This 1983 film by John Caldwell and Joel Sheesley examines the forced displacement of the Miskitu Indian Refugees from Nicaragua during the Reagan-era “Contra” war. In 1981, thousands of Miskitu Indians fled their ancestral homes in coastal Northeastern Nicaragua. The U.S. blamed the new leftist Sandinista government for driving the Miskitus out. Nicaragua denied this as a “lie,” arguing that U.S.-backed “Contra” guerrillas–paid by President Reagan to overthrow the new Sandinista government–had instead forced the Miskitu refugees to flee from Nicaragua.
In January 1983, more than 12,000 Miskitu Indians occupied a muddy refugee camp named “Mocoron” just north of the Rio Coco border between Nicaragua and Honduras. Filmed segments focus on deep tensions between U.S. humanitarian aid and and U.S. military activities, along with the mutual exploitation of both the crisis and issues of indigenism by the Contras, the Sandinistas, and the Reagan administration (including deployment of US Airborne units to threaten the Sandinistas in joint war-games staged adjacent to the UNHCR Refugee camp). This film offers an on-the-ground account of that place, the ideological and government forces that scripted and staged it, and the exiled, but resilient, Miskitu communities who were “cast” as useful ideological actors in this remote war theater. Offers a sobering example, from the late 20th century, of just how deeply ingrained our current 21st century rhetoric and conflicts over borders, immigrants, and militarized nationalism has been.