JHC-CDCA Land Issues 2008

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In early 2008, we were 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.  She claimed 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 asked 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."

After an overwhelmingly successful email campaign in February 2008 - our supporters sent over 1,000 emails to Nicaragua's first lady, Rosario Murillo, in a matter of days! - we were connected with the Nicaraguan Attorney General's office, which has been extremely helpful in resolving the case. While we are not in imminent danger of being kicked off our own land, there are still several pending issues. For current updates, and more on the ins and outs of the case, please see our land news blog at http://jhc-cdca-land-news.blogspot.com. For general updates about our work, please see http://jhc-cdca.blogspot.com.

Thank you for all your support!