Interview of Javier Gutiérrez, Nicaragua’s Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA), by Erving Vega of Studio TN8- Channel 8 on March 4, 2025. Translated by Tortilla con Sal.

Erving Vega: Our main topic in Studio TN8, today, is the strengthening of good environmental practices in the private sector. Our guest is Javier Gutiérrez, Minister of MARENA. We welcome you again and thank you for joining us, Minister. I’d like to note, by way of introduction, that Nicaragua has a regulatory environmental framework that each company is obliged to comply with in its economic activity and there are sanctions for those who do not comply.

Javier Gutiérrez: Yes, as we know, the natural resources of our country are the heritage of all of us, a natural heritage, which the Ministry of the Environment is empowered to facilitate, regulate and guarantee with relation to economic activity. Our regulatory framework is quite robust, in terms of allowing all economic activity, as long as the environmental parameters established within the regulations are respected.

For example, if our regulations say that only one amount of tree cutting is authorized in a municipality, it is because it is guaranteed that this resource can be recovered in one year; if 10 trees are authorized, it is because it has already been verified by our technicians that those 10 trees can be recovered in one year. But if a person cuts 20, then the forest resource already begins to degrade until it disappears. So, in that sense, our regulations guarantee that we are able to make economic activity happen responsibly.

Erving Vega: Are there some activities that by their nature are more prone to generate some damage?

Javier Gutiérrez: Yes, we have them classified according to the impact they could generate in different categories; there are categories that require more detailed studies. Environmental impact assessments, for example, for large companies that are expected to move a lot of soil, that will cut a lot of trees, that will generate many situations that could cause environmental impacts.

Then, specific procedures are established in which they are asked for more information, and possibly more mitigation measures will be required…. Because let’s remember that environmental risks affect natural resources, but really the effects are on our people. That is, in terms of the pollution that could be generated in an economic activity, the ones who are going to suffer are our people, our population, children, etc.

We can guarantee that economic development takes place safely because today we have the environmental sciences; there are environmental practices that are appropriate and that reduce environmental impacts. It does not eliminate them since we generate environmental impacts just by walking, breathing, and going about our daily business. Nowadays, environmental science allows that, with well-organized, well-ordered economic activity complying with the regulations that we have, the country can be developed without any problems.

Erving Vega: Minister, in broad strokes, how we are doing in the country in terms of preserving and taking care of our environment?

Javier Gutiérrez: We have seen positive performance; we have almost four million hectares in different types of forests; that places us as one of the countries, at least in the Central American area, with the greatest forest coverage by country. We have about 74 areas that are taken care of by the state, known as protected areas, but they are really areas where certain very particular natural characteristics are preserved. There is a lot of biodiversity; they are very dense forests. In some cases they have species unique in the world where there is interaction of a lot of fauna. We have to take care of those biological corridors.

Erving Vega: Seventy-four protected areas, and three of them, Biosphere Reserves, are recognized by UNESCO. The San Juan River, Bosawás; and the Island of Ometepe are internationally recognized as areas that generate not only environmental benefits for our country, but in the world. There is a difference when UNESCO recognizes that this benefit is not only for Ometepe; it’s not only for Nicaragua, but it also benefits the rest of the world.

Javier Gutiérrez: We also have a national marine biosphere that is the Caribbean Biosphere. That is everything we recovered via the International Court of Justice at The Hague; everything that is the marine-coastal area that is rich in marine fauna. We are very blessed in terms of natural resources in our country, added to which our forests are suppliers of many important environmental services, such as water resources, for example.

Erving Vega: How are we doing in terms of percentage of forest cover?

Javier Gutiérrez: We’re at about 30, 35 percent of forest coverage in our territorial extension. Of those between 20 and 25 percent are areas which the state preserves, because they have very particular natural conditions, in which certain economic activity is not allowed, because they are, as we say, our great natural savings account that we have to take care of as our genetic banks. We have a species of pine in Yukul that is the only one in the world; if that disappears, imagine what it would mean. But in general, our country, our Environmental Assessment System requires environmental practices as a fundamental condition for developing appropriate economic activity.

