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Honduras: News & Updates

Honduras did not experience civil war in the 1980s, but its geography (bordering El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua) made it a key location for US military operations: training Salvadoran soldiers, a base for Nicaraguan contras, military exercises for US troops. The notorious Honduran death squad Battalion 316 was created, funded and trained by the US. The state-sponsored terror resulted in the forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of approximately 200 people during the 1980s. Many more were abducted and tortured. The 2009 military coup d’etat spawned a resurgence of state repression against the civilian population that continues today.

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RRN Letter
RRN Letter: Honduras, 12/21/2020
December 21, 2020
On December 1, security forces used a disproportionate amount of lethal force during in an eviction that occurred on the banks of the Río Blanco in San Pedro Sula, Cortés Department. Rafael Flores Hernández died after being shot several times by Municipal Police agents, who, accompanied by military personnel, carried out the violent eviction. Several others were wounded. We are urging that officials in Honduras: 1) investigate the methods used by security forces to forcibly evict the residents of the Río Blanco riverbank on December 1 and publish a report of the incident; 2) investigate the killing of Rafael Flores Hernández and bring those responsible to justice ; 3) guarantee safe housing for the people affected by hurricanes Iota and Eta; 4) comply with Honduras’ international commitments regarding humanitarian law and the use of militarized force against civilian populations
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News Article
HURRICANE RELIEF FUNDS: Donations needed now for affected communities in Central America
December 17, 2020

Solidarity donations are being distributed through social movement organizations and collectives in Central America that are working in the communities most impacted by flooding and government neglect.  Tens of thousands of dollars have been raised through grassroots channels, but the need is much greater. Please give what you can to help these families in desperate need.

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News Article
Honduras Hurricane Emergency Fund
December 15, 2020

The Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN) started a hurricane relief fund. Those wanting to help get funds to grassroots organizations, rescue teams, and humanitarian support on the ground, can donate here: http://Bit.ly/emergencyresponsehn. Read the short article to learn about the podcast series Honduras Now, hosted by HSN co-coordinator Karen Spring.

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News Article
Honduran Supreme Court rules against Aura Minerals (MINOSA) illegal grave digging & destruction of Azacualpa cemetery
December 1, 2020

The Bufete de Estudios para la Dignidad, in conjunction with the Movimiento Amplio por la Dignidad y la Justicia, MADJ, makes public the sentence resolution issued by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), in which the CSJ orders the municipal government of La Union, Copan and the Ministry of Health to reject any authorization of exhumations in the Cemetery of San Andres (Azacualpa) carried out by Aura Minerals (MINOSA).The ruling restores the right to self-determination of peoples, personal integrity, culture and the right to protection of the family. It constitutes a precedent that vindicates and strengthens community struggles and the exercise of sovereignty against the abuses and violations of rights by companies and, in general, by the extractive model in Honduras.

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RRN Letter
RRN Letter: Honduras, 11/30/2020
November 30, 2020
Political prisoner Raúl Álvarez (currently released pending trial after spending 20 months in “pretrial detention” at the maximum-security, military-run La Tolva prison) was stabbed on November 29 in Tegucigalpa. He was rushed to the Hospital Escuela (at the National Autonomous University) and admitted into surgery at 8:30pm. His condition was stabilized. Raúl Álvarez, a former police officer, was arrested along with Edwin Espinal in January 2018 during a period of nationwide protests about the legitimacy of the re-election of President Juan Orlando Hernández. The two were accused of vandalizing the Marriott Hotel and a Burger King in Tegucigalpa during a large demonstration march. They were released from prison in August 2019, but their trials are still pending. Both men continue to be active in the campaign to release a third political prisoner, Rommel Baldemar Herrera Portillo, who is still being held in “pretrial detention” at La Tolva. He is facing criminal charges of “damages” and “aggravated arson” against the United States Embassy in Honduras during a peaceful protest march.
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Event
SOA Watch Convergence to End Militarization & Border Imperialism
November 21, 2020 to November 22, 2020
Join us on Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22 for the third event of our SOA Watch 30th Anniversary Rooted in Resistance series! On Saturday, November 21 we will facilitate three virtual panels about the historic and current impacts of US Empire throughout the Americas and the powerful movements organizing to defend autonomy and dignity of our communities. On Sunday, November 22 we will be hosting our annual vigil, including ¡presentes! and litany and featuring the SOA Watch Musicians Collective. The weekend's virtual events and spaces are free, bilingual (Spanish and English, interpretation will be provided) and all are welcome! You will receive an email confirmation with all the links for Saturday's panels and Sunday's litany and ¡presentes! immediately after registering .
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News Article
Central America: Hurricane disaster relief needed now. Please donate!
November 18, 2020

Honduras and Nicaragua : With the devastation already caused by Hurricane Eta (and Hurrican Iota, just 2 weeks later), the Honduras Solidarity Network is launching this fundraising campaign to raise money for community-based organizations affected by the storm. All money raised will go to these well established organizations already doing the work, climate disaster relief and organizing that is needed for a sustainable and effective response to the damages and urgent humanitarian crisis caused by the hurricane. See also: specific funds for communities in Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador

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Event
Memoria y Resistencia: Commemoration of the Martyrs of Central America and Colombia
November 15, 2020
See the program book from our special online gathering on November 15; recording and other links coming soon....On December 2, 1980, four women from the US working with the poor and displaced in El Salvador were kidnapped, raped and murdered by the US-backed military of El Salvador. Two of those women—Jean Donovan and Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel—were from Cleveland. In the end, they, along with Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, met the same fate as thousands of unnamed poor of El Salvador who were killed or disappeared. Join us on Sunday, November 15 as we commemorate their sacrifice, honor their legacy, and recommit ourselves to act in solidarity with poor and marginalized communities in Central America and Colombia.
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RRN Letter
RRN Letter: Honduras 10/23/2020
October 23, 2020
Environmental defender Arnold Joaquin Morazán Erazo of the Guapinol community in the municipality of Tocoa, Colón Department, was assassinated on October 13. Arnold Morazán was one of 32 environmental defenders in Tocoa who have been criminalized for their involvement in a community encampment set up to defend the Guapinol River from the iron ore mining industry. The murder of Arnold Joaquín Morazán occurred at a decisive moment in the ongoing trial of eight Guapinol environmental defenders and reveals the systematic threats faced by the Guapinol community, where violence is employed to punish their work in defense of water and the environment. We are urging that officials in Honduras: 1) carry out an exhaustive and impartial investigation into the murder of Arnold Joaquín Morazán, publish the results and bring those responsible to justice; 2) cancel the concession to the iron ore mining company Los Inversiones Los Pinares
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RRN Letter
RRN Letter: Honduras, 10/12/2020
October 12, 2020
A group of armed men arrived at the Garífuna community of Vallecito, whose residents have been victim to harassment, intimidation and threats over their land for many years. Attempts at forcible seizure of their territory (sometimes successful) has come from drug traffickers and African palm growers. In recent years, private investors (including many from the US and Europe) have been looking at Vallecito and other Garífuna communities on the Atlantic Coast to build their Model Cities, which was authorized under the ZEDE (Economic Development Zone) legislation passed in 2013. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has criticized the government of Honduras for not adhering to its mandates to protect Garífuna ancestral lands and adequately investigate the murders of Garífuna community leaders. As recently as May 2019, the Court acknowledged that Garífuna community members are still experiencing "direct death threats," "blackmail, increased robbery," and "profiling of leaders."
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