Afro-Descendant & Indigenous: News & Updates

Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities are at constant risk of forced displacement in the Pacific coastal department of Valle del Cauca as armed group vie for social, territorial and resource control.

The families of the Indigenous Wounann community of the Santa Rosa de Guayacán Biodiversity and Humanitarian Reserve in the Lower Calima River region of Buenaventura have been forcibly displaced four times over the past two decades. Their traditional livelihoods—based on fishing, hunting, and agriculture—have been disrupted because of repeated incursions by paramilitaries, guerrilla rebel groups, and military forces. After their last displacement in November 2021, the national government finally gave them the green light to return in December 2023. But because of state neglect, the 30 families who make up the community have suffered from waterborne illnesses and food crises. Now they face another imminent forced displacement.

On November 15, six armed men dressed in black (who did not identify themselves) stormed into the community and started going through people’s homes.  They began asking who the main leaders were, where they lived, how many young people were in the community, and what they did for a living. Although they remained for just an hour, the incursion left the families in a state of tension, fear, and anxiety in the face of a potential new displacement.

The Indigenous reserve is demarcated and clearly marked with fences indicating the prohibition of entry for armed individuals. We are urging that the government consult with residents of the Wounaan community to devise better mechanisms to implement precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to protect their lives and freedom of movement.

The Garífuna, descendants of Indigenous peoples from the Caribbean and formerly enslaved Africans, have lived on the Bay Islands and Atlantic coast of Honduras since 1797. The State of Honduras has already been condemned three times by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights for violating the Garífuna people’s right to collective land ownership.

Because of the government’s failure to implement the international court’s orders, Garífuna community members have taken matters into their own hands. Outside of Trujillo, Colón Department, they have “recuperated” (recoccupied) a neighborhood where outside investors have illegally begun constructing forty tourist condominiums. On October 23, fifteen masked and heavily armed men arrived in two armored vehicles, surrounded the Garífuna reoccupation site, fired weapons, and threatened to kill residents; the police failed to respond to repeated emergency calls. Days later, the mainstream media published a defamatory and false article accusing the Garífuna of illegally occupying the tourist condominiums.

Then on October 27 there were two more violent incidents. In Vallecito, Colón Department, armed men apparently aimed at Garífuna defender Miriam Miranda. And on the Bay Islands off the coast, Garífuna defender Melissa Martínez received a death threat which included racist slurs and warned her to “watch her steps.”

Garífuna defenders, particularly women, have faced years of armed aggression, threats, and smear campaigns. But the current racist media campaign is fueling hostility and is resulting in armed attacks. The intensification of violence demonstrates the urgent need for decisive state action to protect those defending collective land rights guaranteed under Honduran and international law.

Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ communities who live in the Sierra Santa Cruz mountain range in Izabal Department, Guatemala, have been battling harmful and violent mining operations for over 60 years. Recently, following peaceful occupations, protests, and complaints filed with the Public Ministry over illegal excavations carried out by mining companies, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) announced on July 30 that ten environmental licenses granted for operations in the Sierra Santa Cruz had been cancelled. Despite this, Canada-based Central America Niquel (CAN) and its subsidiaries, Río Nickel S.A. and Nichromet Guatemala, have continued to illegally push ahead with mining operations in the Sierra Santa Cruz mountain range.

Following his vital work covering local resistance to these mining operations, journalist and human rights defender Carlos Ernesto Choc is facing targeted attacks of intimidation and harassment. Since 2017, Carlos Choc has faced unfounded criminal charges related to his coverage of police brutality during protests against the El Fénix nickel mine in El Estor (where 90% of the residents are Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’), arbitrary house raids, and threatening attacks by unidentified assailants. Now, he is experiencing escalating acts of intimidation, including shots being fired near his house, an unidentified car hitting the fence surrounding his house, and defamatory messages being circulated online. We are writing to Guatemalan authorities to implement immediate measures to protect Choc.