Erving Vega: Thirty percent of forest cover in our territory.

Javier Gutiérrez: Of different types of cover. Let’s remember that the Caribbean is what is called moist, broad-leaved forest. The important and remarkable thing about the Caribbean is that it has very high dynamism. That is to say, regeneration is very fast. If, in another country, it might take 10 years for a tree to grow one meter, in the Caribbean it maybe takes eight months or a year for it to grow one meter. So, there is dynamic growth and that is why sometimes forest fires do damage, but the greatest damage is when, after the fire, people come in to cut illegally.

Erving Vega: Because nature after the fire takes responsibility for regenerating.

Javier Gutiérrez: It regenerates, and the Caribbean has a very high regeneration rate. If a forest burns, it degrades; it is affected, but in one or two years that forest, if you don’t touch it, has recovered. But if we go in to take advantage of the fact that the space is already burned and start cutting…. These are the kinds of damages we are working to prevent in order to allow us to really always count on our natural resources, because in the end it is a heritage that all Nicaraguans have to take care of.

Erving Vega: Thirty percent coverage, that means a lot if we look at the behavior and the data that the rest of the countries in the region have and, when we talk about the region, can we go beyond Central America, Latin America or the hemisphere?

Javier Gutiérrez: Yes, it is a very high percentage, but let’s remember that we had a period, for example the neoliberal era, where deforestation rates soared. In fact, we have statistics that show that the neoliberal era was when there was the greatest environmental damage in the country. But we have been reducing that rate of damage.

Erving Vega: Is there any other country in Central America that has 30% forest coverage in its territory?

Javier Gutiérrez: Nicaragua has one of the highest levels of coverage in Central America; but we also have to take into account differences in total area. What Costa Rica has, to give an example, are areas that have been recovering. They practically destroyed their forests, but they have been recovering them, and Honduras has a lot of pine forests. But we are on the front line in coverage, almost 4.5 million hectares, and we have one of the highest coverage rates in relation to our territorial extension, which is also the largest in Central America.

In proportional terms we are one of the countries that has the highest performance in terms of coverage and a moderate deforestation rate. Because here we have to clarify that the deforestation that has to be quantified is the illegal kind. Because there are a series of forest management permits that allow the cutting of trees, the use of wood that is not deforestation; that is by design.

Erving Vega: Are there any management plans?

Javier Gutiérrez: There are forest management plans, technical designs that are made based on our national standards, and that cannot be said to be deforestation. That is why statistical data has to be done very carefully and very responsibly.

Erving Vega: Are there any companies in the country that cultivate trees?

Javier Gutiérrez: Quite a few; there are more than one million hectares in forest plantations. We have great potential, and of high-value species.

Erving Vega: I think in Rivas and Nandaime there is a quantity of teak.

Javier Gutiérrez: Teak is being cultivated; there is a large quantity. And, if you look at teak furniture stores you see it is of a high quality. Forestry activity is advancing; I think it is important, and we have the potential to continue growing in these areas.

Erving Vega: We were talking about the promotion of environmental practices in the private sector. What concrete actions are we talking about in promoting these practices?

Javier Gutiérrez: We are working on strengthening our National Environmental Assessment System; in fact, perhaps eight days ago we launched the online application system; that is, people can now obtain a code to be able to access their permit. Before, they had to go to MARENA.      ….

Erving Vega: Does every application need to be accompanied by an impact study? For example, for the use of the forest, a farmer may want to exploit his forest, does he have to make a study and a management plan?

Javier Gutiérrez: Yes, that’s under a forest management plan, a harvesting plan. …. And then when you transport the wood, you have to get another permit, because … when you go from one municipality to another, the competent authorities ask you, does this wood have a permit? They check if your permit is for the right volume; if the permit is 20 wooden planks, then the permit has to say that those 20 planks are made of cedar, with such and such dimensions…. If it’s right, you are allowed to keeps moving; if you do not present the correct permit, the Police retain the timber.

