The End is in sight, we hope!

After long weeks of silence, with no movement in the CDCA's land dispute case to mention, we have good news to report. Our attorney, with the help of the Nicaraguan Attorney General's Office, is hoping to be able to finalize details before the end of 2008 to put these cases to rest! Nothing is finished until it is truly finished, but we are hopeful!

CDCA's thanks passed along

We had the rare opportunity today of accompanying a visiting delegation from the Baptist Peace Fellowship as they visited with President Daniel Ortega and First Lady Rosario Murillo. In the process, we were able to personally thank her for her assistance in connecting us with the Attorney General's office. We have no further news on the lawsuits to report today, but thought you'd like to know that your emails, and the help they got for the CDCA were mentioned again.

Attorney General still in the picture

The CDCA received a piece of good news yesterday, in the first lawsuit that Sra. Carvajal is bringing against us. Her attorney attempted to get the Attorney General's office excluded as a third party in the case, and that attempt was denied by the judge.

Waiting on Survey

As far as we know, the next step in the first lawsuit is an on site visit by the judge, a representative from the Attorney General's office, and a representative from the Surveying office. Our understanding is that they will measure the land and compare it to the official documents that we have submitted, and then at some point a ruling will be made. We don't have any estimate as to when this site visit or final (we think) ruling will happen.

Lawsuit 1 moves into court

As you can see, Senora Carvajal's banner, advertising the free trade zone she hopes to build on her entire tract of land (including the CDCA's land which she's claiming to own) is now hanging on the roadside fence not 20' west of the CDCA's main entrance.

And today, the CDCA received court summons to appear 18 July 2008 in response to Sra. Carvajal's first lawsuit against the CDCA. This is the case in which she claims ownership of the CDCA's land where the sewing cooperative, the new spinning cooperative, the biodiesel production, etc. are located. The hopeful news, from the CDCA's perspective, is that the Attorney General's office has been granted third party presence in the case, weighing in against Sra. Carvajal's claim. She, on the other hand, has been denied her request for a third party presence in support of her claim. We'll know more after the court date on July 18.

Good News!

Sorry we haven’t updated this blog in awhile; we’ve been on hold while several developments in the case have been pending. We have several pieces of good news to report!

With regards to Yelba Carvajal’s free trade zone application which included the CDCA's property in its design (see previous post), the Free Trade Zone Commission has informed us that the matter had been turned over to their legal department. It is investigating the case and will call us in for a meeting when it has a written reply for us.

Meanwhile, Mike met once again with the US Embassy, and requested that they advise all potential businesses wanting to locate in Carvajal's proposed free trade zone to avoid doing so until the CDCA's property was eliminated from the plans. Both the US Embassy and the Attorney General’s office continue to work with us to help resolve these cases in a fair and equitable manner and the Attorney General has requested and been granted status in both civil cases in defense of our interests!

In another development, we’ve just received a legal document relating to earlier dissolution of the dairy co-op (Gabriel Cardenal No. 2) that originally sold the CDCA both pieces of property, detailing all the land sales made by the dairy co-op over the years and clearly listing both of the CDCA's purchases! It makes it clear that the purpose of the document was to decide what to do with the remaining property belonging to the dairy co-op upon its dissolution, and the decision was made to either sell or divide up all property still belonging to the co-op. This document specifically excluded the CDCA's two lots (our original Center side and the Industrial Park where the spinning cooperative, etc. is located), making it clear that our lots were no longer the dairy co-op's to sell to anyone. With this document, it’s clear that Yelba Carvajal’s case against us is on very shaky ground!

In the meantime, our lawyer has told us that Carvajal’s lawyer has made no attempt to try to move either case forward, and in the case involving our Center (where our offices and volunteer dorm are located), our lawyer has insisted that the court actually see the original title that she claims she has. As of last Friday she had not turned it over to the court.

In the penal case we have filed against the president of the dairy co-op who “sold” land illegally to Carvajal, we are in the process now of having the court submit his signature to a handwriting expert to validate that his signatures on our deeds are valid.

