HomeNewsBriefNicaragua Strikes at Rampant Land Trafficking in Indigenous Territory
BRIEF

Nicaragua Strikes at Rampant Land Trafficking in Indigenous Territory

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 17 JAN 2014 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

Nicaragua's army has captured the alleged leader of a ring of land traffickers – a common crime in the country with links to timber mafias, cattle ranchers and corrupt officials.

The military's specialist Ecological Battalion captured Jorge Wilfredo Aragon Gonzalez in Bonanza, a town in Nicaragua's North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN), reported La Prensa.

Aragon stands accused of illegal land sales and organizing land invasions in the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve. Authorities believe he is part of a group of 12 people dedicated to land trafficking in the reserve.

The arrest of Aragon follows the conviction last year of Victor Manuel Taleno on charges of land theft. During the investigation, authorities identified 16 heads of land trafficking outfits involved in promoting land invasions in the reserve.

Land theft has been a constant source of tension in the region. In April last year, confrontations between "colonists" and the local indigenous population spilled over into bloodshed when land invaders killed an indigenous leader, reported the Nicaragua Dispatch.

The murder prompted the indigenous community to organize themselves into an armed militia to protect the land, only standing down after the National Police intervened to evict the invaders.

InSight Crime Analysis

Land trafficking is a major issue throughout Nicaragua and especially in indigenous reserves in the RAAN and the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS).

As in the case of Bosawas, it is often linked to the illegal timber trade. The local population says it has documented the invasion of 11,500 "colonists," who have deforested 150,000 hectares of forest, according to the Nicaragua Dispatch. Land is also frequently cleared by invaders on behalf of cattle ranchers and gold prospectors.

SEE MORE: Nicaragua News

The invaders are frequently organized and directed by land trafficking rings such as the one allegedly headed by Aragon. In Bosawas, the indigenous population also accuse corrupt government officials of profiting from the crime.

The government itself has also been accused of land theft. In one prominent case in 2012, the property of a Swiss-Nicaraguan was seized by police and local officials claiming the land was being appropriated by the government, but without providing any judicial order or any other documents to support their claim.

Part of the land was then turned over to a former-Sandinista guerrilla and ally of President Daniel Ortega, sparking a long running legal battle.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 27 AUG 2021

Seizures of illegally harvested octopus off Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula are shedding light on how corruption in a coastal community facilitates…

BRAZIL / 4 MAY 2021

Brazil, Colombia and Peru have deployed their armies to fight deforestation and other crimes in the Amazon rainforest.

COLOMBIA / 19 JUL 2021

Living two weeks in the jungle wasn't bad really. While spending eight hours a day felling trees with an axe…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…