7 Years of Dictatorship and Coup

Near dawn on June 28 2009 the Honduran military shot its way into the Presidential residency of Manuel Zelaya and kidnapped the elected president of Honduras, forcing him out of the country and setting Honduras down the path that continues today. 

June 28, 2016 Tegucigalpa

Seven year later on June 28, 2016 and the dictatorship intensifies. The commemorations of its 7th year take place in the midst of intensified criminalization of the social movements, the reappearance of death squads, and threats, disappearances and murder of activists in impunity. Meanwhile Juan Orlando Hernandez consolidates control of not only the Executive branch and ministries but also the Congress, the Supreme Court and other judicial entities, the Electoral Tribunal and all the expanded military and repressive forces in the country. 

Tegucigalpa

The La Voz de los de Abajo fact finding and accompaniment mission, accompanied the mobilization for the coup anniversary in Tegucigalpa; there were other mobilizations around the country.  

La Voz accompanying CNTC on June 28, 2016

We met with Bertha Oliva of the human rights organization COFADEH who reiterated to us her view (also published in El Libertador newspaper on June 28) that Honduras has not recovered from the collapse caused by the overthrow of Manuel Zelaya’s government and that the institutional break down in the country has benefited the cupola of power and those running the country while the crimes against the opposition continue and are unpunished. The leaders and members of the indigenous Lenca organization COPINH and of the campesino organization the CNTC stressed that the big landowners, Congressional powers like the Vice President of the Congress, Gladys Aurora, and the Honduran and multinational corporations have all benefited from the last seven years of land grabbing concessions for mining and hydroelectric power and African palm production. 

Students mobilize June 27 at the University
(Photo from Honduras Tierra Libre)

The students and teachers in the country continue to be threatened, arrested and disappeared for opposing the privatization of education and the destruction of university democracy and autonomy. The government is shutting down oppositional media like TV Globo and journalists continue to be threatened and murdered. 

June 28 Tegucigalpa

On top of this, the population in general, especially the poor - who are a majority of the population are finding it more difficult everyday to put food on the table because of increases in costs and cuts in employment.  One young family man who works as a driver told us that just two months ago his family electricity bill was a little more than 700 Lempira a month ($35) and he had a full 30 days to pay it; the most recent bill was 1200 Lempira ($60) and the time to pay has been reduced to 15 days. We heard from people from Tegucigalpa and many other regions that Juan Orlando and his National Party continue to exploit the very poor very cynically with the “solidarity sacks” (bolsas solidarias); officials hand out small bags of basic food necessities ( a few ounces of salt, a pound of beans and rice) IF the recipient signs a National Party petition saying they favor allowing re-election. The list goes on and on - the number of outrages that we were told during our one week mission would fill many pages. 

June 28, 2016 Tegucigalpa

The resistance movement is debating strategy and tactics. While the social movements, reeling from the violence against them and the assassination of Berta Caceres, look to build regional struggles like the fight against the toll roads and to build national momentum from the grassroots struggles, part of the resistance looks toward a new electoral cycle with the hope of building and strengthening electoral opposition to put the brakes on the out of control and violent neoliberal assault. As well, part of the movement looks to do both.

Press interviews Mel Zelaya
at the march  

Juan Orlando has maneuvered to change the constitutional ban on re-elections for the Presidency and while everyone in the resistance opposes Juan Orlando’s re-election,  part of the LIBRE party is enthusiastic for the possibility of Manuel Zelaya being able to run for election again because they see that would make a real electoral opening for the people possible; others are vocal that the changing of the constitution without popular consultation along with running the risk of Juan Orlando consolidating himself in permanent power is unacceptable.  This controversy was apparent at the June 28th mobilization in Tegucigalpa where there were slogans being spray painted on the walls saying “We need Mel” and “We need Mel for President” at the same time that there were people chanting “No to re-elections”.  Zelaya was one of the speakers at the short rally and concert at the end of the mobilization. 

June 28, 2016 Tegucigalpa 

The mobilization in Tegucigalpa was full of life and spirit although smaller than some previous marches, but there had already been nearly daily protests of the students who are engaged in a fierce struggle with the Rector of the National Autonomous University system Julietta Castellanos and Juan Orlando, and the national teachers’ unions were preparing for an emergency mobilization on June 30th in what looks like renewed vigor in their fight over privatization, lay-offs and repression focused on their demand for a salary increase after the government announced very small increases. 

Nestor Aleman of COPEMH speaks
at Progreso rally

Finally,  with the murder of Berta Careers still so painfully present and the US election spotlighting Hillary Clinton, we found everyone eager to talk about the role of the US in the coup and its continuation and expansion by President Obama’s Secretary of State at the time, Ms.  Clinton and the role of US training and funding of military and police forces implicated in Berta’s murder. The new law introduced in the US Congress - The Berta Careers Human Rights Law- aimed at cutting US aid if human rights conditions are not met by the Honduran government has gotten wide press coverage in Honduras, including an article published in the main pro-government newspaper La Prensa on June 28th (from an EFE news agency article)  pointing at Chicago organizations, La Voz de los de Abajo and Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN) for working to get support for cutting the aid. 

http://www.laprensa.hn/honduras/974708-410/activistas-piden-a-eua-suspender-ayuda-a-honduras

La Paz - Resisting Criminalization

June 24-25th La Paz

V. Cervantes

We left Progreso early on Friday and took a bus to San Jose, La Paz.  Walking down the road towards the regional center I could see their new radio antenna tower rising up behind the building. La Voz de los de Abajo and Chicago’s Radios Populares have worked with the campesino radio project with the CNTC in La Paz for more than 8 years and we always check in with the local communities in La Paz. 

