Berta Se Multiplicó - COPINH Resists:La Voz Delegation Report

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V. Cervantes July 26, 2016, Chicago
Unless otherwise credited, photos are from La Voz de los de Abajo

On July 25, some people might have been surprised outside the Democratic Party’s National Convention in Philadelphia to see protesters wearing masks made from  a photo of assassinated Honduran indigenous leader Berta Caceres and a giant puppet of Berta as well marching through the streets.   

Nas lutas@PersonalEscrito

One of Berta’s daughters, Laura Yolanda Zuniga, was there too representing  Berta’s organization COPINH and her family as part of the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance actions.  The protesters had a specific complaint related to COPINH and Honduras, denouncing the fact that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has admitted to working hard to extend and institutionalize the June 2009 coup d’etat in Honduras and the fact that the Obama administration in general continues to support and supply funds to the latest version of the coup government, President Juan Orlando Hernandez — despite a very long list of human rights violations, state violence, and corruption allegations tied to Hernandez's government and political party. At the same time, it isn’t really a surprise to find COPINH participating  in protests that include support for migrant’s rights, against police murders of black and latinos in the US, the TPP, environmental justice and more. Since its beginnings COPINH has had an international vision. 

In late June of this year La Voz de los de Abajo sent a small fact finding and accompaniment mission to Honduras. One of our priorities was to show support for and to talk to with COPINH in the aftermath of the assassination of its co-founder and long-time general coordinator, Berta Caceres.  On June 26 ^th we started out for La Esperanza, Intibuca to visit COPINH and to pay our respects to Berta Caceres’ family.  Leaving from Marcala, La Paz, where we had visited campesinos from the CNTC,  we were already in the area in which the Lenca indigenous people’s communities and descendants are a majority. The indigenous word Lenca means something like “a place of many waters” in English and it is a land of rivers flowing down from breathtaking mountains
 covered in Honduran pine mixed with flowering plants and cultivations of coffee and small land holdings of corn and beans.  At the time of the Spanish conquest the Lenca were one of the larger groups of indigenous people in the region and were  concentrated in the Southwestern region of Guaymara - eventually renamed Honduras by the Spanish. Their resistance to the conquest, led by their most important leader Lempira,  is celebrated like that of Cuahtemoc in Mexico.

hondurastierralibre.com

Lempira was killed during the final Lencan  uprising of 1537-1538. After the conquest, tens or even hundreds of thousands were eliminated by violence, slavery, and disease.  This history does not feel so distant given both the ongoing violent attacks on the communities and their tenacious resistance in the region today in defense of the waters of the rivers that are threatened by hydroelectric projects involving international and national companies, land grabbing by the regional and national oligarchy, and the murders of the defenders themselves such as the March 2, 2016 murder of Berta Caceres. Just a few days after we left Marcala itself would be the site of the murder of another environmental community activist associated with COPINH. Lesbia Yaneth Urquía was murdered and her body found in a trash dump on July 7^th. Five members or supporters of COPINH have been murdered since 2013 when the struggle against the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project intensified (Justo Soto, Nelson Garcia, Tomas Garcia, Berta Caceres, Lesbia Yaneth Urquía) 

After a few hours in a bus bumping down a dirt highway we arrived in La Esperanza where a municipal festival of “Mushrooms and Wine” was underway in the small plaza in front of the cathedral. As is usual, the Honduran local and national authorities claim as their own the legacy of Lempira. Honduran currency bears his name and there is a lot of advertising  of “eco-tourism on the Lencan Trail”, but the real spirit of rebellion is also present. In  La Esperanza there are murals and graffiti throughout the small city celebrating and mourning  Berta’s life and death and denouncing the Honduran state and police.   

Graffitti on muncipal building
"JOH Assassin"

Berta’s mother, Doña Austra Bertha Flores, lives in the family home not far from the old colonial center area of La Esperanza. There is now a National Police presence in front of the house to fulfill the obligation of the Honduran government to protect Berta Caceres and her family who are in receipt of an order for protective measures from the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. Of course everyone recognizes the irony of government protection when so many believe that the Honduran government is involved in the violence.

In Berta's case it wasn't until July 8, 2016 that the Honduran government finally conceded publicly that it had not provided the required protection to Berta prior to her assassination. At the family home, the on-duty policeman got out of his car and looked us over as Doña Austra Bertha Flores (Mama Berta) came out of the house to greet us and again when we left the house.  She is an articulate, strong woman who has her own history of activism and service to the communities, having been a midwife for many years, as well as a mayor and a governor, known for having a position in defense of the Lenca communities and the poor in Honduras. She showed us the small altar dedicated  to Berta in the house and spoke sadly, but proudly of her daughter. She spoke firmly and with determination outlined the continued demands of the Flores/Caceres family for an independent international based investigation of the assassination, and an end to the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project.

