Nicaragua-Indians
Sep 6 1985
^PM-Nicaragua-Indians
^An AP Extra
^ EDITOR'S NOTE - Nicaraguan Indians held their congress this year in Rus Rus, a village on Honduras' isolated Caribbean coast where hundreds of them have sought refuge. A major topic was the fight of Indian guerrilla organizations against Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government. Associated Press reporter Andrew Selsky was one of five U.S. journalists who observed the congress.
RUS RUS, Honduras (AP) _ Hundreds of Nicaraguan Indians, some escorted by guerrilla patrols, slogged for weeks along jungle trails to attend an assembly in this remote refugee village and form an alliance against the leftist Sandinista government.
The delegates represented all the Indian communities along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua.
In forming the new group called Kisan, which means Nicaraguan Coast Indian Unity in the Miskito Indian language, the assembly dissolved the Misura and Misurasata rebel groups, two of four guerrilla armies fighting the Sandinista government.
The Indians, who claim about 4,000 soldiers, hope to qualify for some of the $27 million in non-lethal aid the U.S. Congress authorized for the rebels, also known as Contras.
"We have lived in our country before the time of Columbus, but now we must plead with the Sandinistas for the control of our lands," said Wycliffe Diego, who was elected leader of Kisan by the assembly.
"We will die before we become slaves to any government, much less the Sandinistas," declared Diego, 39, who formed the first Nicaraguan Indian rights group, Alpromiso, in 1973 when Anastasio Somoza was in power. The Sandinistas overthrew Somoza in July 1979.
Diego, like others, addressed the 491-delegate assembly in the Miskito Indian language, which another Indian translated into Spanish for the 10 U.S., European and Honduran journalists who attended the three-day assembly. The assembly ended Tuesday, but reports about it were delayed because there are no telephones in the area.
Some of the delegates were guerrilla officers, dressed in heavy boots, jeans and T-shirts. Others were clergymen representing the Roman Catholic and Moravian churches in Nicaragua. Still others were from nearby refugee villages.
The delegates from Nicaragua were accompanied by guerrillas from the Misura group because of fears of attacks by Sandinista troops.
Violence between the Sandinistas and the Indians erupted in 1981 when government troops tried to arrest a dissident leader in a Moravian church in Prinzapolka, Nicaragua. A shootout left four Indian rebels and eight soldiers dead, Indian leaders say.
In the following weeks, Indian guerrillas in the Misura and Misurasata bands attacked soldiers with bows and arrows and machetes, then later with automatic rifles taken from dead soldiers.
In 1982, the government began forcibly relocating thousands of Miskito Indians living in the coastal jungle area. The Indians say soldiers set fire to Miskitos' homes, churches and crops, and killed their livestock.
The Sandinistas now say the forced relocation was a mistake and are trying to move the Miskitos back to their ancestral homelands along the Coco River, which divides Honduras and Nicaragua.
But delegates representing the refugees vowed not to return as long as the Sandinistas remained in power.
"You young ones must struggle so you don't die here and so you can take the bones of the old ones who do die here back to Nicaragua," said Mollins Tillet, the president of the Indian's council of elders.
"Our most fervent wish is that our next assembly be held in Nicaragua, which for us is a piece of heaven," he said.
The approximately 400 refugees who fled across the Coco River to live in Rus Rus, just two miles from the border, had to begin all over. About 19,000 other Indian refugees live in similar settlements on the Honduran side of the river, relief officals say.
The Indians erected bamboo huts atop stilts for protection against the monsoon-like rains that lash the region eight months of the year. With the help of international relief agencies and tribesman already in Honduras they grow rice and beans, and some have a cow or two.
Some Indian leaders say they are seeking an autonomous state in Nicaragua, and representatives of the Misaurasata faction believe an autonomy plan can be negotiated with the Sandinistas.
"Our fight is for our rights," Kenneth Bushey, a Misurasata guerrilla commander elected to the Kisan governing body, told reporters. "If the Sandinistas respect those rights, we won't have any reason to fight," he said.
However, otehr leaders like Diego want more.
"We want to have a dialogue with other (rebel) groups and to fight together for the freedom of our country and to get rid of Sandinismo forever, which is communism," Diego told the assembly.