When we arrived a workshop was in progress with a lawyer from Via Campesina on the topic of the “law and the campesino movement”.  This is a timely topic for the campesinos and campesinas in La Paz where the criminalization of the campesinos is ferocious.  There are 18 local CNTC campesinos with arrest warrants currently, including the regional General Secretary,  and many more on probation — all for their participation in the agrarian movement to recuperate land for the small landless farmers. 8 members of one La Paz CNTC campesino group named after Honduran human rights defender Juan Almendares, spent three months in prison last year under very difficult conditions that affected their health. This included 3 members of the regional leadership committee of the organization. Nationally, the CNTC has 5 members in jail now and  thousands more who have been charged. 

When we sat down and talked to the campesinos and campesinas they told us that the government of Juan Orlando Hernandez is not only arresting more campesinos but also charging them with more serious crimes. A few years ago they would be charged with usurpation of land or theft and now for the same actions of recuperating land, they are being charged with terrorism, weapons charges (for having work tools like machetes) also,  the penalties for things like deforestation (for cutting down one tree) used to be minor but now can mean 4-7 years imprisonment.  

In early May of this year I accompanied a recently evicted La Paz campesino group called “9th de Julio” whose members had their houses destroyed and their crops burnt out, and two of their members wounded when police opened fire against them.  On Saturday we were invited by the regional CNTC to visit the “9th de Julio” again. We found that the campesino families have rebuilt all their houses and replanted some of their crops despite being under threat of another eviction and despite the existence of  arrest warrants against their members. The men and women in the community explained that they had taken land that was fallow and turned it into land that provided food, not only for their families, but enough to take to the local markets and sell. The community has more than 20 children and the families talked about the trauma for the children of having seen police and military come into their homes, destroying everything and firing weapons. They explained that they have to teach their children the importance and necessity of what they are doing and why they are organized. The president of the coop told us that they know that this struggle for the land is necessary for their survival; if they loose the land and homes they have worked so hard for they will have absolutely nothing and will be living on the side of the road. 

In the evening on Saturday we joined two of the compañeros who were on the air on Radio Suyuguare (a Lenca indigenous word that means land of hills and valleys). The communities in La Paz are overwhelmingly Lencan and the CNTC region embraces their cultural and traditions. The radio project has applied for a community radio license and broadcasts 7 days a week from 1 to 9pm. There is a team of mostly young campesinos and campesinas who take turns broadcasting and they have shows that talk about indigenous rights, the campesino movement, news, environmental issues and also play music and take dedications. It was impressive to see and hear all the calls and messages coming in during the broadcast, showing us that they have a strong audience in the region. Samuel and Orlando explained to us the importance of the radio project for their work in organizing and educating the communities, for making alliances with other community members who are not in the campesino movement and finally for them as young campesinos as an activity that has opened up new knowledge and opportunities to participate in national and regional networks and events. 

Environmental issues are extremely important in La Paz. The ruling party leader and Vice President of the National Congress is from La Paz: Gladys Aurora  and her husband are strong supporters and business partners with many of the big hydroelectric and mining projects already begun in the beautiful mountainous region. In fact there are projects named Aurora 1, Aurora 2, Aurora 3. The campesino communities strongly oppose the destruction of the indigenous territories and of the agricultural land that these projects bring but they told us that the government in partnership with the construction companies and international companies are waging a war against the opposition with bribery, false promises to bring positive development to the poor communities, threats and finally with assassinations like that of indigenous leader Berta Caceres of COPINH in the nearby province of Intibuca. 

On Sunday we will head to La Esperanza, Intíbuca to express our solidarity with COPINH and to  talk to COPINH and to Berta Caceres’ family about their struggle for justice. 

Violent Eviction of the Campesino Group “Camino al Futuro” - National Center for Rural Workers (CNTC)

 el español original sigue el ingles.

December 31, 2014 1:01pm, Alert! Illegal Violent Eviction of the Campesino Group “Camino al Futuro” - National Center for Rural Workers (CNTC) 

More than 17 families from the Campesino Enterprise Camino al Futuro (Path towards the Future) in the sector of Las Maderas, San Jeronimo, Comayagua are the object of a brutal eviction that began in the early morning. 

In  the early morning yesterday (December 30) and today (December 31) families belonging to this campesino group fled to the mountains in this area in order to protect their physical well-being, as they were being chased by persons dressed in military clothing wearing ski masks and firing live ammunition. 

The families are left with nowhere to live because their houses and their crops of corn, rice and beans are being set on fire, according to the declaration by the president of the campesino group Ninfa Rosa Medina.

There are around 240 manzanas of land claimed by the Maradiaga Family which  according to Medina did not have titles to the property just six months ago, “they have gotten them (titles) illegally since the National Agrarian Institute (INA) already declared these lands to be forest land” stated Medina.

The campesino group has been in procession of the land for 6 years and at this time are in negotiations with the government of Honduras to obtain the titles to the land from the Institute of Forest Conservation (ICF) and the INA. 