Mama Bertha with
La Voz members

Mama Bertha also strongly denounced the fact that the government and its investigators have never shared information or included the family in the investigation and strongly reiterated the family’s position that the investigation will not be complete, even if the gunmen and most proximal guilty are jailed, until all the intellectual authors of the crime are identified and brought to justice as well. 

At the time we were in Honduras the introduction of the Berta Caceres Human Rights Act in the U.S. Congress on June 14^th was reverberating in the Honduran media, augmented by a June 21^st Guardian article  exposing  the fact that Honduran military special units circulated an order to assassinate a  “kill list” of activists including Berta Caceres before her death. To date, three of the four men arrested for Berta’s murder are military - one an active duty officer in the Armed Forces, although the government has denied that there is or was a hit list. The Berta Caceres Act would cut off US security aid to the national police and military, and require a "No" vote on multilateral developmental loans until the government of Honduras meets a series of conditions for investigating and ending human rights crimes. Doña Austra Bertha expressed her strong support for this proposal and her personal thanks to the members of Congress and solidarity activists pushing the Act forward. 

COPINH was founded in 1993 and consolidated its program based on indigenous values and a radical vision of the future in 1995.  From the beginning COPINH emphasized both local community organizing and the importance of a strong, diverse mass movement to fundamentally change Honduras. It has also always been internationalist, seeking and offering solidarity with struggles around the world. In Honduras COPINH is centered in  organized community base organizations in the Lenca region (at least 200 exist now) with a program for autonomy, against racism, against patriarchy, for gender diversity including LGBTI people and for  sustainability and life opposed to the death and destruction of the present. capitalist and imperialist system. 

Mural at Utopía 

COPINH has made their ideas concrete with the construction of an organizational center and meeting space called Utopía just outside of La Esperanza; a women’s refuge, and their office and radio stations. The La Voz de los de Abajo group arrived at Utopía later in the afternoon of June 26^th.  We spoke with Tina, a COPINH member who is one of the people who keeps Utopía up and running on a daily basis and later with a leader from the Rio Blanco community along with a member of COPINH’s coordinating committee, Asunción, and COPINH’s communication coordinator Gaspar Sanchez.

La Voz members at Utopía

They had all only recently returned from  traveling outside the country to present COPINH’s case on Berta’s assassination to solidarity organizations and legal entities in Europe and Costa Rica.  Utopía  has meeting halls, dormitories, a kitchen, — decorated with beautiful murals and slogans that reflect Lencan culture and the people’s struggles. It includes land that has been planted with corn and beans and a few head of cattle graze around the building. A larger meeting shelter outside the main building is under construction because the meeting halls inside are not large enough for the people’s assemblies. COPINH uses popular assemblies as the key part of their decision making process. The next morning when the General Coordinator Tomas Gomez Membreño arrived he explained that COPINH has the vision of making Utopía a more sustainable collective agricultural project as well as a center for training and gatherings. 

Tomas also had just returned to Honduras from a speaking tour in the United States, including Chicago and Washington DC. The next day as he showed us more COPINH projects including the women’s refuge, main office and one of the radio stations. While he drove us he talked some about the history of racism in the region. La Esperanza is really a dual city which includes La Esperanza and the city of Intíbuca. According to some histories these cities originally corresponded with closely related Mayan and Lenca communities that were, along with the entire region, seized by the Spanish crown. During the 19^th Century the area slowly drew in more businesses and ranchers from outside the Lenca area and from Guatemala and El Salvador this new elite founded La Esperanza. Meanwhile, as Tomas explained, The city of Intíbuca remained more indigenous and poorer, with its residents discriminated against to the present day. These kinds of conditions greatly influenced the founding of COPINH and its principles of autonomy.

Lilian

At the women’s shelter we met with another long time leader in COPINH, Lillian, who explained the importance of COPINH’s feminism and anti-patriarchal stance not being in words only but also in action.
The women’s shelter is an impressive apartment complex with around 8 complete apartments (each with its own kitchen and bathroom) as well as a communal kitchen and meeting rooms. Women fleeing domestic violence or other difficult situations can find not only shelter but also emotional support. Lilian told us that COPINH organizes women’s encounters (in which men are asked to do all the cooking and childcare so that women can fully participate). Their plan for the center, for which they are looking for solidarity funding, include to have full-time healthcare staff for psychological and physical health, educational projects and more. 

"No Patriarchy"
"My body is my territory"

When we got to COPINH’s office and the site of one of their radios (Radio Guarajambala)  we found La Abuelita (the Grandmother) Doña Pascualita on the air, with another compañera,  talking about women’s contributions to their communities and to the organization COPINH. We were invited to say a few words about our organization, the solidarity movement and other things going on in the US.

