Update on Land Dispute

Below is an update from Las Salinas de Nahulapa community member Geovanny Loaisiga.

(Translated to English)

Near the end of November 2010, La Flor de Mayo workers pulled up our fences again and stole the fence posts. They also went and filed a complaint with the court in Tola, claiming that the community encroached on their property. The community called the police and went and filed a complaint, but the police never came to investigate or anything. The posts are still there, you can see our 80 posts laying on La Flor de Mayo's land.

On November 17th we went to Rivas to file a complaint with the police. They told us that our case was already closed. We went to the Police Commissioner, but didn't get a response. We returned on November 18^th and 20^th but there was still no response. On January 14^th, 2011 we went to Managua to the office of Aminta Granera, the head of the National Police. We submitted a letter asking her to investigate why the local police haven't responded to our complaint, and hadn't helped in any way.

We don't need police protection, which only lasts for 24 hours or maybe up to a month at the most, it doesn't give you position or rights. Simply, while the police are there they respect us but once the police leave they continue disrespecting our rights. What we need is that they come and investigate the complaint so that we can pass it along to the prosecutors office and accuse them of damages to the communal land.

From the beginning of this conflict the indigenous community has put up and had their fences ripped down seven times, twice in the last year.

Here is a review of events since the last blog entry:

(Also translated from Geovanny Loaisiga)

In January 2009, we got a meeting with the southern regional office of the Attorney General in Rivas. After that meeting we went to the Attorney General of the Republic Hernan Estrada's office in Managua. (We did this because Attorney General Estrada had said that he wasn't recognizing the rights of the Indigenous Community until INETER (Instituto Nicaraguense de Estudios Territoriales -Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies) did an official demarcation of the land. So we got Estrada to petition INETER to do a demarcation of the land. INETER came and put up territorial markers to determine if the area of La Flor de Mayo/Philip Christopher was outside of the community or within the community. As it was a petition by two parts; we submitted our documentation and Mr. Christopher submitted his documentation by way of Guillermo Palacios and Gerald Membreno, the administrator of La Flor de Mayo S.A. The community agreed that it would accept whatever finding INETER come up with.

There was an inspection on the land, and once it was finished, they verified the five landmarks of the community (between the Popoyo landmark and the hill at the mouth of the Nahualapa River, which is a natural landmark) and found out that La Flor de Mayo's property and the land that the community has been defending is indeed within the indigenous community's territory and we have not been invading any other private property.

The community's total land was registered as 1,090 manzanas (1,886 acres) where the Valle de Salinas de Nahualapa is located. All the official boundaries and landmarks are within the community's original land title from 1877, the inspection of the land has now given recognition of these boundaries. Since 1877 up to today the boundaries and landmarks on the community's land have been the same, and have never expanded.

INETER then said that all the land titles, and the register records that showed possession of land within the community's map should be annulled. Now the Board of Directors of the community needs to proceed and approve these new findings to include them as part of the community register so the other land records will be annulled and make known in it's totality the extent of the community's territory.

On March 13, 2009 the southern regional office of the Attorney General released an official constancia explaining where the indigenous community's land lays. This document shows that the land that Flor de Mayo bought illegally is also within the indigenous community's land and they should actually have to sign an agreement with the Board of Directors of the community. This is because land within the community can not be sold and owned by people outside of the community, it can only be leased from the community with the permission of the board.

La Flor de Mayo currently has 47 manzanas (81 acres), and they have been trying to take over 43 manzanas (74 acres) more, which includes the property along the cost line of the indigenous land. Strangely, I don't know why some investors do this; they buy land and then expand and claim more land. What Flor de Mayo did was they bought land from a family that wasn't from the community and didn't live in the community and had obtained a title to that piece of land that wasn't valid. What that family had done was get a lease from another family who had illegally obtained one, this was for just 8 manzanas (14 acres), and they went to a judge in Rivas, and got a title for 47 manzanas of land. Then they were allowed to get a supplementary title, which was notarized and turned into a land deed showing that they were now owners of these 47 manzanas. All along the way they paid off officials to make this happen, and did all of this behind the back of the indigenous community and the community's Board of Directors, who didn't know this was happening. Their deed should never have existed, and the lawyer that gave the signature affirming their ownership of the 47 manzanas, should have investigated the supplementary title and found out that it had been rigged and wasn't valid.

