Maurice Demierre

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Maurice Demierre, detail from a wall painting by Javier Rivera Rodríguez

Maurice Demierre (born February 24, 1957 in Bulle FR ; † February 16, 1986 in Nicaragua ) was the first Swiss development aid worker to be murdered by the anti- Sandinista Contra in Nicaragua in the so-called Contra War .

Life

Maurice Demierre was born as the second oldest of 5 siblings on February 24, 1957 in Bulle in the Swiss canton of Friborg . His father was a typesetter. He grew up in a family characterized by Christian commitment and political responsibility. In 1975 he obtained the Matura at the College of St. Michael in Freiburg / Switzerland. From 1977 he completed several internships (with the Emäus disciples in Foggia / Italy, in France and in Spain) and worked on various estates in western Switzerland and on the Alps. At the same time, he trained as an agricultural technician at the Grangeneuve agricultural school. In 1977 he contacted Frères sans Frontières , a Swiss development aid organization (today: E-Changer ), to work as a volunteer in a third world country. When he refused to do the third refresher course (military service), he defended his position on July 3, 1980 before the military tribunal with his commitment to the Third World and his Christian conviction based on non-violence . The court sentenced him to 3 months in prison for refusing to do military service , to pay court fees, and expelled him from the army.

Use in Nicaragua

At the end of 1982 Maurice arrived in Nicaragua as a volunteer for the aid organization Frères sans Frontières (today: E-Changer ) with his companion Chantal Bianchi. In view of the communication problems, great cultural differences and its non-violence in a country that was under military attack and where life was at stake, the first few months were difficult. In March 1984 Maurice started the project in Villanueva and the surrounding area. It was about buildings and technical assistance in animal husbandry in the three cooperatives Los Hornos (Achuapa), Los Tololos (Villanueva) and Santa Teresa near Somotillo. Soon his technical assistance extended to several production units (UPE: Unidad de Producción Estatal) of the UNAG (Union Nacional de los Agricultores y Ganadores) in this zone. From 1984 Maurice and Chantal also took over the organization and support of Swiss solidarity brigades. At the same time, both were active in the local Christian base church, the so-called block (BIPBC: Bloque Intercomunitario Pro Bienestar Cristiano), which campaigned for social justice in the light of liberation theology and where problems were solved together. Maurice was aware of the danger he was exposed to in the area near the border with Honduras, from where the anti-Sandinista Contras, supported logistically, financially and politically by the Reagan administration and the CIA, were operating in the so-called Contra War . He always said that if he died in Nicaragua, he would be buried here. On February 16, 1986 Maurice, who wanted to chauffeur several women and children home, and 4 Nicaraguan women were murdered in an ambush near Somotillo by the anti-Sandinista Contra and 7 other passengers were seriously injured, two of whom were injured in the hospital succumbed.

Reactions

The Swiss Foreign Ministry expressed its regret over the murder of Maurice Demierre, but decided not to protest against the US government.

After Max Frisch was honored with the Neustadt International Prize for Literature of the University of Oklahoma in 1986 , he made the prize sum of 25,000 dollars available for the construction of a school in Nicaragua.

It was not only in parliament and in the Swiss public whether development aid in Nicaragua in view of the murdered Swiss (Maurice Demierre and Yvan Leyvraz as well as numerous other internationalists such as Joël Fieux / F, Albrecht "Tonio" Pflaum / D, Berndt Koberstein / D or Benjamin Linder / USA) is still useful and possible. Most private aid organizations, including Frères sans Frontières , were also more cautious and cautious on this issue under the pressure of the murders of Maurice Demierre and Yvan Leyvraz.

In 1987 a Freiburg solidarity brigade (labor brigade) traveled to Nicaragua under the name "Brigade Maurice Demierre". In Nicaragua, several kindergartens or schools took over the name "Mauricio Demierre".

After 15 years, the memory of Maurice Demierre in Friborg / Switzerland is still alive.

30 years after the murder, Maurice's memory is still alive in Nicaragua, as a Swiss brigade of former internationalists discovered in Somotillo in July 2016.

media

Books

  • Chantal Bianchi: Un peuple, une passion: Nicaragua. Maurice Demierre is vivant. éd. de la Thièle, Yverdon-les-Bains 1987, ISBN 2-8283-0023-0 .
  • Jacques Depallens et al. (Ed.): Nicaragua 1986: L'aventure internationaliste de Maurice, Yvan, Joël et Berndt. CETIM, Genève 1996, ISBN 2-88053-023-7 .

Movies

  • Qué viva Mauricio Demierre (y también la revolución). Film de Stéphane Goël, musique Corinne Galland, Paco Lobo, Julien Sulser. (Lausanne) Climage 2006.
  • Maurice Demierre, 30 ans déjà , on rts.ch (Radio télévision suisse)

music

  • A Maurice Demierre: J'ai voulu vivre (I wanted to live). On CD: La Chanson de Friborg. "Made in Switzerland". Text Bernard Ducarroz, music Pierre Huwiler. Disques Office 65186 (CD17178), 1709 Friborg

Varia

  • Maurice Demierre, une vie donnée. Á l'occasion du 10e anniversaire de son assassinat au Nicaragua / présentation Yves Court et André Kolly. (Lausanne) La Première (Radio suisse romande), 1996.
  • Le Nicaragua, 20 ans après la mort de Maurice Demierre. Une série proposée par Fabien Hünenberger. (Lausanne) Espace 2 (Radio suisse romande), 2006.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jacques Depallens, Sergio Ferrari, Gérald Fioretta et Viviane Luisier (author and editor collective): Nicaragua 1986. L'aventure internationaliste de Maurice, Yvan, Joël et Berndt. Genève: CETIM 1996, ISBN 2-88053-023-7 , pp. 52-56.
  2. ↑ Chantal Bianchi: Un peuple, une Passion. Nicaragua: Maurice Demierre est vivant. Yverdon-les-Bains: Editions de la Thièle 1996.
  3. ↑ Jacques Depallens, Sergio Ferrari, Gérald Fioretta and Viviane Luisier (author and editor collective): Nicaragua 1986: L'aventure internationaliste de Maurice, Yvan, Joël et Berndt. Genève: CETIM 1996, ISBN 2-88053-023-7 , pp. 50, 60-61.
  4. ↑ Thomas Kadelbach: Lost Hope, Lasting Memory . In: Latin America News 384 / June 2006.
  5. ↑ mfa.ethz.ch ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mfa.ethz.ch
  6. ↑ Swiss Yearbook for Development Policy 6/1996.
  7. ↑ Maurice Demierre Brigade. [Flyer of the Freiburg Central America Committee] from 1989
  8. ^ Bernard Waeber: Murdered 15 years ago in Nicaragua. March 7, 2001, accessed December 14, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Basellandschaftliche Zeitung of February 16, 2016 [1]
  10. ↑ El Nuevo Diario, End Noticias, February 13, 2016 [2]
personal data
SURNAME Demierre, Maurice
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss agronomist
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Bulle FR , Canton of Friborg
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 1986
Place of death Nicaragua