The Government met with one of the most visible faces and the most active voices of the Nicaraguan opposition, Juan Sebastián Chamorro, member of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy (ACJD), who was recently in Costa Rica.
Last week, he spoke with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Epsy Campbell, focusing the meeting on the economic effects of the crisis in Nicaragua, which now exceeds four months, 400 deaths, and millions of dollars lost in income for the neighboring nation. Violence erupted on April 18th, when Daniel’s regime suppressed protests over social security reforms.
The minister said that they talked about the possibility for Nicaraguan businessmen come to Costa Rica to make investments, given the difficulties to do it in their country. Likewise, they had a lengthy conversation about the impact the crisis has on Costa Rican companies that do business in Nicaragua.
The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit assured that 8,708 owners of micro and small enterprises, equivalent to 25.3% of the employers affiliated to the social insurance, closed their businesses and 71,000 people are unemployed.
The private sector estimates that some 200,000 people lost their jobs due to the crisis. Tourism accumulates losses for $ 235 million, while on the Costa Rican side the Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP) already warned of the impact for the entire Central American region, due to shortages of some products, which endangers the trade balance of regional integration, causing large losses for commercial and industrial sectors.
Despite the serious outlook, the opposition relies on a dialogue as Chamorro told CRHoy.com last week, hours before the meeting with the Foreign Ministry.
Chamorro is also director of the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (Funides), an independent think tank that specializes in research and policy analysis in the areas of socioeconomic development and institutional reform.