We begin all things with a song and
prayer. The song is one that Susan Lagos
knows. Welcome to our office.
(Background info
from Charley): Hector Padilla is the current Wihta Tara, which was re-created 5 years ago as a
political liaison with Managua. Sadie
Miller is his cousin and lives in Florida.
She is an Ambassador of the Moskito people to other organizations,
possibly to the UN as well.
Jimmy Webster is our advisor,
Salomon is the Vice Whita Tara, Martinez Ocampo Enrique is ?, Enrique Espinoza
is secretary. Lopercio Moralez is
President of the Senate of Moskitia.
Introduced members of Congress of Moskitia, including Delia Coleman,
whom is a member of the Council of Elders.
We also met Hitler, who is on the Youth Cabinet and a guerilla fighter.
We believe the problems of a lack
of unity were caused by the Nicaragua government to get access to our
resources, but they don’t, with laws 22 and 445, and we have moved ahead. There are 22 indigenous territories
demarcated into 31,000 sq. km. We should
have about 69,000 sq. km. During the
last five years, we’re trying to have traditional laws. The number of ethnic groups has reduced from
eleven to six. Our principle mission is
unity of all 11 (or 6) in groups in Moskitia.
United, we can defend against the colonizers. Traditional Moskitia laws say we elect a Wihta Tara and Council of Elders, and Senators. However, Enrique Espinoza has ben organizing
the Congress for all of the six to elect representatives, 50 in the South and
50 in the North to pass laws based on traditional laws of our peoples. Then this group and laws will tell us how to
confront the invaders.
Article 180 of the Constitution of
Nicaragua says indigenous people have the right to resources and make laws and
elect leaders. Our customs have not yet
been translated into laws. Now Congress and Senators are going to write these
laws and take them to Managua and ask that they be respected.
We (NicaNet) are invited to the
start of this Congress, April 20 – 23, in Bilwi. This is the 5th year of the Wihta Tara. We
will introduce elected Senators and Congress.
We will publish legislation.
We were not part of Nicaragua, but
were given autonomy. In original
agreements this land was not given to Nicaragua. But we have this opportunity under Article
180 of the Constitution, to not challenge the state, but take Covenant 160 and
Article 180 to get our rights respected in Nicaragua.
There are Nicaraguan laws that
appear to give rights to indigenous, however, they pretend – they were passed
in Managua without our input and consent.
They are just babbling, not really doing what they say they will. The Wihta Tara and Congress will resolve the status with
Nicaragua.
The invasion of the colonizers is a
way to take more of our land and was organized by the Nicaragua
government. We must take things into our
own hand. There are threats to our land
and culture and a lack of intervention from the Nicaragua state – our own
parliament will do. We’ve lost from once
traditional land the size of Costa Rica.
We will never renounce the rights to this land and we have to establish
them.
Participation – whomever wants can
– women, men, all peoples.
Mestizos have made their laws
without taking us into account. Congress
will represent us to Nicaragua and the International community.
The political parties tried to
bring us in, but since Yatama lost, they asked us to join them – this is not
our way, no, we don’t participate – you sold out and now you don’t accept your
defeat. They come to Wihta Tara and say to join them. The Council of Elders is now a foundation,
allied with Yatama and works with them.
We will continue with the laws that the Council of Elders started but left
behind. We are proceeding with election
of the Senate and Congress. We are
asking Yatama to leave the National Government and join US for this
legislature. Congress will come to Bilwi
and we are trying to raise money to feed them for the inauguration in April - it will cost about $45,000 and we don’t have
that. There will be 178 Congress people
here from all over Miskitia. Nobody
finances us – we must pay for our own travel, but we need to feed and lodge
them. Up to now we’ve been able to go
without funding, and it is a lot so far.
We need help.
Charley - We have sent documents to
the Nicaragua central government and sent a package with Mary Brook – we asked
if they got it – yes, and supposedly was sent to Geneva and the UN – in a
package from Sadie Miller. We did not
get replies from the UN because it’s a different system – we did not even get
replies regarding Abanaki matters.
