Environmental Human Rights: News & Updates

After President Bukele’s government repealed El Salvador’s historic mining ban, environmentalists fear a quiet return of metal mining—starting with the long-contested El Dorado gold project. Despite official silence, new companies are being registered, land deals linked to mining firms are surfacing, and military presence in affected communities is increasing. Activists report being watched and harassed, even as they continue to fight criminal charges seen as politically motivated. With worsening water shortages and contamination risks, many Salvadorans warn that reopening the mines threatens not only the environment but also their communities’ survival and democratic freedoms.

Karen Spring of the Honduras Solidarity Network exposes how Canadian and U.S.-backed tourism expansion has dispossessed Indigenous Garifuna communities along Honduras’ north coast. During 13 years of U.S. and Canadian support for corrupt, militarized “Narco Regimes,” tourism investors — many Canadian and American — illegally acquired Garifuna lands in Trujillo Bay. Now, as Garifuna communities reclaim their ancestral territories, Canadian investors and companies like NJOI are leading racist defamation campaigns against Garifuna leaders and OFRANEH, falsely portraying themselves as victims. The conflict highlights the ongoing colonial exploitation of Indigenous lands under the guise of “development” and tourism.

For nearly two decades, Maya Q’eqchi’ communities have fought a groundbreaking legal battle in Canada against Hudbay Minerals for violence, land evictions, and killings linked to Guatemala’s Fenix nickel mine. From the 2007 mass rape of 11 women to the murder of community leader Adolfo Ich, the struggle set a historic precedent for corporate accountability abroad. Now, with the lawsuits finally settled, a new report reveals the full story—exposing decades of Canadian mining interests, corruption, and repression in Guatemala, and connecting past injustices to ongoing stru

For nearly two decades, Maya Q’eqchi’ communities have fought a groundbreaking legal battle in Canada against Hudbay Minerals for violence, land evictions, and killings linked to Guatemala’s Fenix nickel mine. From the 2007 mass rape of 11 women to the murder of community leader Adolfo Ich, the struggle set a historic precedent for corporate accountability abroad. Now, with the lawsuits finally settled, a new report reveals the full story—exposing decades of Canadian mining interests, corruption, and repression in Guatemala, and connecting past injustices to ongoing struggles today.

to read the full report click here

A vehicle blocked their car, and its passengers stepped out with their weapons, trying to attack the group. They managed to escape, but the incident was not the first – nor would it be the last time Bertha Zúñiga would face a violent threat.

That encounter came just over a year after Zúñiga’s mother, Berta Cáceres, a prominent Lenca Indigenous rights activist in Honduras, was killed in her home in March 2016, leading to Zúñiga taking the leadership of her group, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH).

Zúñiga was a toddler when her mother started the group to defend indigenous Lenca land from commercial interests that local communities say harm and exploit it.

Bertha Zúñiga continues the fight that her mother began against powerful corporate and political interests. Facing death threats, smear campaigns, and even state security leaks, Zúñiga leads COPINH in defending Lenca land and water from destructive projects—undaunted by the risks that cost her mother’s life.

“Year after year, land and environmental defenders – those protecting our forests, rivers, and lands across the world – continue to be met with unspeakable violence. They are being hunted, harassed, and killed – not for breaking laws, but for defending life itself.

- Laura Furones (Global Witness lead author)

Global Witness documented 117 defender killings last year (82%) in Latin America, with 48 in Colombia, which had the most killings globally for the third year in a row. This is followed by Guatemala, where 20 defenders were killed in 2024 – up from four in 2023.

Alejandro Henríquez and José Ángel Pérez are being prosecuted for the alleged crimes of public disorder and aggravated resistance. The investigation phase is now scheduled to conclude in December 2025. 

Defense attorneys confirmed the court’s decision to LA PRENSA GRÁFICA, as did the organization Foro del Agua, which announced the decision on its accounts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

The organization called the decision “unjust” and “arbitrary,” as it lengthens both men’s time in custody without any evidence of their alleged crimes.

Foreign investors are nervous that their gated communities, that they had pitched and sold to U.S. and Canadian investors, are at risk, particularly because they are building on stolen land. When local Garifuna community members began a land recovery project, investors filed charges against five defenders of ancestral lands.  

On August 19, and largely because of the political pressure and legitimate claims of the Garifuna to the land at question, a judge dismissed all the false charges against the five defenders. The judge ordered that the issue involved a land dispute that needed to be resolved in a civil court. 

Meanwhile, investors continue to advertise their gated developments, encouraging purchases from affluent US, Canadian, and European people attracted to the prospect of living in Trujillo Bay on the Atlantic coast of Honduras:

“Welcome to the Trujillo HOA Community  site! Our exclusive community is made up of three developments on the coast of Honduras; Campa Vista and Corozolta, our Tropical Forrest developments and lastly, our Alta Vista beach community. Each community is made up of Canadian owners who wanted to experience the raw beauty of Honduras and all it’s culture. Contact us: cathy.trujillopropertyservices@gmail.com (Cathy Bernier, Executive Assistant to HOA’s Trujillo, Honduras)”