Up in Arms | 2

Wondry Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of The Price of Paradise early and ad-free. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.

not be swayed by their arguments. We have to try to get you from here. We have invested our money here.

It's our home. It's not real. We're in this world. We would like to bring tourism here.

There are so many people, Jane can hardly hear them all. Some carry homemade posters. Our keys will be defended until the end. We demand shelter for our fishermen. Phil's mind is whirring.

of rum in England 100, 200 years ago, I have no right whatsoever to disrespect his wishes at the time to sell something. Your grandfathers have traded these keys for 200 years. These keys have got more documentation about them being private than your house or your house or your house.

But Phil is adamant. he has legal paperwork. He's convinced the Gaskins were sold, the keys fair and square, no matter what these locals think. And perhaps, almost definitely, he'd have been wise to leave it there. But now Phil is on a roll and he's going to tell them exactly what he.

thinks. Yet you still disrespect the law of the land and the judge of the autonomous region. Why? Because we're white and because you're racist. No, no, no.

This is very intimidating. It's safe to say. Phil has won the local crowd over with his groundbreaking, fearless, straight-talking TED talk on racial issues. I'm, of course, joking. Weirdly, they didn't like being called racist, and things are worse than ever.

I'm not just going to walk away from this island. We'll put all our money into it. Well, I don't want the money, but I want the island.

And if the locals are going to launch a battle, then the Gaskins are up for a fight.

arrived on the island. I did get a glimpse of the deed that supposedly gave the Gaskins ownership that they'd got when they bought the island. It did say that it was sold to them and was once owned by X and Y. The names meant nothing to me, but they were local names, local people.

But it's not quite so simple, because for hundreds of years there was an agreement that these islands belonged to the local community. They provide a stopover for fishermen and they're also home to natural springs, the only fresh water this far from the mainland. And it's not only the local people who need them. Endangered hawksbill turtles have chosen the islands, including Janik, to make their nests. Nests that conservationists are fighting hard to protect.

mind. And why do we open? We will not give up our fight around these keys. But what do you actually want? Our struggle to defend our keys will continue.

was supposed to go. Phil and Jane are shocked. They're seen as some kind of colonial occupiers, the bad guys. As the mayor stares into his eyes, Phil tries to outline his grand vision for Janik, with all the passion in his voice that he can muster. This is hope.

like Belize 25 years ago. They had nothing and then everything. And this is your golden opportunity.

And what are we doing? Fighting on for it. Phil is nothing if not a salesman. But the mayor is unmoved by their diving resort dreams. He takes a deep breath and speaks slowly to try to spell it out clearly to these Brits.

It cannot be given by no one, absolutely by no one. It is something that is protected for the use.

and the benefit of the people, and should be passed from one generation to another generation.

There was a bit of a shock when the mayor turned around and said there's absolutely no way that this island belongs to you. It never will. It never has been. And I don't really care about.

your tourist aspirations.

It weirdly seemed to make them even more determined to somehow stay there and to prove that they did.

have a legitimate right. Let's not forget they don't have a life in England anymore. They've given up their Hampshire house for Janique, sunk everything they had into the island, left family, friends, school. For the Gaskins, there really is no going back. But if they thought it might just all blow over if they ploughed on, undeterred by this little dispute in a remote corner of Nicaragua, they could not be more wrong.

I love the smell of eggplant in the morning, that's what it would be.

OK,

I was very optimistic. I was young and energetic, and I was passionate.

Maria Acosta is a human rights lawyer and the second woman in our story. She's a single mum in her 30s, the kind of woman who won't shrink away from an argument. In fact, she'll take great pleasure in pulling apart your theories one by one. But with such a warm smile on her face and charm in her voice that it's completely disarming. Don't let that fool you, though, because she is tough and determined.

I was raised in the other side of the country, in the Pacific side, and we didn't know much about the other side. For me, it was an adventure.

Maria's hometown, Chinandega, is 300 miles away from Bluefields on the Pacific coast.

and a 10-hour trip cross-country. Like most of Nicaraguans, have never been there, now they have a road, but at that time you had to fly or you had to go through the river.

The port used to be a base for the slave trade, and, before that, a refuge for pirates and buccaneers. Now, it's a real melting pot of different communities. You're more likely to hear people talking in Creole, or one of the many indigenous languages, than in Spanish. And it's the local community that's drawn Maria, a subject she's passionate about.

I was interested in working with indigenous peoples. This is the region where the most.

indigenous and Afro-descendant people live. Maria's here because she's taken up a new job, teaching at Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University, alongside her legal casework.

My work is a very political work, working with people that are disadvantaged, people that are marginalized. I don't see this as a job, I see this as a vocational thing, gives meaning to my life. It's part of what I am.

This is a big move for her, not just because it's far from home, but she's also leaving her two children, Anna and Alvaro, behind with her parents until she finds her feet here. So this has to work. It has to be worth it.

There were not many lawyers that would take those cases, not for indigenous peoples, and that's what makes my work special.

Maria soon feels at home. She's moved into a cute yellow house on the hill, with balcony views over Bluefields Bay. She's not looking for love, she's far too busy with work, but her friends have other plans. They introduce her to the only man in town good enough for her, as they put it, Frank Garcia. He's a great dancer, he's funny, he knows everyone, and, like Maria, he's divorced too.

I thought, hmm, maybe if I kiss him, I would discover what his real feelings are, and I did. And he responded. very well. I used to tell him, Frank, if I had never kissed you, you would never kiss me. And I said, no, don't say that, don't say that.

Sometimes you've got to take fate into your own hands, and by fate, I mean the make-out sesh. She's a busy woman, she can't be waiting around for a shy guy to kiss her. And her kids were equally as thrilled as me.

You know, he just became part of the family. without saying it. The three of us somehow began to feel the fourth of us.