Hitler – We started the war when I
was 13 years old. We weren’t part of
Nicaragua – we had our own King. We are
a Wihta Tara Moskitia
government. We are not in accord with
the political parties that are found here.
Brooklyn Rivera is a National deputy of Sandanistas.
There are 13,700 people in
Bilwi. In RAAN and RAAS are 390
communities. We are jealous of our
rights because we have shed blood for them.
We have our fighters that fought against the Sandanista front. When Brooklyn Rivera founded Yatama, the
Moskito people didn’t vote because they don’t want political parties here. Brooklyn said, “Join us”. He’s a person, not the people. Wihta Tara is the father of this
region. They should be part of us.
On 20 April we will have a Moskitia King in the form of the Wihta
Tara. We
will not change our ways and we will have our Miskitia King and inauguration on
April 20.
I, as Hitler and the Youth
Representative ask you to call for a conference of youth of indigenous around
the world.
They gave a letter to Charley from
the Wihta Tara, that was sent to the
National government – do they support our initiative process? We are 65% done on building the
Congress. We hope to have two congress
meetings each year of 2014 and 15 to create our laws. They asked Charley – can we get some funding
for this work? Another document – about
Moskitia set up – had to do with Austria-Hungary, a treaty that recognized
Moskitia as a nation.
Charley
Delaney, on behalf of his chief, his King, and his Abanaki tribe, read a
message of solidarity with the Moskito people and gave them the document. He has been here before and 3 of the elders
are friends of his.
The Elders
thanked all of us who came and those who didn’t come.
The President of the Elders spoke:
I want to
speak about our territory. We have been
fighting for our territory for many years.
In the beginning we didn’t have good leaders or good international
relations. We sent a representative to
the UN. We don’t have a relationship
with our government – they do not recognize us!
We have been exploited for gold and fish. No one supports us.
The main
problem is that the Mestizo colonizers come and chop down our trees, especially
in the BOSAWA preserve. Help us get the
word out and take our claims to the world outside. We don’t have funds to travel abroad
ourselves. We have treaties within reach
and are trying to figure out which is best.
We have titles from the time of our kings. The land belongs to us.
Before
Central American independence, Miskitia was recognized as a nation, but it is
not recognized by the nation of Nicaragua.
We as a peaceful nation are not in accord with the land demarcation.
The eldest senior (age 94) of the Council
of Elders:
Thank you for
coming. I already knew Charley. For us to move forward and achieve our goals
we need help from outside.
Reforestation
– planting is needed to leave inheritance for our children. We need precious hardwoods and fruit trees
for our future. We need to be able to
sell our products in the international market in order to have a true economy.
We have
progressed culturally; you can see that I speak in my native tongue. We have many riches within our
territory. We have petroleum and gold,
but we cannot sell them ourselves because of the government monopoly – that is
why we are poor.
No one can
take our land because we occupy it and know its limits.
We have
relationships with indigenous groups in Guatemala and Canada and a voice in
Geneva but no money to travel. We are in
touch with other people, too, for example Ethiopia but can’t travel or do much
with them.
Our ancestors
gave us this land over 200 years ago and we cannot leave it, so for these 200
years we have lived marginalized. We’ve
been invaded by Mestizo people and this is serious because our children will
not have peace. I am 94 years old and
have much sadness.
3rd man: Thank you. We greet you in the name of over 300
communities. ?Libro Cox Bonnito? I am a writer and historian. We have these problems: losing land, war between the Miskitu and
Mestizos, and Law 445, but things aren’t clear.
We also have border problems with Honduros. Rio Coco is ?driving? – it gives life to two
republics – this can only be faced by countries – regional authorities aren’t
doing anything. We also have drug
trafficking problems, especially on the Honduran border. The two nations aren’t doing anything, so we
must get international help.
