The truth of what's happening in Aguan, from the Unified Movement of Peasants of Aguan (MUCA)

The truth of what's happening in Aguan, from the Unified Movement of Peasants of Aguan (MUCA)

The Unitfied Movement of Peasants of Aguan, (MUCA) with the support of peasant organizations, people's organizations and Human Rights organizations, held a press conference on Wednesday January 13th, 2010 in the offices of Vía Campesina in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where it revealed the persecution and threats to which peasants of the movement have been submitted through many years of the struggle for land.

The brotehrs and sisters representing MUCA expressed to the different media the constant violations of their human rights that they have suffered and continue suffering above all with the recent displacement this past January 8th, 2010 because of orders of the supposed owners of those lands using military and police authorities of the de facto regime, for the simple act of having reclaimed lands that belong to the movement, as it was exactly in this area, Aguan, where years ago many agrarian cooperatives of peasants were functioning generating income and development in the area.

Francisco Fúnez, Director of the National Agrarian Institute in the government of Zelaya expressed that “with the Coup d'Etat in Honduras the conflicts have sharpened in the country and especially in Aguan where the agrarian conflicts for land are ongoing, despite the fact that last year President Zelaya, the peasants, the National Agrarian Institute, and the land owners signed an agreement that said that nobody could dispute the property of those lands without demonstrating the legality of it, nonetheless the displacement continues in that zone and the threat is latent."

What follows is the press release put out by the MUCA today in the press conference and Communiqué number 45 of the National Front of Popular Resistance in solidarity with the peasants of Aguan.

COMMUNIQUÉ

The Unified Peasant Movement fo Aguan (MUCA), arises in 2001 and is made up of 3,500 peasant families. The purpose is the recuperation of a parcel of land for Agrarian Reform, but this right has cost much blood to the peasants who though the years have been at the front of this struggle.

Currently 18 peasants of the MUCA are being prosecuted for the crime of usurpation and are receiving persecution and threats.

Friday January 8th, 2010 the following peasant groups: the Agropecuaria 21 de Julio Cooperative, the Empresa Asociativa de Campesinos 9 de Diciembre, the Empresa Asociativa de Campesinos el Despertar, Empresa Asociativa de Campesinos San Esteban and others located in the left bank of the Aguan river, who are members of MUCA, were violently displaced by elements of the police, the military, security guards of the landholder René Morales dressed in military uniforms, causing grave physical and psychological damages to many peasants who were in the area.

Because of this:

1- MUCA demands of the Honduran State and the National Agrarian Institute the immediate adjudication of the lands of the peasants of Aguan, since the acquisition of them by Miguel Facusé, René Morales and Reinaldo Canales was illegal, because article 106 of the Law of Agrarian Reform establishes that the cooperatives have the prohibition of selling or transferring the totality or part of the adjudicated lands except with previous authorization of the National Agrarian Institute and this entity never authorized the sale of these lands.

2- There exists an agreement among President Zelaya and these peasant groups of Aguan signed at the beginning of the month of June, 2009 before the coup d'etat, in which was agreed that a technical juridical commission would investigate the legality of the tending of these lands and the supposed owners Miguel Facusé, René Morales and Reinaldo Canales would be paid for the improvements they had made; but the lands would be given to the peasants of MUCA.

3- We demand Exigimos of the Attorney General, the Judge of Tocoa and other entities involved in this matter to abstain from executing violent displacements of the Unified Movement of Aguan (MUCA), since the agrarian question is the responsibility of the State through the National Agrarian Institute and not of the army and the police, especially not when there is an agreement signed by the government with the peasant groups of this zone.

4- We demand that while the investigation has not ended regarding tenancy of this land by the INA, all types of displacement be halted, as well as the persecution and threats against members of the Unified Peasant Movement of Aguan (MUCA).

