Honduras: News & Updates

Since their initial arrest in 2018, IRTF followed the trial of activists Raúl Álvarez and Edwin Espinal with great concern. While being detained in a maximum-security prison on false charges for about 20 months, they had to endure inhumane conditions and received death threats from other inmates, lacking any support or security by prison authorities. Raúl Álvarezfinally received his official letter of release on May 12, 2022. 

“This marks a sad anniversary. The injuries suffered by the victims and their families are compounded by an utter lack of accountability and total absence of any effort to make the victims whole. There is no viable route to justice open to them,” said Annie Bird, a human rights advocate and coauthor, with CEPR international policy director Alex Main, of the 2012 report “Collateral Damage of a Drug War: The May 11 Killings in Ahuas and the Impact of the US War on Drugs on La Moskitia, Honduras.” Ten years after a notorious DEA-led operation resulted in the deaths of four villagers from the Indigenous Miskitu community of Ahuas in northeastern Honduras, and the shooting of several others, survivors and family members are still awaiting recompense. And while five years ago this month the Offices of the Inspectors General (OIG) of the US Department of Justice and of the US Department State issued a report concluding the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) responsibility for leading the operation, none of the individuals responsible have been held accountable.

"Ten years ago today a joint counter-narcotics team of Honduran security agents and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers opened fire on a water taxi as it approached Ahuas, a small town located in the remote Mosquitia region of northeastern Honduras. While the Honduran police announced that a “successful” drug interdiction mission had taken place, journalists and human rights advocates reported the victims were unarmed and had no known links to drug trafficking.  Instead of taking responsibility, assessing their mistakes, and examining their methods and partnerships with Honduran security forces, DEA and State Department officials obstructed U.S. and Honduran investigations of the incident and falsely reported to Members of Congress, including my staff, that the boat’s passengers had fired on security forces." -- Read Senator Leahy's statement on the ten-year anniversary of the massacre of Ahuas, Honduras.

The origin of the dispute over land in Bajo Aguán dates back to the 1970s, when the Agrarian Reform Law handed over most of the rich land in that valley to collective organizations managed by peasants. It was a victory for poverty-stricken farmers, drawing waves of immigrants to the fertile Bajo Aguán region. Bajo Aguán has historically been characterized as one of the main regions of the country where agrarian capitalism has firmly established itself, until it completely dominates the economic model of the region. Within the framework of the ascension of the government of Xiomara Castro, and in response to one of the main demands of the peasant sector, the table for the resolution of the agrarian conflict in Bajo Aguán was installed in February, which seeks to manage and respond to the historic agrarian conflict. The table was installed in a context marked by critical economic and political interests, which is why it represents, geographically, the Bajo Aguán region for big capital and the regional political elite. The protagonists in the area maintain an open dispute, in a context of institutional openness and political will of the Government, to advance in the democratic management of the agrarian conflict in Bajo Aguán. In short, the dialogue of the Government in the conflict is an important element to consider to identify the dynamics of the blocks and the actors, in their struggle for access to and control of the territory.

With deep concern, IRTF has been following reports of violence against and the murders of many LGBTQ rights defenders and members of the community in Honduras for many years. In 2009, well-known activist Vicky Hernández was killed, and since then, many more people have died or have had to flee Honduras because of serious safety threats.  Impunity and injustice in cases of violence against LGBTQ people has been an ongoing pattern.

Mario Membreño, member of the national coordination of the Convergence Against Continuity (CCC), appeared on the program Voices against Oblivion, to analyze the issue of the first 100 days of the government of Xiomara Castro. An editorial of the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees in Honduras (COFADEH), entitled "The three months of the government in Alliance and Justice", refers to the inaccuracy by the media to promote the evaluation of the famous 100 days of government of Xiomara Castro, considering that after the departure of the narco-dictator, the nationalist Juan Orlando Hernández, the nation was left bankrupt, its territorial sovereignty exposed and with high rates of poverty and corruption. The editorial points out that "that is why we have insisted that these are not the first 100 normal days from one government to another, this is the transition from a 12-year corrupt and drug-trafficking dictatorship to a popular government."

Reproductive rights activists across Latin America have vowed to protect hard-fought gains in their own territories as they brace for potential ripple effects if the US supreme court overturns Roe vs Wade – the 1973 ruling which guarantees the right to abortion. Latin America has some of the most draconian anti-abortion laws in the world. But feminist movements have fought for decades to chip away at the prohibitions, and in recent years a younger, diverse generation of activists has mobilized in massive numbers to help clinch a string of victories in traditionally conservative countries.

Honduras: In 2021, according to data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras (OACNUDH), 302 attacks on human rights defenders were reported, of which 169 are dedicated to the protection of human rights. common goods of nature in indigenous, peasant or Afro-descendant communities. Likewise, until April 20, 2022, 27 attacks on human rights defenders have been registered: 5 were victims of murder and 19 are dedicated to protecting the environment.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopes Obrador is going on a 4-day tour of Central America to talk about the possible migration surge if Title 42 is ended by the Biden Administration. The Mexican leader has urged the United States to invest in economic development in Central America to generate jobs so people do not need to flee poverty. US President Joe Biden "agrees that the causes must be addressed, but Central America is still waiting for several billion dollars pledged by Washington.