“We condemn this illegal act of theft and we call on the organizations of defenders of Human Rights to be present in the zone to protect the lives of these campesino families, we condemn the brutality to which our compañeros are being subjected and we ask the authorities in the area to be vigilant about the physical well-being of the the compañeros” stated the general Secretary of the CNTC, Franklin Almendares 

Please share this information

Central Nacional de los Trabajadores del Campo-CNTC

dic 31 01:01 PM - CNTC: ALERTA SE EJECUTA DESALOJO ILEGAL AL GRUPO CAMPESINO CAMINO AL FUTURO

Mas de 17 familias de la Empresa Campesina Camino al Futuro ubicados en

el sector de Las Maderas, San Jeronimo, Comayagua, Estan siendo objeto

desde la madrugada de este día de un brutal desalojo.

Esta empresa campesina es afiliada a la Central Nacional de Trabajadores

del Campo ( CNTC).

En horas de la madrugada desde el día de ayer 30 y hoy  31 de diciembre

las familias pertenecientes a este grupo campesino huyen guardando su

integridad física en las montañas de este sector, ya que son perseguidos

por personas vestidas con vestimenta militar y pasamontañas quienes les

disparan a bala viva.

Estas familias están quedando sin un lugar donde vivir porque sus casas

y los cultivos de Maíz, arroz y frijoles están siendo quemados,  según

la denuncia emitida por la presidenta de la empresa campesina Ninfa Rosa

Medina.

Son alrededor de 240 manzanas de tierra q exigen ser liberadas por parte

de la Familia Maradiaga, quienes según Medina no tenían títulos de

propiedad hasta hace unos 6 meses atras, "los han conseguido de manera

ilegal, ya que el Instituto Nacional Agrario (INA) declaro estas tierras

areas forestales" aseguro Medina.

El grupo campesino tiene 6 años en posesión de estas tierras, y

actualmente se encuentran en negociación con el estado de Honduras para

obtener la titularidad de las mismas con el Instituto de Conservación

Forestal (ICF) y el INA.

"Condenamos este acto ilegal de despojo y hacemos un llamado a los

organismos defensores de Derechos Humanos a hacerse presentes a la zona

y proteger las vidas de estas familias campesinas, condenamos la

brutalidad de que son objeto nuestros compañeros y pedimos a las

autoridades de la zona vigilar la integridad fisica de los compañeros"

dijo el Secretario General de la CNTC Franklin Almendarez.

Favor compartir esta denuncia
Central Nacional de los Trabajadores del Campo - CNTC

Report from Honduras January 27th: Chabelo Morales - A New Trial Begins.

Report from Honduras January 27th
Text and Photos V. Cervantes

Go here for background information on Chabelo’s case

Monday, January 27th was the first day of the new trial for campesino political prisoner Jose Isabel Morales.  More than 100 people from  from the Campesino Movement of Aguan (MCA) and Fraternal Black Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH) maintained a vigil in front of the court house; Radio Progreso and ERIC SJ were also present. All the campesino organizations in the Aguan have plans to take part in the vigils everyday of the trial. Indigenous organizations, OFRANEH and COPINH are also participating in the support for Chabelo. 

A small number of family members, representatives of the MCA and OFRANEH and international observers were allowed in the court the first day. The defense filed a motion to recluse two of the three judges on the presiding panel because they were the same judges from the Tribunal in Trujillo who violated procedures in hearing and refusing to act on the Supreme Court ruling that Chabelo could be freed pending a new trial. The judges then decided to suspend the trial until a higher court rules on the defense motion (3-4 days).

Miriam Miranda, OFRANEH

At the opening of the trial the prosecutor laid out the case against Chabelo; what was obvious, (and highlighted by the Chabelo’s lawyers in their statement), was that they could make no concrete, particular accusations against Chabelo as an individual. They could only talk about “they coldly attacked” “they set fire”, because there is no evidence  against Chabelo himself. I also noticed that every time the prosecutor said the word, “campesino” or “campesinos” he said it with distaste. He also brought up accusations about violence and land recuperations  and other things that have absolutely nothing to do with the charges against Chabelo in order to paint a picture of a “violent campesino”. 

After the proceedings were suspended both buses from the MCA Guadalupe Carney community went to the prison to visit Chabelo. It was incredibly moving to see Chabelo surrounded by his community and family and their support. Community members and Chabelo also spent time talking about the problems of the campesino movement, the need for more unity around principles and strategies in the face of what they expect to be even more attacks on the campesinos. 

When we got back to Guadalupe Carney, we started to hear reports form people who watched the inauguration on television who told us that even on television it was really clear that hardly anyone was at the official ceremony in the national stadium but that the streets were full of resistance and protests. The FNRP reported 5 thousand people protested during the inauguration ceremony (see the FNRP photo below) 

foto from Resistencia FNRP

Honduras Delegation- Tocoa, Colon - September 15, 2012- Independence Day

According to the local activists, the annual Honduran Independence Parade in Tocoa, in the Aguan Valley of Honduras always takes hours to make its way down the main street to the Central Park even though it is not a big town. This year was no exception. It took nearly 3 hours for the several hundred  campesinos, teachers, and FNRP and LIBRE activists who entered the official parade with bright red flags and the banners of the FNRP, LIBRE, MUCA, COPA, COPEMH and more to get to the park and official podium. When they did though it was a big surprise for the officials and guests sitting at the decorated tables up on the stage because the resistance contingent quickly filled the park and leaders from the local FNRP and LIBRE moved to the stage and began giving speeches - turning the even into a resistance celebration. The stunned officials, including the mayor, listened as their policies, support for mining concessions, and the ongoing violence against campesinos were denounced from their own stage.

