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February 2008 |
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Support
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February 14, 2008. Granada, Nicaragua. FIRE (Maria Suárez Toro)Today in the context of the artistic activities of the Autonomous Encuentro of Feminist Writers and Artists from Latin America and the World, organized by La Franja from 11- 17 in this city as part of the International Poetry Festival on the same dates and venue, Wings of the Butterfly Project made a special homage to the nine Nicaraguan activists accused in court of violating the Nicaraguan law when they defended a girl who was raped by her own stepfather. The accusations were filed after Rosita -the 9 year old child girl violated and who was practiced a therapeutic abortion in 2003- denounced some months ago in 2007 that her stepfather had violated her a second time and that she had given birth to a child.
These
activists are currently defending themselves by defending rights which are
rights to all women not only in Wings
honored the “Nicaragua Nine” by declaring them “butterfliers.”
The
homage took place in the Central Park of the ancient city of Granada at
three o’clock in the afternoon in the presence of more that one hundred
women and men – activists, taxi drivers, street vendors, poets, writers
and singers - who gathered around a huge “dream catcher” filled with
shoes, a symbol of the
hundreds and thousands of women in Nicaragua, Guatemala. Women
and men who ken about the activity placed tissue make butteflies among the
shoes in the dream catcher, symbolizing the combination of death and hope,
pain and beauty in the struggle for a better world.
A
ceremony took place in which representatives of the nine received from
Alas Co-coordinators, Maria Suarez and Constanza Rangel, a butterfly
necklace and called on women and their organizations to honor them the day
of their upcoming trial by placing butterflies symbols in the web pages,
homes and public spaces. The
Swedish Ambassador in
¿Who
are the “Nicaragua Nine”? The
nine feminists are being sent to trial under allegations of the crime
against the administration of law and penal crimes like association and
instigation to violate the law as well as crime apology.
The accusation against the feminist leaders was filed by the
Asociación Nicaragüense de Promoción de los Derechos Humanos, (ANPDH
– Nicaraguan Association for the Promotion of Human Rights), under the
leadership of Abelardo Matta, Bishop of Estelí. According
to Sofia Montenegro, one of the leaders of the Autonomous Women´s
Movement (MAM –), “the performance of ANPDH
and their leader, Monsignor Matta, is evidence of
the cohabitation between a sector of the Catholic hierarchy with
the project that the Ortega-Murillo marriage intends to impose in
Nicaragua in order to get privileges from the Government he presides.” The
accused by the State and honored by the movement are: Ana María Pizarro,
from the Regional Coordination of the 28th. September Campagin
of the Women´s Network Against Violence and the Directive Council from
the Latin American and According
to a press release from MAM, the inconsistence of the accusation is
evident because t it does not mention that at the moment of Rosita´s
case, the Human Rights Public Prosecutor´s Office resolved that the
measures taken to safeguard the life of Rosita pertained to her parents
only and the District´s Attorney General´s Office resolved that the
decisions taken fit within the
framework of the law.
¿Who are “butterfliers” in the Wings of the Butterfly Project? “Butterfliers”
constitute a wing of the Wings of the Butterfly Project which aims to
recognize and make visible women whose contributions need to be rendered
visible. For
this Project, “Butterfliers” are those women with whom we find
resonance in the feminist struggles for a world where our worlds, our
lives, our rights, our inputs and our untamed voices can have a dignified
place. “Butterfliers”
are the women that outstand in the struggle for gender justice, in the
processes of democratization of our societies against the abuse of power,
denial of our rights and invisibilisation of the women’s contributions. “Butterfliers”
are those women that excel in this contribution while promoting feminist
alternatives towards an inclusive world of social justice, equeality and a
healthy planet by also challenging, with other actors, the paradigms of
domination and exclusion. Among
the “Butterfliers” during
these two years of the construction of Wings of the Butterfly we have
rescued the Mirabal Sisters - María
Teresa, Minerva y Patria – assassinated the 25th. November following
orders of the While
they were in jail, people who identified with the Mirabal sisters and
their struggles held up butterflies symbols outside the prison windows so
that they would know they were not alone. Along
with the Mirabal Sisters in this year of 2008, the “Nicaragua Nine” resonate
with us because they are unjustly persecuted for defending our human
rights.
“Upon receiving this honor in the name of all women who suffer violence
and persecution, we know that we are not alone in this struggle” said Mayra
Sirias,
one of the butterfliers. As
part of the artistic activity, Constanza read a legend written by Maria
regarding the symbol of the butterfliers: THE
WINGS OF THE BUTTERFLIERS Once
there was a place that was often far away, but sometimes very near -
precisely because there was never one single point of reference – where
there was a huge butterfly farm. It was always full of butterfliers. Yes,
just like it sounds: “butterfliers”. Women – creative and lively
women – who had developed wings to fly in one of their many
metamorphoses. But
there was a time - not so long ago but not very near to today, precisely
because in the farm, time was not measured by the clock, but cyclically in
every profound change that these women experienced. At this time the
butterfliers became very confused. They felt fragmented and dualistic when
they grew wings because they did not know what to do with them. This
was their dilemma: should they
extend their wings to fly or instead use them to cover themselves. They
were in a real bind, for if they used their wings to fly; predators may
come and devour them. And if they used the wings only to protect
themselves, then what was the use of having beautiful and colorful wings
that would allow them to fly further away from the time and place assigned
to them every time they had metamorphosized? But
the butterfliers were very clever and arrived at the best solution for
them. They stopped looking at their issues in a dichotomous or either-or
way, and instead used one wing to fly and the other to protect
themselves—the perfect dyad. Moral
of the story: If you place one of these butterflies on your neck, she will
help you decide what is best to do with your own wings, thus becoming a
butterflier.
Campaign:
Be a Butterfly Effect
Wings
of the Butterfly is asking you to join in this recognition the day of
trial (to be announces) by CREATING BUTTERFLY SYMBOLS WITH THE NUMBER
“NINE” AND POSTING THEM ON YOUR HOUSE WINDOWS, ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS, IN
WEB PAGES AND BLOGS AND ON ANY VISIBLE PLACE.
This
is a call for all persons, organizations and networks to participate, to
take pictures and to report what they do for this campaign. The
delegation of Wings of the Butterfly was made up by the Co-coordinators,
Maria Suárez Toro and Constanza Rangel as well as by costarican Wings
artist, Larissa Coto - a young
percussionist, singer and
composer. Also with them was Gabi Sax, a young sax player and singer who
honered the Nine by singing her production "Princesa Azul" (Blue
Princess). For
more information about Wings of the Butterfly go to: www.alasdemariposa.org For more information on the case of the “nine Nicaraguans” see: www.radiofeminista.net/nov07/notas/nicaragua1.htm For
more information on La Franja and the Encuentro see: |
