HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-LWSSC-rpt.pdf REPORT FROM NICARAGUA
1992
by John Fobert
~~NednesdaNy , February 12
Matt Foti and I arrived in Managua and were faced with our first problem--a
national airline strike All commerical flights were halted within
Nicaragua At first we thought the strike would resolve itself ouicklv,
but that changed when strikers moved planes onto the runway to block
incoming flights
--Thursday, February 13
We weighed our options with Danilo Salamanca, director of CIDCA (Research
Institute for the Study of the Atlantic Coast) We had four options wait
for the strike to end; take limited baggage on a small plane and ship the
support equipment; travel by road; or charter a plane to take us and the
equipment together Complications with the strike not knowing when the
support equipment would arrive, and road travel being called /'unsafe" we
decided to charter a plane
--Friday, February 14
We arrived in Puerto Cabezas and met with Adam Silver director of CIDCA in
this Atlantic coast town In his office we discusssed plans for travel to
Waspam on Sunday and also the options for the sawmill
--Saturday, February 15
William Watler our Waspam host from last year came to CIDCA to talk to
Matt and I about our plans He had just arrived from Waspam to visit his
family it Puerto Cabezas William said he would take us to Waspam on
Monda^ rather than Sunday because he wanted to spend more time visiting
with his relatives
--Monday February 17
When William arrived we had our bags waiting But there would be no trip
that day Over the weekend 400-500 re-contras had taken control of Waspam
and Sansi a small town on the road north In the fighting two police had
been killed and a few others wounded The band of re-contras were
comprised of some Misouito Indians called Yatama After two -ears of
frustrations with the central povernment in Managua, things had boiled over
into violence While in Waspam, this group had looted Wiliam s house shot
cattle in the streets for food occupied houses owned by Sandinistas and
threatened to kidnap others So it appeared that by delaying our trip one
day we had avoided mans, problems in this town where some people were now
being held captive One such person was Rose Cunningham, who had been
captured on the road to Waspam
Trouble was also beginning to brew in Puerto Cabezas There are two
factions of the Yatama group-^^one led by Stedman Fagot and the other by
Brooklyn Rivera, who had ordered the invasion of Waspam Rumors of 1000
re-contras outside Puerto Cabezas had evervone on alert Fagot s group , in
protest of Riveras , blew up a ta. i owned by a Rivera cabinet member, just
4n0 meters from where we were staying The Fagot group also occupied the
municipal buildings in town
--Tuesday February 18
The central government in Managua flew in troops and a newly-formed elite
riot police force All travel in and out of Puerto Cabezas by road or
plane was shut down The riot police, without warning went into the
municipalities and physically removed the occupying Fagot group, using
clubs to get them into trucks that took them to the aiport where they were
flown to a Managuan prison After this incident there was an uneasy order
restored in town The central government came to town meetings with
different factions in an effort to settle demands and resolve the existing
regional conflicts
--Thursday February 20
A woman lured one of the Mayor s guards away from his post outside the
Mayor s house He was led up the street and stabbed to death by three men
--Friday February 21
The Mayor of Puerto Cabezas resigns
In the days that followed all we could do was to wait and listen for news
of progress in the conflict resolution The road to Wasoam was still
deemed unsafe
--Monday , March 2
After ten days of waiting in Puerto Cabaezas we talked to Doreata Wilson
president of OPHDESCA an organization that runs many projects in the
region including another sawmill in Waspam She suggested that it was safe
to travel to Waspam while negotiations continued
--Tuesday, March
OPHDESCA sent a pick-up truck and driver to take us tc Waspam The ride
took three and a half hours At different check-points along the wa4 we
saw many half uniformed and heavily armed re-contras We were allowed to
pass because the OPHDESCA truck was known When we arrived in Waspam the
first thing we saw was the original mill site We were impressed by the
amount of sawdust piled about We settled into William Watler s house for
the night William had remained in Puerto Cabezas for safety s sake
--Wednesday , March 4
We met with the original sawmill committee, Roberto Wilson of OPHDESCA and
Adam Silver of CIDCA We learned about problems they had been having with
administrating the mill and its sporadic operation Because of the these
problems we all decided to move the sawmill net to the OPDESCA mill
Together, that day, we dug out the mill from the mounds of sawdust
surrounding it, disassembled it and moved it to the new location
Meanwhile a new contract was drafted The new contract was designed to
help smooth operations by consolidating the daily management with that of
OPHDESCA s mill The original sawmill committee would help decide on
distributions of lumber and monitor monthly process with OPHDESCA Also
outlined in the contract was a stipulation for a bi -monthly report to be
sent to Lexington and a si -month review for renewal for the contract
--Thurday, March 5
We reassembled the mill and with our group began cutting wood We were
happy with the new location and the assistance we received from OPHDESCA
Later we met with the sawmill committee and signed the new contract We
said our good-byes hopeful that the problems of the mill were now resolved