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El Nuevo Diario, Nicaragua
17 February 2001

Thousands on horseback and on foot bathe her in love and gratitude
Tremendous Welcome for Dorothy in Mulukukú

She is received like a heavenly missionary
Like the chapter of a soap opera with real tears
Roast meat, Valencian rice ... and rum

- Joaquin Torres
[Translation by Julia Lutsky]

If on Thursday afternoon [15 February] Dorothy Granada had been able to take hold of her popularity and her love for the people of Mulukuku she could have called forth a revolution and led an army of thousands. The office of mayor would have been too small for her. She had won the presidency of the streets.

Of course, no one put palm branches under her feet but little else was missing. She was received like a saint, a martyr, a heavenly messenger, a protecting mother, a star, a sun come to illuminate the lives of thousands.

Everyone wanted something from her: an embrace, a kiss, a tear. That she touch and cure them with a touch of the hand. Or with just a look.

It seemed like one of those chapters of a novel that draws rivers of tears. Only these were real, from mothers, daughters, sons and fathers. From the sick and the well. From and entire people who had been two months without her and who now wanted recover them in one afternoon, enjoying each moment as if it were the last. A multitude of people, more than any politician could possibly want. "God bless her for coming here;" "Dorothy, welcome to your home;" "Dorothy is health;" "May the corrupt ones be gone, may Dorothy stay forever," said many of the posters and blankets carried by the thousands of people who went to meet her at the entrance to the town, with music, firecrackers, even with such militant slogans as "the people united will never be defeated."

The river Tuma divides Mulukuku in two. But on Thursday Dorothy's arrival united it. Her presence brought smiles to many and to many more, when she responded to as many embraces as she received, calling each person by name and asking about his or her health and children, with the confidence born of old friendships.

There has been no such demonstration in Mulukuku in many years. Her improvised escorts tried to open the way so she could walk but every time they did more and more people joined in until they arrived at the Maria Luis Ortiz Clinic, where Dorothy was received by another huge crowd of people and by a mentally ill patient who kissed her, embraced her and insisted she look at her sick child: a little rag doll. Later this same young woman spoiled part of the event and her own good intentions by throwing stones at mothers carrying their children. This obliged the police to earn their salaries. The march was the beginning of an event that lasted more than three hours. Everyone wanted to say how much they loved her and how they had suffered without her. Everyone wanted to dance and sing. To appear in the pictures with her and testify to their days with Dorothy, the way Dona Corina Duarte did before the clinic was closed in December; she had learned the skills with which to care for patients. In Mulukuku the surveys about Dorothy leave no margin for error. Without any need for explanation, the responses are the same: "Dona Dorothy is good. She takes care of us and she helps us without looking to see to which party we might belong. They closed the clinic out of envy because they know she is both benevolent and very well known. "

And it is true. The fame and the love for Dona Dorothy began in the village of Muy Muy. As if attracted by a magnet, the women go to meet her and tell her goodbye. Others ask her to help them and give them a ride. She obliges and puts them in her light truck. She includes the men on the condition that they "must respect our rights as women."

"THE LORD IS MY GOD AND YOU ARE MY BLESSING"

She walks with an energy and force that enable her to face a cancer as easily as a government, one such as that presided over by President Aleman which, when all was said and done, as she admits after the persecution she has undergone, has done her the favor of awakening solidarity both for her and for Mulukuku.

The human warmth shown her was tiring for her at times. But she, at 70 and having driven 242 kilometers [about 145 miles] from Managua to Mulukuku, shouted, danced, laughed and could not stop thanking people and saying, "you have stolen my heart. The lord is my God and you are my blessing." There were more than enough testimonies - and people, too. From the districts of Umbla, Los Baldes, Unikuas, Sarawas, Liberia, Santa Rita and La Bodega, just to mention just some of the 17 communities which the Clinic Maria Luisa Ortiz in Mulukuku serves. This community with its now more than 25,000 inhabitants is struggling to attain municipality status.

SHE ARRIVED WITH DONA VILMA

Dona Dorothy arrived in Mulukuku accompanied by Dona Vilma Nunez de Escorcia, of the Nicaraguan Human Rights Center (CENIDH); by directors of the Swiss Workers' Help organization (AOS); by NGO's of the Women of Matagalpa; and by many of her North American friends, doctors and nurses who have accompanied her since the government tried to deport her at the beginning of December, last year. Like one more Nicaraguan, Dona Dorothy said she felt in her own backyard and very grateful for the chance to help them fight "against these people who want to make their own laws. Thanks to communications media, to my friends who help me maintain this clinic and to you for whom I expect to struggle for your health and dignity. Let us struggle because Nicaragua is still the promised land." The Clinic of the Cooperative of Maria Luisa Ortiz may begin serving the public again at the beginning of March, depending on a meeting Dona Dorothy has scheduled with Mariangles Arguello, the Minister of Health on Wednesday, 21 February.