5- We hold responsible the prosecutor of Tocoa Adoris Molina Reyes and the judge Suyapa Karina Basha Pinel, the supposed property owners, the Armed Forces and the de facto authorities for all acts of violence that could occur, as tomorrow, January 14th, 2010 there is another displacement of sisters and brothers who have kept their position in the lands on the bank of the River Aguan.

6- We make a call to the national and international community and especially to the social and people's organizations of Honduras as well as the Human Rights defense organizations to stand in solidarity with our struggle.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras January 13th, 2010

Signed:

Unified Peasant Movement of Aguan (MUCA)

Vía Campesina in Honduras

National Central of Rural Workers (CNTC)

Coordinating Council of Peasant Organizations of Honduras (COCOCH)

National Front of Popular Resistance (FNRP)

Fian Internacional, Human Rights defense organization

Honduras:Why Do Garifuna Community Radios Burn?

Honduras: Why Do Garifuna Community Radios Burn?

Honduran Black Fraternal Organization Denounces Attack Against their Radio Station

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 07:43

Translated by Ramor Ryan

In the early morning hours of Wednesday January 6, the Garifuna community radio Faluma Bimetu (“Sweet Coconut”) based in Triunfo de la Cruz was burnt down by unknown armed individuals who proceeded to loot the station's radio equipment. This is not the first time the radio has been attacked and its equipment stolen.

In 2002 unknown people stole the transmitter and other key tools for radio transmission. The Garifuna people have been exposed to a slow process of assimilation into the dominant culture through the mass media - monopolies that are in the hands of figures who are well known throughout the country as manipulators of information.

Lacking control of our own Garifuna media has led to an acceleration of loss of our culture, a process that has become increasingly painful. Most of the communities with access to television are confronted by a permanent alienation through consumerism, acculturation, alienation (soccer, fashion, soap operas, cartoons and violence) and media terrorism. We have also seen a decline in the use of our own indigenous language, which has become, lamentably, a second language.

Transmission of Radio Faluma Bimetu began in 1997, promoted by the Land Defense Committee of Triunfo de la Cruz (CODETT), in order to strengthen Garifuna culture and defend the ancestral territory of the community.

Triunfo de la Cruz, like other Tela Bay Garifuna communities, has become a conflict zone since the intervention of businessmen, politicians and foreign investors attempting to seize community land for the construction of mega-tourism projects.

This systematic usurpation at the hands of outsiders has led the community – conducted by CODETT and the Community Board -- to file a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR), who accepted the case on 14th March 2006, registered under No. 125-48. For the powerful ruling elite of Honduras, the staunch defense taken by the community of Triunfo de la Cruz of their ancestral territory, is a serious challenge to their economic interests.

Honduras is renowned for the high level of poverty for the majority of its inhabitants ruled by a minority that holds the country under a feudal regime. The use of mass media by the local feudal lords has been an effective tool for control and manipulation.

As in the rest of Latin America, the media monopolies have served to replicate the distortion of information and thus perpetuate domination. The community radios of the Garifuna have been growing strong over the past decade, setting a precedent among our people. And the primary goal is the protection of our culture - which is closely linked to Mother Earth.

Up to the present moment, we have installed four community radios and in the not too distant future we envision extending the network throughout the entire Garifuna nation. The overarching goal: to strengthen and enrichen our culture, to defend our ancestral territory and at the same time, to build early warning systems to deal with climate change, earthquakes, and diseases.

The attack against Radio Faluma Bimetu can be simply reduced to the fact that it enrages the power elite that we, the Garifuna, have been in a process of cultural resistance that has lasted 212 years. And, specifically, that we have broken chains by actively participating in the resistance against the destruction of democracy in our country, a crime (the June 28th Coup) committed by the Honduran oligarchy last year - with the support of the troglodyte right wing of the United States.

Given these facts, OFRANEH (Honduran Black Fraternal Organization) demands respect for the right to provide information, as indicated in Article 13 - Freedom of Thought and Expression, of the the Inter-American Convention on Human Human. Specifically, we require a full investigation into this act perpetrated against the Garifuna community radio and against of our people in general.