La Abuela Pascualita on the air

 Later Gaspar interviewed La Voz member Jenine, who is active in the Palestinian community in Chicago, about the Palestinian struggle. She took the opportunity to denounce the members of the Honduran oligarchy of Palestinian descent probably 5 of the 8-10 oligarchic families, including the Atala family who are involved in the Agua Zarca project and the Faccusse family that is the largest landowning family and dominates the Aguan Valley. She called them out as not representing the Palestinian people who understand very well the role of elites who betray the people.

Gaspar Sanchez interviews Jenine
with interpreter

Since the death of Berta, COPINH leaders as well as her daughters Berta, Olivia Marcela and Laura Yolanda have been non-stop traveling across Honduras but also internationally, advocating for pressure on the Honduran government to allow an internationally based investigation of the assassination and to end the Agua Zarca project.  One of the focuses of COPINH is on how to deal with the Honduran government's refusal to allow the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to head up an independent investigation of the assassination. This has been one of the key demands of the family and of COPINH since the assassination. Berta’s death and the demands of seeking justice for her and defending COPINH from the blatant attempts to destroy it as an organization, have taken a toll on the organization and its leaders but they made it clear that they are strong and united as an organization, unblinking in the face of the attacks and dedicated to the vision of COPINH. Berta Caceres was murdered but that murder spread her spirit and as the slogan goes — “she didn’t die, she multiplied”.

Mural in Utopía

Berta Caceres !Presente! - Statement from La Voz de los de Abajo

[English follows]

A nuestr@s querid@s compañer@s del COPINH,

A la Resistencia Hondureña,

Al pueblo digno hondureño,

A los movimientos populares de todo el mundo

A la comunidad internacional en general,

A tod@s l@s que sueñan con un mundo mejor:

El mundo acaba de perder a una de las grandes luchadoras en la historia, no solo de Honduras, sino del mundo entero. La voz de Berta Cáceres era, es y siempre será una voz que inspire tenacidad, amor al pueblo, y esperanza. Berta siempre usaba su voz para ampliar las voces de l@s demás, de la gente humilde, de la gente pobre, del pueblo Lenca, de todos los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes, de las mujeres, de la gente de diversidad sexual, de las obreras y los obreros, de las campesinas y los campesinos, de las explotadas y los explotados, de la juventud, del pueblo en resistencia, de tod@squienes soñamos con un mundo más justo.

Compartimos en lo más profundo de nuestras almas el dolor inmenso que sienten en estos momentos tan difíciles nuestr@scompañer@s hondureñ@s del COPINH, la familia hermosa y luchadora de Berta y tod@s l@s que tuvieron el gran privilegio de conocerla en algún momento. Berta tocaba corazones en todo el mundo. En cada rincón de este planeta tierra, este planeta que Berta defendía con todo su esfuerzo y, finalmente, con su vida misma, el ejemplo, la voz, la memoria, la inspiración, la enseñanza, el amor de Berta Cáceres están presentes, hoy y siempre.

Como La Voz de los de Abajo, una organización internacional de derechos humanos con sede en Chicago y con más de 15 años de historia de acompañamiento a los movimientos populares hondureños, responsabilizamos al gobierno de Honduras, al gobierno de los Estados Unidos y a la empresa DESA y sus financiadores internacionales por el asesinato de Berta. 

El gobierno hondureño es responsable por su falta de voluntad para investigar las constantes amenazas de muerte en contra de Berta, por su indiferencia ante las medidas cautelares otorgadas a Berta por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, por su participación en la campaña de difamación y satanización que se realizó en contra de Berta en los medios de comunicación, y por su colaboración con y apoyo a la empresa DESA en su proyecto nefasto de construir una represa hidroeléctrica en el Río Gualcarque a pesar de la oposición de las comunidades indígenas Lencas. Somos testigos de esa colaboración, vimos con nuestros propios ojos la gran presencia del ejército hondureño y su cercanía y colaboración con los guardias de la empresa DESA en la comunidad de Río Blanco.

El gobierno estadounidense es responsable por su continuo financiamiento del ejército hondureño, por su historia larga y criminal de entrenar a militares hondureños asesinos en la Escuela de las Américas, por su papel fundamental en financiar, defender y asegurar la consolidación del golpe de estado y el ambiente de represión e impunidad que este conllevó. 

La empresa DESA y sus financiadores internacionales son indudablemente responsable por el acto material del asesinato. Sus empleados dijeron descaradamente, en innumerables ocasiones, que iban a asesinar a Berta por su liderazgo en la lucha en contra de la destrucción ambiental y cultural que representaría la construcción del proyecto hidroeléctrico Agua Zarca en Río Blanco.

