Nicaragua

[from "Communications Landscaping: North and Latin American Transnational Communities"]

By Humberto Abaunza G. and Mildred Corrales Lazo.

Summary

Nicaragua is one of the poorest nations in Latin America. Women and heads of families are those who most emigrate. At present, the main destination is Costa Rica, followed by the United States. These persons- relatives, spouses, and children remain in Nicaragua. This situation has led to seeking out communication media, such as the telephone, which has become a must, because it helps satisfy affective needs and facilitates reproducing –even though in a limited manner – the cultural identity, through verbal communication.

ENITEL has the monopoly on interurban and international local telephony basic services, including line rental. The telecommunications regulating body is Telecomunicaciones y Correos de Nicaragua (TELCOR).

The development of basic telephony is just beginning and is insufficient. In the year 2000 there were 158,555 basic telephony lines in service and in 2003 there were 205,004 whereas for cell phone telephony the figure soared from 102,860 users in the year 2000 to 466,766 users in 2003.

With the Internet boom and the increase in Cyber cafés throughout the country, the emigrant population's families phone using Internet "Net Phone" mainly to Costa Rica and to the United States. This is the most popular medium, first of all, because of its low cost, and secondly, because it offers the flexibility to call at any time economically, thus facilitating telephone communication among the family members.

There is a limited Internet supply of a public, educational, and social nature. In Nicaragua, the main way to access Internet is by going to a Cyber café. The tools most used by the users are e_mail (97%) and telephony, for personal or family communication (88%) and for work purposes (27%).

Many of the Nicaraguan emigrants sep informed of the political and economic situation of the country by consulting the web pages of the newspapers La Prensa and El Nuevo Diario; those of government agencies, such as the Nicaraguan Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) or the Supreme Electorate Council (CSE); those of civil society organizations, such as the Civilian Coordinating Body; and those of service providers, such as Guegue and IBW.

Through the Nicaraguan Science and Technology Council (CONICYT), the Nicaraguan government is devoted to expanding social Internet access community centers called "technological kiosks" for two reasons: to make them more accessible to the citizens and to give telecommunications providers a profitable motivation to invest.

The emigrant population has the option of accessing several e_magazines, such as El Observador Económico; PC Global; Revista 7 días. TV Canal 8 (Channel 8) news and Canal 2 (Channel 2) Esta Semana weekly news report broadcast on Canal 8, as well as the new channel 100% Noticias are all on line. The most important radio broadcasting stations in Nicaragua can also be heard, among them: Radio Nicaragua, Radio Ya, and Radio Corporación.

Some of the innovating experiences in transnational communication that we can highlight in radio and on TV are listed below.

• The radio program La hermandad (Brotherhood) is aired Monday through Friday on Radio La Primerísima in Nicaragua and on Radio CuCú in Costa Rica. It is a program that sends messages, greetings, gives health and work news, etc..., announces packages being sent, arrivals, and recommendations from Nicaraguan emigrant men and women living in Costa Rica to their relatives, children, mothers, and friends who live in Nicaragua. It also has a time spot for greetings and news to be sent from Nicaragua to Costa Rica.




• Messages from Nicaraguans, mainly residing in the United States, to their relatives and friends who live in Nicaragua are sent through the web page of Radio Corporación and are broadcast during this station's daily radio programming.




• The radio program Enlace Familiar (Family Ties), produced by Radio Nicaragua, is aired Monday through Friday. It sends messages from Nicaraguan citizens to their relatives who live in Costa Rica.




• Margarita Te Voy a Contar (Margaret, Just Let Me Tell You), a talk show aired on Televicentro Canal 2 in Nicaragua on Saturdays, includes a segment called Puente Familiar (Family Bridge) in which Nicaraguan citizens with relatives living in Miami, Florida in the United States, send the name, address, and phone number of those living in the States to the program emcee who contacts the persons in Miami and records their greetings, which are later broadcast on TV.




• Pura Vida Nica (Pure Nicaraguan Living) is a pre_recorded TV program aired on Canal de Noticias de Nicaragua (CDNN) Channel 23 and on the ESTESA cable TV system on Channel 99 on Saturdays. This program sends reporters to Costa Rica to interview Nicaraguan men and women emigrants and report on their everyday life and on their living conditions.

There are very few communications offers and information services that help the emigrants in the United States and in other places where they settle to solve their problems related to their legal situation, communication with their family, looking for and finding work, and the various paths and processes available for them to better integrate into the country of destination.

However, although in a timid manner, the Nicaraguan society has begun to react and take into account the situation of its emigrants, through different cultural events, such as musical road shows, plays, integration meetings, all of whose purpose is to contribute to establishing communications channels and conserve the Nicaraguan identity and culture.

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