Last year the resistance's alternative independence day events were brutally attacked by the police leaving many people injured and detained at the police station. Because of that, after discussion with the Permanent Human Rights Observatory in Aguan,  our delegation decided to stay in Tocoa to accompany the march. This year the resistance contingent was able to negotiate with the police and there were no serious incidents. at one point a truck decorated with publicity for a local candidate from the National Party (The current president's party) forced its way into the parade in the middle of the resistance contingent and youth ripped off one of the candidate's posters and stomped on it.

The march had participants of all ages, including a contingent of young campesinos on motorcycles. Placards had slogans decrying the dependence of Honduras, supporting the campesino's struggle for land, and calling on people to vote for the LIBRE presidential candidate, Xiomara Castro Zelaya, in next years presidential race.

Security guards threaten, fire warning shot at human rights observers today

Updated September 16

September 13, 2012 

Masked security guards of Honduras's largest landowner verbally threatened and then fired a warning shot at nine human rights activists in Tocoa, Honduras, in the country's violence wracked Aguan valley at about 3 PM local time today.  The incident was captured on videotape and in still pictures.

The activists are on a solidarity tour organized by the Chicago-based La Voz de la Abajo organization, which is investigating human rights violations and the social and political conditions in the country, including its dubious distinction of having the world's highest murder rate.

At the time of today's incident, the La Voz delegation was investigating a combined raid by over 500 private security, national police and army last Sunday, Sept. 9 which killed Hector Navarro, aged 69.  The raid was part of the violent eviction of a campesino group from land claimed by big land owner Miguel Facusse on the Los Laureles plantation. Accompanied by the coordinator of the Permanent Human Rights Observatory in Aguan, Ediberto Aleman, the delegation interviewed residents of the neighborhood that is adjoined the plantation who were affected by the raid. The campesinos from the recuperation were dispersed and not available at the time of our visit. 

Witnesses from the surrounding neighborhood told the delegation that the armed men ordered them to go into their houses during the raid. They then fired tear gas cannisters into the homes and broke down doors looking for any campesinos who may have fled into some of the homes. The campesino camp was destroyed (see photo) and 34 people arrested, including many youth. Early the next morning, Navarro, who had been resting in a hammock in his backyard, died of apparent excessive tear gas inhalation. We were able to see  several tear gas canisters (see photo) that had been thrown into the small houses in which women, children, infants and elderly people were present. Residents also told us of being threatened and mistreated by the combined police-military - private guards force. 

During today's incident, as the La Voz delegation was standing well outside the plantation land waiting to interview more neighbors, five masked guards approached, some pointing their weapons at the La Voz delegation. They shouted threats and one guard said, "This is your last warning," and then fired a rifle.   Video and still pictures of the incident are available at http://youtu.be/AbOgsm8qQE4 and http://tinyurl.com/hondurasguns

"That we were not shot at directly is probably only because most of us appear to be North Americans," said Vicki Cervantes, co-coordinator of the La Voz delegation. "Hondurans don't have that same protection, which explains the rampant political violence in this country."

"Today we visited three campesino encampments in Aguan and people at each of them emphatically requested that we stop U.S. aid to the Honduran military and police," said Alexy Lanza, another co-coordinator of the La Voz delegation. "Yesterday at the Garifuna land encampment in Vallecito we learned of the murder the same day of Aguan campesinos Herman Alejandro Maldonado and Ivis Ortega (Ortega was gravely wounded, and lingered before dying this morning).

After the shooting incident at Los Laureles, the delegation filed a formal complaint against the security guards at the police station in Tocoa. Delegation member Sarah Sommers of the Cleveland InterReligious Task Force on Central America stated that one of the police officials who took the complaint, Wilfredo Bautista, who is in charge of investigating murders in the Aguan Valley, told the delegation, "that even we [the police] can't go into that plantation; there [sic] are very bad people. We can't investigate because we can't go there; we might get killed."

"It is disturbingly clear who is in charge in the Aguan," said Cervantes. "Police and military carry out raids on behalf of the big landowners like Miguel Facusse and essentially say that they can't control heavily armed private guards who shoot and kill at will."

Besides Cervantes, Lanza and Sommers, members of the La Voz delegation include Lois Martin, Tucson and a member of No Mas Muertes, an organization dedicated to preventing the deaths of migrants crossing the deserts in the border region; Sidney Hollander, an activist with the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America; human rights activists Mary Dean and Greg McCain, formerly of Chicago and now of Colon, Honduras; and Andy Thayer, a Chicago-based anti-war activist and co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network.

Retaliation Against the Campesino Movement!