Berta vivirá no solo en los corazones, sino en las acciones de todos los pueblos en resistencia del mundo y especialmente en su querida Honduras y en su querido pueblo Lenca en particular. Si los malos de arriba piensan que con el asesinato de Berta podrán acabar con la lucha del pueblo Lenca, se equivocanterriblemente. Su voz se multiplicará. Su ejemplo se multiplicará. Su inspiración se multiplicará. Ella sembró miles de semillas con su persistencia, con su risa, con su tenacidad, con su esperanza, con su visión de un mundo sin patriarcado, sin explotación capitalista y racismo, con su sueño de un mundo liberado, con su profunda fe en el triunfo inevitable de la lucha popular. Se profundizará la lucha, se profundizará la solidaridadinternacional, se profundizará la ola de indignación, se profundizará la determinación y dedicación del pueblo Lenca, del pueblo hondureño en resistencia y de los pueblos del mundo que los acompañamos.

Estaremos informando sobre los próximos pasos para mostrar solidaridad internacional muy pronto.

¡Berta Cáceres presente!

¡Que viva el COPINH!

¡Que viva la resistencia!

¡Que vivan las luchas populares! 

¡Sangre de mártires, semilla de libertad!

Nunca nos olvidaremos de usted, compañera Berta Cáceres.

Desde Chicago, Estados Unidos,

La Voz de los de Abajo

ENGLISH:

To our dear sisters and brothers of COPINH,

To the Honduran Resistance,

To the dignified people of Honduras,

To the people’s movements around the world, 

To the International community in general,

To everyone who dreams of a better world:

The world just lost one of the greatest freedom fighters not just in the history of Honduras but in the whole world. The voice of Berta Cáceres was, is and always will be a voice that inspires tenacity, love for the people, and hope. Berta always used her voice to amplify the voices of others, of the downtrodden, of the poor, of the Lenca people, of all indigenous and afro-descendant peoples, of women, of the LGBT community, of workers and peasants, of the exploited, of the youth, of the people in resistance, of all of us who dream of a more just world. 

We share in the depths of our soul the immense pain felt by our Honduran comrades from COPINH, by Berta’s beautiful and resilient family, and by everyone who had the great privilege of meeting her at one time or another. Berta touched hearts around the world. In every corner of this planet earth, the planet that she defended with all of her energy and finally with her life itself, the example, the voice, the memory, the inspiration, the teachings, the love of Berta Cáceres are present today and always. 

As La Voz de los de Abajo, an international human rights organization based in Chicago and with more than 15 years of history accompanying Honduran social movements, we hold responsible the government of Honduras, the government of the United States, and the DESA corporation and its financial backers for Berta’s murder. 

The Honduran government is responsible for its unwillingness to investigate the constant death threats against Berta, for its indifference regarding the protective measures extended to Berta by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, for its participation in the campaign of defamation and character assassination carried out against Berta in the Honduran press, and for its collaboration with and support for the DESA corporation and its nefarious project of building a hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River despite the opposition of the indigenous Lenca communities. We are direct witnesses to that collaboration, having seen with our own eyes the tremendous presence of the Honduran army and its closeness and collaboration with DESA’s private security in the Río Blanco community.

The U.S. government is responsible for its continued financing of the Honduran army, for its long and criminal history of training Honduran military assassins at the School of the Americas, for its essential role in financing, defending and assuring the consolidation of the coup d’état in Honduras and the environment of repression and impunity that it ushered in. 

The DESA corporation and its financial backers are undoubtedly responsible for the assassination itself. Its employees have said shamelessly and on numerous occasions that they would kill Berta for her leadership in the struggle against the environmental and cultural destruction represented by the building of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam in Río Blanco. 

Berta will live not just in the hearts but in the actions of all the peoples in resistance around the world and especially in her beloved Honduras and her beloved Lenca indigenous community. If the powerful and evil think that by killing Berta they can end the struggle of the Lenca people, they are terribly mistaken. Her voice will multiply. Her example will multiply. Her inspiration will multiply. She sowed thousands of seeds with her persistence, with her laughter, with her tenacity, with her hope, with her vision of a world free from patriarchy, capitalist exploitation and racism, with her dream of a liberated world, with her profound faith in the inevitable triumph of the people’s struggle. The struggle will deepen, international solidarity will deepen, the wave of indignation will deepen, the determination and dedication of the Lenca people, of the Honduran resistance and of the people of the world who accompany them will deepen. 

We will be releasing information on next steps for demonstrating International solidarity very soon. 

Berta Cáceres lives on!

Long live COPINH!

Long live the resistance!

Long live the people’s struggles! 

Blood of martyrs, seed of liberation!

