosa expansión de los negocios en Nicaragua, en Centroamérica y en países de América del Sur, en el sector financiero, real estate, tarjetas de crédito, agropecuario y telecomunicaciones, entre otros. Antes de la crisis financiera mundial, se estimaba que el Grupo Corporativo Pellas era una fuente de empleo directo para más de 125.000 personas en toda Centroamérica y representaba US$8.000 millones en activos.
A la par de los negocios, Carlos Pellas Chamorro, sobreviviente de uno de los más gravea accidentes aéreos en la región junto a su esposa, Vivian, viene emprendiendo un sobresaliente programa de responsabilidad corporativa que beneficia a colaboradores, comunidades donde actúa el Grupo Pellas, al medio ambiente y a la sociedad en general.
Carlos Pellas Chamorro, quien ha confesado a E&N en varias oportunidades que su mayor legado es social, ha sido destacado por tercera ocasión consecutiva entre los Empresarios Más Admirados de Centroamérica, de acuerdo con el sondeo anual de Estrategia & Negocios entre hombres y mujeres de negocios de la región.
En esta entrevista concedida vía correo electrónico, Carlos Pellas Chamorro hace un análisis oportuno, a profundidad, de la crisis mundial, los efectos en nuestros países y sociedades y sobre el papel que debe jugar el empresariado regional junto a los gobiernos y la sociedad civil.
¿Qué enseñanza le dejó a usted como hombre de empresa las circunstancias que haya tenido que enfrentar?
Nuestro grupo ha sorteado exitosamente todo tipo de crisis. Parte del secreto ha sido mantener los mismos principios éticos y valores compartidos en toda la organización y al mismo tiempo adaptarse a tiempos cambiantes. Es un balance no siempre fácil pero absolutamente necesario.
¿Cuáles son las tres (o más) estrategias centrales que ha adoptado en su compañía a raíz de la crisis, para enfrentar el impacto?, ¿Qué tipo de resultados consiguió con ellas?
Desde mucho antes de esta última crisis hemos procurado mantener excelencia de clase mundial en todo lo que hacemos, promoviendo la innovación continua, el liderazgo de mercado y la responsabilidad social corporativa. Hemos buscado compaginar la solidez financiera con la responsabilidad con nuestros colaboradores y la responsabilidad social y ambiental con nuestras comunidades. Obviamente que la crisis nos afectó en algunos negocios pero salimos de ella mucho mejor que empresas líderes en otros países. El oportunismo a la larga es muy costoso.
¿Cómo visualiza el año que comienza para el grupo empresarial y los sectores en los que participa?
Decía el economista John Keynes que sus colegas hacen pronósticos para hacer quedar bien a los astrólogos. Obviamente que la situación se vislumbra mejor que hace un año pero existen todavía muchos problemas no resueltos tanto en la región como a escala mundial.
¿Hacia dónde enfocará este año las principales estrategias de su negocio: ampliar mercados, invertir en tecnología, incorporar innovaciones, invertir en recursos humanos, mejorar la estructura financiera, etc?
No esperamos cambios en nuestra estrategia general aunque las tácticas varíen de sector a sector. La constante innovación es un elemento central en nuestra cultura y forzosamente nos lleva a cuestionar nuestras operaciones y probar nuevos modelos aunque nunca comprometiendo nuestros valores centrales. Obviamente la calidad de los recursos humanos de una empresa y el apoyo que reciban para experimentar es crucial. El presidente de Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, decía que cuando introdujo el Mac sus competidores gastaban más de cien veces en investigación pero sus estructuras bloqueaban el ingenio. Desarrollar una cultura innovadora es un reto que toma tiempo pero ayuda a enfrentar cualquier situación.
¿Cómo observa el entorno económico y político de su país y los de la región donde participan sus empresas?, ¿se podría esperar un 2010 con crecimiento, con mayor volumen de negocios y generación de empleo?
Cada país y sector tendrán su propia dinámica pero siempre habrá muchas oportunidades. Alguien dijo que muchos no ven las oportunidades porque vienen disfrazadas de trabajo.
Un dato generalizado este año en toda la región ha sido el anuncio de reformas fiscales, con las que cada gobierno busca estabilizar las cuentas del Estado: ¿qué piensa al respecto?, ¿considera que puede ayudar a una mayor estabilidad macroeconómica?, ¿impactará en el desarrollo de sus negocios y en las utilidades?
Las reglas del juego claras son importantes para un buen clima de negocios. El problema surge cuando estas reglas se cambian con demasiada frecuencia por la incertidumbre que generan. En algunos países hemos visto sectores enteros paralizados por impuestos mal pensados que a veces han tenido que reformarse. Son tantas las reformas con reglamentos a veces contradictorios que a menudo nadie sabe cuál aplica. Los gobiernos debieran de tratar de consensuar de la mejor manera posible las reformas fiscales con el sector privado ya que sobre este recae la responsabilidad fundamental de la actividad económica y de la generación de empleos.
¿El empresariado se opone a pagar más impuestos o desconfía de la gestión que los gobiernos están haciendo de los recursos públicos? ¿Qué deberían hacer los gobiernos para hacer más eficiente la ejecución del gasto?
No creo que nadie disfrute de pagar impuestos pero con frecuencia el problema en nuestros países no es el monto de los impuestos como la complejidad de la estructura impositiva. Necesitamos un sistema impositivo mucho más sencillo y estable para atraer inversiones. Sé que en algunos países se está discutiendo el flat tax o impuesto único que ha dado buenos resultados primero en Estonia y ahora en la misma Rusia. Sin llegar a este extremo, hay mucho que admirar de un sistema bastante más simple que la telaraña impositiva que tenemos.
