Only human development produces economic development
2016 Marzo Nicaragua
Most economic analyses of Latin America in the 1980s can be summed up in the famous phrase coined by the UN’s Economic Commission on Latin America: “a...
We don’t want today’s tripartite system; the social economy is a major actor too
2014 Abril Nicaragua
First of all let me tell you a bit about myself, so you’ll know where I’m coming from. I own a farm in Masaya where I have nearly two hectares of oranges,...
The ROOF Project: Not just a fad
2014 Marzo Nicaragua
There’s a lot of talk in Nicaragua about the demographic dividend. Knowledgeable pro- fessionals explain that “we’re reducing the birth rate and increasing...
Just how communal are rural communities?
2013 Agosto Nicaragua
We in the Center for Political Studies and Analysis (CEAP) have commonly done research from the municipal perspective, but one day we ques-tioned the...
In migration’s “science kitchens”
2013 Mayo Centroamérica
Knowledge isn’t produced in the aseptic test tubes hawked by the torchbearers of scientific neutrality. The process is both burdened and enriched by...
New clothes for the emperor... or is ALBA naked in Nicaragua?
2012 Octubre Nicaragua
In a lively bustling city there lived an emperor who used to spend all his money on elegant clothes. Not even his soldiers or meetings of the Council...
Notes for a debate about cooperation and the “logframe”
2012 Octubre Honduras
While recognizing international cooperation’s enormous service in channeling funds from donor agencies in various—especially European—countries for development,...
Are we prepared for “the perfect storm”?
2012 Julio Nicaragua
For weeks Nicaraguan politics has been dominated by the debate over the US government’s decision not to grant one of the two waivers it gives Nicaragua...
The second horseman of neoliberalism: Nongovernmental organizations
2011 Octubre Centroamérica
Two decades ago Argentine journalist Gino Lofredo wrote an explosive article titled “How to get rich in the 90s.” Its opening volley was: “You still...
The Ecological Crisis Goes Global: The Development We Want Is Unsustainable
2011 Marzo Internacional
In the first half of the 20th century, the still very incipient global ecological crisis didn’t attract institutional interest much less the oratory...
Concerns about the New Course Of International Cooperation
2011 Enero Nicaragua
International nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working for development in Nicaragua are very concerned by the change of direction currently being...
The Chemistry of Development
2010 Septiembre Internacional
I have a brother, a twin, who’s very different from me. Up to adolescence we received the same stimuli and grew up in the same environment, in the small...
A Nicaraguan in the World Trade Organization
2010 Agosto Nicaragua
Three years ago a plane took me from the labyrinthine streets of Managua and landed me in Geneva, a multicultural, conservative city protected by mountains....
Civil Society’s Representation In the Association Agreement
2010 Julio Nicaragua
The talks leading up to the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union
hasn’t been of general interest to our population,...
So Far the AA Is of No Use to Us
2009 Junio Nicaragua
The European Union (EU) started negotiations for an association agreement (AA) with the region’s countries in October 2007. To understand what has happened...
The Constant Potter
2009 Mayo Nicaragua
The auditorium of Managua’s Central American University (UCA) was beyond standing room that September 6th Saturday. The smell of wet earth, drenched...
International NGOs Won’t Give Up Our Work or Reason for Being Here
2008 Noviembre Nicaragua
Mundubat is part of the Secretariat of International nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in Nicaragua, an umbrella organization that represents...
The “New” Chureca: From Garbage to Human Dignity
2008 Abril Nicaragua
La Chureca has existed since 1973. Over 30 years later, in December 2007, it was named one of the “20 Horrors of the Modern World” in a contest organized...
It’s Up to Us to Curtail the Government’s Authoritarianism
2007 Agosto Nicaragua
There’s a saying that “a leopard is known by its spots.” Seven months into the government of Daniel Ortega we have enough spots to get a pretty good...
In Defense of the Existing Civic Participation
2007 Junio Nicaragua
The Civil Coordinator is an autonomous coordinating body of Nicaragua’s civil society sectors, made up of unions, federations, associations, foundations,...
