We Rise had the extreme honor to record a show with David de la Gran of KPFA’s La Onda Bajita featuring Medardo Mairena, leader of Nicaragua’s indigenous peasant movement. David was joined by UC Berkeley students to co-facilitate the conversation. Mairena was joined by four members of Nicaragua’s National Council in Defense of the Land, Lake and Sovereignty.
On June 11, 2019, Mairena was released from prison, after being sentenced to 200 plus years for his activism. Mairena is the national leader of the Anti-Canal Peasant Movement and a representative in the Civic Alliance, which is composed of the private sector, students, human rights activists, social and community leaders. The Alliance led negotiations with the government of Nicaragua for a peaceful resolution and a cease and desist to mass public killings and repression. Mairena directly addressed Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s current president, at the national dialogue negations.
This show is in Spanish. It is vital that we de-centralize English in this work and we strongly encourage folks with familiarity with the language to listen!
LINKS
Nicaraguan Rural Leader Medardo Mairena Speaks after Prison- https://havanatimes.org/nicaragua/nicaraguan-rural-leader-medardo-mairena-speaks-after-prison/?fbclid=IwAR3ezpFeIf-8CQSowaFULglEeTWQ58lZwBstuScuDUUYuoER_rL5_dYfuXE
From CNN Español: a video with the daughter of Medardo Mairena- https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/video/nicaragua-medardo-mairena-secuestro-sot-camilo/
Nicaraguan activists sentenced to more than 200 years- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47290527
From La Prensa: Defenderemos con sangre nuestras tierras- https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2019/08/14/politica/2579012-movimiento-campesino-sobre-el-nuevo-anuncio-del-gran-canal-defenderemos-con-sangre-nuestras-tierras