Ambassador Laura F. Dogu
US Embassy in Honduras
Av. La Paz . Aptdo. Postal no. 3453
Tegucigalpa, HONDURAS
January 15, 2024
Dear Ambassador Dogu:
We are writing out of concern for the misconduct of US nationals carrying out business in Honduras.
We have learned that Santiago Emmanuel Londoño, Vice-President of the Administrative Council of Lachansa (a mining company) has been accused of sexual harassment of an Indigenous Tolupán girl (a minor) in Yoro Department.
In November 2023, the Prosecutor's Office for the Protection of Ethnic Groups and Cultural Heritage (FEP-MUJER) made public a complaint filed against Santiago Emmanuel Londoño. According to FEP-MUJER, the complaint states that Santiago Londoño arrived at the home of the victim on three occasions. Each time he entered the home without permission. He presented himself as a mine worker and made indecent proposals and requests of a sexual nature. He proposed to the victim’s mother that she “lend him” the daughter. In exchange, he would give them money, trips, and employment. On at least one occasion he burst into the home without notice, accompanied by two bodyguards.
Santiago Londoño is the son of Álvaro Londoño, the owner of Lachansa. The company has a bad reputation in Yoro. The Public Ministry (MP) presented a tax demand against Álvaro Londoño from INGEOMIN (Institute of Geology and Mines) and SERNA (Secretariat of Energy, Natural Resources, Environment, and Mines) for operating without permission in the community of Lagunitas, which is part of the Tolupán territory in Yoro Department. Local residents report that Álvaro Londoño has been instrumental in creating armed groups that generate violence to intimidate those who are opposed to the company’s mining operations.
It is concerning that US citizens conducting business in Honduras would act in such an indecedent, illegal, and offensive way. We therefore urge that you:
- ask the Public Ministry for any documents to better understand the case filed against Santiago Londoño
- disclose any code of conduct guidelines that the US Embassy communicates to US nationals who are conducting business in Honduras
- issue a statement condemning illegal and indecent behavior by US nationals while doing business in Honduras
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai Christine Stonebraker-Martinez
Co-Coordinators
copies:
Blanca Saraí Izaguirre Lozano, National Commissioner for Human Rights/Comisionada Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CONADEH) ~ via email
Javier Efraín Bú Soto, Ambassador of Honduras in Washington, DC ~ via email and US mail
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Rapporteurs Andrea Pochak (for Honduras), Arif Bulkan (Rights of Indigenous Peoples) ~ via email and US mail
Isabel Albaladejo Escribano, Representative to Honduras of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OACNUDH) ~ via email
Alice Shackelford, UN Resident Coordinator in Honduras, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ~ via email
Bufete de Estudios para la Dignidad / Office of Studies for Dignity ~ via email
US Embassy in Honduras: Human Rights Officer (Joe Duran) ~ via email
US State Department: Bryan Schell, Honduras Desk Officer ~ via email
US Senators Brown & Vance ~ via email
US Representatives Beatty, Brown, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Miller, Sykes ~ via email