The youth are
losing themselves as consumers of drugs and this destabilizes families. We are losiing our culture rapidly. We need support, but not from the Nicaraguan
government.
Many families
are losing their land and have no place to plant. We have never begged for food, but now we
must; we used to have enough to plant and eat.
More than 56%
of Nicaraguan territory is Indian Territory.
We are lovers
of nature, but others come to take the land, resulting in historical and
cultural chaos. We need to get our
proposals to the UN forum, possibly by means of you.
I’ve been to
Geneva and know this UN process, but our people don’t. We mean tomorrow, not the day after.
We have bad
education, health, communication and infrastructure.
Drug
traffickers put fear into people and they leave.
In Honduras,
their army is less powerful than the drug traffickers. The army of Honduras has many drug
traffickers and the Honduran government can’t do anything.
Ursell Anthony Endoxar Mendosa
Ursell gave
Charley a document today and intends to give him another one tomorrow. The Miskitu need a government that is honest,
not corrupt, based 100% in this culture.
The UN gives us support; ancestors left us treaties. We are restoring the system. We have been betrayed from within, by those
who have tried to change the direction away from the Elders, politics that are
foreign to the indigenous model. Our
culture is strong but we are poor. Our
work is done through methods of our culture.
The Council of Elders has called for a Congress of all of the Miskitu
peoples of Central America.
We have
traitors. David Watada is tryng to hold
a Congress before the Council’s Congress, with permission of the government,
administrative and legal structure, but no money slows us down. We need help from professionals from outside
to help our professionals.
Tomorrow’s
document is to denounce State genocide.
People can channel resources to us – we have a way.
Benjamin Kristy Knat: I am an
elder. I cannot write, but my ancestors
gave me knowledge about where the Miskitu people come from – it is registered
in my mind. When they spoke of the
government, they KNOW. As Don Antonio talked
about the treaties. The Council of
Elders is the Miskitu people. We should
go to the Hague. Antonio and ? should
write up documents and get them to The Hague.
Closing
ceremony
Question: Who has helped you?
Answer: No
one. We meet on Tuesdays and Fridays
without help. There is a UN meeting in
the US in September in Washington, DC.
We would like to be there.
Working
through Ambassadors is not the same – the people need to be there. The Ambassador of Nicaragua will not
represent us, just Nicaragua.
In 1958,
12,000 km of the Rio Coco were given to Honduras. High military officers of Honduras were drug
traffickers. So are some of the US
Military. They plant marijuana – the
owners are from the army. We have lost
thousands of ha with them.
Police in
RAAN/RAAS want to come and serve in our area, like there’s a competition to do
those jobs, and there is a big difference in their homes between when they come
and when they leave. There’s no reason
why there should be drugs here, but police have low salaries – even on low
salaries, their situation improves. They
have motorcycles and other things that they can’t afford on their
salaries. We believe they want to keep
the people asleep.
In May 2013, I
(Charley) was at a ½ day forum on Nicaragua at the UN. There was no response from James Anaya. One document to your Council of Elders
President concerned that. I was able to
speak with the Nicaragua Embassador to the UN and asked about participation of
Moskito in the government, drug trafficking, and land demarcation. Most of the time, he just smiled, nodded, and
didn’t answer. I also saw Brooklyn
Rivera, head of Yatama. I believe he
associates the Moskito with Yatama, which is incorrect. Yatama
gets 0 – 20% of the indigenous vote in RAAN and RAAS. They pretend that Moskito don’t exist, our
talk falls on deaf ears. They understand
your rights to your own resources.
In Nov 2013 I
was accredited by the Honduran government to take human rights testimony and be
an election observer. They are treating
indigenous the same as here. I went to
Rio Blanco when two tribal leaders went missing. We try to help them, too, through AfGJ. Drug traffickers prevented polls from
opening. Senator Leahy of Vermont
withheld 33% of the US money, $144 million, from the Honduran military. But the US government knows that $144 million
is small to drug traffickers. The US DEA
has made a deal with the largest cartel to police the smaller cartels. The US is now a drug broker.
