Guilds – groups of people with the same profession or trade – first appeared in the 11th century, but it was not until the 15th century that they acquired their final conformation. They arose from the need to group together to defend common interests and from the will of the powers to control price and quality of products.
Guilds had an interesting history in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Great Britain. They ended up controlling far too much until they were finally banned, even though public powers were supporting the industrial production corporate organizations.
History repeats over and over again. Now, the Nicaraguan government led by Ortega has cancelled the legal status of 18 business organizations, including the National Poultry and Feed Producers Association (Asociación Nacional de Avicultores y Productores de Alimentos – Anapa), alleging breaches of the law and lack of transparency. All their properties and goods, including bank accounts, have been confiscated. But there are other reasons behind this cancellation: to deny the freedom of association. Forbidding these associations is a harsh political decision.
It is a sad tale, because Anapa has a 48-year history, representing poultry and feed producers in this Central American nation. During the Sandinista era, it worked more under the cooperativism scheme, which gave it a high relevance in helping producers acquire equipment or grains, for instance. During the democracy area – under free-market – its role went back to being an institutional representative of the poultry sector.
Anapa has actively participated in making domestic laws and regulations, in negotiations with free-trade treaties between Nicaragua and the U.S., Mexico or the E.U., among other responsibilities. It has been a founding member of the Latin American Poultry Association (ALA) and the Central American and Caribbean Poultry Federation (Fedavicac).
Nicaragua is not a huge poultry producer in Latin America. But that is not the point. It is the fact that Nicaraguan poultry producers have been denied a basic right. They have been banned as a guild.
What do you think?
