With all interest I keep reading any news regarding our islands, specially the “new” strategies that the colonizing government announces, and also the reactions from both our Raizal People and the transplanted-by-Colombia immigrants after the ICJ Ruled regarding the two alien nations that dispute our territory.
As a Raizal, I insist, I don’t feel we have lost more than was already lost when our ancestors voluntarily and innocently adhered to Colombia: we anyway have not had any control on our land and much less on our seas -we cannot even do something as simple as choosing the name for a hospital… or freely elect leaders who might have a vision for sustainable development and are not willing to simply follow ignorant instructions from Bogota and become their accomplice. So what should have been our reaction? Or what should we do now?
A few possibilities:
1.- Adopt an “I told you so…” attitude, remind Colombia the it is her fault why she lost with Nicaragua for ignoring us, recount all their unjust acts through history, and continue wasting our time and energy in unproductive complaining and lamenting.
2.- Join Colombia and protest before the Court…or even promote the idea that we can ignore the ruling.
If this were successful, who would it benefit? Would it benefit the Raizal People...I don’t see how. In fact, if the Court were to rule in favor of Colombia, that country will again feel very powerful and will double their ill-treatment. Their “Amor de Patria” ex-president will have more reason to swell his pride. The only thing we have to tell the Court is that the territory is not Nicaragua’s nor Colombia’s but belongs to the Raizal People….but we need to prove that we exist and are alive, because thanks to Colombia we “do not exist” ….
3.- Take advantage of Colombia’s “blues” due to hurt pride, when the “all-powerful” feeling was lost, and now their interest is to try to mend the bleeding. It is clear that Colombia shows no remorse for her ill-treatment to the Raizal People, and their only pain is a hurt pride…. of course, they are soon having elections and it is interesting to see how the different political leaders try to capitalize on our continuous suffering…even Mr. Uribe and Mr. Pastrana, two of the worst enemies any Raizal can have….we maybe can help them fight each other to our advantage, because all of them have the same attitude toward us: “we are not worth a pinch of… for them” (expression from ‘Uncle Pie’ Steele -Bottom House-)
So, we can take advantage and exact that they take responsibility to mend their destructive acts; not with tablets (which anyway Colombia’s government is giving away in their country), nor funds for fishermen, nor for trips, or money to repair roads, schools, hospital, health centers that will never suffice for their transplanted People, nor for tax relief to tourist businessmen, nor for airline discounts for immigrants and tourists….but exact interventions that should begin without dilations, like to:
-Acknowledge their fault of intentionally over-populating us, and immediately set a provisional population density goal of 1.500 – 2000/sq Km, and implement strategies to reduce population to that goal.
-Immediately summon help from the United Nations and other countries to make a Carrying Capacity/Ecological Footprint study to set sustainable population and sustainable tourist density limits.
-Immediately allot emergency funds for returning immigrants to their homeland under humane conditions (with offers for work, education and health services).
These immediate actions do not need to wait for a Raizal Charter Statute (Estatuto Raizal), nor need to wait for agreements like those in Havana, nor need to be studied by congress.
For the future, they should help us in constructing a plan for sustainable development of our People, -they should be required to repair the harm they have done on our environment, overexploited by insensitive immigrants-, and we should be left to decide what we want to do with our land. This needs to include the possibility of granting us full autonomy -even independence- without setting up obstacles, so that as an autonomous State we can deal with Nicaragua and the ICJ over the common use or recovery of our territory.
Here I need to mention my mixed feelings regarding the colonizer’s National University. While I am all for education, and Colombia has used its university to satisfy the desire and need for learning by a large number of our professionals, I need to ask: at what price? Has it helped to improve quality of life for the average Raizal? Or have they worked on assuring sustainability for our future? Why did they come while making us believe in their promise to help our Christian University when what they evidently were doing was competing with unfair advantages to thus destroy it?…they could have helped in making a carrying capacity / Ecologic footprint study but according to representatives of the National Government, their scientists considered that we were not overpopulated and recommended other solutions (maybe seeking to alter elements of the overpopulation equation by creating job opportunities like Submarine cable, SENA’s tutors etc.,). In this, there might be enough reasons to conclude that the National University has been an instrument for colonization and have done us more harm than good……please beware of strategies to summon sympathy; they are trying to get us to suffer the Stockholm Syndrome…
The most important work to do is to unite all our People and fight for what the majority want: the capacity to live sustainably in our own territory, harmoniously using our lands and seas, with the necessary freedom to develop our individual and common potentialities without undue restraints and exploitation by alien powers and peoples.
We need to support AMEN SD in exacting from the colonizer that actions be taken immediately if it has any interest….otherwise we should not waste time in dilatory meetings and useless actions… another type of more forceful and effective working strategy will be needed, and this will need mass movements….If there is going to be an inter-oceanic canal in Nicaragua, we will be affected, and we need to have the power to let its effects be the least harmful and most useful for us.