^PM-Nicaragua-Indians
^An AP Extra
^ EDITOR'S NOTE - Nicaraguan Indians held their congress this year in Rus Rus, a village on Honduras' isolated Caribbean coast where hundreds of them have sought refuge. A major topic was the fight of Indian guerrilla organizations against Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government. Associated Press reporter Andrew Selsky was one of five U.S. journalists who observed the congress.
RUS RUS, Honduras (AP) _ Hundreds of Nicaraguan Indians, some escorted by guerrilla patrols, slogged for weeks along jungle trails to attend an assembly in this remote refugee village and form an alliance against the leftist Sandinista government.
The delegates represented all the Indian communities along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua.
In forming the new group called Kisan, which means Nicaraguan Coast Indian Unity in the Miskito Indian language, the assembly dissolved the Misura and Misurasata rebel groups, two of four guerrilla armies fighting the Sandinista government.
The Indians, who claim about 4,000 soldiers, hope to qualify for some of the $27 million in non-lethal aid the U.S. Congress authorized for the rebels, also known as Contras.
"We have lived in our country before the time of Columbus, but now we must plead with the Sandinistas for the control of our lands," said Wycliffe Diego, who was elected leader of Kisan by the assembly.
"We will die before we become slaves to any government, much less the Sandinistas," declared Diego, 39, who formed the first Nicaraguan Indian rights group, Alpromiso, in 1973 when Anastasio Somoza was in power. The Sandinistas overthrew Somoza in July 1979.
Diego, like others, addressed the 491-delegate assembly in the Miskito Indian language, which another Indian translated into Spanish for the 10 U.S., European and Honduran journalists who attended the three-day assembly. The assembly ended Tuesday, but reports about it were delayed because there are no telephones in the area.
Some of the delegates were guerrilla officers, dressed in heavy boots, jeans and T-shirts. Others were clergymen representing the Roman Catholic and Moravian churches in Nicaragua. Still others were from nearby refugee villages.
The delegates from Nicaragua were accompanied by guerrillas from the Misura group because of fears of attacks by Sandinista troops.
Violence between the Sandinistas and the Indians erupted in 1981 when government troops tried to arrest a dissident leader in a Moravian church in Prinzapolka, Nicaragua. A shootout left four Indian rebels and eight soldiers dead, Indian leaders say.
In the following weeks, Indian guerrillas in the Misura and Misurasata bands attacked soldiers with bows and arrows and machetes, then later with automatic rifles taken from dead soldiers.
In 1982, the government began forcibly relocating thousands of Miskito Indians living in the coastal jungle area. The Indians say soldiers set fire to Miskitos' homes, churches and crops, and killed their livestock.
The Sandinistas now say the forced relocation was a mistake and are trying to move the Miskitos back to their ancestral homelands along the Coco River, which divides Honduras and Nicaragua.
But delegates representing the refugees vowed not to return as long as the Sandinistas remained in power.
"You young ones must struggle so you don't die here and so you can take the bones of the old ones who do die here back to Nicaragua," said Mollins Tillet, the president of the Indian's council of elders.
"Our most fervent wish is that our next assembly be held in Nicaragua, which for us is a piece of heaven," he said.
The approximately 400 refugees who fled across the Coco River to live in Rus Rus, just two miles from the border, had to begin all over. About 19,000 other Indian refugees live in similar settlements on the Honduran side of the river, relief officals say.
The Indians erected bamboo huts atop stilts for protection against the monsoon-like rains that lash the region eight months of the year. With the help of international relief agencies and tribesman already in Honduras they grow rice and beans, and some have a cow or two.
Some Indian leaders say they are seeking an autonomous state in Nicaragua, and representatives of the Misaurasata faction believe an autonomy plan can be negotiated with the Sandinistas.
"Our fight is for our rights," Kenneth Bushey, a Misurasata guerrilla commander elected to the Kisan governing body, told reporters. "If the Sandinistas respect those rights, we won't have any reason to fight," he said.
However, otehr leaders like Diego want more.
"We want to have a dialogue with other (rebel) groups and to fight together for the freedom of our country and to get rid of Sandinismo forever, which is communism," Diego told the assembly.
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