We will never forget you, comrade Berta Cáceres.

From Chicago, USA

La Voz de los de Abajo

Attacks on the Lenca and Garifuna Communities

Urgent Action Request 

Murder and Repression Target Lenca Communities in Resistance 

On May 26th  community leader, Irene Meza was killed In San Francisco de Opalaca where election fraud in November installed a ruling party (National Party) mayor who was not accepted by the town; the indigenous council then led a takeover of the municipality. A National Party gunman opened fire on Mr. Meza and also wounded another activist. National Party thugs then attacked the car taking Mr. Meza and the other wounded man to the hospital.

The night of May 24th In Rio Blanco, where the community and its indigenous council have been blocking the construction of a hydroelectric project,community activist William Jacobo Rodríguez was murdered. There were also new incidents of threats, detentions, and beatings by the police of community members.

Below in the previous blog post is the recent communique on both incidents from the Lenca organizations, COPINH with the demands of the communities. 

For more background on Rio Blanco 

For more background on San Francisco de Opalaca

CALLS OR LETTERS ARE NEEDED: The situation in both communities is very insecure and at high risk for more violence against the community members and political opposition. Please contact the US Embassy Human Rights Officer and/or the Attorney General (Fiscal General) of Honduras to express your concern and demand an end to the state sponsored violence, serious investigations of the acts of violence and murders, and an end to the political persecution of COPINH, LIBRE and the indigenous councils in the communities. 

In English:

Amanda Johnson-Miller

Human Rights & Labor Officer

U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa Honduras

Johnson-MillerA@state.gov

(504) 2236-9320 x473

In Spanish

Oscar Fernando Chinchilla          

Fiscal General de la República.

Fax (504) 2221-5667

Tel (504) 2221-5670  2221-3099 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

translation by Marilyn Lorenz

State Violence and eviction in the Garifuna community of Puerto Castilla

Once again the Honduran security forces are using indiscriminate violence against the civilian population, the break-up of a protest demonstration in Puerto Castilla community last Friday May 23 culminated with six children hospitalized in the city of Trujillo.

The use of tear gas as an offensive weapon has become a usual strategy for Honduran security forces, which unfortunately are trained in techniques of aggression rather than deterrence, and have a painful and long history of human rights abuses against the civilian population.

The community of Puerto Castilla is perplexed by the hospitalization of six minors and the evacuation of many of the infants to a ship anchored in front of the community, so as to avoid the poisoning caused by the pepper spray and tear gas bombs. The recent events have given rise to widespread protests among the Garifuna village in the absence of human sensitivity on the part of the repressors and the inability to dialog shown by the Empresa Nacional Portuaria (EPN) and state officials.

The use of chemical weapons for "crowd control¨ 

The use of chemical weapons to dissolve protests and demonstrations has increased in recent years on the planet, especially after the collapse of the world economy of 2008. In Honduras tear gas became part of the usual menu for the Honduran people after the coup.

In Puerto Castilla hundreds of gas bombs CS (clorobenzilideno malononitrilo), which can cause severe lung damage, as well significant damage to the heart and the liver were used indiscriminately. The majority of the bombs of 40 mm were manufactured by ALS Technologies, a company that in its reference sheet on the product indicate that contains a hazardous chemical. In addition to the CS gas, rubber bullets were used by the elements responsible for suppressing in Castilla.

The bombs hit the Garden of Nin@s and insie the community homes, spreading terror among the people before receiving the final onslaught of a disproportionate number of uniformed men.

The civilian dictatorship that Honduras suffers, in addition to the induced failed state, has led to a maze of structural violence, where the claims of the population become a target of criminalization on the part of the State, in addition to a chronic repression.

The community of Puerto Castilla and their historical claims

The Garifuna community of Puerto Castilla received a degree in 1889 from the hands of President Luis Bogran, under the name of "La Puntilla", which included territory12 miles long and three wide. This title was endorsed in 1904 by Manuel Bonilla by awarding the title to the community of Cristales and Rio Negro. Later part of the lands were granted in the year 1921 to the Truxillo Railroad Company and transferred back to the community of Cristales and Rio Negro in 1942. In 1974 General Alvarez Martínez forced the community of Cristales and Rio Negro at gunpoint to lease the land of La Puntilla to the National Port Company (ENP).

Apparently the Garifuna community of Castilla was relocated in 1940 to the south of its original place, for the construction of a US military base, which was returned to Honduras at the end of the war. A number of heliports and moorings (helipuertos y atracaderos) in the US-Honduran military base are currently under construction, part of the metastasis of US military bases on the continent.