Erving Vega: Is it like a timber traceability?

Javier Gutiérrez: It’s called forest traceability: Of origin from an authorized forest, because a study was made where the competent authority authorized it, supervised it and attests that it comes from there. That’s the bit about traceability.

Erving Vega: There are rogues, right, I authorize 10 trees and they cut down 20?

Javier Gutiérrez: Unfortunately. We visit the industries; we make inventories of entrances and exits; the police give us incredible help, because they are the ones who are in the control centers. We visit the areas where timber is being exploited; we do all the corresponding monitoring, but indeed there are always situations.

Erving Vega: And are they punished if it is discovered?

Javier Gutiérrez: Yes, there are administrative processes and the law is applied. Let us remember that this is a patrimony; … we do apply the Law.

Erving Vega: Industrial plants, it’s one thing to build them, and it’s another to track what they’re going to do with waste.

Javier Gutiérrez: These types of activities must follow the Environmental Management Programs; these are the measures established by MARENA so that the environmental risks are reduced, or their impacts are not generated. Then, we follow up, and it usually takes one year. When the year is up the project is evaluated and an update of its general environmental management plan is made. That’s the follow-up, but we have to get better at that follow-up; it all depends on the staff.

Erving Vega: For example, there are the Free Trade Zones that generate certain waste; there must be a wastewater treatment plan especially with dyes.

Javier Gutiérrez: There are sites that have to construct their own treatment plants because they do not have service from ENACAL [the water and sewerage company]; we have to follow up on all that. For example, in 2024 we authorized almost 3,000 permits nationwide. In this first quarter we have already reached almost 1,000 permits.

We can see that the economic activity of the country is growing incredibly. The country is attracting investment. Also, it impresses us that these companies do come to MARENA to ask for permission. Usually before, they did not. Then the activity was carried out, sometimes they were supervised and they were penalized. That was very frequent. But now they come to Marena. First of all, we consider that there is more environmental awareness. It is not so much that they love little birds. It’s because they know that environmental activity can have an impact on people’s health, on well-being, on livelihoods, and there is an awareness of that.

Erving Vega: I think this in part answers the following question. Is the private sector complying or not complying with good environmental practices in Nicaragua?

Javier Gutiérrez: The formal private sector, the one that is working within all the parameters, is complying. Moreover, it is bringing important co-benefits in these environmental areas. There are things as a ministry we can’t do and they complement us. They do a lot of environmental education; they do a lot of information outreach; they have a very important outreach system on environmental issues. So, they complement us. We still have a struggle to improve in some areas, but we consider that in general the private sector is fully aligned with our government to promote economic activity that does not generate environmental impacts, either in the medium or long term.

Erving Vega: It is no longer seen so much that the person who undertakes something, or builds something does so any way they want. They are already coming to MARENA.

Javier Gutiérrez: One thing that we have been demonstrating through our Family and Community Model is that our main ally for environmental improvement is improving the livelihoods and the economy of our population. That is, getting out of poverty as indicated by our Co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, which is our main objective; that is, we cannot have effective environmental management if we do not reduce poverty.

This model that we have is a unique model in the world, because sometimes environmental management is based, for example, on the carbon market about which we hear a lot, those carbon offsets. We don’t agree with that. We think that as we improve the standard of living, as we are getting out of poverty, our environmental conditions are improving. Why? Because there is less pressure on natural resources. People have their jobs; they have their entrepreneurship; they no longer go to the forest to get iguanas, to get firewood; there is less pressure.

In fact, employment in the areas where there has typically been high deforestation in the Caribbean, which is what we call the agricultural frontier, a lot of employment is being generated there. So, that has allowed deforestation in our country to be reduced. This model is very important for our country.