Thirty-Six Campesinos and Campesinas Detained May 23rd in Different Parts of Honduras


     The landowning oligarchy and Honduran regime are going all out to retaliate against the campesino movement that shook the big landowners with massive land recuperations of agrarian reform land on April 17th of this year.
     Today, 17 members and leaders of the Unified Campesino Movement of Aguan (MUCA) were detained in the province of Yoro as they were returning to their settlements in the Aguan Valley of Colon. The campesinos were taken to the police station in Progreso where lawyers from the Jesuit organization ERIC were working to get them released as of this writing. In the Aguan region three farmers were arrested (in two different incidents), and in the province of La Paz another 16 campesinos, including 2 minors,  were detained as they were on their way to work their fields, three of the detainees are members of the indigenous organization COPINH and others are affiliated to the National Center of Rural Workers (CNTC). One farmer remains in custody this evening. The Permanent International Human Rights Observatory in Aguan also reports that several well known campesino leaders in Aguan, (Vitilino Alvarez, Juan Ramon Chinchilla, Adolfo Castañeda and Ramon Sanchez) have received new death threats from the private guards of oligarch Miguel Facusse claiming that they will lose their lives in the next hours. 
     In a phone interview, Jesus Ponce the General Secretary of the CNTC, strongly denounced the actions today and stated that there has been a war against campesinos for some time but now the big landowners and the government are retaliating for the campesino movement's recuperation of lands on April 17th.  (Note: see the earlier blog entry for April 17th for more details). 
     There are more than 100 arrest orders issued against campesinos across the country related to land recuperation. Ponce stated that besides the detentions today, there have been violent evictions, but the campesinos have returned to the lands again. In San Manuel, Cortes the campesinos just returned to the land this week after their second eviction. The San Manuel sugar cane fields are also claimed by oligarch Jaime Rosenthal who obtained the land even though it was agrarian reform land and should have gone to the campesinos originally. 
      Ponce explained that the government and big land owners are trying all kinds of threats and tricks. Some of Rosenthal's paid employees at the sugar processing operation at San Manuel are currently protesting in Tegucigalpa demanding that all the campesinos in the land recuperation should be arrested - trying to confuse public opinion and incite violence against the campesinos.  
     The campesino organizations at the national level are demanding that the 1993 Law of Modernization of Agriculture (a law which nearly destroyed agrarian reform in Honduras) be abrogated and they have proposed a new  agricultural reform law, but the Congress has gone on a month's recess after tabling the campesinos' proposal previously. He also condemned the blatant threats made by the most powerful agribusiness land owner in the country, Miguel Facusse who is threatening thousands of campesinos in Aguan with violent eviction if they can't immediately come up with the money to pay him for land that was to be titled to the campesinos of MUCA after they signed an agreement with the Lobo government. 
     Today's repression comes at the end of a month that has seen a further escalation of violence and murder of campesinos, journalists, resistance leaders and LGBT activists. There has also been an escalation of militarization fueled by the United States that led to the murder of at least 4 indigenous community members including two pregnant women and the wounding of numerous others when a joint operation of the United States DEA and Honduran military fired from a helicopter at a small boat coming down a river in the Miskitio. Honduran military spokesmen have said it was an error, but the U.S. State Department and DEA have not apologized nor explained what happened. 
      All of this is leading to ever more insistent calls for the United States to cut off aid, especially military and security aid to the Honduran regime. 

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.

Dia Internacional de Acción Campesina - Campesinos Hondureños - La toma de tierras en 5 provincias.

Un comunicado en español sigue el articulo en ingles

APRIL 17 - International Day of Campesino Struggle

by Victoria Cervantes, La Voz de los de Abajo - Chicago

Honduran Campesinos mobilize for land and survival. - Land takeovers in 5 provinces.  

January 26, 2012, Tutule, La Paz ---defensoresenlinea.com

After the massacre of campesinos of the MST in Brazil on April 17, 1996 the date was declared the International Day of Campesino Action by Via Campesina and other campesino organizations. Today, April 17, 2012, amidst constant attacks and violence from the big landowners and oligarchy that control the police,military and government, Honduran campesinos are mobilizing in defense of their rights to land and survival. At least 13 campesino groups today recuperated land in 5 different provinces in Honduras. The action is organized by the National Center for Rural Workers (CNTC) a sector of the National Association of Honduran Campesinos (ANACH) and others on lands that according to agrarian law should be owned by the campesinos. The land recuperations are occurring now In Olancho, Francisco Morazan, Paraiso, Yoro, and Cortes.

Honduran campesinos have always faced violence and repression, but since the June 28, 2009 military coup the situation has deteriorated dramatically with increasing impunity, militarization and power of the land owning oligarachy and corporate agribusiness. To make matters worse, the Honduran National Congress in December 2010 annulled former President Zelaya’s order (Decree 18-2008) for a limited land reform that would have given dozens of campesino communities title to disputed lands.

Campesino organizations denounce an increase in terror tactics and violence in which national police and other military or mysterious men, dressed in black with their faces covered but carrying police and military weapons, arrive in communities before dawn, knock down doors, pull men women and children violently out of their homes and then destroy the homes and detain community members. Bulldozers and fire have been used to destroy homes and crops. The local leaders in the communities are held in jail or placed on probation requiring them to travel distances every week to sign in at a police station. Always the threat of another traumatizing and violent attacks hangs over the community. These attacks on campesino communities have occurred in the Tutule region of La Paz (20 evictions as many as 3 in one week), in Olancho, Atlantida and other regions. 

