A letter from Carlos Cardenas Martinez in Nicaragua
Fall 2014 - A Compassion Ministry
PROTECTION FOR MIGRANTS IN NICARAGUA . . . A COMPASSION MINISTRY WORKING ALMOST BAREFOOT
For I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in;I had no clothing, and you gave it to me: when I was ill, or in prison, you came to me (Matthew 25:35, 36).
Beloved sisters and brothers! Worshipful greetings to all of you!
I am pleased to greet you again through this letter at the same time that I share with you impressions on pressing issues that have been consuming much of our partner CEPAD's energy for some time now. I am referring to the issue of migrants and displaced persons in the Central American region.
Internally displaced people claiming their rights in Central America (photo: www.Sphereproject.org)
For a while now media around the world have raised the issue of the crisis of migrant children traveling unaccompanied to the U.S./Mexico border and risking their lives in this dangerous crossing. The Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance and its country forums are implementing an emergency response aimed to alleviate the situation of hundreds of boys and girls at risk who suffer rejection and deportation from the North to their countries in the South.
When I share this passage from Matthew 25, verse 36 reminds me of my own experience having to leave my country to protect my life due to persecution during the time of the Cold War. Despite the fact that at that point in my life I was somewhat at odds with the teachings of the gospel, this particular text inspired me to hope that along the way someone would lend me a hand, that someone would help me... And so it was. Immediately after I crossed the most dangerous part of the border someone told me to go to the Romero House, a shelter for migrants run by Catholic nuns on the outskirts of Brownsville, Texas. The Lord led me there, and I gave thanks to God. I was a migrant and, believe me, it is never the intention of the migrant to violate the sovereignty of any country. Their reasoning is nothing more than to protect his life, to find hope. I was not interested in those political concepts of sovereignty, patriotism, etc.
These days this region is living in a stage of agitation, violence and crime fueled by drug trafficking and political violence orchestrated to some degree by the state, which criminalizes all types of expression that defend the rights of people or the environment, silencing the media through threats, extortion and murders.
However, the effects of bombings and mass murder committed in Libya, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and beyond are felt here. We tremble because we have already experienced that terror when all innocence is lost and hatred is fed, when being young is considered a crime and thinking differently or being hungry, a threat. Our human essence learns from those lessons and makes us sensitive to the pain of other distant peoples suffering the same pains.
Silvio, a migrant boy, picking coffee in Niquinohomo, Nicaragua (Harvest 2011), shares that since the age of 9 he has accompanied his father to look for temporary jobs in Costa Rica. Extended damages to Nicaraguan small coffee growers’ plantations by coffee rust disease forced an increase in migration of farm labor to look for temporary jobs in Costa Rica.
Here in our offices at CEPAD we've been witness to dozens of internally displaced people, or IDPs, who pass through Nicaragua clamoring for temporary aid while their relatives eagerly wait to give them protection and comfort, still others on their own without hope of a consolation from family.
I believe that the biblical passage from Matthew 25 doesn't make sense for those who have not lived the bitter experience of being a stranger in another country, and not as a tourist but as one who was expelled by the absurd and irresponsible policies of their rulers—rulers driven by the lust for power, extremism and fundamentalism and the cult of personality abusing the power received from the sovereignty assumed by popular vote.
Blanquita Fonseca is a young lawyer of CEPAD in charge of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Nicaragua. I admire her dedication and devotion for our migrant brothers and sisters from many parts of the world, especially displaced persons from conflicts in North Africa, climate IDPs who come fleeing the disaster of extreme climatic events from West Africa, Somalia, and more recently from Honduras due to the incremental phenomenon of violence and crime that generates the drug traffic business and state terrorism promoted by their corrupt authorities.
However, to do this work without means is not easy. CEPAD and Blanquita have neither the resources nor the means to meet these people’s needs with the minimum standard of dignity that they deserve while transiting through Nicaragua. I know the terrible limitations faced by this ministry to help the stranger who has lost hope of living on her/his own soil and is doomed to find a roof in a foreign culture.
One day I was called by Blanquita to help translate a conversation with two people, Arabic- and English-speaking but with no Spanish. Arriving and seeing two young men visibly tired, there was something about the look in their eyes that I recognized as discomfort in a foreign land. Through our dialogue a miracle happened, communication happened, questions were clarified, and a light of satisfaction appeared in their eyes as they began to get some answers to their questions while in an alien world where nobody knows them, and even though they have no idea where to go. I understood that those young men wanted to show that they were people of good will and that they only needed a job to help their families and later on make a decision: continue struggling to reach the northern borders or stay in Nicaragua.
Blanquita responded with accuracy to their requests and complaints and I was obviously impacted by the pain and unrest that I saw on their faces. I faithfully translated the conversation, concluding that I should do something to help CEPAD continue with this important ministry. Since then I expressed my commitment to support Blanquita and the pro-migrant program, looking for guidance and resources to help more migrant people to whatever extent possible.
It's a fact that climatic migration and economic migrants are coming and crossing Nicaraguan borders more frequently and increasingly in greater familial groups than in the past five years. CEPAD is the focal point as UNHCR in Nicaragua; nevertheless, it is not receiving enough support to deal with the needs of migrants in their transit through Nicaragua.
Blanquita dreams of organizing a special site or basic facilities to support migrants while their legal situation is being arranged. She described all that is needed to provide this support, which start with fresh food, milk for children, drinkable water, basic medicines, beds or mattresses, blankets and clothes, special supplies for women's needs, etc.
I would like to express my appreciation for the valuable assistance we have received from congregations and churches. Your continued commitment to this initiative is received with much appreciation and gratitude. Also, I invite you to contribute to my sending and support. Your prayers and gifts allow me to continue as your co-worker in God’s mission in Nicaragua. I also want to express my appreciation to you for continuing to receive and read my letters. Prayer remains the most important thing you can do to help our ministry. I invite you to join us, remembering us in your prayers, asking for peace and reconciliation in those countries where national or regional conflicts continue, as well as guidance for our work in CEPAD Nicaragua.
May the peace of our Lord be with you, your congregations and families!
Carlos Cardenas
Mission co-worker with the Nicaraguan Council of Evangelical Churches (CEPAD)
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) Program Representative for Latin America and Caribbean Region.
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 44
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 65
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