It seems that Yelba Carvajal’s plan is to fight a war of attrition, and to date we have been forced to spend more than $10,000 struggling to keep possession of land that is legally ours. These expenses are unjust and unexpected, and so we are very appreciative of the designated donations you’ve sent to help cover these ongoing costs.

8 May - Yelba to obliterate CDCA property

Yelba Carvajal is continuing her attempts to take the CDCA's land. We need you to stay tuned to this blog for further details.

Currently, Yelba has submitted, to the City Council of Ciudad Sandino, a multi-page proposal for a free trade zone which includes our original property in its diagrams. Her narrative and photos show nothing but neglected farmland as if that was the only terrain involved! The borders of her proposal do not include the women's sewing cooperative land or the new spinning plant project, but would wipe out the CDCA's office building, main house, generator (also used by the sewing cooperative), well and pump house (water for everyone and for spinning plant construction), and dorm... all of the administrative and volunteer support infrastructure for all the CDCA's projects. It would also clear-cut all of the huge trees (the CDCA is on the city's map as a nature reserve) as Yelba's plans call for the CDCA's property becoming her parking lot for buses delivering shift-workers!

We are currently requesting meetings with the Attorney General of Nicaragua, the city government of Ciudad Sandino, and the Free Trade Zone Commission of Nicaragua to address Yelba Carvajal's proposal. If any of these meetings are hard to obtain, we may be calling on you to send emails on our behalf in order to get the attention of those entities. So please watch for updates here at this blogsite.

5 May - Genesis sets first columns in ground

Regardless of the pending lawsuit, members of Genesis, the spinning plant cooperative, set their first building columns today! They have been leveling the land and digging postholes and making the preformed columns up until now.

Following up on our announcement (see below) of the second lawsuit filed against the CDCA, on the advice of our lawyer we did not attend the mediation hearing scheduled for April 17, 2008. This was because we are requesting that the two suits against the CDCA be consolidated into one. It appears that Yelba Carvajal's plan is to throw as many legal actions against the CDCA at one time as possible, in the hopes that eventually she'll wear the CDCA down and she'll be able to snake the property out from under CDCA ownership.

Yelba Sues Again!

Yelba Carvajal has filed another lawsuit against us, specifically directed towards the land where our Center itself is located, see satellite photo below -- the biggest shiny roof is the women's sewing co-op and the open area to the southeast is where the spinning co-op will go. This is the industrial park, threated by the first lawsuit that Yelba Carvajal brought against us. The treed area to the west of the industrial park is the Center, where the JHC-CDCA offices are located, along with the volunteer dorm and our house. This is the land threatened by the second lawsuit.

The fact that Yelba Carvajal has brought another lawsuit against us does NOT mean that the first suit has been dropped, so she now has two active lawsuits against us. We’ve been scheduled for another mediation this Thursday, April 17th, which we expect will prove as fruitless as the mediation for the first lawsuit back in February.

Request to throw out case

Upon revision our lawyer found several errors in the unofficial copy of the suit that we had received, and so based on that he asked the judge to review it and throw the case out for lack of specificity. The judge agreed and notified the attorney for Yelba Carvajal that the case was being rejected for that reason. Carvajal was given a period of time to comply, and her lawyer did so on time. So the case continues to be before the court, but nothing is happening with it. We have yet to be officially served with the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the Genesis spinning plant cooperative is progressing with construction on its factory, which is located on the contested land. This week they brought in machinery to level and compact their land in preparation for foundation work. Despite the lawsuit threatening their building site, the co-op's 36 members plan to have their building finished and machinery installed before the end of 2008. Their co-op will give work to an initial 45 people spinning organic cotton into yarn.

Nicaraguan Attorney General Requests Official Standing in the Case

Although we still haven’t been served with the lawsuit papers, this week there have been two concrete advances in the land case:

First, we have now filed a countersuit against Yelba Carvajal demanding 600,000 córdobas (roughly $31,500) in damages resulting from her filing a frivolous lawsuit.