Photographs of the camp

Below is a link to photographs contributed by international volunteers who camped out with the community on Playa Sardina at different times during January and February of 2009. The community have camped out here many times over the past four years to protect this piece of beachfront property that La Flor de Mayo has been trying to claim ownership of. They re-established this camp on 22nd of December 2008 in response to renewed efforts by La Flor de Mayo to sell lots from the community’s property. Prior to this, they had been forced to abandon the camp after individuals from the community were threatened at gunpoint by Philip Christopher (La Flor frontman) and his employees, and the local police proved unable and/or unwilling to protect them.

The community and its representatives remain committed to fighting for their land rights and protecting their heritage, and they are determined to do so peacefully, by working through the legal system. This camp is simply one part of a non-violent response to what has been a sustained, aggressive campaign of intimidation against them by La Flor de Mayo. Please read previous posts on this blog for more background information on the situation.

The photographs are presented here as evidence that it is the community who are camped out here, the families and individuals affected by the attempted theft of their property, and not a land mafia as La Flor de Mayo continually claim. They are also presented to give some kind of recognition to the individuals involved in this campaign who have shown real dedication and determination by giving up their free time to keep a permanent presence on the land.

http://picasaweb.google.com/karenandmarta/Popoyo?feat=directlink

Las Salinas Update - February 2009

International Solidarity and Accompaniment.

Since mid November last year, two young Europeans have been spending time with members of the community, listening to their stories and experiences of the conflict and offering international accompaniment and solidarity to support their campaign to protect their land. This has taken many forms, including direct accompaniment at meetings with local officials, and helping to build more pressure on local authorities to step up and protect their citizens at their time of need. Most recently, they have been camping with the community on the land and bringing other international visitors to talk to the locals about the situation. In this way, they hope to inform more people from the outside about what is going on by encouraging friendships and relationships between them and the people on the ground there. Below is an account written by Karen Jeffares, an Irish citizen involved in this project, who has just returned from another week at the camp.

I first met members of the community at a demonstration for indigenous rights in Rivas last September. After the demonstration, myself and a friend were invited to Veracruz to share food, talk and dance with people from indigenous communities situated all along the Pacific coast and beyond. The hospitality shown to us by the people there was touching, and their openness and willingness to talk about their lives, traditions and customs made the day all the more memorable. Talk with people from Las Salinas de Nahualapa inevitably turned to the conflict with La Flor de Mayo and the people we spoke to expressed genuine concern for their safety in the wake of the shooting incident at the end of August and the inadequate responses from local authorities in dealing with it. At this point, Philip Christopher had still not returned from the US, and the community was no longer camped out on their land. Nevertheless, they were continuing with their campaign and remained determined to see it through.

In October I heard community representatives speak at the Casa Ben Linder in Managua (a venue that hosts speakers and discussions about a variety of issues affecting people throughout Latin America). They outlined the situation and their campaign to date, and re-iterated their desire to build more international solidarity and international pressure in supporting their case. To this end, they invited internationals at the Casa Ben Linder to accompany them at a court appearance in Rivas at the end of October. Myself, a lawyer from the United States, and a young woman from Barcelona, Spain (Marta Piqueras) journeyed down to attend. The proceedings did not take place as Philip Christopher was still out of the country, but we had the opportunity to speak in person with those he threatened at gunpoint at the end of August. Their account was shocking, as was the lack of response from local authorities whom it seemed, were unable or unwilling to protect these Nicaraguan citizens from the threats and intimidation of La Flor de Mayo and its representatives. That same afternoon we traveled out to Las Salinas and spoke with a community representative, Geovanny Laoisiga, in his home. We discussed the possibility of building up the solidarity campaign online and increasing coverage in general of the dispute. We also expressed our own concerns and interest in giving a balanced report of what is taking place and our desire to speak with the community and not just its representatives when investigating the conflict. He was very enthusiastic about all of this and invited us to return to Las Salinas and spend some time there getting to know the people, the area, and the story from all sides.

