The Cowgirls have voted not to participate in Copa Lucreacia it is inconsistent with our foundational principles, including support for women’s rights, for LGBTQ rights and for political rights more broadly.
1. The Ortega regime in power has been condemned by the UN, various human rights organisations (including some that are not close to the US) for extensive human rights violations and prosecution of political opponents, including feminist/women’s
organisations, student organisations and old Sandinistas that have denounced the Ortega regime. Left wing, progressive governments in the region – Chile, Argentina - have also condemned the Ortega regime.
2.On women’s rights, Ortega has waged a war against feminists and outlawed even therapeutic abortion in a bid to buy the support of the Catholic church. Whether some of these feminist groups are bourgeoisies or not is irrelevant, since the attack
on reproductive rights mostly affects poor women who cannot afford to go abroad and are forced into dangerous illegal abortions.
3. The Copa Lucrecia organisers have argued in response to previous Cowgirls questions that the tournament raises funds for Nicaraguan organisations and we shouldn’t boycott it. But the Nicaraguan government has repeatedly used photos from the
tournament to argue that UK progressive circles continue to support it, so even if we do not take photos with the Nicaraguan ambassador (our compromise last year), we can end up participating in the legitimation of an authoritarian conservative regime simply
by participating.
We have agreed that our participation in Copa Lucrecia is inconsistent with Cowgirls/Cowboys stance on Palestine or recently, on Qatar. We can't ignore the harsh realities of an authoritarian conservative regime or hope that our participation will not be instrumentalised.
Thank you, Dana, for support with the above.
Social secretaries are working hard on an alternative. Information will be shared on what the alternative is REAL soon.