For the moment and with the return of Dona Dorothy to Mulukuku, the people are celebrating as hard as they can as if they were celebrating the arrival of a patron saint. Well, they say that with Dorothy "traveling health" also arrived. The party began on Thursday evening with beef soup, Valencian rice, coffee and rum. All courtesy of the cooperative.


© 2001 by El Nuevo Diario

For Immediate Release
February 6, 2001 		     


Contact: Jill Winegardner, Gerry Condon
831/ 768-7004, 831/ 768-1556
U.S. NURSE WINS FIGHT TO STAY IN NICARAGUA
Nicaraguan Government Says Dorothy Granada Can Stay

"The President and I are desisting from our effort to continue the deportation order of Dorothy Granada." With these words, read over a Managua radio station at noon today, Nicaraguan Internal Affairs Minister Jose Marenco, accepted the verdict of public opinion, human rights organizations, and finally, of the Nicaraguan courts. President Arnoldo Aleman and Minister Marenco agreed to allow the 70-year-old U.S nurse to remain in Nicaragua and continue her work providing health care for the rural poor. This ended a 2 month campaign by these top government officials - some would call it an obsession - to rid the country of Granada, whom they had accused of performing abortions and of supporting the opposition Sandinista Party.

The statement by Internal Affairs Minister Marenco was the equivalent of waving a white flag to Nicaraguan civil society, who had rallied around the cause of Granada and the rural health clinic she had directed for over 10 years. It came on the heels of another in a string of legal victories for Granada, this one blocking her deportation order. Nicaraguan supporters of Dorothy Granada also credit the impact of a letter to President Aleman from 32 members of the U.S. Congress, only the latest of thousands of letters and faxes from concerned U.S. citizens.

Dorothy Granada herself, who has been in hiding for two months since 14 armed men surrounded her house on December 8, 2000, was ecstatic at the news.

"I am very grateful that it is has been proven that Nicaragua operates in a state of law and I am grateful to President Aleman and Mr. Marenco for honoring the law," said Granada. "I am also very grateful for the incredible demonstration of solidarity from so many people. The strong statements of the march of 10,000 Nicaraguans and of all the human rights groups, Nicaraguan and international, who have been so supportive of us, are moving us toward a more loving world," she continued. "These efforts are really going to give life to many thousands of poor. People of good will in those countries with greater resources can express their caring for Nicaragua by continuing to support the vital work of the nongovernmental organizations. In this way the rights of life and health will be realized."

On Wednesday at 8 am, a press conference will be held in Managua featuring Dorothy Granada, whose plight has been the top news story in Nicaragua for two months. Also appearing at the press conference will be prominent members of Nicaraguan civil society, who have rallied around her cause because of the government's broader attacks on women's rights and on the work of nongovernmental organizations. On Thursday at 7 pm, there will be a celebration of this important victory for Dorothy Granada and human rights in Nicaragua.

For more information, or to arrange an interview with Dorothy Granada, please call Gerry Condon at (831) 768-7004.

PRESS ADVISORY
February 5, 2001 		     


Contact: Jill Winegardner, Gerry Condon
831/ 768-7004, 831/ 768-1556
U.S. NURSE WINS LEGAL VICTORY IN NICARAGUA

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, a 3-judge Civil Court in Nicaragua will announce its ruling that the government's deportation order against U.S. nurse Dorothy Granada must be lifted. This will be reported in the Tuesday morning editions of the two daily newspapers, La Prensa and El Nuevo Diario. On Tuesday the Civil Court will officially deliver its ruling to Internal Affairs Minister Jose Marenco. Dorothy Granada will be able to come out of hiding for the first time in two months.

The Monday editions of La Prensa and El Nuevo Diario gave major coverage to a letter by 32 members of the U.S. Congress to the president of Nicaragua, Arnoldo Aleman, appealing to him to respect Dorothy Granada's rights and allow her to continue working in the rural health clinic she has directed for 10 years. The government ordered the clinic shut down in early December after President Aleman accused Granada and the clinic of performing abortions, which are illegal in Nicaragua, and of serving only supporters of the opposition Sandinista Party. Granada has repeatedly denied these charges, and successive police and human rights investigations have vindicated her of any wrongdoing.

