Framed with the beautiful
view of the marina in Marina del Rey, California, the Board
of Directors of the Nicaraguan American California Chamber
of Commerce (CACONACA) had their first meeting with the
newly appointed Nicaraguan ambassador to the United States,
Dr. Arturo Cruz de Sequeira, at Tony P’s Dockside Grill, a
restaurant owned by Danny Ringwood and Tony Palermo, who are
also investors in Gran Pacifica.
Dr. Cruz, a sharp man
with extensive knowledge of international and national
economies, displayed at all times a charismatic agility
which he used to communicate his government’s message.
CACONACA, which
celebrates its 13th anniversary on May 18th and today is one
of the most credible institutions in California as well as
Nicaragua, is the organizer of the event that brings
together the largest number of Nicaraguans in California:
the International Augustine Fair, which this year will take
place on the 4th and 5th of August.
In the meeting, the
directors of CACONACA expressed the necessity to the
ambassador of creating a vice ministry of external relations
concerned solely with the interests of Nicaraguans living
outside of Nicaragua. This could be an initiative that
takes form as more and more Nicaraguan communities get
organized and take responsibility for management of
themselves outside of their country.
They also said that this
is not a new idea, that El Salvador has for several years
had a person in charge of liaising with the government on
behalf of nationals who have left the country. They added
that even Costa Rica has a similar representative, even
though their numbers abroad are far smaller than those in
Nicaragua.
One of the principal
tasks of this vice ministry would be to represent the
interests of Nicas living abroad, such as: documentation,
immigration issues, health service guarantees for people
wishing to return, and voting rights, among others.
Some other issues touched
upon were the coordination of commercial missions and the
participation of the embassy in different events that
CACONACA has set up for the rest of the year.
NOTE: Recently CACONACA
successfully collaborated on a commercial mission with
the Chamber of the Americas (COTA) which was supported
by the Nicaraguan Embassy in the United States.
The delegates of COTA are
charged with finding the possibilities for investment for the
members of the 350 Chambers of Commerce that represent more than
25 countries.
Gil Cisneros, president of
COTA, along with Tito Lagos-Bassett, president of CACONACA, felt
satisfied with the obtained results.
The delegations interviewed,
among others: The Ambassador to the United States in Nicaragua,
Paul Trivelli; the mayor of Managua, Dionisio Marenco; the vice
mayor, Alexis Arguello; Carlos Bricenos, president of Channel 8
Television; Bernardo Callejas, Regional manager of ProNicaragua;
Adiak Barahona, of Gran Pacifica; Humberto Belli of Ave Maria
Universtiy; and Jose Luis Velásquez, ex-ambassador of Nicaragua
to the Organization of American States (OAS). They also talked
with Ivan Saballos from NicaExport, Ana Cecilia Vega Jackson,
Executive Director of the Chamber of Industry (CADIN), and with
Erwin Kruger, president of COSEP, as well as representatives
from the Ministry of Promotion and the law firm of Terencio
Gutiérrez, the Minister of Tourism, Mario Salinas, and finally,
Eduardo Montealegre, president of the Nicaraguan Liberal
Alliance (ALN).