Second, the Nicaraguan Attorney General’s office has requested official standing in the case before the trial judge, based on two the factors that give the government vested interest in the case: 1) The land involved in the case was awarded to the Cooperative Gabriel Cardenal No. 2 through an Agrarian Reform title, and 2) We are an international NGO, entities that the government is in charge of regulating.

The reason that the Attorney General’s office wants official standing in the case is to assure that our rights aren’t abused or that Yelba Carvajal (who – as the attorney general himself said in his letter to the US Ambassador – is well known for “unscrupulous” land deals) isn’t able to bribe a judge.

This request from the Attorney General’s office comes as very good news to us, because with someone from the attorney general’s office actively involved in the case, it’s hard for the judge to accept a bribe and rule against us.

Letter of Support from Attorney General of Nicaragua

We’re on standby still waiting to receive an official copy of the lawsuit, which we were assured would arrive ten days ago. We keep being told by the lawyer that for whatever reasons, the court is not proceeding with this in a timely fashion and we assume that’s because Yelba Carvajal’s lawyer is not pushing it. We don’t know what that means, so we’re just waiting.

Your efforts to help our case come to the attention of the Nicaraguan government have had concrete results – thank you again! Today we received a copy of a letter that the Attorney General of Nicaragua, Dr. Hernán Estrada, sent to the US Ambassador in Nicaragua, Paul Trivelli, in response to Trivelli’s letter to Estrada in relation to the case. In his letter, Dr. Estrada writes that the Attorney General’s office “will act in favor of Mr. Woodard [Mike, our legal representative], as we have knowledge of the recurring irregular activities of this Mrs. Carvajal Jirón in various transactions related to properties, in which she tends to speculate with Titles from the Agrarian Reform, divesting the beneficiaries of their rights by using various operative and legal influences.” Dr. Estrada went on to stress that our case is an “emblematic” case, as our organization “came to support our government in the most difficult years during the eighties, and I have confirmed to [Mike] that we will be part of the judicial litigation contributing in favor of the Foundation Jubilee House Community, because it deals with one of the methods used by unscrupulous subjects such as this woman.” This letter is important as it documents the Attorney General’s explicit intention to help our case.

Update

We are still waiting to be served with the official papers of the lawsuit that Yelba Carvajal is bringing against us. Today we received word that the first civil suit that we filed against her (basically a “cease and desist”) was thrown out because the lawyer who filed it failed to attach Mike’s power of attorney to those papers. The good news about this is that we aren’t working with that lawyer anymore!

We were contacted today by an attorney that we know nothing about claiming that he is working with the former Cooperativa Gabriel Cardenal No. 2 that sold us the land, and he told us that he’s going to charge Mike with fraud if we don’t back off on this case.

Friday we received a visit from a lawyer who represents a client who lost land to Yelba Carvajal in another case. This lawyer says he has information that might help us in our case and we are planning to meet with him.

One of the brigadistas from the original Bucknell Brigade in 1999 works for a title company and through her connections has contacted a law firm in Nicaragua that works with title insurance and has agreed to work on our case pro bono. We are arranging a meeting with them to see what advice they can give us.

Meanwhile, we’re asking for anyone who has media contacts here in Nicaragua (particularly television) to contact us at jhc@jhc-cdca.org. We are trying to make the case as public as possible in an attempt to keep it from being corrupted. The Genesis spinning plant members in particular would like to talk to the media about how this land case is affecting their lives as they are preparing to put up their building on the contested land.

1,000 Emails Sent!

We received another phone call from the office the Attorney General yesterday because the First Lady, Rosario Murillo, is still receiving emails about our case -- to date she has received more than 1,000 emails! Thank you to all of you who have helped bring our case to the attention of the Nicaraguan government! Since the Attorney General's office has promised to help our case, we have assured both the Attorney General and the First Lady that we will spread the word to our contacts to please refrain from sending more emails to Rosario at this time! We will keep you posted of how you can help through this blog, so check back here regularly.

