DoomsdaysCW<p>Activists ask for help combatting violence against <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Nicaragua" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Nicaragua</span></a>’s <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Indigenous" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" 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" 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" 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" target="_blank">#<span>IllegalSettlements</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" 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" 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" target="_blank">#<span>Miskitus</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mayangnas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Mayangnas</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ulwa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Ulwa</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ramas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Ramas</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Creole" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Creole</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Gar%C3%ADfunas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Garífunas</span></a> peoples, and contains mountain, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/rainforest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>rainforest</span></a> and coastal <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ecosystems" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" 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" target="_blank">#<span>colonos</span></a>, looking to set up <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/farms" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>farms</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/logging" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>logging</span></a> operations and artisanal <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mines" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>mines</span></a>. Massive <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/gold" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>gold</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/copper" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" 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" 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" 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" 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" 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" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoMiningWithoutConsent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NoMiningWithoutConsent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GoldMining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GoldMining</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CopperMining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CopperMining</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousPeople" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousPeople</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousPeoplesDay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousPeoplesDay</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LandBack" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LandBack</span></a></p>