Nicaraguan cattle ranchers, spurred by a surge in beef exports to the U.S., are attacking Indigenous communities and killing those who resist.
The deadly attacks have risen during the pandemic. As COVID-19 outbreaks slowed down American slaughterhouses, forcing U.S. grocery stores to scramble to fill shelves with foreign beef, Nicaraguan suppliers rushed to fill the gap.
That growing beef production has spurred violence and bloodshed in Nicaragua’s Indigenous communities as cattle ranchers seize land to clear the jungle for fresh pastureland.
The homicide rate in the Indigenous Mayangna community soared so high in the first half of this year, as a result of murders by cattle ranchers, that it ranked among the most dangerous places in the world.
And due to a loophole in U.S. regulation, American consumers have no idea when they’re eating beef from Nicaragua. That’s because imported beef can be labeled as a “product of the United States” as long as it is processed and packaged in the U.S.
Credits:
Reporter/Producer: Nathan Halverson
Videographers/Field Producers: Emma Schwartz, JoeBill Muñoz, Mallory Newman
Production Assistant: Yinuo Shi
Senior Producer/Editor: David Ritsher
Senior Producer: Adam Raney
Executive Editor: Esther Kaplan
Executive Producers: Amanda Pike, Sara Just
Editor in Chief: Matt Thompson
Radio Free | Radio Free (2020-10-23T06:35:37+00:00) Conflict Beef. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/10/23/conflict-beef/
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