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Eric Volz
Wrongfully Imprisoned Journalist, Founder & Managing Director of The David House Agency, an International Crisis Resource Agency
In 2004, journalist Eric Volz moved to Nicaragua and launched EP Magazine, a successful, full-color bilingual publication focusing on conscious living, cross-cultural understanding, and sustainable development. His work with this project continued until November 2006 when he was falsely accused and wrongfully convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend Doris Jiménez, and consequently sentenced to a 30-year prison term. After spending over a year in the Nicaraguan Prison system, an appeals court overturned the conviction and Volz was released in December of 2007.
Since his release, Volz filed a petition in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, seeking a declaration of his innocence and protection under the American Convention on Human Rights from further persecution by the Government of Nicaragua. Although he is no longer behind bars, his case continues to test the role and authority of a supra-national tribunal with major potential to engage international policy discussions and subsequent reform.
He has been a guest on and featured in The Today Show, CNN, Telemundo and Univision, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, People, and NPR.
A dedicated journalist, Volz acknowledges a responsibility to utilize the lessons carried by his experience to generate education and potential reform. He is the author of Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua.
Volz, a native of Northern California, holds a degree in Latin American Studies from the University of California-San Diego. Other university level studies include coursework at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, Mexico, and upper division coursework at Ponifica Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, Dominican Republic.
Speech Topics
Central America Today
The Real Nicaragua Survivor
Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua
In his keynote presentation, Eric shares his experience of being wrongly accused for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, suffering sub-human prison conditions, and fighting against a web of sinister political acts.
By weaving together a recent history of the relationship between the US and Nicaraguan government, his confrontation with the Central American legal system, and how he survived more than a year of wrongful imprisonment, his story is part Law & Order, CSI, and Locked Up Abroad, all rolled into one.
Audiences will be riveted by the unbelievable accusations, lack of evidence, and other nuances of his court case, as he explains how he became a political pawn, in an elaborate plan to assert a Sandinista agenda. He's passionate about sharing the positive lessons he has learned throughout his ordeal:
- We are all survivors in one way or another.
- It is an essential part of the human experience to give and receive compassion.
- Although bad things can happen to good people, one should always strive to maintain a sense of gratitude.
Eric's true story is shocking, mesmerizing, and above all inspirational.
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