At least four members of the Wilú community, of Mayangna origin, located in the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, were killed this Saturday by a group of 70 armed settlers who entered their territory, according to the Mayangna Sauni As Territorial Government, which added that there are three other community members wounded with a bullet.
In a statement they denounced that the settlers the homes of indigenous families were set on fire. “All the houses have been burned in their entirety, the families have been left unprotected, without food and without clothing since they could barely save their lives.”
The names of the victims are: Alberto Castillo Palacios, 20 years old; Jorge Enor Palacios Samuel, 23 years old; Lenin Vílchez Patrón Flores and Jasmín Jacobo Lázaro. The community members wounded by bullets are: Duts Castillo, Florencio Patrón and Mario Patrón.
“It is presumed that there are more fatalities in the community of Wilú, boys, girls and women. Given the remoteness and difficult access to the place of events, the exact number of houses burned and the number of fatalities have not yet been counted, ”they say.
The Sani As Rangers detailed, through another statement, that the attack occurred taking advantage of the fact that “the men of the community had withdrawn to work harvesting, being in the community mostly women and children.” It was then that the settlers attacked, burning 16 houses and killing two cows. Only the church, the pastoral house and the school remained standing, they say.
They point out that this is the second time that settler groups have attacked the Wilú community, the first attack occurred in 2017. The Musawas, Suniwas and Wilú communities of the Mayangna Sauni As Territory, in the Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, received precautionary measures in February 2022 from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Kidnapping of five community members
The Sauni As Government also denounced that this Friday the kidnapping of five other community members who were going on a pastoral mission occurred. As described, they were traveling from the Musawas community to the Bethlehem community, and when they tried to cross the Waspuk river they were kidnapped.
The kidnapped community members are: Canicio Taylor Ramón, 50 years old; Antonio Gadea Devis, 38; José Jirón, 50, and two children aged 10 and 12. These people were released this Saturday.
“The identities of those responsible for the kidnapping are unknown, however, it is presumed that those responsible are the settlers and foreigners who act in the zona usurping and trafficking the communal and community lands of the Sauni As territory”, they assure.
The representatives of the Sauni As territorial government call for the activation of a high-level inter-institutional commission of an urgent nature to “immediately resolve the situation of invasions of settlers on our communal and community lands.”
They also reiterate that these attacks are part of the systematic attacks and attacks suffered by the Mayangna population of Nicaragua. “On repeated occasions we have gone to the government agencies at the municipal, departmental and regional levels for help, they have ignored our demands,” they lament.
other attacks
The Center for Legal Assistance to Indigenous Peoples (Calpi) also denounced that on Monday, March 6, 2023, a group of settlers attacked indigenous people from the Musawas community, also located in Bosawás, attacking three community members with a knife.
The attack occurred after they found the settlers inside their plots and asked them to leave. They began to argue and later the settlers attacked them.
“The woman and one of the men (both indigenous communities) were injured in the fingers of the hands caused by bladed weapons; and the other Mayangna person ended up with a bullet in the chest, he is currently in very serious condition at the Bonanza hospital,” they denounced.
Prior to these three attacks that occurred this week, they had denounced two assaults and murders. The first occurred on January 19, 2023 on the Asang Naini hill, located in Kahkah of the Musawas community. On that occasion, 46-year-old Cardinios Frithzs Macario, a community member, was kidnapped by settlers. He was beaten and wounded with a knife in his right hand.
On February 21, Alexander Urbina Mora, a Miskito police officer from the Special Operations Directorate (DOEP), was murdered. Urbina died in a clash with settlers in the sector known as Siete Casas, in Alto Wangki, Bosawás Reserve.
