In the open meeting, Quimistán was declared free of ZEDES and ratified free of mining and hydroelectric power. Amada Lopez, vice coordinator of ASODEBICOQ, was elected member of the Municipal Transparency Commission.
A mass document leak published by 20 international news outlets including El Faro uncovered how the international owners of an open-pit nickel mine paid off Guatemalan security forces, ignored court orders, and consorted with the highest echelons of Guatemalan government to obscure pollution, crush local dissent, and continue operating with the tolerance of three administrations
The United States military is one of the world’s biggest polluters. As an institution, it leads the world in oil consumption and emits enormous amounts of greenhouse gases. To grasp the environmental impact of the U.S. military, however, requires us to go beyond statistics and numbers. One must listen to those from the communities directly affected. This webinar will provide an overview of environmental justice concerns pertaining to the U.S. military while also centering the voices of those engaged in the struggle to stop the pollution caused by the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on the island of Oahu. Faith communities will not only learn about the issues, but also how they can take action for justice. Even if you can’t make the scheduled time of 1 pm ET on Wednesday, March 9th, still sign-up, you will receive a recording.
The refoundation of Honduras took two more important steps this month. After the successful electoral win of the opposition in November, the initially divided opposition in Congress came together this month and the US officially requested the extradition of JOH for his drug trafficking ties which led to his arrest. Of course, this does not mean that the old power structures are gone, they are still in place, especially in the Judiciary. But change seems possible. This also included the announcement to demilitarize the prisons as well as the state security forces in general. There were other things to celebrate in February, especially the liberation of the Guapinol defenders after over 900 days illegally imprisoned. But the way to a Honduras respecting human rights is still long and steep. Three members of the LGBTQ+ community were murdered in the first week of February; the Minosa mining company seems to be free to ignore court rulings and go on with the exhumation of a Maya Chortí cemetery in Azacualpa; and the indigenous Lenca Tierras del Padre community faced eviction threats. Welcome to another month in Honduras.
The Confederation of Federations of the Salvadoran Agrarian Reform (CONFRAS) considers that this year there will be a decrease in the national production of basic grains and vegetables, given the increased cost of inputs for agricultural production and little government support. They say that this, in turn, will generate more unemployment, poverty, hunger and greater emigration of the rural population. “The increase in prices of agricultural inputs and gas is generating a drop in productivity and reduction in cultivated areas. If this problem is not solved, there will be an expanded food crisis. With the increase in the cost of living in the country during 2022, poverty rates, which have been increasing since 2020, will skyrocket even more” said Alejandra Góchez, from the CONFRAS board of directors.
Conflict and rupture of the social fabric, displacement of communities, criminalization of defenders of the territory, limitation of the free transit of communities on the highway controlled by the company, are just some of the problems caused by the mining company Aura Minerals, in the Union, Copán, as announced by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras, OHCHR, in a press release on March 7, 2022. Isabel Albaladejo Escribano, OHCHR Representative in Honduras, and her team carried out a mission to La Unión to follow up on the environmental and social impact complaints due to mining exploitation in the area, the document adds.
Six years after the assassination of Berta Cáceres, the U.S. continues supporting hydroelectric projects similar to the one she was murdered for opposing. Additionally, those who ordered and paid for Berta's murder have yet to be brought to justice. Bertha Zúniga Cáceres, daughter of Berta Caceres and General Coordinator of COPINH, will discuss the current status of efforts for justice for Berta as well as the new political context in Honduras following the inauguration of Xiomara Castro as President and social movement demands for U.S policy, including the continued relevance of the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act in the U.S. Congress.
As Hondurans honor the memory of beloved Indigenous leader and environmental activist Berta Caceres this month, representatives from the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras (COPINH) and from the Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice (MADJ) will discuss Berta’s legacy and what the recent election of President Xiomara Castro could mean for the ongoing struggle against destructive extractive projects in the country. MAPA speakers will describe past and upcoming solidarity work and how you can take action in solidarity with the Honduran people!
Dear friends,
The times don’t seem very good for making progress on the climate crisis. The Biden administration provided some great rhetoric during the recent COP26 meeting in Glasgow, but then came home and backtracked where it really matters, on policy decisions.
More recently, the terrible news of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine has had the effect, among many bad effects, of distracting attention from the very important new IPCC report, which should have been a serious warning to governments and people alike.
With the inauguration of President Xiomara Castro, hopes of reducing the socio-environmental and agrarian conflict in Honduras resurfaced. In fact, at the national level, various organizations have repeatedly called for the need to intervene in historical conflicts such as the one that occurred in the Valle del Bajo Aguán, department of Colón, which has resulted in the murder of hundreds of peasants, families conflicted and impoverished communities. In this article, a series of strategic challenges for the peasant movement in the current political context are identified, in the effort to move towards a democratic solution to the conflict.
