NYT: Nicaragua Dispute Over Indigenous Land Erupts in Wave of Killing

The New York Times reports that indigenous Miskito people of Nicarauga are under attack by settlers who are taking over their ancestral territory, lured by the promise of gold and lucrative timber.

With the law on their side, and a bitter history of war, the Miskitos sometimes pushed back, confronting the settlers with large groups of people. The settlers responded with a vengeance, raiding indigenous towns.

One indigenous village was burned to the ground. At least 600 indigenous people have fled to neighboring Honduras, where they live in dirt and squalor, advocates say. The killings of at least 30 Miskitos have been documented; the settlers say at least 80 farmers have also been killed, but have been unable to provide a list of names.

The article notes that the same indigenous communities battled the Sandinista government over their land in the civil war in the 1980s. Read the full article here.