We are still waiting to receive papers on the lawsuit, and our lawyer believes we can expect to be formally served this Thursday or Friday. In the meantime, we are filing a counter suit and are also filing criminal charges against Pedro Pablo Ruiz Ruiz, the former president of the cooperative Gabriel Cardenal No. 2 which sold us the land. Ruiz has made a formal declaration to the police that he never sold us any land, and we are charging that he gave Yelba Carvajal a title to the land when they both knew it belonged to us. Our hope is that Ruiz will confess that Yelba Carvajal is involved in this fraud with him so that we can file charges against her as well. The only five available and remaining members of the Gabriel Cardenal No. 2 cooperative have gone to the police and made formal declarations that the land was in fact sold to the JHC and that what they authorized the president to do was to sign a title to us, that they never authorized a title for this land to be signed over to Yelba Carvajal. In this process we have found out that she has never paid them the full amount for the land she did buy (where she has since put a housing development), and so we are offering the former co-op members legal assistance in seeking redress for the money Yelba Carvajal still owes to them.

In other news, the Genesis spinning cooperative has been pro-active in trying to hold onto the land where they plan to put their building. Their members run a chapter of the national Union of Self-Employed Workers, and last week requested a meeting with the union umbrella group, the National Workers' Front (FNT) to seek their help. The FNT has promised to use its connections and clout to work on behalf of Genesis to ensure that the case is not corrupted (i.e. no one "buys" the judge off), which is a big concern to all of us. That was a very positive meeting and the Genesis folks are anxious to stay on top of developments to do everything they can in support of the case.

14 February - El Nuevo Diario article

The newspaper el Nuevo Diario published its article today. The link is:

http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/nacionales/8381

Thanks for paying attention!

12 February - invitations from the press

Just a reminder... please help us stop the flow of emails until further notice! See yesterday's posting for details. You were wonderful!

Meanwhile, Mike and Cesar were interviewed by an El Nuevo Diaro reporter yesterday. El Nuevo Diario is one of the leading Nicaraguan newspapers. We'll post the story when it comes out.

We've also been invited to be on two radio talk shows... one Canadian and one U.S.A. Both talk shows are for a primarily Latino audience. We don't know when those will happen.

11 February - Stop the emails!

We have just received a phone call from the Attorney General's office, who is working with us in response to all the emails sent to Rosario's address, asking us to please please spread the word... they are paying attention and trying to help, and would our wonderful network please stop sending emails, as they can get no work done because we are filling up their inbox!

Well done!

So... at least for the moment... please hold on your emails, and help us spread this word. Folk should check here to see if we need more sent!

11 February - US Embassy & Attorney General Meetings

Mike met this morning with the Economic and Political Affairs officer at the US Embassy in Managua. He offered to write a letter to the Attorney General of Nicaragua, saying that the Embassy was aware and following our case. He also said the Ambassador has a meeting with the Attorney General scheduled for Friday, and he would look and see if they can add this issue as a talking point to that meeting's agenda.

Mike and Cesar then met with the Attorney General of Nicaragua, Hernan Estrada, who was very receptive to hearing our case. He called in the chief attorney for civil cases, saying that he would be our contact person to follow-up on things. They will talk to our lawyers and discuss legal options with them.

We've received over 700 email copies so far of letters sent to Rosario! Way to go! We're filling up her inbox, so if your letter bounces, please just resend! If you haven't written yet, please send emails to rosario@presidencia.gob.ni and sign your name and address including country. Please copy us on the email at jhc@jhc-cdca.org.

Thank you!

If you are looking for a sample letter to write,
please click here for an English version, and here for a Spanish version.

8 February - Your emails are working!

We have received copies of more than 500 emails directed to Rosario Murillo, the First Lady of Nicaragua, and with all of the other work that many people are doing, it is having a positive effect. Thank You! Rosario called our office today, saying that she'd received some emails and a phone call, and would like to arrange a meeting for us first thing Monday morning. But at 9AM on Monday morning, thanks to other contacts, we have an appointment with the folk at the US Embassy in Managua who deal with property disputes, so we were able to tell her that. We then arranged through Rosario for a 10:30 AM meeting on Monday with Hernan Estrada, the Attorney General of Nicaragua! She said they wanted to talk to us and see how they can help. This is excellent news!