The inhabitants of Puerto Castilla face a huge overcrowding, given the absence of available land for the expansion of the community. The village has been demanding for a field of five manzanas, loaned to Mr. Jose Mauricio Weizemblut Olive, representative of Intermares, a Japanese company that tried to establish in Honduras in the 90s. The land in question is apparently for sale by Mr Weizemblut Olive, who has assumed be the purported owner.

Among the commitments cyclically signed by the ENP, is to provide a share of jobs to the inhabitants of Puerto Castilla, point that has never been fulfilled by the company, which has been involved in numerous cases of corruption. There is also an increase in racism toward the Garifuna staff working in the EPN, which in many occasions suffer from harassment, especially those individuals allegedly associated with the community claims.

The dispossession of the Garifuna communities and the territorial claims 

The violent incursion of the security forces in Puerto Castilla are not helping to solve the severe problems faced by their inhabitants . The security policy of the club applied by the current "nationalist" administration resembles more each day the dictatorships of beginnings of the last century, which dilutes the creation of an effective rule of law in Honduras.

In spite of the intensive campaign of the Administration of Juan Hernandez to eradicate the image of a violent country controlled by political narcos, the attack on the civilian population, in particular the fatal assault that led to six juveniles at the hospital as a result of the use of chemical weapons, and the evacuation of a large group of children to a barge to circumvent the effects of pepper spray, increases the image of a failed State where the dialog has been supplanted by the pepper gas, moving away from possible and awaited foreign investment.

Our organization condemns the barbaric actions, and we demand the fulfillment of the accords that have been signed between the National Port Authority (ENP), with the inhabitants of the community of Puerto Castilla, as well as the return of land to the Garifuna community, which by right of ancestral possession belongs to them, which was ratified in the recent hearing held in San Jose Costa Rica before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in relation to the case of Triunfo de la Cruz.

Sambo Creek, 27 de Mayo del 2014

Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña, OFRANEH

Sambo Creek, Atlántida.
Honduras
telefax: 504-24541513 / 504-24490003
email:garifuna@ofraneh.org / ofraneh@yahoo.com
http://www.ofraneh.org /http://www.ofraneh.wordpress.com / Twitter:@ofraneh

Declaration from COPINH on New Murder and Repression in San Francisco de Opalaca and Rio Blanco

El español sigue el ingles

English translation followed by the Spanish original of COPINH's comunique about yesterday's repression in San Francisco Opalaca and Rio Blanco.  From Brigitte Gynther of SOA-Watch

Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras COPINH

Bo. Las Delicias, Intibucá, Intibucá;  Blog: copinhonduras.blogspot.com; Tel. (504) 2783-0817; http://copinh.org; FB: Copinh Intibucá; Twitter: @copinhhonduras

Murder and repression in San Francisco de Opalaca and Rio Blanco executed by the fascist forces of the National Party and the National Police   

Irene Meza 

To the national and international community, COPINH denounces and condemns the murders, murder attempts, and repression perpetrated yesterday against the Lenca people, acts that are motivated by the repressive policies of the State of Honduras, led by Juan Orlando Hernandez: 

Yesterday, after the conclusion of an important Indigenous Assembly in San Francisco de Opalaca - the purpose of which was to socialize the findings of the Audit demanded by the Lenca people and carried out by the Superior Accounting Tribunal as well as to make decisions in the context of the construction of the Indigenous Government - employees of the ex-Mayor that the National Party has tried to impose appeared in a private vehicle and Mr. Hugo Sánchez,  without saying a word, took out a pistol and fired on Irene Meza and Plutarco Bonilla.  Irene Meza is the husband of the 3rd Councilwoman of the Legitimate Mayor's Office, Ada Elizabeth Méndez,  who was in charge of reading the Audit report in the Assembly yesterday. Plutarco Bonilla is a well-known compañero in the struggle against the coup d'etat, in the resistance movement, and both are part of the LIBRE party. Additionally, both compañeros had been participating in all of this most recent struggle in San Francisco Opalaca. 

The brutality with which this crime was perpetrated is so extreme that when Irene Meza, shot with bullets in the stomach and chest, was being driven to the hospital in La Esperanza by his wife and a driver, they were attacked again by a heavily armed group of men at the height of the ascent of the Zarco River, causing the vehicle to crash.  The armed men then proceeded to the site of the crash, shooting 6 more shots at Irene.  In this crime, the two people with him were also injured.  

Plutarco Bonilla

With regards to Plutarco Bonilla, we inform that a bullet hit his hand and he is out of danger. 

