THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2004

What Can you Do? See How You Can Stop Tsokos Land Grabbing in the Pearl Cays

Land Grabbing in the Pearl Cays - What you can do to stop it

Peter Tsokos, Greek-born, U. S. -based entrepreneur [a different, U.S.-born, Peter Marcos Tsokos, also sells real estate] is perpetrating an insufferable land grab on the Pearl Cays, seven small islands off the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. He and his customers are damaging the Cays' environments, brutalizing local people, and wreaking havoc on islands that do not legally belong to them.

The Case Against Tsokos

Peter Tsokos and his buyers have:
-Occupied lands that the Nicaraguan constitution and autonomy law guarantee to local indigenous communities
-Verbally harassed and physically attacked local indigenous people, environmental workers, and government officials.
-Disrupted efforts to protect and monitor the endangered Hawksbill sea turtle.

See what you can do to stop Tsokos land grabbing.

[Detailed information on Mr. Tsokos' actions in Nicaragua is available. See Land Grabbing in the Pearl Cays.]

Ask Questions
Please contact Nicaragua Network at our website nicanet.org if you have any questions or would like more talking points to engage Tsokos. The Nicaragua Network can also be reached at the address listed below, at nicanet@afgj.org or by phone at (202-) 544-9355.

Donate
Your financial support is crucial to the cases currently challenging Peter Tsokos for his pillage of the Pearl Cays and working to secure indigenous land rights. To contribute to the Defend the Islands campaign, see information below.

Tell Tsokos to Leave!
Call, write, or fax Peter Tsokos and his lawyer, Peter Martínez to express your outrage. Demand that he suspend any further activity on the islands. Make it known that abuse of the environment and indigenous people will not be tolerated. Please send a copy of your letters to nicanet@afgj.org.

Peter Tsokos can be reached at:
Peter Tsokos, P.O. Box 536111,
Grand Prairie, TX 75053

Phone: (817) 861-1981 Fax: (817) 460-6607
E-mail: ptsokos@yahoo.com

Email his lawyer at Peter Martínez at: petefox@ibw.com.ni

Sample Letter to Peter Tsokos

Dear Mr. Tsokos,

I am writing to express my outrage at your treatment of the indigenous and Creol peoples of Nicaragua. I demand that you respect the ancestral territorial rights of Creol, Miskitu, and Rama people of Nicaragua and that you cease and desist from selling, deforesting and developing ecologically fragile lands.

According to the Nicaraguan Constitution, indigenous land cannot be "bought, sold, or mortgaged." Furthermore, your destruction of ecologically fragile land is in direct violation of Nicaraguan environmental regulations, which mandate environmental impact studies before trees can be cut.

Do the right thing. Leave the Pearl Cays.

Sincerely,
Your Name

Mail your tax-deductible donation to the Defend the Islands Campaign to:
Nicaragua Network/AGJ
1247 "E" Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
Make checks payable to Nicaragua Network/AGJ.
Labels: Archives