- Tipitapa
Tipitapa is a
municipality in the Managua department ofNicaragua .Tipitapa is large urban and
rural community of over 360 sq. miles, with a population of over 140,000 residents, located along thePan-American Highway , 12 miles fromManagua and minutes from the Managua International Airport.On
May 4 ,1927 , American soldiers and warring Nicaraguan parties signed theEspino Negro Accords in Tipitapa, under the sponsorship of ColonelHenry L. Stimson .This area was considered as a possible alternative to the
Panama Canal at various times. More recently, Tipitapa has been considered for the proposed “dry” canal. Tipitapa is nearby the large free trade zone—Las Mercedes—with over 30,000 workers. Workers earn $5 - $6 per day. Newfree trade zone factories are bringing jobs to another 20,000 workers. Examples of free trade factories in Tipitapa include a chemical company that manufactures pesticides and a furniture upholstery company that exports to large U.S. furniture manufacturers.Tipitapa had experienced an increasing incidence of youth involvement in gangs and violence. At the same time, there has been a tremendous reduction in public services. Many believe that the jobs in the tax free zones may bring new opportunities into the area and reduce these problems. Undoubtedly low wages attract foreign investment, but until after the year 2000 there was little interest and less investment in the area.
Tipitapa was also the municipality where the former sugar cane farm and processing plant "
Ingenio Victoria de Julio " was located. It went out of business in the late 1990's.La Asociación Coordinadora Municipal de Proyectos de Ciudades Hermanas de Tipitapa
(COMPALCIHT) was formed in 1987 and is the only international non-governmental organization based in Tipitapa. It works to organize social projects that include nutritional programs, agricultural projects, health promotion, youth programs, school projects, and other critical activities. Dos Pueblos: New York-Tipitapa Sister City Project (http://www.tipitapa.org) was also formed in 1987 to support these projects of solidarity and social justice. It holds events in the New York area and sponsors delegation trips of U.S. residents to visit social enterprise projects in Tipitapa.Cattle,
melon for export,maize ,sorghum andpeanuts are all important agricultural crops for Tipitapa.
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