On the other hand, in Río Blanco, between Saturday May 24th and Sunday May 25th, while he was returning to his home around midnight, William Jacobo Rodríguez, a struggler in defense of the Gualcarque River against the imposition of the Agua Zarca Hydoelectric Dam, was murdered.  It is worth mentioning that even though somebody already confessed to this crime, the Police forces that are stationed at the DESA installation in Rio Blanco as part of a special operation against the Lenca People, proceeded to break into homes and arbitrarily capture two COPINH members, Lindolfo Benítez and Salvador Sánchez,  and as if that were not enough, they then physically and emotionally tortured both of them, threatened to kill minors that were in their houses, and also threatened and verbally attacked Francisco Javier Sánchez, President of the Indigenous Council of Rio Blanco and Coordinator of Land and Territories for COPINH.  

For all of this, COPINH demands:

• Effective investigation and immediate application of justice for the murders of William Rodríguez and Irene Meza as well as the attempts against Plutarco Bonilla, Ada Méndez and Pedro Rodríguez.
• Although Lindolfo Benítez and Salvador Sánchez, in the early hours of today were taken back to Rio Blanco and freed, we demand an investigation and punishment of the repressive forces responsable for their torture and abitrarity, for which COPINH has repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of this police force that only has brought threats and repression to the communities that constantly reject it.  
• An end to the political repression and criminalization against the Lenca people and COPINH, against the social and political strugglers.  
• COPINH holds responsible the State of Honduras, President Juan Orlando Hernández, the powerful groups, corporations, as well as the army and police, for all the polices of terror and criminalization against our People and organization. 

We declare that all the actions of Indigenous people rising up and defending territory and the common goods of nature, against large predatory capital, for the construction of self-determination, for ILO Convention 169 and Indigenous government continue strong; this will be part of the big Assembly for Territory and Communities that will start tomorrow, May 27 and the 5-department Regional Mobilization in La Esperanza, Intibucá on Thursday, May 29 at 10.00am, all of our actions guided with hope for our ancestral history of rebellion and dignity. 

In Intibucá, May 26, 2014.

COPINH

¡In the face of more repression, more struggle and organization!

¡We are sons and daughters of Lempira!

-----

Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras COPINH

Bo. Las Delicias, Intibucá, Intibucá;  Blog: copinhonduras.blogspot.com; Tel. (504) 2783-0817; http://copinh.org; FB: Copinh Intibucá; Twitter: @copinhhonduras

Asesinato y represión  en San Francisco de Opalaca y Río Blanco ejecutan  Las fuerzas fascistas del Partido Nacional y la Policía Nacional.   

El COPINH ante la comunidad nacional e internacional denuncia y condena los asesinatos, atentados y represión   perpetrados el  día ayer  contra miembros Lencas, hechos que son motivados por la política represiva del Estado de Honduras, encabezado por Juan Orlando Hernández:

El día de ayer, luego de concluir una   importante  Asamblea Indígena en San Francisco de Opalaca,  con el propósito de socializar los hallazgos de la Auditoria exigida por el Pueblo Lenca y desarrollada por el Tribunal  Superior  de Cuentas  y de  toma de decisiones en el marco del proceso de construcción de Gobernanza  Indígena,  se hicieron presente a la Plaza de Monte Verde  empleados del exalcalde que ha pretendido imponer el Partido Nacional,   desplazándose en un carro particular, el señor Hugo Sánchez,  sin mediar palabra  saco una pistola y disparo contra  los compañeros Irene Meza y Plutarco Bonilla, el primero esposo de la  3ra. Regidora de la Alcaldía Legitima  Ada Elizabeth Méndez,  quien fue la encargada de dar a conocer el informe de la auditoria el día de ayer, el segundo, destacado compañero en la lucha contra el Golpe de Estado, de la Resistencia y ambos del Partido  LIBRE, además  los dos compañeros habían estado participando en todo este último  proceso de lucha de San Francisco de Opalaca.

La saña con que fue perpetrado este crimen llega a tal extremo, que cuando era trasladado  Irene Meza hacia el Hospital de la Esperanza, ya que fue impactado por las balas en el abdomen y pecho  y era auxiliado por su esposa y motorista, a la altura de la cuesta del Río Zarco fueron  atacados nuevamente por un grupo de hombres fuertemente armado, provocando que el vehículo se accidentara,  luego  procedieron a bajar al lugar donde quedo el mismo, rematando de 6 disparos más al compañero Irene. En este atentado también resultaron lesionados los dos acompañantes.

Respecto al  compañero Plutarco Bonilla, informamos que el recibió un impacto en la mano y se encuentra fuera de peligro.

