organizing in Matagalpa

Last Thursday Vicente Padilla (the campesino, not the baseball player) came in to Managua and gave me an update on what he's been up to lately.

As you may have read in some of the updates sent out (or, if you haven't, you can catch up at vicentepadilla.blogspot.com), the last three months of relative quiet at Vicente's farm were broken two weeks ago when McEwan sent fifty workers, accompanied by armed private guards, on to Vicente's land. The workers were all carrying machetes in their picking baskets, which they wouldn't normally need for the work they were ostensibly there to do, thus making it likely they were sent there to start a conflict. Vicente talked with the workers and eventually convinced them to leave his farm.

Meanwhile, Vicente has been very busy working in communities around San Ramon to organize other campesinos with land tenure problems to work together defend their land and human rights. With the help of members of the Managua Movimiento Comunal Nicaraguense and the Procuraduria de Derechos Humanos, they started a Human Rights Commission of the Department of Matagalpa. Last August, they organized a demonstration at the Matagalpa courthouse to protest police and judicial partiality for wealthy landowners in land cases, which was attended by over 100 campesinos and members of the Matagalpa indigenous community. The turnout is particularly impressive given that some attendees walked for over two hours to get there and participate.

The Commission is composed of people affected by land tenure issues and includes ex-Contras as well as Sandinista army veterans like Vicente. So far they've identified 22 problematic land cases in their communities. Members of the commission have accompanied Vicente in his trips to the San Ramon police station and to the Matagalpa courthouse. Likewise, Vicente has been sharing his own experiences with them and giving advice on avoiding violence in land disputes by non-violent methods such as using cameras to document land incursions.

Recently, they have begun to work with the communities of Santa Ana and San Antonio de Upa, both in Yasica Sur. These communities are made up of ex-Contra families living in extreme poverty and facing land disputes with neighboring landowners. Working together, they have already had one success in their activities. When the local landowner put up a fence blocking the road (and therefore bus access) to San Antonio de Upa, Vicente and other commission members came to photograph and document the fence with the intention of denoucing it to local authorities and human rights NGOs. The fence was taken down the next day, before they even got the chance to do so.

While very distressed at the possibility of new violence at his family farm, Vicente is feeling energized by cooperating with other people afflicted by the same problems he has faced for the last five years. He also expressed a couple of needs, for which he is hoping for assistance from international community. First, he would like advice on fundraising for the organizing other activities of the human rights commission. He would also like accompaniment at his farm in Yasica Sur, either from individuals or delegations. If you would be willing to help with either, you can contact us at casabenlinder@gmail.com.

Continuing the struggle

The courage of the Padilla family has been inspiring. The past few months have been dramatic with both big disappointments and exciting developments:

* In May, McEwan's armed private guards visited the Padilla family home yet again and fired shots at the house. Fortunately, no one was harmed in the attack.
* In June, the Nicaraguan Human Rights Ombudsman issued a resolution condemning the actions of the Matagalpa police in the December 2005 raid on the Padilla farm in which Vicente and his two oldest sons were beaten and jailed and the Padilla family's entire coffee crop for the year was stolen.
* Supporters have contacted ethical investment fund Ceres with our concerns regarding their inclusion of State Street Coffee as a Ceres member company. Supporters living in the US continue to meet with Ceres representatives to share information about State Street Coffee actions in the Padilla case.
* In July, Vicente received notification that a Matagalpa district judge had ruled against him in his case, awarding his farm to McEwan and State Street Coffee and ordering him to vacate his land. Vicente and his lawyer immediately appealed the decision, which cancelled the eviction order until the case is decided in the higher courts. Vicente hopes to take his case, which he and many other campesinos see as a potential precedent-setter, as far as the Nicarguan Supreme Court. Though the ruling is distressing to Vicente and his supporters, it is probably better that the case is no longer in the hands of the Matagalpa judge assigned to the case, as she has been accused numerous times of partiality in land disputes involving campesinos and wealthy landowners.
* In August, over 100 campesinos from the Padillas' community of Yasica Sur marched on the Matagalpa courthouse to protest police partiality and judicial corruption in land disputes involving campesinos. Participants in the march, many of whom face property disputes of their own, walked up to two and a half hours each way to attend the march and show their support for the Padilla family.

Supporters of the Padilla family, both Nicaraguan and international, continue to accompany the Padilla family in their effort to hold onto their land and lead peaceful lives. We have been supporting them as they face the on-going harassment from Esteban McEwan, the large land-holder and coffee producer who is trying to claim ownership of their seven-acre property, and US-based State Street Coffee, which owns McEwan's coffee plantation. Across Nicaragua, many campesinos are losing their claims to the lands they have been living on and working since the eighties. We believe that the Padilla family's fight could serve as a precedent to slow down this trend.

What can you do?
• Contribute toward our $300 per month pledge to support the family. E-mail us at casabenlinder@gmail.com for further information or visit www.casabenlinder.org/donate
• Educate yourself and others about the Padilla family's situation so that if we decide to take action against State Street Coffee in the United States, you can participate.