Knowledge in These Times Of a la Carte Research
2007 Mayo Centroamérica
In Senectud, Italo Svevo wrote, “That conceited sponsor had been on his back constantly, demanding he deliver a determined amount of work every day....
“The Mettle of Our Civil Society Is Going to Be Put to the Test”
2007 Febrero Nicaragua
The official publication of Decree 03-2007, the third one Daniel Ortega issued the day he was sworn into office on January 10, has triggered serious...
International Cooperation and Civil Society: The High Price of Relations
2006 Junio Nicaragua
On May 27, Jürg Benz, the representative of Swiss cooperation in Nicaragua and coordinator of the European Union’s budgetary support group, announced...
Solidarity Cooperation in a Market-Driven World
2006 Marzo Centroamérica
Julio is a Nicaraguan peasant from the Segovias. He, his partner Clara and their five children now live off the nearly three hectares of land that they...
Twenty-six Years On: Memories of Solidarity
2005 Julio Nicaragua
At noon on a day in December 1986, I was driving slowly down Managua’s Bolívar Avenue in my modest Suzuki, heading toward the old cathedral. I was just...
The Ever-Changing Face of Nongovernmental Cooperation
2004 Julio Centroamérica
There are three basic kinds of cooperation with the countries of the South. One is multilateral aid, which comes from the International Monetary Fund,...
The FACS: A Microcosm of National Ills
2003 Diciembre Nicaragua
On November 28, the Nicaraguan public was just recovering from the shock of Arnoldo Alemán being transferred from his jail cell to a novel form of “house”...
Our Weak Civil Society Has Been Weakened Further
2002 Mayo Nicaragua
To understand the present, as we all know, it is necessary to understand the past, especially the recent past. Unless we are clear about what has happened...
Who’s Rescuing the South’s Shipwreck: NGOs or the State?
2001 Septiembre Internacional
At the beginning of this year I shared with envío readers some reflections on the work of NGDOs, the nongovernmental organizations dedicated to...
Solidarity in Times of Internet
2001 Abril Nicaragua
When retired US nurse Dorothy Granada went into hiding late last year upon learning that the Nicaraguan government planned to deport her on fabricated...
Development Aid In Crisis: Donor Fatigue
2000 Agosto Internacional
Cooperation in the process of developing impoverished countries is a multifaceted task involving both the private and public sectors. Given the lack...
Latin America and International Cooperation
2000 Julio América Latina
Latin America and the Caribbean—"Our America," as Cuban patriot José Martí called it — is a region of the world whose face is presented to you daily...
Summing Up Hurricane Mitch: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1999 Diciembre Nicaragua
One year after Mitch, that mega-hurricane that changed the lives of so many thousands of Central Americans, the activities to rehabilitate what it destroyed...
NGOS and Natural Disasters: Gaps and Opportunities
1999 Noviembre Nicaragua
For several years now the international community has been paying increasing attention to the impact and recurrence of natural disasters in different...
NGOs: Rethinking Strategy
1997 Octubre América Latina
In discussions about the impact of globalization, we spend too much time batting around questions of what to do and who to do it with, and don't put...
We Are Trying to Listen
1997 Septiembre Centroamérica
The inter-organizational memorandum published under the title "Desarrollo: La Gran Mentira" in your Spanish publication and "NGOs - Who's Making the...
Archeology of the Idea of Development
1997 Septiembre Internacional
Fallen buildings hide their secrets under mountains of earth and rubble. and mental structures are often erected on foundations covered by sand for years...
Non-governmental Organizations: Who’s making the Decisions
1997 Febrero Centroamérica
November 15, 1996
San Salvador, El Salvador
Dear Colleagues:
I am writing to inform you that, due to policy changes related to field participation...
Some Birds with Clipped Wings Still Fly
1992 Octubre Nicaragua
They're young, for the most part, like the others. But they're different. A war they didn't seek—none had ambitions to be a hero—ripped a piece out...
On the Nicaragua Solidarity Trail
1987 Agosto Nicaragua
Solidarity between the people of the United States and Nicaragua is an extremely important element in the war that the Sandinista revolutionary process...