Myself and Marta Piqueras returned a few weeks later and began investigating the dispute from scratch. We interviewed members of the indigenous community in Las Salinas, and spoke with both foreigners and locals living and working in the area about their experiences with La Flor de Mayo and their knowledge of the situation. We dug through legal documents and written information about this dispute that has been taking place for nearly five years now. We researched the media coverage of the community’s struggle and began learning more about how things work on the ground here in Nicaragua, and the other issues such as power and money that are having an impact on their campaign.

Having spent this time here and as a result of our investigation, we are entirely convinced that the indigenous community of Las Salinas de Nahualapa are suffering a terrible injustice here at the hands of La Flor de Mayo and its representative, Philip Christopher.

We are determined to support the community in whatever way that we can, recognizing that at times having the accompaniment and support of people from outside the country can often open doors that have previously been closed to local people. The community and its representatives are running an impressively well organized and well directed legal campaign, and our goal is to simply support them and give them a voice in areas where others would simply have them silenced. We hope that to this end, we can be useful, and that we can help to draw attention to the actions of Philip Christopher and his associates who are showing a complete disregard for the people of this country and this communities historical right to land and self-determination.

For me personally, I feel privileged to have had the experience of getting to know the people here. The hospitality and generosity that I have experienced and witnessed, and the relationships that I have had the opportunity to build have been deeply affecting. Their determination and motivation in the face of all that has come to pass has been inspirational, and the dedication shown by all those involved in the camp and the campaign is incredibly impressive. There are whole families camped out down there from kiddies to grandparents (and great-grandparents!), and people will continue to give their free time over to fighting for their rights. There is real people power happening on Playa Sardina that we are happy to support, respect, and show solidarity with. And this begins by spreading the word…

Karen Jeffares.

Photos from the land

Here are some shots of the beautiful land owned by the indigenous community

and here the some of the effects of La Flor de Mayo's invasion of the property

Legal documents posted

We have posted some legal documents on Facebook (there are more to come)

Popoyo Land Dispute (shown as a Facebook group)

Popoyo Salinas (shown as a member)

One of the documents we posted is a falsified one made by La Flor de Mayo, which we uploaded with this explanation:

"Above (Below) is a copy of a falsified legal document that Philip Christopher distributed around Las Salinas de Nahualapa back in 2006. In what can only be described as a propaganda campaign, Christopher leafleted Las Salinas and surrounding areas with this paper in an effort to undermine the community's faith in their trusted representatives Geovanny Laoisiga and Luis Guzman. The document states that on the 10th of May 2006, Loaisiga and Guzman received the equivalent of US$15,000 as a down-payment for the lease of the disputed property to La Flor de Mayo SA. It also states that they have pledged to cease with all 'false charges' (juicios impuestos) being brought against La Flor de Mayo in local courts and with local authorities.

Members of the community, seeing the signatures of Loaisiga and Guzman, at first believed that this was a legitimate document. Outraged and feeling betrayed, they went directly to the home of Loaisiga with the document in hand and demanded an explanation for how he could have sold the community out like that. Loaisiga was incredulous. He couldn't believe that Christopher would try to pull such an underhanded and nasty trick. Loaisiga did his best to prove to his neighbours that the document was false and that somebody must have scanned his and Guzman's signatures and attached them to the manufactured agreement. He then tracked down Marlon Pastora Orozco and Francisco Lopez Fernandez, the two lawyers representing La Flor de Mayo SA who had supposedly signed the document as witnesses of the agreement. Loaisiga showed them the document that was in circulation in Las Salinas, which they didn't recognize: both of the men denied any knowledge or involvement in the creation of this document, and were shocked to discover their own names and signatures at the bottom of the page. This they confirmed by signing the back of Laoisiga's copy, restating in writing that they did not participate in any such proceedings.

