History of the Padilla Case

Many of the details of the Padilla case miror the larger history of land distribution in Nicaragua. In this sense, the Padilla case can be seen as a case study. His story is the story of thousands of campesinos all over Nicaragua.

Jose Esteban McEwan Callejas, a landlord of Scottish descent, owned a large coffee plantation (over 1,000 mazanas) called "Santa Emilia" during the Somoza era. He left his land and moved to the United States before the Sandinistas took power. In the early 1980´s his land was redistributed; the majority became a state run farm, some small parcels were given out to campesino farmers to be cultivated.

One of these farmers, Wilfredo Blandon Vasquez, sold his 5 manzanas to Vicente Padilla in 1991. Vicente therefore has a legal document proving his title to the land (something many campesinos, unfortunately, did not have when the revolution ended).

McEwan returned to Nicaragua in the mid-1990´s to reclaim his land. Although he had already been paid reparations, he was able to buy the section converted into a state farm back from the government. The small parcels given to individual campesinos were still not under his control. One day when Vicente and his family were at a religious procession, McEwan's workers bulldozed a road through the property and fenced off three of the five manzanas. (One manzana is 1.7 acres). They then secured it with armed guards.

Here began a long and draining legal battle. Over the course of the next five years, up to the present day, this battle has cost the family a huge amount of money, in many cases paying lawyers instead of eating.

The battle has also turned violent at times, as harassment by McEwan´s armed guards has increased. The guards have at times shoot bullets over the house, and stopped by to intimidate the family when they know Vicente is out working and his wife and children are alone.

In August 2005, a judge named Padilla the temporary owner of all five manzanas until the case was fully resolved. Padilla remarked his land with a new fence. On September 13th, McEwan´s guards tore out the fence and caused other property damage. The final assult came on December 29th, 2005 when McEwan arrived at Padilla´s small house with armed riot police, who beat up and arrested Vicente, his two sons, and a handful of other men in the community. While Vicente and his oldest son were inprisoned, McEwan sent his workers and armed guards in to pick the coffee growing on the three disputed manzanas. (see more on December 29th in next entry)