In Nicaragua, an Historic--and Unlikely--Alliance for Peace

On the International Day of Peace, Chris Chapman, head of conflict prevention at Minority Rights Group International, reports from Nicaragua, where an historic alliance that supports minority rights is being formed.

21 September 2006, Nicaragua - For the national elections in November this year, two sworn enemies will jointly field candidates in the vast Atlantic Coast region, inhabited by Afro-descendant and indigenous groups.

The alliance signifies a new start, and it comes as a result of the Sandinista Front for National Liberation (FSLN) and the YATAMA party, Nicaragua's largest indigenous social movement, realizing that their common interests outweigh their historical differences. Though there is a history of violence between the two groups, both believe in the principle of autonomy and that rights for indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in the Atlantic region must be upheld.

According to the agreement signed between the two groups, the alliance, if it wins power, will guarantee participation of ethnic groups at the national level, work to develop the Atlantic region, and iron out some of the remaining glitches in the autonomy law.

Nora Newball (left), a YATAMA candidate, and Bridgette Budeir of the FSLN party both support increased rights for the country's ethnic minorities. © Minority Rights Group International

The alliance will face a group of right-wing parties, including the Constitutional Liberal Party, currently in power, which, they claim, has never defended ethnic groups interests. The Liberals never understood the autonomy. The Sandinistas are the only party that understand the needs of the ethnic groups, says Bridgette Budeir, a Creole woman who is now a candidate for the FSLN at the November elections. Speaking of the new consensus she adds: We have moved from passivity, through violent conflict, to dialogue and negotiation.

For Brooklyn Rivera, one time leader of MISURASATA, the guerilla movement that fought the Sandinistas in the 1980s, and now leader of YATAMA, autonomy is the cornerstone of peace building in Nicaragua. Speaking at a conference on autonomy and conflict prevention held in Bluefields, Nicaragua this week, organized by the Centre for Human, Civil and Autonomous Rights, he referred to the war that took place in the 1980s between the FSLN and MISURASATA, saying: Autonomy was the key to resolve the conflict.

The autonomy principle was considered a radical step at the time, and one that not many other governments were prepared to take. Minorities got their own decentralized governing bodies, and were promised control over the natural resources in their land. However, the initial policy was worded so vaguely that the Atlantic peoples, who live on about 50 per cent of the national territory, and are made up of a veritable tapestry of ethnic and religious groups including Creoles and Garifuna, and the indigenous groups Miskitu, Rama and Mayagna, are still waiting to claim their rights.

In the 1990s, the Atlantic peoples voted a liberal coalition into power to them it was a vote for peace; they co existed with the Sandinistas in a climate of suspicion and associated the group with a long war. But according to participants at the conference, over the years it has become clear that the liberal party is only interested in promoting a homogeneous Spanish identity that does not protect minority languages or cultures. The autonomy they voted for was not delivered.

Now, according to Rivera, the policy needs to be taken apart and renegotiated, so the people who actually voted for it in the first place can see the benefits. Autonomy can work as a safety valve, to resolve tension, seek out spaces to resolve conflicts, he said.

And it is much needed. There are still many problems in relations between the Atlantic peoples and the rest of the country, who are referred to collectively by Coast dwellers as Managua, Spanish, or the mestizos (those of mainly European descent).

Nora Newball (right), a YATAMA candidate, and Bridgette Budeir of the FSLN party.

Although Riveras YATAMA party gained a majority in the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) is dominated by national parties and the deputies sent by the two regions to the central parliament are all mestizos. And according to a decision by a local court last month, the central government violated the autonomy arrangement when it negotiated a deal with foreign companies to explore for oil off the coast of the Atlantic region. There are also regular conflicts over land, often leading to violence.

However, the YATAMA party (which historically has been Miskitu-led and means Children of the Motherland in that language) is taking further steps towards ethnic understanding by fielding candidates from the other ethnic groups. Nora Newball is a Creole woman who is standing as candidate for Yatama. I am so happy to see the Creoles being brought into Yatama. Our lands are not demarcated at all. The Frente (FSLN) and Yatama have listed their number one priority as the demarcation of community lands.

With its cold war references, the conflict in Nicaragua in the 1980s between the FSLN and MISURASATA almost seems like a throwback to another time. But given the two have now become partners, this war and its radical solution holds many interesting lessons for peace-makers working in conflicts today.

In Nicaragua, an Historic--and Unlikely--Alliance for Peace

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