Loaisiga and Guzman have regained the trust of the community, and remain committed to standing up to the bully tactics of Philip Christopher and La Flor de Mayo in whatever form they may take. This is but one example of how Christopher has tried to divide the community and their willingness to continue with their struggle, but it is quite telling. The community remains strong and united, as their continuing campaign indicates, and tactics like these will continue to be exposed for what they are."

Hanging in there

Despite the 2006 court order in favor of the indigenous community, Philip Christopher has continued to tear down the fence that divides the beachfront belonging to the indigenous community and La Flor de Mayo's land (Finca Popoyo project). He and his workers have been using weapons, mostly shooting upward but in occasions against the members of the indigenous community.

Since the incidents in August the people of Las Salinas de Nahualapa had stayed away from their land at Playa Sardinas, fearing death. However, seeing that Philip Christopher continues with his idea to develop his project while ignoring the community's rights, updating Finca Popoyo's website and showing the land (in December 2008), the members of the community have gone back to the land and keep shifts to cover its surveillance 24/7.

We are happy to see that the community continues to show energy in the long-lasting struggle to protect its land. We hope that no aggressions will follow at the imminent arrival of Philip Christopher, back from his country after the Winter holidays.

31^st of December, 2008 – Update

The past few months in Las Salinas has seen the community continuing with their campaign and fighting to have their voices heard by the Nicaraguan authorities. After the attack on the community representatives at the end of August (see below), Philip Christopher left the country for a brief period. During this time, the community stayed off their land (the beachfront property at Popoyo that Christopher is trying to steal) but continued appealing to the local authorities to put the findings of the court into effect and order La Flor de Mayo to stop encroaching on community land.

August 2008 Update: Las Salinas / Popoyo

Violence against Indigenous Community by North American and his Company

(Translated Update from the Las Salinas de Nahualapa Indigenous People)

Philip Christopher and his company, Flor de Mayo use constant violence against the Indigenous People of Las Salinas De Nahualapa in their attempt to take over the land near the Las Sardinas beach, just north of Popoyo Beach (Playa Popoyo).

July and August, 2008 update

Philip Christopher, Representative of the company, Flor de Mayo, has done everything he can to wear down the Indigenous People of Las Salinas de Nahualapa. He accused their President Bartolome Lopez and their designated representative, Geovanny Loasiga of destroying a fence on his property. The Indigenous People tell that there has been a fence separating a section of Indigenous land along the Las Sardinas Beach (about 12 manzanas) from other land further inland since about the time their ancestors got legal title to 855 manzanas of land in 1877. Over the last four years, according to the community, Philip Christopher has stolen the fence posts and wire seven times in order to remove this historic barrier and allow him to usurp the land next to the beach.

Thus in May 2007 Christopher brought a legal case against Lopez and Loasiga for removing a fence that was not even his. The trial in the criminal court of Rivas was set for July 29, 2008 but Christopher’s witnesses (from Managua) did not arrive so the trial was reset for the 7^th, then the 8^th, then the 9^th, then the 10^th and finally took place on Aug. 11^th. The Indigenous people have been able to maintain a pretty united front despite many attempts by Christopher to divide them. They pooled their money to pay for a bus to take about a hundred of them to Rivas each time the trial was set (the aisle was packed and about twenty people road on top of the bus). And each time they had more people and support among the population of Rivas grew to the point that by the actual day of the trial, August 11, they had so much support that it looked like a street fair outside the courtroom. The Indigenous People were found not guilty, because they weren’t, but also, in part, because the witnesses continually contradicted themselves, which makes sense since the whole thing was an invention of Christopher’s.

The People say Christopher was really angry. With his lawyer he drew up another accusation against 23 members of the Indigenous People including 8 children between the ages of 8 and 14 for association to crime, for damages and usurpation of land. They submitted the accusation in Tola and they wrote up a paper and according to the community, on August 19 went to the homes of the kids pressuring them to admit to these acts and sign the paper. Christopher and the lawyer (Guillermo Palacios) told them that if they didn’t sign they would end up in prison along with their parents. Fortunately no one signed, despite the fact that the children were terrified by this blatant intimidation.

