Lush heartlands of Nicaraguas Miskito people spark deadly land disputes

[Judi Lynn]

The indigenous group faces a battle with settlers lured to the Caribbean rainforest region by the promise of cheap virgin land, precious timber and gold

Mira Galanova in Awas Tingni
Wednesday 1 March 2017 02.00 EST

Santiago Vásquez’s seven children are hungry. It has been months since he last went to his field. Tending crops has become a dangerous endeavour along Nicaragua’s eastern coast.

Since 2015, dozens of men in the area from the Miskito indigenous people – and other groups, including the Rama and Ulwa – have been killed, women have been raped and families taken captive on the way to their farms, hunting or fishing, according to Cejudhcan, an NGO defending the rights of indigenous people in the region.

When the bodies of two men from the community of Esperanza Río Coco were found dismembered last August, Vásquez stopped going to his field. “My farm is a two-and-a-half hour walk away. I had cattle, pigs and chickens there, but because of the settlers, I had to abandon it all. I don’t have a good gun to defend myself,” he says.

Increasing violence has been fuelled by the promise of cheap virgin land, precious timber and gold, which has lured people to the lush tropical rainforests. The new settlers are mestizos, Nicaraguans of mixed Spanish-native American descent.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/mar/01/lush-heartlands-of-nicaragua-miskito-people-spark-deadly-land-disputes