The violence and attacks on organized campesinos is infamous in the lower Aguan region in Colon where more than 50 assassinations have taken place since January 2010, and there are constant threats, violence detentions and harassment. Just during the past 4 weeks 2 members of the Unified Campesino Movement of Aguan (MUCA) were murdered and two others detained. The Campesino Movement of Rigores were harassed by armed troops after the community verbally confronted the government’s Agrarian Institute director Cesar Ham and on March 18th a land recuperation in Las Brisas, Colon was violently evicted.

Government and agro-business terror against the campesinos is paired with bad-faith negotiations or promises of negotiations to supposedly resolve land disputes. On February 23 of this year, Cesar Ham convened a meeting of campesino groups, many of whom have been recently evicted or are in imminent danger of eviction. According to some participants the meeting was “a lot of talk about possible negotiations but nothing concrete”. So far, when negotiations have resulted in settlements either the land-owners have openly refused to full-fill the agreements (the case of African Palm grower magnate, Miguel Facusse and MUCA communities) or the negotiations have resulted in untenable, smaller amounts of land and large debt burdens for the campesinos , for example, a February 17th agreement with some MUCA communities.

No wonder then that campesino organizations have decided to step up their struggle for land and to be allowed to produce food and other crops that can sustain their families and the rural economies. Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the region; the United Nations World Food Programme estimates that chronic malnutrition in the countryside is as high as 48.5% and the average rate is 34%. In a recent interview with Jesus Ponce, Secretary General of the CNTC, the campesino leader denounced the violence and attacks on the campesinos and stated, “we only want land to plant and to be productive; the campesinos will never leave land abandoned when so many are hungry; we can be part of a solution to the problems but instead the government, the big landowners, consider us to be less than animals and an obstacle to their plans. The land belongs to us and we demand Justice, Land, and Liberty! ”.

Support the campesinos - Dennounce the violence against campesino communities.
Send an email in Spanish or in English in support of the campesino movement demands for an end to attacks and violence against their communities and organizations and for a recognition of their rights to the land.

Cesar Ham, Director of the National Agrarian Institute: cham@ina.hn

Porfirio Lobo, President of the Republic of Honduras: diseloalpresidente@presidencia.gob.hn with a copy to La Voz de los de Abajo: lavozchicago@yahoo.com 

Comunicado de Prensa -Abril 17, 2012
La Voz de los de Abajo, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Campesinos se movilizan para la tierra y la supervivencia. - La toma de tierras en 5 provincias.
Después de la masacre de 19 campesinos el 17 de abril de 1996 en Brasil, en la movilización por la reforma agraria. Campesinos Brasileños y Vía Campesina declaran el 17 de Abril Como día Internacional del Campesino.
Hoy, 17 de abril de 2012, en medio de constantes ataques y la violencia de los grandes terratenientes y la oligarquía que controla la policía, el ejército y el gobierno, los campesinos hondureños se movilizan en defensa de sus derechos a la tierra y la supervivencia. Hoy más de 13 grupos campesinos hoy están recuperado la tierra en 5 departamentos de Honduras. (Olancho, Francisco Morazán, El Paraíso, Yoro y Cortés). La acción está organizada por La Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC) y un sector de la Asociación Nacional de Campesinos de Honduras (ANACH)


Los Campesinos hondureños siempre han enfrentado la violencia y la represión, pero desde el golpe de estado militar del 28 de junio 2009 la situación se ha deteriorado dramáticamente con la creciente impunidad, la militarización y el poder agroindustrial de la oligarquía y los terratenientes. Para empeorar las cosas, el Congreso Nacional de Honduras en diciembre de 2010 anuló la orden del ex presidente Zelaya (Decreto 18-2008) que daba la oportunidad de titular tierras de campesinos en disputa.


Las organizaciones campesinas denuncian el aumento en las tácticas de terror y violencia de la policía nacional y otros militares o sicarios vestidos de negro con el rostro cubierto, que llegan aterrorizando a las comunidades, quemando y demoliendo sus casas, destruyendo sus cosechas, torturando a Mujeres Niños y hombres. Disparando contra campesinos indefensos, arrestando y procesando a lideres, como una clara muestra de intimidación para que claudiquen en su lucha. Estos ataques contra las comunidades campesinas se han producido en diferentes regiones del país, incluyendo La Paz, Olancho, y Atlantida, mas sin embargo es en la región del valle aguan donde se registran las mayores violaciones donde más de 50 asesinatos han tenido lugar desde enero de 2010, y constantes amenazas, detenciones violencia y el acoso. Sólo durante las últimas 4 semanas 2 miembros del Movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguán (MUCA) fueron asesinados y otros dos detenidos.

Por lo tanto no es de extrañar que las organizaciones campesinas han decidido intensificar su lucha por la tierra, para la sobrevivencia de sus comunidades, para producir alimentos y otros cultivos que puedan sostener a sus familias y las economías rurales.

Honduras es uno de los países más pobres de la región, según el programa mundial de alimentos de las Naciones Unidas, se estima que la desnutrición crónica en el campo es tan alta como 48,5% y la tasa media es del 34%. En una reciente conversación con Jesús Ponce, Secretario General de la CNTC, el líder campesino denunció la violencia y los ataques contra los campesinos.


"sólo queremos la tierra para sembrar y para ser productivos, nosotros queremos ser parte de la solución al problema, pero el gobierno favorece siempre a los grandes terratenientes y a nosotros nos trata como animales, y no es justo por que esta tierra a fin de cuentas nos pertenece y por ella estamos dispuesto de luchar hasta el final, solo queremos lo que nuestro lema dice. Justicia, Tierra y Libertad”

Apoyemos la lucha de los campesinos, denunciando la violencia contra sus comunidades campesinas.

