Title: Francisca Ramírez Content: Francisca Ramírez Tórrez (also known as Doña Francisca or Doña Chica, born 1977) is a Nicaraguan farmer and peasants (campesinos) rights activist. She was a leader of protests that began in 2014 against the proposed development of an inter-oceanic canal through Nicaragua. She opposed for the removal of the 2013 legislation (Law 840) that was granting Chinese company HKND the concession for the canal and other infrastructure projects. == Early life == Francisca Ramírez Tórrez was born in 1977 in a small rural community (then known as Somoza) in Nueva Guinea. It was on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua (following the revolution, Somoza was renamed La Fonseca in 1979 in honor of Sandinista leader Carlos Fonseca.) Ramírez's family was originally from the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. However, her family had been displaced in the 1950s in a Somozas regime program of relocating farmers with small orchards in the region to make way for cotton crops. These farmers, including Ramírez's family, were moved to "colonies" on the Caribbean coast. It was at the time of the virgin forest. Ramírez's parents had five children. But her father left during the war when she was seven years old. After that, she was charged with helping her mother raise her siblings. She left school after the third grade. At 12, she began traveling to Managua to sell crops for local farmers. == Activism == Ramírez now owns her own land in La Fonseca. She also has a small fleet of trucks with which she and her husband and children transport crops. Like her neighbors in the rural community, Ramírez's family is economically dependent on the land they farm. They became alarmed when Chinese surveyors arrived without notice to begin measuring their land for canal development. Ramírez organized a response when she learned they were at risk of being displaced by the land expropriation Law 840. The law authorized in granting Chinese company HKND the concession for the proposed inter-oceanic canal and other infrastructure projects. Ramírez served as head of the environmental and peasants rights organization, the National Council for the Defense of the Land, Lake and Sovereignty (Consejo Nacional para la Defensa de la Tierra, Lago y Soberanía). According to its bylaws, the Council for the Defense of the Land functions as a non-partisan and self-mobilized grassroots movement. It was independent of political party or NGO affiliation. Ramírez personally does not belong to a political party. So, she has refused offers of office in exchange for joining a party. She didn't participate in closed-door meetings with President Daniel Ortega. She turned down high-priced buyouts for her land offered in exchange for stopping her activism. In December 2016, Nicaraguan National Police seized two of Ramírez's work vehicles. In the April 2018 protests in Nicaragua, Ramírez with other leaders of the peasants movement issued a statement of support. The statement was for the youth and self- organized grassroots protesters. They called for a general strike. ==Recognition== In 2016, Forbes Mexico named Ramírez one of the 50 most powerful women in Central America. In 2017, Ramírez was a runner up for the Front Line Defenders award for human rights defenders.