Nicaraguan police say four indigenous Mayangna people were shot dead when a large band of individuals attacked their community in the vast Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, which is located in northern Nicaragua on the country’s border with Honduras. Environmental and indigenous-rights advocates attribute the Jan. 29th killings to territorial disputes between indigenous communities and outsiders who have cleared and occupied reserve land illegally. “It is a conflict of more than 10 years in which the [Nicaraguan] government has not intervened,” Amaru Ruiz, director of Fundación del Río, a Nicaraguan environmental group, told EcoAméricas this month. “When the [land] invader comes the first thing he does is deforest to plant crops or pasture for cattle. That way, they deprive indigenous people of forest resources, increasing their vulnerability.” Police on Feb. 12 announced the arrest of a man suspected to have been one of the estimated 80 attackers. Bosawás makes up some... [Log in to read more]