April
25
BEGINNING
SOLKA Laboratories was founded by Dr. Porfirio Solórzano Bermúdez, on November 20, 1931, registered
in a Public Deed of the city of Managua, Nicaragua. His sons, his heirs, all
Solórzano Marín, inaugurated the new SOLKA
Laboratories facilities in 1967, becoming the largest and most
modern pharmaceutical plant in Nicaragua. It has 5 hectares (123 acres) of
land, with a construction of 11,240.00 m2. (120,942 sqf.) (See plan)
All kinds of
sterile-filled oral and injectable liquids were produced, as well as
antibiotics and tablets of any nature, including those prepared in a controlled
humidity environment. All general and special services were handled “in
house”.
The quality of
preparation and control was proven with the production of serum lines for ABBOT
Laboratories. SOLKA achieved
amazing growth starting in 1972, which allowed us
to extend our exports to Central America. In 1978 it
reached sales of up to 4 million US dollars (1978 value), of which 1
million was exported.
In 1979, SOLKA was invaded by Sandinista armed
fighters accompanied by Cuban militia and subsequently confiscated it, taking
possession of the Company (manu militari). Prior to that invasion and
confiscation, they had looted SOLKA's
warehouses with militarized trucks, taking finished merchandise worth up aproximately
a million dollars. The company was finally taken over by a Sandinista
Governing Board.
With
the change of government in Nicaragua in 1990, the recovery process
of the SOLKA laboratories began,
achieving a return of our ownership (De Juris) without possession. It was
in 2001 that the National Assembly (equivalent to Congress) enacted
a law that restored all rights to the shareholders of the Solórzano Family recognizing
a 60% stake and it assigned to the workers, the right to purchase 40% of the
shares. (Law 400-2001). Even
though the outcome was not fair or just because among other things it did not
recognized loss of income for the “original owners”, it did not also recognized
any damage cause by what had been declared an unjustified confiscation but it
at least recognized in the text of a law, the right ownership of what they
called “original owners”.
During
the period 2001-2007, under very stressful conditions, SOLKA came out of state control, and without
any capital, outdated machinery and only relying on majority owner’s
reputations, again became the leader among local industries of this
type. In 2004, SOLKA sold the
largest stock of medicines for the Ministry of Health, a figure never sold before
by a local supplier. In the year 2006, SOLKA celebrated its 75th
Anniversary. See vademecum brochure where you can
see the products manufactured under our administration.
In 2007,
after another violent takeover, SOLKA
was confiscated once more by the government, seizing the
minute books, share register, assets and files, and denying access to the
property to the 60% shareholders and their representatives, all of this with
the consent of authorities and government officials. An important point
that we must point out is that both in the improper confiscation in 1979 and
the unjust re-confiscation in 2007, the Sandinista
administration failed to comply with the financial and fiscal commitments and/or
obligations the Company had a those moments and were up to date.
There
are repeated and explicit violations of the Nicaraguan
Constitution, the Nicaraguan government is also in violation of
international treaties such as the CAFTA with the US in in
reference to the improper use of intellectual property. The
Nicaraguan government is currently using SOLKA trademarks for profit without entering
into any legal agreement or compensation with the rightful owners.
The
government of Nicaragua with the arbitrary actions against Laboratorios SOLKA
has also created compelling reasons to ther United States government to enforce
the NICA ACT (Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act of 2018) and RENACER Act
(Reinforcement Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform Act of 2021).
Furthermore
-and ironically-, the first case ever cited in United States History where property
belonging to a U.S. citizen being seized in a foreign country provoked an act
against that country occurred in Nicaragua in 1854.
This
summary ends with a short redaction of what transpired then:
“In 1854, one Lieutenant Hollins, in command of a United States
warship, bombarded the town of Greytown, Nicaragua because of the refusal of
local authorities to pay reparations for an attack by a mob on the United
States consul.766 Upon
his return to the United States, Hollins was sued in a federal court by Durand
for the value of certain property which was alleged to have been destroyed in
the bombardment. His defense was based upon the orders of the President and
Secretary of the Navy and was sustained by Justice Nelson, on circuit.767 (…)”
https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/article-2/43-protection-of-american-rights-of-person-and-property-abroad.html
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