As Maria settles into family life in Bluefields, she can't miss the arrival of a new woman in town. Jane Gaskin's infrequent trips to the mainland always cause a stir.

She was different. It was weird the way she dressed and the way she acted. She had this bossy attitude all the time. She used to wear, you know, the bra, a bikini, and very, very short shorts. People don't dress like that in downtown Bluefields.

at the beach. Maria's going to blush when she sees what Jane actually wears on the beach, or doesn't wear. But let's put it this way, they were different kinds of people with different styles, in every sense. And that would be fine and dandy, except their worlds are about to collide.

I was shocked. These keys have been part of the culture and the environment and the territory of indigenous and Afro-descendant people that they need for their survival.

Maria's furious because she knows the Pearl Keys well, and they're close to her heart. She first visited the area as a university student and found the islands breathtaking.

Oh, they're beautiful. They're small islands. They have white sand and they have transparent blue or green water.

The Pearl Keys are made up of 18 picture-perfect tropical islands, 20 miles off the mainland.

And there are palm trees, coconut palm trees. It's a beautiful, beautiful place. But it wasn't like being in a movie, you know?

The idea that these fragile, untouched islands are now being sold off to foreign buyers, who are trampling over hundreds of years of culture, tradition, wildlife, just doesn't bear thinking about. Maria's determined to get to the bottom of what's happening and why. First Port of Call is one of the Creole community leaders. We're calling him Jerry, because to protect his anonymity, we agreed to change his name. And his words are read by an actor.

Those islands belong to the community. It's not for one person to sell. No one is supposed to take it and do what they want with it.

He explains that they're fighting to stop Peter Sokos from selling their own land from under their feet. And now people are arriving on the islands from all around the world.

People need the islands for fishing. And now he's buying them and stopping people from using them. We don't permit anyone to buy them.

Maria wants to help, but it's going to take patience and courage. But he trusts her, and Maria has always been straight with him.

She says it from the beginning, it's not going to be easy. We are going to be facing someone with lots of money, and it can be dangerous. And we need to expect anything to happen.

In a country where corruption is commonplace, Maria is incorruptible. And that's why the local communities have come to trust her. They suspect people with deep pockets and even deeper connections are behind the sale of the Pearl Keys. And Maria is one of the only people in Bluefields, they can be sure is on their side.

I was an outsider because I always put the law first to friendship or any other interest. The legal environment, the legal system was very corrupt. in Bluefields. Lawyers and judges used to go and drink and decide the cases while drinking. And I never did that, never.

Maria is fearless. Not only is she not having a cocktail with the establishment, she's earned a reputation for doggedly fighting the authorities. And, in the process, a rather unflattering nickname.

The witch. Was funny once when I met somebody from Ministry of Environment. And I introduced myself and she looked at me and she said, oh, you're Maria Costa. You're not a witch, as they say you are. And I was like, I didn't know.

But Maria won't be derailed by petty gossip. She has a huge job ahead and she's going to need all her focus to protect the Pearl Key Islands for the local community.

The people in power see this work as a threat.

And soon, this threat will become very real.

about him. Since you told him who's gonna be the boss, you didn't want to work anymore. You just wanted to boss. Yeah. And he wasn't even good at that.

look, it's your job, you know. But this stuff is small fry. The real issue isn't Teodoro's work, it's what he does in his downtime. As the number of staff on Janik has started to grow, one of the cooks they've hired has caught his eye. Jane sounds almost incredulous as she reveals Teodoro's latest exploits.

final straw for me was when he started messing around with the cook, and then he couldn't even work. She got upset as well, and he's up all night having sex with a cook and expect to be paid for it at the same time. I mean it's just a joke. Preach, Jane,

she's right. You can't be up all night having sex with the cook and get paid for it. That is life. The sooner you guys learn that, the better.

climbing out. He's coming back to get some of his stuff, but also to say a few.

things to Jane. Okay, okay, this could all be fine. He just wants his job back, maybe. Jane certainly sensed it wasn't a friendly drop-in. She actually said, do you?

want to come and film this? Because I'm going to tell him to get off the island.

You don't have to ask a documentary maker twice. Billy readies the camera to capture the latest drama.

Boss everyone on my island, Teodoro. You must love bossing people on my island. There's nothing to say, Teodoro, okay? I don't know how much English you understand. You mess around with me.

I remember thinking, wow, she hasn't asked us to stop filming, because this is getting quite personal.

I don't want someone like that on my island. I can't have you here. You don't like me anymore, that's fine, but you don't work here and sleep with the cook in front of me, after you and me. You understand what I'm saying?

As the conversation unfolded, I was really shocked at hearing what came out, because I had no idea that Jane had been with Teodoro. Phil didn't seem to react in a way that you thought he might react with his partner sleeping with somebody else. I guess that's when I realised, maybe, that Phil knew about it all the time.

Billy keeps filming and Teodoro turns away from Jane and walks towards the camera.

He was angry. He'd been muttering about the fact that it was his island, so I asked him, you know, so this is your land, is it?

It's your country, yeah? Yeah, this is my country. One day she's gone from this island. I stayed in my country.

Teodoro seems pretty confident that Jane won't be around for much longer. They all watch as Teodoro storms off and climbs into his boat.

So the boat moves off, he goes, and I thought, well, that's the last that we're going to see of Teodoro. How wrong could I be?

I'm going to say very, very, very, very wrong, Billy. The Gaskins have made a dangerous new enemy.

Phil, who up until then had been this happy-go-lucky, charming, funny, always pleased-to-see-us kind of guy, looked like a skeleton, ashen white, unshaven, with a hideously burnt left arm.

Follow The Price of Paradise on the Wondery app, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.

Wondery, Wondery, Wondery.