Online Archives

To: Friends of the Padilla Family
From: The Ecumenical Committee in Nicaragua

This is an update to donors and potential donors to Vicente Padilla, a campesino in Nicaragua fighting for justice. We begin by thanking all of you who have made donations to help this effort.

The Ecumenicial Committee continues to accompany the Padilla family in their effort to hold onto their land and lead peaceful lives. We have been supporting them as they face the on-going harassment from Esteban McEwan, the large land-holder and coffee producer who is trying to claim ownership of their seven-acre property, and US-based State Street Coffee, which owns McEwan?s coffee plantation. Across Nicaragua, many campesinos are losing their claims to the lands they have been living on and working since the eighties. We believe that the Padilla family?s fight could serve as a precedent to slow down this trend.

In the name of accompaniment, our members have 

1. stayed with the family on their farm to discourage threatening visits by McEwan;
2. attended court hearings to try to improve their chance for a fair trial;
3. held trainings in non-violent accompaniment for those staying with the family
4. conducted human rights workshops in Vicente?s community of Yasica Sur to organize and empower them to defend their own rights while supporting Vicente,
5. are working to inform government, police, and human rights organizations of the situation; and
6. have pledged $300 per month of financial support to the family to compensate for revenues lost when McEwan stole the entire coffee harvest in December. They have no additional income until the next harvest in December. This is why your financial support is needed.

The courage of the Padilla family has been inspiring. The past three months have been dramatic with both big disappointments and exciting developments.

• In May, McEwan?s armed private guards visited the Padilla family home yet again and fired shots at the house. Fortunately, no one was harmed in the attack. 
• In June, the Nicaraguan Human Rights Ombudsman issued a resolution condemning the actions of the Matagalpa police in the December 2005 raid on the Padilla farm in which Vicente and his two oldest sons were beaten and jailed and the Padilla family?s entire coffee crop for the year was stolen.
• Members of the EC have contacted ethical investment fund Ceres with our concerns regarding their inclusion of State Street Coffee as a Ceres member company. EC members living in the US continue to meet with Ceres representatives to share information about State Street Coffee actions in the Padilla case.
• In July, Vicente received notification that a Matagalpa district judge had ruled against him in his case, awarding his farm to McEwan and State Street Coffee and ordering him to vacate his land. Vicente immediately appealed the decision, which cancelled the eviction order until the case is decided in the higher courts. Vicente hopes to take his case, which he and many other campesinos see as a potential precedent-setter, as far as the Nicarguan Supreme Court. Though the ruling is distressing to Vicente and his supporters, it is probably better that the case is no longer in the hands of the Matagalpa judge assigned to the case, as she has been accused numerous times of partiality in land disputes involving campesinos and wealthy landowners. 
• In August, over 100 campesinos from the Padillas? community of Yasica Sur marched on the Matagalpa courthouse to protest police partiality and judicial corruption in land disputes involving campesinos. Participants in the march, many of whom face property disputes of their own, walked up to two and a half hours each way to attend the march and show their support for the Padilla family.

What can you do?

• Contribute toward our $300 per month pledge to support the family. Make checks payable to our treasurer Lillian Hall and Mail checks to her at PO box 5391, Managua, Nicaragua, or give checks to Nan McCurdy and she will see that they get to Lillian.
• Educate yourself and others about the Padilla family?s situation so that if we decide to take action against State Street Coffee in the United States, you can participate.
• Visit our blog, vicentepadilla.blogspot.com for more information about the case.