Dear Nica Times:
It would be interesting if The Nica Times would report in greater depth on several points that were raised in the mind of a thoughtful reader concerning the Miskito diver’s strike against the lobster companies.
Who owns the lobster companies? Who owns the boats? Who handles the marketing of their product? What is the price of lobsters sold in the U.S. and elsewhere?
As a reader living in the United States, who has visited Nicaragua and is sympathetic to the travails of indigenous people throughout Latin America, even with a stalled economy there may be mechanisms available in which people in the U.S. could help to foment more economic development in Nicaragua and in the Moskitia.
Perhaps we could find a way to provide lobster boats directly to Moskitia divers in a co-operative manner? A little direct competition from indigenous diving co-ops would prove whether the lobster companies are just crying poor, and cheating the divers, or if the economics of lobster fishing is as bad as they claim.
Certainly we could provide a better life for at least a few of the divers involved in this dispute.
James Sharp
San Diego, CA