Erving Vega: The logic of the environmental permit is not to hinder, rather it is a support to make it easier for people to do things appropriately.

Javier Gutiérrez: Right, what we are saying is, to carry out economic activity, we need its environmental impacts to be minimal, and if there are going to be impacts, we will try to reduce them with actions that we are going to recommend to people. It’s a matter of respecting the legal framework that is the expression of our people where it says in the law, “Do it, generate employment, but do not affect the environment.” Because our great working model is that the more we generate income, the more employment we have, then environmental impacts are reduced. That is not accepted by other countries where they apply another type of model, more along the lines of carbon markets or other types of models that are not models which we can apply in our country.

Erving Vega: I want to take advantage of the last two minutes, to look at the position of Nicaragua at the international level in terms of environmental conservation.

Javier Gutiérrez: We have long been defenders of our principles based on responsibility within differentiated and respective spheres. That’s why I always like to talk about something that Rosario Murillo told us and I think it sums up our position very clearly. Compañera Rosario, our Co-President, said that what they call climate change is no longer just that, it is destroyed land, it is Mother Earth that we have stripped of her natural protective elements, through looting, the eagerness to take everything in exchange for nothing and leave the consequences to the rest of us. That is what generates these phenomena, and what we call climate change.

The responsibility for pollution, degradation, climate change, all those hydro-meteorological phenomena that affect us year after year, is with the Global North. It is the capitalist countries who continue to pollute and do not stop despite all the famous conventions of the United Nations. They continue and what they are doing is applying a very perverse and exhausted model that is, the one who pollutes pays. In other words, if I have money I pay it, but I keep polluting. But what we want is to stop polluting. So, this model they apply in all countries. In Latin America, for example, it is very common that they pay you a peso or so for a ton of carbon, and they buy it because it is cheaper to buy it at a peso than to change their technology, change their pollution models, by which they are enriching themselves at the cost of all the hydrometeorological phenomena that cause problems in our country.

For example, in Nicaragua we have already seen that they affect almost 4.5% of our gross domestic product, and who pays us back after that? That is why we believe that climate justice with reparations should be a pillar of these pollution models.

Erving Vega: So, this a debate that needs to be continued?

Javier Gutiérrez: We keep insisting on that debate; we have been defending that principle for a long time, a principle of justice. We do not pollute; we emit almost nothing. We only emit .02% or .03% of what is emitted in the world. …. If Central America says, we won’t produce any emissions, the world will still be the same or worse, because the ones that are emitting here are the capitalist countries, the Global North, Europe, the United States. And we already saw that the new government of the United States said that it was leaving the Paris Agreement. So, they go ahead and continue with all the pollution through the fossil fuels that they have been using and that is going to mean more emissions and there is going to be a greater impact on our countries.

Erving Vega: Your closing comment, on our central theme which is the promotion and strengthening of good environmental practices in the private sector.

Javier Gutiérrez: We urge people to continue working in an appropriate way with the Ministry of the Environment, in order to ensure that our economic activity continues to grow; we are very concerned about making it possible for our economy to continue to grow.

Our government offers incredible facilities so that anyone who wants to invest in a respectful, socially responsible way can do so in our country. And we as a Ministry are going to guarantee that this economic activity is within the framework that our environmental regulations allow. We want to generate those incomes, those livelihoods, those economic facilities for our families, without losing our national heritage, without losing the environmental quality that we all want. We all want to live in a place without pollution; we don’t want bad smells; we don’t want the soil to become infertile; we want to see the rivers without pollution. No one wants to live under those conditions. So that is our role, making sure that economic activity is being generated without losing those great natural landscapes, those environmental benefits, which thank God in our country we continue to enjoy.

Erving Vega: Thank you very much.