Chicago IL, 17 de Abril del 2012 

Delegation Report: Standard Fruit Uses the Army & Police to Attack Campesinos

A La Voz de los de Abajo delegation of 8 people is in Honduras
(February 14-22) to accompany the campesino movement and to support
the Internacional Encuentro por los Derecho Humanos en Aguan February
17-19. We are traveling with compañeros and compañeras from the
National Center for Rural Workers (CNTC) and will be sharing ourexperiences and the stories of the campesinos.

Location: Salado Lislis community, Atlantida province

Date: February 16
Standard Fruit Uses the Army and Police to Attack Campesino Families

It is beautiful; green fields of beans, peas, tomatoes, corn, papaya
trees, coconut palms and African palm with wooden and palm houses
scattered throughout the scene it could be an advertisement for themodel small farming community in Central America –but bulldozer tracks
run across many of the fields of vegetable and almost all the houses
are smashed flat, or reduced to piles of sticks with household items,
shoes, even toys scattered in the debris. We walk with the campesinos
and campesinas around the settlement, stopping at the piles of rubble
that were their houses and they tell us what happened.
On February 8th at 6 am more than 200 armed troops (in National Police
and the Army's 15th Battalion uniforms, with bulldozers from a
private company arrived at the community. Many of the troops were
wearing shirts that said “DOLE” under bullet proof vests with markings
of the National Police or military. The judge who accompanied thesecurity forces (juez ejecutor) to execute the eviction order was
wearing a Standard Fruit (more well known as Dole ) vest. It is not
unusual for a big land owner to pay for an eviction but thecampesinos told us it is unusual and probably illegal for judges and
“official troops” to wear uniforms of the big agribusiness landowners.
The community also was sure that the “Dole” shirted troops were really
private security from Standard Fruit Honduras who had been given
government security uniforms for the eviction, something which the
campesinos and their representative from the CNTC say is illegal.

The entire community was given only 30 minutes to gather their familymembers and belongings and leave their land and homes. The men, women
and children had to run and evacuate their lands finally heading
towards the border with the adjacent department of Colon where the
eviction order would not have power. It began to pour rain and the
community was gathered on the Colon side of the border with no water,
food, or shelter until they were able to move again to safer places.

Meanwhile the armed troops used bulldozers to destroy more than 80 of
the homes and to destroy fields, cut down plants and trees, and pulled
up yucca. But the campesinos are determined to continue on the land

and to win title to it. On February 13 a group of the families from
the campesino movement moved back onto their land, knowing that their
claim to the land should be recognized under the agrarian laws. Their
situation is precarious. They are living in makeshift shelters and
some abandoned buildings. Their school for more than 60 children fromthe community is closed. Their teachers were from an NGO project and
the community doesn't know if they will come back. Yet the situationis even more precarious because they know that there is a high risk of
another eviction at any time.

The campesinos asked us to let the world know about their struggle and look for ways to help them pressure for a peaceful resolution of the land ownership for

them. They also have emergent need for food, water and for accompaniment.

One way we can help in the U.S. is to pressure Standard Fruit (Dole) Corporation to give up their illegal claim to the land and to immediately stop all threats of

violence and violent actions against the community. The Honduran government and security forces also need to be held accountable for their collaboration with the agri-corporation and for the ongoing threats and violence in the countryside.

Call Dole at 818-874-4000 and demand they give up their land claim in Honduras against the Salado Lislis community in Atlantida!
Background and History- Standard Fruit and Salado Lislis
In June 2010, 100 families recuperated land in Salado Lislis that is
eligible for agrarian reform expropriation. The land was claimed by
Standard Fruit Honduras (part of the Dole brand in the US). Standard
Fruit Company is a U.S. Corporation, which along with United Fruit
Company, notoriously dominated the Honduran economy and politics for
years. Standard Fruit (Dole) had a 100 year concession for land along
the coast in this area of Atlantida. When the concession expired, the
land was returned to the Honduran government which then immediately
sold the land to a questionable, newly-formed company called Standard
Fruit Honduras. The new “Honduran-owned” company was formed to side
step a Honduran law which prohibits foreigners from owning land within
a certain distance from the coast line. The Honduran name used to
register Standard Fruit Honduras is actually that of the Chief of
Security for Standard Fruit (Dole) operations in Honduras, thus being,
what Hondurans call a “presta-nombre”, someone who sells the use of
their name for property transaction that require a Honduran citizen.

Despite two years of legal processing and negotiations with the
National Agrarian Institute (INA), the obvious irregularities with
Standard Fruit's claim, and the eligibility of the land for
expropriation, the land title has not been resolved. Decree 18-2008
issued by former President Zelaya, ousted by the coup d'e'tat of 2009,
would have resolved the conflict in favor of the campesinos. The
decree was yet to be enforced when the coup d'e'tat took place and
then never enforced prior to being annulled in early 2011 by the coup
government of Pepe Lobo. Adding to the insecure situation for the
campesino families in Salado Lislis is the fact that their land also
borders palm plantations owned by the infamous large land owner Rene
Morales, a major palm grower and processor, who is involved in much of
the extreme violence against campesinos in the nearby Aguan Valley,
where more 46 campesinos have been assasinated in the last year and a
half.

