"We are going to bring Berta’s legacy to life" - Berta Cáceres Lives Honduran Popular Alliance

Berta Cáceres Lives Honduran Popular Alliance moves towards unity and sets an agenda of struggle 

Tegucigalpa, Honduras April 9th, 2016 Photo by Giorgio Trucchi

Photos and article by G. Trucchi from Lista Informativa Nicaragua y Más - LINyM

In a packed room, grassroots social movements who make up the Berta Cáceres Popular Alliance met this April 9^th to initiate a path towards unity, towards building principles to guide an agenda of struggle by organized sectors of the Honduran people.

See photo gallery.

Bertha Zúniga Cáceres - Photo by Giorgio Trucchi

"We are living through a political, social and economic moment characterized by the decimation of living conditions for the majority of the population amidst persecution, threats, assassination of the women and men of our social movements. In Honduras a repressive and authoritarian model is consolidating, openly attacking popular organizations," states the declaration of the alliance’s first assembly, which was read out by Bertha Zúniga Cáceres, daughter of the indigenous leader assassinated this past March 2^nd.

The document condemns the clear will of the national oligarchy and the transnational corporations to “appropriate our shared natural resources" through the concession of land, rivers and mineral riches.

Faced with this context, the Assembly demanded the truth be brought to light about the "political femicide against compañera Berta Cáceres Flores," as well as the implementation of an independent international commission through the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights."

Likewise, it rejects involvement in the investigation by the MACCIH (Mission of Support against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras), driven by the Organization of American States and agreed to with the Honduran government, and demands the immediate and definitive cancellation of both the concession given to the company Desarrollo Energéticos S.A. (DESA) to build the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, as well as all other extractive concessions “that are plundering our national territory."

For years, Berta Cáceres and COPINH (Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras), the organization coordinated by the indigenous leader, have fought arduously against the development of the Agua Zarca project.

According to Cáceres’s family, the main trail that should be followed by the authorities in their investigation should be the struggle the indigenous leader and human rights defender waged against the extractive model in Honduras, in particular against the project carried out by DESA and financed by national and international financial institutions.

Step up the Struggle!

Miriam Miranda of OFRANEH - Photo by Giorgio Trucchi

"The Assembly served to reaffirm the desire and will to join together as a grassroots social movement rooted in our diversity. It is something that we are building bit by bit, but what is important is to continue focusing on unity in action, with real plans, extensive content, making Berta’s words ours when she would say ‘Step up the struggle!" Miriam Miranda, Coordinator of OFRANEH (Fraternal Black Organization of Honduras), told LINyM.

Miranda also highlighted the importance of reaffirming the need to strengthen territorial resistance struggles against the extractive model.

The Final Declaration demanded the immediate cessation of persecution, criminalization, prosecution, violence against and death of the women and men leading popular organizations.

Likewise, it condemned the "ongoing attack against workers fired without justification by the regime” under orders of the IMF and other international financial institutions.

Action plan

The various organizations that make up the Berta Cáceres Popular Alliance began to create an action plan for permanent mobilization.

"It is about bringing the legacy Berta left us to life. To do that we have to come together around what unites us and leave aside what divides us,” explainted the Garífuna leader.

"We re-affirm that for us it is important that this not just be a confluence, an alliance, a unifying around our demand for justice in the assassination of our sister Berta Cáceres, but also about building sustained processes of struggle over the mid- and long-term. It is an opportunity that we cannot fail to seize, which is why the agendas of each sector need to fit within this alliance," added Miranda.

The Final Declaration reaffirmed the struggle against "this system of death and in favor of  life, stepping up our demands in unity and with strength to demand justice for the assassination of our sister Berta Cáceres Flores," the document concludes.

The Berta Cáceres Popular Alliance will meet again at the end of May in COPINH’s "Utopia" center outside La Esperanza, Intibucá.

Final Declaration of the 1^st Assembly of the Berta Cáceres Popular Alliance

[Declaración original en español]

“Berta Cáceres Lives” – I Assembly of Berta Cáceres Popular Alliance

Photo by Giorgio Trucchi

Gathered in the city of Tegucigalpa, capital of the Republic of Honduras, the grassroots movements making up the Berta Cáceres Lives Honduran Popular Alliance agree to to begin working toward UNITY built on PRINCIPLES that will guide an agenda of struggle by all organized sectors of our people for the liberation of our homeland.

We are living through a political, social and economic moment characterized by the decimation of living conditions for the majority of the population amidst persecution, threats, assassination of the women and men of our social movements.

In Honduras a repressive and authoritarian model is consolidating, openly attacking popular organizations.

There is a clear will by the oligarchy’s auctioneers and the transnational corporations to appropriate our shared natural resources through concessions of territory, rivers and mineral riches to a handful of national and foreign capitalists.

These conditions of adversity for our peoples’ struggles come in the midst of a a re-entrenchment of the imperialists’ strategy of militarization and attack on our territories as well as strengthening of the Latin American right wing. Faced with this context, we demand the following:

1. Bring the truth to light about the political femicide against our sister Berta Cáceres Flores; we demand the implementation of an independent international commission through the IACHR endorsed by the complete confidence of COPINH and the Berta Cáceres Lives Popular Alliance. We reject the investigation of her crime by the MACCIH, which we see as an instrument for the manipulation of national and international public opinion.

2. Immediately and definitively cancel the concessions given to the DESA corporation to build the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam and cancel all concessions for extractive projects that are plundering the national territory.

3. We demand the immediate cessation of persecution, criminalization, prosecution, violence against and death of the women and men leading popular organizations.

4. We reject the remilitarization of society and of our territories as an instrument for repression and control.

Photo by Giorgio Trucchi

5. Our sister Berta Cáceres Flores was assassinated with bullets as just like thousands of women killed in femicides and men killed in the name of “social cleansing” carried out by the State in coordination with paramilitary groups. We demand an end to violence and death.

6. We condemn the ongoing attack against workers fired without justification by the regime” in order to follow orders given by the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions, continuing to deepen the application of the neoliberal model.

We re-affirm that we continue in the struggle against this system of death and in favor of life, we will step up our demands in UNITY and with STRENGTH to demand justice for the assassination of our sister Berta Cáceres Flores.

Berta Didn’t Die, She Multiplied!

United we will win!

Wake up humanity, we’re out of time!

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Saturday April 9^th, 2016