On August 20 Geovanny Loasiga took the children and their parents to place a complaint at the “Comisaria de la Mujer” (Special Women’s Police stations) of Rivas where there are advocates who defend the rights of children according to the Children’s Code. The children were interviewed there by the psychologist. The “Ministerio Publico” (state prosecutor) should bring an accusation against Christopher and his lawyer. Unfortunately from the experience of the Indigenous Community of placing complaints for all kinds of violence perpetrated by Christopher with the police of Rivas and Tola with absolutely no results, they are not hopeful.

On August 21 Loasiga, the children and family members traveled to Managua to denounce the violence against the children with the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office for Children (Procuradura de Derechos Humanos con La Procuraduria de la Ninez). The case number is 1439-08 (the person who they spoke with is Yesenia Castilla) and they would appreciate it if any of us in the Ecumenical Committee could follow up to see what they are doing about this abuse against the eight children.

On this same day, August 21 there were only four women and three men present on the 12 manzanas of land by the beach (the land that has always belonged to the Indigenous). Christopher had his guards and other workers on his land just to the north, about ten, and all armed with 12 caliber rifles and 38 pistols. One of the women, Rosario Guadamuz Obando and one of the men, Jorge Fransisco Acosta Lopez told me that at about 2pm Christopher got out a gun that he held with one hand and a camera in the other. The ten men pointed their guns at six Indigenous people and pushed them off the Indigenous land towards to the beach.

Rosario Guadamuz said she was sitting on a trunk with her back to the men. “Christopher came up and put his 38 pistol directly my her head and pushed me out to the beach”. Christopher and his men also threw the people’s property (two bikes, an umbrella, and a jacket) in the ocean. Rosario was terrified. She says that she and the others think he is a psychopath. They also wrecked their palm-thatched roves, a cook stove and a latrine.

The Indigenous people had made a cell phone call and someone went for the police. By 5pm there were over a hundred people there and at 6:30 the police arrived but did nothing other than to tell them not to go back onto their own land (which they’ve had for 131 years and have also won in court and in appellate court) because Christopher is crazy.

According to the people present, the next day, Aug. 22, at about 1:30 pm Christopher and even more men (guards and workers) all armed, shot ten or eleven times at the feet of about twenty of the Indigenous People on the Indigenous land. According to Jorge Fransisco Acosta, Christopher told them “tiralos en el pecho” (shoot them in the chest). Christopher is one of the people who shot at the Indigenous. The Indigenous People collected the casings they could find to give them to the police. This time they called the Tola police (given that the police in Rivas had done nothing). The lawyer of the Indigenous People is placing an accusation against Christopher with the State Prosecutor’s office and if they won’t do anything he will place it directly with the judge. They all say that the Police should have taken Christopher and his men with the weapons because they could have done tests that would have shown that the weapons had been recently fired and who had fired the weapons.

Christopher is pressuring INETER to redraw the lines of the original map of the Indigenous People (855 manzanas). If he is successful Ineter will subtract 320 manzanas including the land along the beach and the salt flats (natural processing of salt) where so many members of the community make a living. Interestingly, on the day of the trial, August 11, while many of the Indigenous People were in Rivas, the Ineter truck and people from Ineter came to measure. The Indigenous people wouldn’t let them on their land. On Aug. 14^th, Geovanny Loasiga and others went to Ineter in Managua. Geovanny had been there previously to place a complaint and was able to get in briefly to talk with the head of INETER, Carlos Mesa Penalba. Loasiga told him “how is it possible that you send people to measure on our land when we have not made any request and Christopher’s land is north of us”. Mesa told him that he had not sent anyone to take measurements but that he would investigate which unit had done this.

Christopher has placed four different accusations against over 60 people and the four hearings will be between September 17^th and 24^th in Rivas. They think, in part, Christopher’s lawyer has found an easy way to make money so just keeps suggesting that they accuse the Indigenous folks. Geovanny Loasiga and Bartolome Lopez are being accused again of the same crime they were absolved of on August 11. And two girls, ages 8 and 14 are being accused twice, for extortion and for association for crime.