DoomsdaysCW<p>Activists ask for help combatting violence against <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Nicaragua" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Nicaragua</span></a>’s <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Indigenous" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Indigenous</span></a> communities</p><p>Maxwell Radwin<br>29 Jul 2024</p><p>"Increasing violence in northern Nicaragua this year has displaced rural families and led to calls for more drastic action from the international community, which activists say hasn’t done enough to hold the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ortega" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ortega</span></a> government accountable for human rights abuses.</p><p>"For years, Indigenous communities on Nicaragua’s northern <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Caribbean" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Caribbean</span></a> coast have suffered threats, kidnappings, torture and unlawful arrests while defending communal territory from <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IllegalSettlements" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IllegalSettlements</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mining</span></a>. This year appears to be as bad as ever, and residents say they are desperate for help.</p><p>"'Urgent measures must be taken to protect these communities,' said Gloria Monique de Mees, the OAS rapporteur on the rights of Afro-descendants and against racial discrimination. 'Failure to address the crisis will only embolden the Nicaraguan government to continue its repressive campaign.'</p><p>"Much of the violence is concentrated within the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RACCN" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RACCN</span></a>), a jurisdiction communally governed and titled by Indigenous communities since the late 1980s. It’s home to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Miskitus" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Miskitus</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mayangnas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mayangnas</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ulwa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ulwa</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ramas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ramas</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Creole" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Creole</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Gar%C3%ADfunas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Garífunas</span></a> peoples, and contains mountain, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/rainforest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rainforest</span></a> and coastal <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ecosystems" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ecosystems</span></a>.</p><p>"The area has attracted non-Indigenous Nicaraguans, known locally as <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/colonos" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>colonos</span></a>, looking to set up <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/farms" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>farms</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/logging" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>logging</span></a> operations and artisanal <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mines" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mines</span></a>. Massive <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/gold" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gold</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/copper" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>copper</span></a> deposits have also created opportunities for multinational mining <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/corporations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corporations</span></a>, with backing from the government.</p><p>"Indigenous communities say they’re worried about losing <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AncestralLand" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AncestralLand</span></a> as well as traditional farming, hunting and fishing practices as the forest is cleared and mines <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/pollute" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pollute</span></a> local streams and rivers."</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/activists-ask-for-help-combatting-violence-against-nicaraguas-indigenous-communities/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">news.mongabay.com/2024/07/acti</span><span class="invisible">vists-ask-for-help-combatting-violence-against-nicaraguas-indigenous-communities/</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoMiningWithoutConsent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NoMiningWithoutConsent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GoldMining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>GoldMining</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CopperMining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CopperMining</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousPeople" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousPeople</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousPeoplesDay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousPeoplesDay</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LandBack" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LandBack</span></a></p>