Por otro lado, en Río Blanco, entre el día sábado 24 y  domingo 25 de los corrientes, mientras regresaba  a su casa de habitación, a eso de la media noche,  fue asesinado el compañero William Jacobo Rodríguez, luchador en defensa del Río Gualcarque y en contra de la imposición del Proyecto Hidroeléctrico Agua Zarca, cabe mencionar que a pesar que ya hay una persona confesa del delito,  la fuerza policial  que se encuentra asentada en Río Blanco en el plantel de DESA, bajo una operación especial dirigida contra el Pueblo Lenca  procedieron a  irrumpir en  casas de habitación y a capturar de manera arbitraria y violenta a dos  compañeros del COPINH Lindolfo Benítez y Salvador Sánchez,  no bastándoles con lo anterior, posteriormente realizaron  tortura física y emocional a ambos compañeros, incluso amenazaron  de muerte a menores de edad que se encontraban en las casas de habitación, como también amenazaron y agredieron verbalmente al compañero Francisco Javier Sánchez, Presidente del Consejo Indígena de Río Blanco y Coordinador de Tierra y Territorio de la Coordinación General del COPINH.

Por lo anterior el COPINH exige:

-Investigación efectiva y aplicación de justicia inmediata  en los casos de los compañeros asesinados, William Rodríguez e Irene Meza y en el caso de  atentados contra el compañero Plutarco Bonilla, Ada Méndez y Pedro Rodríguez.

-Aunque los compañeros Lindolfo Benítez y Salvador Sánchez, en horas tempranas del día de hoy fueron trasladados nuevamente a Río Blanco y puestos en libertad, exigimos investigación y castigo a la fuerza represiva responsables de tortura y arbitrariedades,  por la cual el COPINH en reiteradas veces ha exigido la salida de este destacamento que solo amenaza y represión  ha llevado a las comunidades que la han rechazado constantemente.

-Fin a la represión política y criminalización contra el Pueblo Lenca y el COPINH, contra los luchadores y luchadoras políticos y sociales.

El COPINH responsabiliza al Estado de Honduras, al Presidente Juan Orlando Hernández, a los grupos de poder y a las empresas como al ejército y policía por toda la política de terror y  criminalización contra nuestro Pueblo y organización.

Manifestamos, que todas las acciones de levantamiento Indígena y defensa territorial y de bienes comunes de la naturaleza,  contra los grandes capitales depredadores, por la construcción de la autodeterminación, por el Convenio 169 de la OIT y gobernanza indígena continúan firmes; las mismas incluyen la gran Asamblea de territorios y comunidades que arranca el día de mañana 27 y  Movilización regional de 5 departamentos en la Esperanza, Intibucá el día jueves 29 a las 10.00am, todo nuestro accionar guiado con esperanza por nuestra historia ancestral de rebeldía y dignidad.

Dado en Intibucá,  a los 26 días del mes de mayo del 2014.

COPINH

¡A más represión! ¡Más lucha y organización!

Attempted Murder of Indigenous Leader and Family in Rio Blanco

DENUNCIA URGENTE: INTENTAN ASESINAR A LA COMPAÑERA MARÍA SANTOS DOMINGUEZ,  A SU ESPOSO E HIJO, FAMILIA  DESTACADA EN LA LUCHA EN RÍO BLANCO Y  MIEMBRA DEL COPINH.

Report from SOAW Observer in Honduras Brigitte Gynther with additional information added by La Voz de los de Abajo. Original Spanish communique from COPINH linked above.

Yesterday (March 5, 2014)  7 people tried to kill Maria Santos, seriously attacking her, her 12-year old son Paulo, and her husband Roque, with a machete.  Maria is a vocal leader in the struggle in Rio Blanco and member of the Indigenous Council.  Maria has received numerous death threats because of her vocal opposition to the Agua Zarca Dam.  Yesterday, around midday, she was on her way home from making food at the school when 7 people who were hiding in wait came out, surrounded her and attacked her with machetes, rocks, and sticks.  Her husband had been calling her as she walked home because of the constant threats she received, and when he heard she was surrounded, he and her son ran out.  Her husband pled with them not to kill her and when her son ran to try to help his mom, the people attacked her 12-year old son as well, cutting off his right ear and part of his face.  His cranium is fractured.  They also attacked her husband who was also seriously injured.  All three are in the hospital.  Maria is a strong member of COPINH Rio Blanco resistance, despite receiving death threats including threats from the people who attacked her yesterday.  

The indigenous community in Rio Blanco has been fighting for  2 years against the construction of a dam that privatizes and destroys the  Gualcarque River  and will flood lands that are part of the indigenous patrimony in the region. The DESA Company (Honduran) , first in partnership with Chinese state owned company SINOHYDRO which has now withdrawn from the project, has used private paramilitary guards, paid assassins, Honduran military and National Police to attack, murder and intimidate the community. In August of 2013 another community activist Tomas Garcia was shot and killed by soldiers. Indigenous leaders and members of the Lenca organization COPINH have faced criminal charges for their involvement in the struggle for environmental and indigenous rights. 

Rio Blanco community meeting with La Voz delegation July 2013