(U) SANDINISTA SUSPICIOUS SALE OF TIMBER-RICH ANCESTRAL

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001192 SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CEN DEPT FOR INR/IAA STATE FOR USOAS STATE PASS TO USAID/LAC STATE PASS TO MCC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINS SENV ETRD EIND EAGR NU SUBJECT: (U) SANDINISTA SUSPICIOUS SALE OF TIMBER-RICH ANCESTRAL INDIGENOUS LANDS THWARTED REF: MANAGUA 1051; MANAGUA 79; 2008 MANAGUA 1149 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In August, approximately 12,400 hectares of indigenous land in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) was sold to a foreign-owned timber company under suspicious circumstances. The tract from the Awas Tingni community, home to a large Sumo Mayagna indigenous group, was only recently titled by the central government. The tract was sold by the indigenous Miskito-controlled YATAMA political party, which is closely allied with the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN),instead of by the local residents. Sumo Mayagna leaders denounced the illegal sale of their ancestral lands for commercial purposes by the YATAMA party, filed lawsuits with the Attorney General, and successfully lobbied the RAAN Regional Council to annul the sale. While the Sumo Mayagna were successful in defending their ancestral land, the corruption and political overtones to the sale raise concerns that indigenous rights are easily trampled for political and profit motives. END SUMMARY WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MISKITO AND SUMO? ¶2. (SBU) Nicaragua's largest indigenous group is the Miskito, with a population of approximately 130,000 that is concentrated in urban areas on the Caribbean coast of the RAAN and RAAS. For historical and geographical reasons, the Miskito indigenous people are generally better educated and integrated than other indigenous groups in Nicaragua, yet remain homogenous culturally. The Miskito people are politically organized into a regional political party called YATAMA, which has formed a political alliance with the FSLN to share power and central government resources in the region. The YATAMA-FSLN political alliance is not popular with most Miskitos, but it benefits the self-appointed leaders within the community (see Reftels). ¶3. (SBU) The Sumo Mayagna people represent Nicaragua's second largest indigenous group, with a population of approximately 40,000, located principally in the western and central RAAN. The remote geography of the region has limited Sumo Mayagna access to education as well as their integration into Nicaragua's culture. As a people, they are less politically active and organized, when ;compared with their Miskito neighbors. This difference in geography and exposure to national and international influence may be at the heart of the historic animosity between the Miskito and Sumo Mayagna peoples. It is said that the Miskito often refer pejoratively to their Sumo Mayagna neighbors as "country bumpkins" because of their lower level of education and integration. SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES IN INDIGENOUS LAND SALE ¶4. (U) On August 12, La Prensa (national daily, right-of-center) reported that veterans allied closely with the FSLN-allied YATAMA indigenous party sold 12,400 hectares of rain forest to a timber company called the Indigenous Precious Woods and Industries of Nicaragua. This timber company is neither indigenous nor Nicaraguan, but rather owned by a French businessman named Clement Marie Poncon who is rumored to have close ties to the FSLN government. The land sale was suspicious because it involved a large tract of approximately 74,000 hectares recently titled to YATAMA supporters by the central government in December 2008 that is supposed to be collectively owned by Sumo Mayagna indigenous community of 11,000 people in Awas Tingni. ¶4. (SBU) The Sumo Mayagna who occupy the 12,400 hectares of rain forest land sold to the French-owned timber company are not politically allied with the FSLN, nor have they been able to secure land titles from the central government, despite strong efforts to follow the demarcation process established in Law 445 (see Reftel). Instead, it appears that the FSLN-controlled central government gave the valuable Sumo Mayagna land as a reward to their Miskito regional allies in YATAMA with the intention to enter into a timber contract with Mr. Poncon. THE SUMO MAYAGNA STRIKE BACK ¶5. (U) Modesto Frank, the leader of SUKAWALA, an indigenous Sumo Mayagna NGO, filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the land sale with Hernan Estrada, the country's Attorney General. Estrada subsequently brought a complaint with the Supreme Court (CSJ) against the registrar of lands (David Rodriguez Gaitan) in Bilwi, RAAN for acts of corruption in handling the land sale. The RAAN regional council eventually annulled the land sale by invoking Law 445, which governs the disposition of native lands in the RAAN and RAAS (see Reftel C). According to this law, land communally owned and occupied by native groups cannot be bought, sold, taxed or seized. ¶6. (U) After the land sale was annulled, approximately 400 disgruntled YATAMA members, who are former contras, blocked the two main roads to Bilwi for several days and promised to burn any government vehicles that passed their way. Frank stated that almost all of the 74,000 hectares which are owned by the Sumo Mayagna people in the Awas Tingni region are at risk of being sold to wealthy timber interests by profit-minded individuals-mostly YATAMA-FSLN supporters. CALLAHAN