IL Postcard

Rains Are Over but Relief Efforts Needed in Nicaragua

Date: 10/25/2007

Sunny skies finally returned to much of Nicaragua this week, giving people a break from the constant rains and helping aid relief efforts in the northern highlands. Storms have pelted the prime coffee growing region for 50 days. They have dumped more rain here in past weeks than Hurricane Mitch did in 1998.

The mountain town of Matagalpa is the latest city to feel the brunt of torrential storms after a major river overflowed, destroying homes and businesses. At least six people were killed. Many small farms remain buried from floodwaters and a U.N. agency warned of starvation conditions if help doesn’t arrive in the coming weeks.

President Daniel Ortega declared Matagalpa and other neighboring towns a national disaster area last Friday. A Venezuelan delegation arrived to assist in the rebuilding, and Venezuela president Hugo Chavez says he is at Ortega’s orders to help in whatever way the oil-rich nation can. The U.S. immediately donated $50,000 for the relief efforts.

Many key roads were destroyed in the storms, as wells as crops of corn, rice, and red beans. Some towns remain cut of from supplies because roads are impassable. The government has announced that it will temporarily eliminate taxes on importing beans, a main staple of the Nicaragua diet. The improving weather is helping the country bounce back, but Nicaragua is going need a lot of help to recover.

Your Latin America Insider,
Suzan Haskins