A Padilla Update!
Vicente Padilla and his wife Carmen traveled to Managua in early February. He updated the community on the status of his fight to maintain ownership of his farm.
Now, a brief update on the Vicente Padilla case:
This year Vicente was able to harvest his coffee and use money to pay off farm debts.
He has become very active in local groups including: CPC representative, Representative of La Comissíón de Derrechos Humanos en Matagalpa, Community Council for Yasica Sur and San Ramón. Probably because of this work, he has gained respect in the community and holds a better relationship with the police force. When the police stopped by recently, they actually asked for permission to enter his property--a favor they have not bothered to pay him in the past.
However, he has been unable to sell coffee at organic prices due to an error committed by Bio Latina certification company.
The error has been described by Vicente as follows: 1)State St. filed a complaint against Vicente claiming his coffee was not organic, and thus that they did not interfere with the production of "organic" coffee as claimed by Vicente. 2)Without even visiting to investigate, Bio Latina issued a ruling against Vicente, revoking his organic certification for 2006-2007.
An official with Bio Latina has personally and verbally recognized his error and committed to reinstating Vicente's certification this year. No paperwork has come through yet, and we will continue to follow developments in this issue to hold Bio Latina accountable to their commitment. We will also make sure that once the organic license is reinstated, State Street Coffee makes note of that on their website where they currently have posted a notice of Padilla's (incorrect) non-organic status.
In solidarity,
The Political Action Group
If you would like to help Vicente and his family in their struggle, please send a message to the blog operator at presente87@gmail.com
posted by CasaBenLinder @ 11:24 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
You mention here that Padilla is a CPC representative, like that's a good thing! Have you explained to your readers exactly what that para-estatal organization is, how they came to exist under the current administration, how they are funded, what they do? When one is concerned about human rights, one should be careful not to trumpet this as some kind of credibility builder. Here's a link to one enlightening article anyway: http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/politica/61130
I do not know the details of the case well enough to side for or against Mr. Padilla in his claim but I found the counter-claim that he was not a member of the cooperative who squatted there in the first place interesting. Is there any evidence from your side that he was?
I ask because here in Nicaragua these days, there are more and more "tomas" or confiscations of property, basically poor stealing from rich, as the underpinnings of civil society are steadily being eroded. On a basic level, I can understand the appeal of taking from the haves to give to the have-nots, but we should not fool ourselves (especially as outsiders) that the story is always that simple. Ever seen "Dr.Zhivago"?
What is happening in Nicaragua right now is nothing short of tragic. If support of democracy is what motivates us in our promotion of human rights, we don't serve anyone well we don't completely investigate stories such as Mr. Padilla's.
Just to put an added splash of cold water on the excitement of "joining in the struggle", I offer up the fact that Mr. Ortega, the man who plasters signs all over the country reading "Arriba Los Pobres!" is now wealthier than Somoza was at the time of the revolution's inception. Think about that. And look into some of his human rights abuses-- starting with what he did to those poor banana farmers in the rotondas: promising them food and money to stand in the blistering sun all day waving his flags and then not delivering. All that was covered in El Nuevo Diario, too.
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Yes i am agree with you & article very informative.
Ethical Investment
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