Weekly Report - 1 March 2012 (WR-12-09)

Nicaragua’s private sector is once again on the alert. Last month, Antenor Rosales, the central bank (BCN) president, quit for “health reasons”.  Considered key to the perceived independence of the BCN – one of the country’s few credible institutions - Rosales’s departure was later attributed to his resistance to President Daniel Ortega’s call to move some of Nicaragua’s international reserves to a regional bank proposed by the Venezuela-led regional initiative, Alba, of his close ally, President Hugo Chávez. Serving as the latest example of Ortega’s disregard for institutional procedure and unwillingness to tolerate dissent, Rosales’ removal left the private sector jittery. It also coincides with renewed focus on another major private sector gripe with the government – respect for property rights.