UPDATE - CAMPESINOS IN HONDURAS APRIL 17

April 17th,  8pm Central time - Eviction of one recuperation - Military threats to another

This afternoon armed private guard employed by the big landowner and businessman Jaime Rosenthal evicted 80 campesino families from the coop Allianza La Lima in La Lima, Yoro in northern Honduras. The land which consists of sugar cane fields was recuperated as part of the day of campesino action. Another of the new recuperations in San Manuel, Cortes appears to be under threat by the military --- troops have arrived in the area but have not moved in. This recuperation is one of the largest, 3200 hectares and 1500 campesino families - the land is also sugar cane fields and is claimed by sugar producer landowners.

At a press conference at noon today , campesino leaders announced that during the very early hours of April 17th, simultaneously 3,000 campesino families recuperated approximately 12 thousand hectares of land across the country- in Cortes, Yoro, Santa Barbara, Intibuca, El Paraiso, Choluteca, Comayagua and Francisco Morazan. The organizations the CNTC, ANACH, COMDIMCA, UCIH, MUCA, ADROH, MOCASAM and FENAJUC held the press conference with Via Campesina the FNRP and the CPTRT.
Rafael Allegria of Via Campesina emphasized that the recuperated lands under Honduran agrarian law are national lands that should have been handed over to the campesinos who filed the solicitudes years ago. The campesino organizations are demanding that the Integral Agrarian Reform Law that they proposed to the congress last October be passed, that Porfirio Lobo convoke a national dialogue to end the land conflicts and the recuperated lands be titled to the campesinos now.

Thank you to Jesse Freeston and to an article posted by German Reyes for some of the information in this posting.