THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2004
Land Grabbing in the Pearl Cays
The pillage Peter Tsokos is perpetrating in the Pearl Cays, 18 spectacular islands off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, is devastating to the indigenous communities of the Pearl Lagoon Basin and abhorrent to their supporters in the United States. The ancestors of the local indigenous people have frequented the Pearl Cays for centuries as a source of fresh water, fish, coconuts, and safe haven during storms. However, over the last few years, foreign “owners” have taken over seven of the islands and blocked local people from using them. In addition, the intruders are destroying wildlife and obstructing the protection of the islands' endangered turtles."This has to be stopped at once. The forests and islands of the Atlantic Coast belong to the indigenous peoples by inalienable right. Mr. Tsokos is behaving outside all the boundaries of law; he is breaking the Law of Autonomy and violating the Nicaraguan Constitution."
- Maria Luisa Acosta, CALPI indigenous representative
In 1996, Greek born United States entrepreneur Peter Tsokos [a different, U.S. born, Peter Marcos Tsokos is selling land in Panama] paid local leaders $36,000 for dubious titles to 7 of 22 Pearl Cays. He began reselling the islands at up to US$500,000 each on his website, www.tropical-islands.com. The site advertises the Cays as private islands, and Tsokos and his customers treat them like private property in violation of the 1987 Nicaraguan Constitution. Because the cays have historically belonged communally to the native peoples of the Pearl Lagoon Basin, the 1987 Nicaraguan Constitution (Art. 5, 89 and 180) protects their rights to this land. Also, according to the Statute of Autonomy of the Autonomous Regions of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (Article 36 of the Law 28), beginning in 1987, all indigenous lands constitute “communal property that cannot be given away, sold, or embargoed in any way.”
In spite of this Statute, Tsokos and his customers have invaded indigenous space, violated protection procedures for threatened and endangered species, and attacked local people. Miskito and Creol fishermen now face dogs and sentries armed with AK-47 rifles when they attempt to access the islands. Though the local Miskito and Creol community depends on fresh water from the spring on Water Cay, Tsokos erected a cement wall around the spring and surrounded the wall with guards. In another incident, a local fisherman described his failed attempt to stop at one of the cays when his boat had broken down.
Tsokos and his armed guards stopped the man as he climbed onto the beach, commanding him to get off “[Tsokos'] property” and sending the fisherman back out to sea in his broken boat. On Lime Cay, purchased by the Gaskin family, Ministry of the Environment officials attempted an environmental inspection to investigate claims of damage to vegetation; their mission was thwarted when hired guards shot directly at their approaching boat. Finally, locals describe an incident in which the Gaskin family attacked people with a fumigation device to repel them from Lime Cay. This August, Tsokos admitted to paying the local police chief $1500 to “maintain security” on the islands.
In addition to blocking local fishermen from land rightfully theirs, Tsokos and the people to whom he has sold the islands blithely disregarded the General Law of the Environment's requirement that Ministry of the Environment permission be obtained for use of mangroves, vegetation, and fauna in the fragile island ecosystems. As a part of plans to erect upscale resorts and vacation getaways, the new owners have razed island vegetation such as mangrove trees, removed markers from protected turtles nest, and obstructed environmental workers from accessing these endangered turtles. They have cut out fragile vegetation and replaced it with buildings, bright lights, and septic tanks; developments that cripple turtles' migratory patterns and harm their young. The Nicaraguan Advocate for the Environment filed a lawsuit demanding recompense for these actions, which, although thrown out by local courts, is now pending in the Court of appeals.
Angry at their mistreatment and concerned that prolonged human occupation will devastate the islands, waters, mangroves, and surrounding coral reefs, the local people have promoted media coverage of the islands to incite a public outcry against Tsokos' disrespect to Nicaragua's sovereignty. Incensed locals demanded the expulsion of the corrupt police chief and are now seeking government action against the theft of their land. Under the direction of indigenous rights lawyer Maria Luisa Acosta of the Center for Legal Assistance to Indigenous Peoples (CALPI), the local people have filed a private lawsuit challenging Peter Tsokos' ownership/sale of the cays and seeking the reverse of the island sales.
They have cut out fragile vegetation and replaced it with buildings, bright lights, septic tanks, and more; developments that cripple turtles' migratory patterns and harm their young.
Indigenous leaders of Pearl Lagoon commented about the case, "This has to be stopped at once. The forests and islands of the Atlantic Coast belong to the indigenous peoples by inalienable right. Mr. Tsokos is behaving outside all the boundaries of law.” CALPI called on the Ministry for the Environment and the Advocate for the Environment's Office to ensure that their prohibitions were carried into effect. Activists in the US are working in solidarity with Dr. Acosta and her clients to stop these egregious violations of environmental protection and natural and legal rights.
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