* * * * *

Briefs
By Nan McCurdy 

Nicaragua Withdraws from the Central American Court of Justice
Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Valdrack Jaentschke reported on March 18 that the Government of Nicaragua had decided to withdraw from the Central American Court of Justice (CCJ). In a letter addressed to the Acting President of the CCJ, Jaentschke stated that “Against all logic, the Court is subject to the decisions of the Central American and Caribbean Judicial Council, which is not part of the Central American Integration System (SICA).” And, Co-President Rosario Murillo said, “This is a paradox, how can a Court of the region, a regional court, be subject to decisions of a Council that is not part of SICA?”

Another part of the story concerns Nicaraguan Supreme Court Judge Juana Méndez Pérez, who presented her resignation from the Supreme Court when she was nominated to occupy the position of president of the Central American Court. It is Nicaragua’s turn to hold the presidency of that Court.  But Nicaragua’s nomination was rejected in what was described by one source as a secret meeting of other members. This is likely part of the reason for Nicaragua’s withdrawal from the Court. Judge Méndez was restored to her position on the Nicaraguan Supreme Court on March 19. (La Primerisima, 18 &19 March 2025; Informe Pastran, 18 March 2025; El Gato Sandinista, 19 March 2025)

Foreign Direct Investment Exceeded US$3 billion in 2024
On March 20 Nicaragua’s Central Bank reported that, in 2024, gross foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows totaled US$3.04 billion, 8.6% higher than in 2023 (US$2.8 billion). Meanwhile, net FDI inflows were US$1.3 billion, 21.4% higher than in 2023 (US$1.1 billion). Gross FDI inflows represented 15.4% of GDP; while net flows represented 6.9% of GDP in 2024 (and 6.3% in 2023). The main source of annual gross FDI inflows was external disbursements received from parent and/or related non-resident companies, which totaled US$1.7 billion in the year (56.5% of the total), followed by gross profits with US$993.6 million (32.7% of the total), and capital contributions with US$329.2 million (10.8% of the total). Regarding the net FDI flows, reinvestment of profits (US$882.7 million) represented 65.3% of the total; new capital contributions accounted for 24.3% of the total; and net inflows from external indebtedness with related companies (US$140.4 million) represented 10.4%. The economic activities with the highest annual net FDI inflows were: industry with US$419.1 million (31.0% of the total), financial intermediation with US$282.6 million (20.9% of the total), energy and mines with US$260.8 million (19.3% of the total), and commerce and services with net FDI inflows of US$199.8 million (14.8% of the total). With regard to the countries of origin of net FDI, inflows from Panama stood out, totaling US$336.3 million (24.9% of the total) and the United States with US$282.9 million (20.9% of the total). Net inflows were registered from Spain (US$95.9 million; 7.1% of the total), Barbados (US$82.8 million; 6.1% of the total), Costa Rica (US$82.1 million; 6.1% of the total) and Mexico with US$66.8 million (4.9% of the total). (La Primerisima, 20 March 2025)

Emergency Drill to Include 7,000 Possible Scenarios 
The National System for Disaster Prevention (SINAPRED) has prepared more than 7,000 possible scenarios for the first drill of the year which will be carried out simultaneously in different parts of the country on March 27. Disaster preparedness officials will observe how communities and neighborhoods put in place their response plans. The exercise will suppose a 7.9 earthquake at a depth of 22 kilometers that would be located 35 kilometers off the coast of El Astillero, in the Department of Rivas, and would include tsunami waves of from four to six meters high. Students, teachers and administrative personnel from 9,000 schools, mainly those located in coastal areas, will be involved. (La Primerisima, 20 March 2025)

Sandinista Government Has Built More than 145,000 houses
In the last 18 years, 145,134 affordable housing units have been built, notably improving the standard of living of the same number of families in the different municipalities of the country. On March 21 the co-director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Urban and Rural Housing (INVUR), Gabriela Palacios, said that the neoliberal governments did not invest in or implement a housing policy for sustainable urban development, and this led to the proliferation of squatter settlements. She noted, “Today housing is a fundamental constitutional right, a right that is framed under a special law for the promotion of access to housing.” She explained that this policy has allowed the Sandinista government to achieve it’s goal with the construction of new and improved housing impacting thousands of families. She also highlighted that housing not only generates an economic impact, but also an impact on the welfare of the family. She highlighted the social, economic and political stability which the government has created, providing facilities and tools for investors to develop projects in this sector

