Berkeley Undergraduate Journal

The struggle for autonomy and multicultural governance, in both rich and poor countries alike, is riddled by contradictions—this, the literature largely agrees on. On the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, recent events illustrate these contradictions and provide further insight on how multi-ethnic states can promote autonomous rights and in particular, protect indigenous land rights. Through a narrative of indigenous people’s centuries-old struggle for autonomy on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, leading up to the most recent state-sponsored expropriation of indigenous territory to build el Gran Canal, this paper utilizes first-hand interviews, legal documents, and Nicaraguan news articles to illustrate both the successes and pitfalls of recent reforms to decentralize and strengthen indigenous land rights as part of the region’s broader, ongoing autonomous process. In doing so, this paper argues that while the Caribbean Coast’s current autonomy regime advances the indigenous right’s agenda by opening up new spaces for political participation, such advances are limited both by Nicaragua’s structural conditions and the inherent contradictions of state-sponsored autonomy. The paper concludes with the argument that in order to fulfill the promises for autonomous rights first set out in the 1860 Treaty of Managua, Nicaragua’s coste ñ os must strengthen grassroots movements. As long as autonomy remains dependent on the state, it will remain nothing but a lofty goal.