Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 1, 1 January 1985 — Sandinista, Indigenous Peaee Talks Scheduled [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Sandinista, Indigenous Peaee Talks Scheduled

Peaee talks between the Sandinista government of Nicaragua and representatives of the Misurasata, the group representing indigenous people of the Atlantic coast of the country, will resume early next year. This is the word brought back from Bogota, Colombia, by Office of Hawaiian Trustee Hayden Burgess, who is also a vice president of the World Council oflndigenous People. Burgesssaid WCIPwas the only "non-government organization" represented at the negotiations whieh were held Dec. 8-9 at the presidential palaee in Bogota. Members of the WC1P delegation were accorded official observer status at the talks. Burgess was the only American present at the negotiations. Governments represented at the ambassadorial level were Canada, Colombia, France, Mexico and Sweden. Burgess said delegates to the peaee talks agreed to resume negotiations on Jan. 19 and 20, 1985, in Bogota. He said he expects to attend those talks in his capacity as official observer. Burgess reacted negatively to published reports that the Pentagon has asked President Reagan to recognize the "Contra" group as the official representative of the government of Nicaragua. According to Burgess, neither the present government of Nicaragua nor that country's indigenous people want nor have they requested U. S. interference. "The United States should keep its nose out of Nicaragua and allow the Nicaraguan government to negotiate with the indigenous government on its own. The U. S. should respect the sovereignty of Nicaragua," Burgess declared. Burgess said his recent election as vice president of the WCIP, whieh has beengranted formal status by the United Nations, and his participation as an official observer to these peaee talks, will be of great value in the future when Hawaii's concerns are presented before international bodies. He returned to Honolulu Dec. 13.