Question –
can we solve issues, and work together?
The governments let the Indians fight each other. We must have an objective – the cause is
Moskitia, not people – we must organize morally and with great guarantees from
the people. We cannot be under orders
from political parties – we have our own.
Constant
observation – the history Miskia is 1000s of years, but the Nicaragua nation is
young, 400 years. They have tried to
destroy us.
In the war
with Zalaya, they sent ships to our land.
We are
lacking in technology and education, which hurts our chances for employment.
A $400
billion project – they went to the Wihta Tara, and convinced him that he could
be head of RAAN/RAAS – but the law of 2000 said they can only rule us
partly. We have limited sovereignty, the
Nicaragua government can have over these territories.
Ortega is
letting the Russians come in and have businesses here.
We need other
countries to know about the problems, but our youth believe in getting info
from the government rather than from our own culture.
The Wihta
Tara is the executive of our Councils (?) David Webster advises – he has
betrayed Misurasata – he wants to arrange a different authority, like a King,
changing the agreement between the Moskito Nation and Nicaragua. Webster is spreading lies.
We could have
an indigenous stock market – they have one in the US, but Ortega blocked having
one in Nicaragua.
Mark Rivas is a 26 year old lawyer, and
an advisor to the Council of Elders. He
talked about other problems – malnutrition, lack of health care, occupied
lands, and the need for education based on indigenous culture. The history taught in schools is about
Nicaragua colonization, not our own history.
That’s why we’re losing our culture.
Some groups
are trying to make themselves representatives of our people, including the
Yatama political party and the Wihta Tara, which was created by the Council of
Elders to watch over our resources and guide us to our independence. But the Wihta Tara put aside the Council of Elders because
our objective is our land. The Wihta
Tara has gotten money to against our
community. The Council of Elders had an
advisor who took advantage of us. This
creates division and poverty. We don’t
have a true leader with a love for indigenous people – all of those that we
placed as leaders have betrayed us. We
have re-organized ourselves to fight for our rights, culture, and land.
The UN thinks that we have good
rights, but we don’t see it. That’s why
we’re trying to join all indigenous of the Caribbean – to fight for our rights,
but the Council of Elders doesn’t have (financial?) support.
Our people are not familiar with international
rights or how to take advantage of them.
Oscar Hodson, a Sandinista, used the Council of Elders for self benefit
and betrayal. I present to you this plea
for the rescue of indigenous people.
Delia Coleman, 40 years old, came to the Council
of Elders in 1994. The problem is
individualism. There are three political
groups: Political party Yatama, the
Council of Elders, the Wihta Tara. If we can write, the nation can change. Let’s unite the three – we are all indigenous
people. Political parties are taking
over and selling the land, even though they come from here, not Managua. We need to try again, and have an
assembly. It is not true that the Wihta
Tara has taken money. Arcano is a commission that investigates
and that is where the accusations come from.
Isabel Herman We have a problem of lack of
education. Our eyes and ears are
closed. Help us with education for
adults, youth, and children. See how
they are taking the precious hardwoods from the BOSAWAS. Who is taking it? ALBA Forestry, Petroleum interests, Mining
Companies. For me, we cannot work with
other indigenous organizations – we must work with the Council of Elders.
I want peace, tranquility, and
understanding. The Wihta Tara was created by the Council of Elders in
1998 and the Council of Elders number was increased from 12 to 24 people and
made a lifetime appointment. The Wihta
Tara is elected every two years. But we have had no assembly, so the same one
is still in office. He needs to be more
organized. The problem is not with the Wihta
Tara but with his advisor who doesn’t want to
recognize the Council of Elders.
Charlie – proposed an international
petition to support our struggle
Someone - we need scholarships for youth
to study international agreements. 
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