Cada vez está más arraigado en el acervo empresarial centroamericano el ejercicio de las políticas de responsabilidad empresarial. ¿Cree ud. que están bien encaminadas? ¿Qué se está haciendo todo lo que se pudiera?, ¿Qué están abordando todas las áreas que las RSE pueden y deben cubrir?
El tema de responsabilidad social corporativa es central para nuestro Grupo. El reto es integrar la RSC a nuestra estrategia de negocios para que sea un pilar y no una acción filantrópica intermitente. Nuestra estrategia incluye sostenibilidad financiera, responsabilidad con nuestros colaboradores y responsabilidad social ambiental. Tiene que ser una estrategia que ayude a mejorar la calidad de vida de nuestro personal, de sus familias y de nuestra comunidad. Queremos una estrategia que nos identifique no sólo como empresarios exitosos, sino como personas que han hecho una diferencia marcada y positiva en la sociedad.
El diálogo, el consenso y la concertación de intereses se volvieron parte de un camino imprescindible para las democracias de la región… ¿cómo podrían los empresarios participar de esta dinámica y contribuir a que se concreten?
El empresario por naturaleza es propenso al diálogo. Lo practica al interior de sus empresas a través de las mejoras en el clima organizacional, negociando los convenios colectivos con los sindicatos o estimulando la participación de los colaboradores para impulsar las prácticas de innovación.
En un ámbito más general, defendemos el principio de que es a través del diálogo y la negociación que se pueden y deben encontrar soluciones a los problemas planteados, sean estos de orden económico, político o social.
La construcción democrática en Centroamérica, que no ha sido fácil, ha exigido precisamente una enorme dosis de diálogo aún en circunstancias en que parecía imposible dado los antagonismos que se crean en el marco de conflictos armados.
Ahora bien, el camino democrático está lleno de escollos y siempre será necesario que haya diálogo entre los actores para poder resolverlos.
Los empresarios apostamos a eso y lo estimulamos por medio de nuestras relaciones con los liderazgos nacionales; dialogamos también con los gobiernos sobre asuntos de interés, no importándonos la ideología que tengan y si nos simpatizan o no. No nos involucramos directamente cuando son problemas que no se inscriben en el ámbito estricto de nuestras competencias.
En particular, el caso Honduras, y ahora probablemente lo que empieza a vivirse en Nicaragua, ha dado señales de que la democracia en la región aún tiene partes muy sensibles. ¿Los sistemas políticos de Centroamérica son fuente de preocupación para el empresariado?, ¿qué necesitan nuestras democracias para resolver las tensiones internas que se están haciendo evidentes? ¿Es un problema de liderazgos, de leyes, de moral?
La solución está en profundizar la consolidación institucional, lo que también incluye a los partidos políticos que a mi juicio deben modernizarse. Por supuesto las situaciones no son las mismas en todos los países ya que algunos van más adelante que otros, pero todavía queda mucho camino por recorrer.
¿Cree usted que los empresarios deberían entrar más abiertamente a participar de la actividad política partidaria?
Probablemente depende de las situaciones que se presenten cada país. Tenemos ejemplos recientes en América Latina de líderes empresariales que se han transformado en líderes políticos, tal es el caso de Ricardo Martinelli en Panamá o de Sebastián Piñeira, presidente electo de Chile.
No hay una receta en cuanto a esto si no que está ligado a vocaciones personales y a ventanas de oportunidad.
Se siente a gusto con las sociedades que tenemos en nuestros países?, ¿cómo sueña que deberían ser o hacia dónde deberían evolucionar para garantizar que sean sociedades sostenibles desde lo económico, político y ambiental?
Nunca podemos estar a gusto cuando existe tanta miseria, tanto daño ambiental, tanta corrupción y tanta inequidad. Como grupo empresarial podemos hacer nuestra parte pero resolver los problemas necesitará del concurso de todos.
¿Cuánto de participación de Estado y cuánto de mercado deberían tener estas sociedades para alcanzar un desarrollo sostenible?
Creo que es un falso debate discutir cuánto debe de ser la participación del Estado y cuanto la del mercado en nuestras sociedades. Ambos tienen roles importantes y diferenciados que no compiten entre sí.
El rol del Estado es como ente regulador y normativo a la vez que juega un papel importante para garantizar los equilibrios macroeconómicos y en materia de inversiones en infraestructura productiva y social. El papel del Estado como agente económico ya fue desvirtuado por la historia.
Walk The Talk
¿Cuáles son las experiencias empresariales-personales que han marcado su vida y sirvieron para construirlo como persona y como hombre de negocios?
Creo que como líderes lo más importante es walk the talk. Nuestro actuar debe ser consistente con nuestro predicar. Tanto mi esposa como yo estuvimos al borde de la muerte. Este evento marcó nuestras vidas y hemos logrado comprender que Dios nos dejó en este mundo para utilizar nuestros medios económicos no sólo para nuestro beneficio, sino también para el de la gente que nos rodea.
¿Cuáles son las principales ideas y pensamientos que ha ido construyendo a lo largo de su vida empresarial y profesional que desea legar como herencia a sus herederos, a sus colaboradores, a la sociedad de la que participa?
El culto a la excelencia, una cultura de innovación en las empresas del grupo y nuestras inversiones en RSE.
No me canso de repetir que tan importante como el éxito empresarial son las inversiones que estamos haciendo directamente y a través de aliados estratégicos, para transformar la sociedad y proteger el medioambiente. Esto último será nuestro verdadero legado a las generaciones futuras.
Estrategia y Negocios
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