6 February 2008 -- Arbitration Update

On Wednesday 6 February 2008 we were called to attend a court-ordered arbitration with Yelba Carvajal, the party bringing the lawsuit against us in our land case. It is customary for civil cases in Managua to go through this arbitration process in an attempt to resolve the situation before it goes to court. Members of both the Nueva Vida women's sewing co-op and the Genesis spinning plant co-op were there outside the session (they were denied entrance) together with supporters from the international community in Nicaragua. In all, there were about 15 of us there.

At the beginning of the arbitration, the arbiter was explaining the process to both parties when Yelba Carvajal said "I understand the process very well." To which the arbiter replied, "Yes, I recognize your face."

As the person bringing the suit, Yelba Carvajal was then asked if there was any possibility of resolving the situation through arbitration, and she replied "Absolutely not, the land is mine and I'm going to take it." With that response, there was not much more to be done in the arbitration session, and it ended without resolution.

The next step is for us to be officially served with the lawsuit, and then we begin a period of submitting evidence and witnesses and then being assigned a court date. These civil suits can drag out for years, which means that everything from the Genesis spinning plant to the proposed ginning plant comes to a halt because we can't move forward with construction on these projects if the title to the land is in dispute. It is urgent that we resolve this situation! If you haven't already, please send an email (sample email below) to the First Lady of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo at rosario@presidencia.gob.ni and copy us at jhc@jhc-cdca.org. So far we've received copies of more than 500 emails that have been sent to Rosario!

6 February 2008 - Background Info & Ways to Help

The Jubilee House Community, Inc.'s project in Nicaragua, the Center for Development in Central America (CDCA) urgently needs your voice NOW! Someone is trying to steal our land, and we need you to write in our support! We normally don't post this kind of dated information online, but this time it's critical that you know now, pass the word, and respond. The volume of international response will have a strong effect.

If you are already aware of our situation, and are looking for a sample letter to write,
please click here for an English version, and here for a Spanish version.

In the last few days we have been summoned to court to respond to a demand on the part of Señora Yelba Carvajal, a person well known here in Nicaragua to be involved in several fraudulent land deals. We have been investigating, and have managed to find out that she is claiming in the courts that she is the legitimate owner of the property where we are located, even though we have legal title. On the basis of a typographical error in the title, Señora Carvajal is asking the court to invalidate our title and recognize her as the legitimate owner of the property. You will remember that we originally purchased our land from a cooperative in the 1990s, and she later purchased the rest of the land that the cooperative owned. It would appear that this is an open and shut case in our favor; however, as Father Miguel D'Escoto once said to us about land issues in Nicaragua, "You can have the law and justice on your side, and it's still not enough."

What does this mean? It means that the Nueva Vida women's sewing cooperative, the Fair Trade Zone, is in danger of losing its land, building, and free trade zone status, therefore putting 50 people out of their jobs that they have worked so hard to maintain for the last nine years. It means that the fledgling Genesis spinning plant cooperative, only days away from setting its first post in the ground, is in danger of losing the land where they will build their factory, all the work they have put into their project for the last year, and the opportunity to create full-time employment for 60 people and their families. These are only two examples of the negative impact that this would have, resulting in the closing of all of the CDCA's projects in Ciudad Sandino.

What can you do? We are asking you to send an email to the First Lady of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, requesting that she, as a strong defender of poor women throughout this country, investigate this attempt to steal from these cooperatives that are made up in their vast majority of poor women who have worked so long and so hard to better the lives of their members. Please look at the examples of an email in Spanish and in English that we have linked above, on which you can base your message. If you have the time, we ask that you personalize your message as we feel it's important that she receive individual emails. (Feel free to send an email in English only if you do not speak Spanish.)

Please send emails to rosario@presidencia.gob.ni and sign your name and address including country.
Please copy us on the email at jhc@jhc-cdca.org