Communique and Action in Support of Campesino Activist Prisoner: Chavelo Morales

La Voz de los de Abajo has signed on to the action in support of compañero Chavelo - for interviews and more information about Chavelo see our past blog posts. At the end of the following communique from Honduras are the addresses and phone numbers where you can take action.

To the Appeals Court in La Ceiba

To the Honduran Government

To the Honduran People and to International Solidarity

The people and organizations that support this communique believe in the necessity for the impartiality of justice and its fulfillment for all human society and for Honduran society in particular. We consider that it is part of our struggle to denounce situations of human rights violations and aggression against the liberty of people and of national organizations. For this reason we are speaking on the case of our compañero José Isabel Morales López of the Campesino Movement of Aguan (MCA), a prisoner for more than three years in the prison of El Porvenir in La Ceiba.

In 2008 as a result of the struggle for land in the zone of Aguan compañero Morales Löpez was detained and accused of ten assassinations, attempted murder, a homicide, aggravated robbery and aggravated arson. Finally he was condemned for a homicide, but to date and despite the fact that the final verdict was given on June 25, 2010, his sentencing has still not occurred. During the court proceeding irregularities were apparent among others the fact that the witnesses against him had contradictions in their stories and changed their testimony from previous versions.

On the other hand the illegality of preventative imprisonment is evident, according to the regulations established by the Penal Process Code, it can only last, at a maximum, for two years;if no sentence has been given in that period of time, imprisonment must be replaced by other measures (medidas cautelares) And, as we have reiterated, the fact that as of this moment no sentence has been given is shameful and alarming.

Based on these circumstances the defense lawyers of compañero Morales López have on three occasions solicited the substituion of preventative imprisonment from the sentencing Tribunal and on three occasions it has been denied. They also filed a habeas corpus to the Constitutional Court (Sala de lo Constitucional) for it to declare the illegality of deprivation of liberty, given that the limits established by the law have already been exceeded. This (habeas corpus) was declared to be without standing seven months after the filing.

During his incarceration he was denied permission to attend the funerals of his daughter and his father, who died at different times. His health during his imprisonment has been damaged by an accident that caused the loss of an eye, and his state of emotional health is gravely affected by the series of events and conditions described above.

Due to all of this and more, we are completely in solidarity with José Isabel Morales López, compañero Chavelo, a fighter for the land for the rights of the Honduran campesinos.

We denounce the Court of Appeals in which the appeals are held, the same appeals that have not been resolved due to one of the appeals having been presented during the trial and it is precisely its lack of resolution that has impeded the sentencing.

We hold the judicial apparatus of the country responsibly for the violations of human rights and the denial of access to justice for José Isabel Morales López.

We demand immediate freedom for José Isabel Morales López

• MOVIMIENTO CAMPESINO DEL AGUA, MCA
• CONSEJO CÍVICO DE ORGANIZACIONES POPULARES E INDÍGENAS DE HONDURAS, COPINH
• ORGANIZACIÓN FRATERNAL NEGRA HONDUREÑA, OFRANEH
• COLECTIVO ITALIA-CENTRO AMÉRICA, CICA
• INSURRECTAS AUTÓNOMAS
• EQUIPO DE REFLEXIÓN, INVESTIGACIÓN Y COMUNICACIÓN – COMPAÑÍA DE JESUS, ERIC-SJ
• COMITÉ DE FAMILIARES DE DETENIDOS DESAPARECIDOS EN HONDURAS, COFADEH
• MOVIMIENTO AMPLIO POR LA DIGNIDAD Y LA JUSTICA, MADJ

If your organization wants to sign on to this communique contact: Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras, COPINH

copinh@copinh.org

Calls and Messages calling for Chavelo’s immediate release should go to:

Abogado(Lawyer) Celino Aristides Aguilera Amador
(President of the Appeals Court in La Ceiba)

Presidente de la Corte de Apelaciones de La Ceiba Sala #1

Telefono (00504) 2441-4172 ext. 1064
Marlene Suyapa Perez Valle , (Judge) Magistrada Propietaria Ext. 1054
Carlos Eduardo Castelar (Judge) Magistrado Propietario Ext. 1061
Dianey Cruz Recarte (Judge) Magistrado Integrante Ext. 1053

Jorge Alberto Rivera Avilés, Presidente de la Corte Suprema de Justicia

Telefono: (504) 2269-3000 2269-3069 Mail: cedij@poderjudicial.gob.hn

Sr. Porfirio Lobo Sosa, Presidente de la República (President of the Republic of Honduras)

Casa Presidencial,

Boulevard Juan Pablo Segundo, Palacio José Cecilio del Valle

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Correo: pepe@pepelobopresidente.com

Fax: + 504 2239 3298

Luis Alberto Rubí

(Attorney General) Fiscal General de la República.

Fax (504) 2221-5667

Tel (504) 2221-5670 2221-3099

Mail: lrubi@mp.hn

suazog@mp.hn

Sra. Ana Pineda

(Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Human Rights)

Secretaría de Justicia y Derechos Humanos

Col. Lomas del Mayab, Ave. República de Costa Rica

Correo: anapinedah@hotmail.com

Fax: +504 22358379

Please send copies to:

Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras, COPINH

copinh@copinh.org