The decision of the Civil Court may be the final piece in a legal solution sought by Granada's attorneys. In December a lower court judge ruled the government had violated the health promoter's due process rights when it ordered her deported without giving her a hearing. The government appealed this ruling and in mid-January an Appeals Court upheld the lower court decision in Granada's favor. But the Appeals Court, while ordering the police and government not to arrest or detain Granada, nonetheless left the deportation order in place. President Aleman and Internal Affairs Minister Marenco both continued to insist she must be deported.

The deportation order has now been lifted. The government may have the right to appeal this decision or to go back to court seeking another deportation order. But they will have to follow Nicaragua's laws and do so under much scrutiny. Granada and her supporters hope that the government of Arnoldo Aleman will finally heed the message of thousands of people who recently marched in the streets of Managua, as well as churches, human rights organizations, and now the U.S. Congress: let Dorothy Granada resume her life-giving work in the Women's Clinic in Mulukuku.

On Wednesday or Thursday of this week, a huge press conference will be held in Managua featuring Dorothy Granada and prominent members of Nicaraguan civil society, who have rallied around her cause because of the government's broader attacks on women's rights and on the work of nongovernmental organizations. On Thursday or Friday, there will be a celebration of this important victory for Dorothy Granada and human rights in Nicaragua.

For more information, or to arrange an interview with Dorothy Granada, please call Gerry Condon at (831) 768-7004.


For Immediate Release
February 2, 2001 		     


Contact: Jill Winegardner, Gerry Condon
831/ 768-7004, 831/ 768-1556
U.S. CONGRESS TO NICARAGUAN PRESIDENT: “HANDS OFF DOROTHY GRANADA”

FEB 2, 2001 - Thirty two members of Congress sent a letter today to the president of Nicaragua, asking him to end his government's efforts to deport U.S. nurse Dorothy Granada. The letter also appeals to Nicaraguan president Arnoldo Aleman to re-open the rural health clinic which Granada has directed for over ten years. In December of last year, President Alemán personally oversaw the closing of the clinic after accusing Granada of performing abortions and supporting the opposition Sandinista Party. *The 70-year-old health care advocate denies these charges, and investigations by Nicaraguan police and human rights organizations have found no proof to support them.

Amnesty International has issued a worldwide alert calling on Nicaragua to ensure the personal safety and legal rights of Dorothy Granada. An Appeals Court has ruled that Granada's right to due process was violated when she was ordered deported without a hearing. But the same court left her deportation order intact. Dorothy Granada remains in hiding while her lawyers attempt to get the deportation order lifted. She has become a cause celebre in Nicaragua, where her plight has been the top news item for two months. Now, members of Congress, after hearing from concerned citizens all over the U.S., have decided to make a direct appeal to the Nicaraguan president.

The letter, signed by 32 members of the House of Representatives, was spearheaded by California Congressman Sam Farr, whose Central Coast district includes Granada's home of Santa Cruz.

“In one of Nicaragua's poorest regions, Dorothy Granada has made preventive health care available, taught countless young mothers about family nutrition, family planning and child birth, and provided cancer screening,” said Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, “I cannot believe that the Nicaraguan government would respond by treating her so unfairly.”

Excerpts from the letter sent today by 32 members of Congress to Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Alemán:

     “We are writing to strongly express our concerns about the human and legal rights of Dorothy Virginia Granada, a U.S. citizen living in Nicaragua .... We are also concerned about the closing of the women's health clinic which she has been directing for more than 10 years. This clinic is the primary health care facility for a population of 30,000 in one of Nicaragua's poorest regions. The particular focus of the clinic has been maternal and child nutrition, preventive health care, including child survival and reproductive health, child birth services, and family planning, as well as early treatment for cancer. These vital services coincide almost perfectly with the health care priorities of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Nicaragua. USAID has also investigated the clinic and found its work to be exemplary.

     “As representatives of the U.S. people, we urgently implore you to respect the findings of these human rights, judicial and police institutions and to allow Dorothy Granada to return to Mulukuku and resume her life-giving work in a reopened Women's Clinic. We also implore you to respect and nurture the institutions of Nicaraguan democracy and to support the governmental and nongovernmental organizations that are bringing much needed assistance to Nicaragua's people.”

The letter requests a reply from the Nicaraguan president. A court decision is expected shortly.

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