In related news, the fifth national housing fair will be held in Managua on April 5 and 6 at the Olof Palme Convention Center. More than 60 collaborators from the sector will participate, including banks, government institutions, material and equipment suppliers, insurance companies and real estate brokers. Representatives of urbanization projects located in the municipalities of Mateare, Ciudad Sandino, Tipitapa, Managua, Granada and Nindirí will also be present. There will be affordable housing projects represented as well as projects for other segments of the population, in which the houses may have a cost of more than US$50,000. In 2024 more than 9,000 people attended the fair and 500 people were pre-qualified for mortgage credit in the banking system. See picture of affordable housing: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/gobierno-ha-construido-mas-de-145-mil-viviendas/ (La Primerisima, 21 March 2025)

Nicaragua Improves its Score on the World Happiness Index
Nicaragua is one of ten countries that have most improved their score on the World Happiness Index over the last decade. The Index measures a range of factors including GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and corruption, and is published by a partnership between the UN, Oxford University and Gallup.  Nicaragua is currently ranked the 47th happiest country on the Index, compared with 65th in 2013. Its score has improved from 5.5 to 6.28. In contrast the US, whose score is currently slightly higher at 6.72, has fallen from 13th place in the Index in 2013 to 24th now. The world’s ‘happiest’ country for the last eight years has been Finland. The link to the report is https://worldhappiness.report/.  You can also compare the US and Nicaragua on a whole range of indices. One interesting one is defense spending per head: $2,781 in the US, $14 in Nicaragua. Or, roughly speaking, the US spends 200 times more per person than does Nicaragua. And that very likely under-counts US defense spending. https://countryeconomy.com/countries/compare/usa/nicaragua

European Solidarity with the Government of Nicaragua 
In a statement released on March 24, the European Committee in Solidarity with the Sandinista People’s Revolution stated that it was urgent at this moment to express support for the Nicaraguan people who are organized under the Sandinista National Liberation Front and led by Co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. The following are a few excerpts from the statement:

The so-called “revolutionary” Nicaraguan opposition, having given up the ideals they fought for in the 1970s and ‘80s, now collude with the same Contras they were supposedly fighting against back then. This is seen in the justifications they give for the events of 2018, calling it a “popular, peaceful uprising.” This leads one to ask, “Did they participate in or support those acts of violence?” 2018 was not an uprising; nor was it popular, and much less was it peaceful. It was a violent attempted coup d’etat, orchestrated by the US government through its various agencies such as USAID and major Nicaraguan business interests … together with private universities and their students …. Their objective was to get President Ortega to resign and to move up the elections. But they failed. The complaints expressed by the “revolutionary critics” were never leveled against the rampant corruption and neoliberal policies of the Violeta Chamorro, Arnoldo Alemán, and Enrique Bolaños administrations. All three of these governments … greatly reducing the State and government jobs, privatizing banks and State enterprises, and increasing unemployment, underemployment, and the informal economy, as well as reducing investment in the energy sector. This contrasts with Daniel Ortega’s administration, which has shown great concern for and commitment to such public policies as free education and healthcare for all Nicaraguans…. Therefore, it is urgent to express our support for the Nicaraguan people organized through the Sandinista National Liberation Front and led by Co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. We know they will continue to implement these social development policies and confront the continuous interference of the US government and its accomplices within and outside of Nicaragua.

The European Committee in Solidarity with the Sandinista People’s Revolution.
24 March 2025 (https://www.ces-rps.com/2025/03/24/la-solidaridad-europea-con-el-gobierno-de-nicaragua-ante-las-criticas-y-bulos-de-la-oposicion-en-el-exterior/)