La Ceiba, January 8, 2010

Miriam Miranda
General Coordinator
Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña, OFRANEH
Teléfono (504) 4420618, (504) 4500058
Av 14 julio, calle 19, Contiguo Vivero Flor Tropical, Barrio Alvarado, La
Ceiba, Honduras
email: garifuna@ofraneh.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , ofraneh@yahoo.com

La verdad de lo que ocurre en el Aguan, desde el Movimiento Unificado de Campesinos (MUCA)

La verdad de lo que ocurre en el Aguan, desde el Movimiento Unificado de Campesinos (MUCA)

El Movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguan (MUCA) ,con el apoyo de organizaciones campesinas, populares y organizaciones defensoras de Derechos Humanos, llevó a cabo este Miércoles 13 de Enero del 2,010, una conferencia de prensa en las oficinas de la Vía Campesina en Tegucigalpa Honduras, donde revela las persecuciones y hostigamiento al que están sometidos campesinas y campesinos del movimiento durante muchos años en la lucha por la tierra,

Los compañeros representantes del MUCA expresaron a los diferentes medios de comunicación los constantes atropellos y violaciones a sus derechos que han sufrido y siguen sufriendo sobre todo el reciente desalojo el pasado 8 de Enero del 2,010 por ordenes de los supuestos dueños de esas tierras utilizando a las autoridades militares y policiales de este régimen de facto ,por el simple hecho de reclamar esas tierras que les pertenecen al movimiento es justamente en esa zona del aguan, donde años atrás funcionaban muchas cooperativas agrarias de campesinas y campesinos que tanto ingreso y desarrollo generaban en esa zona .

Francisco Fúnez Director del Instituto Nacional Agrario en el gobierno de Zelaya expresó “con el Golpe de Estado en Honduras los conflicto se han agudizado en el país y mas en el Aguan donde los conflictos agrarios por la tenencia de la tierra son permanentes , pese a que el año pasado el presidente Zelaya ,los campesinos , el INA y los terratenientes firmaron un convenio ,donde se acordó que nadie podía discutir la propiedad de las tierras, mientras no se demostrara la legalidad de las mismas ;sin embargo los desalojos continúan en la zona y la amenaza es latente”.

A continuación el comunicado emitido por el MUCA, hoy en la conferencia de Prensa y adjunto el Comunicado # 45 del Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular en solidaridad y apoyo a este movimiento campesino.

COMUNICADO

El Movimiento Unificado de Campesinos del Aguan (MUCA), surge en al año 2001 y lo conforman unas 3,500 familias campesinas. El propósito es la recuperación de una parcela de tierra para fines de Reforma Agraria, pero este derecho ha costado mucha sangre a nuestros campesinos y campesinas que durante muchos años han estado al frente de esta lucha.

Actualmente unos 18 compañeros campesinos del MUCA, están siendo Procesados por los delitos de usurpación y son objeto de persecución y hostigamiento.

El día Viernes 8 de Enero del 2,010 los grupos Campesinos: cooperativa Agropecuaria 21 de Julio, la Empresa Asociativa de Campesinos 9 de Diciembre, Empresa Asociativa de Campesinos el Despertar, Empresa Asociativa de Campesinos San Esteban y otras más ubicados en la margen izquierda del rio del Aguan miembros del MUCA , fueron violentamente desalojados por elementos de la policía , el ejército , guardias de seguridad del terrateniente René Morales vestidos con uniformes militares, causando graves daños físicos y psicológicos a muchas y muchos campesinos que estaban en la zona.

Por tanto:

1- MUCA exige al Estado de Honduras al Instituto Nacional Agrario la inmediata adjudicación de las tierras a las y los campesinos del aguan, ya que la adquisición de las mismas por parte de Miguel Facusé, René Morales y Reinaldo Canales fue ilegal, por que el artículo 106 de la Ley de Reforma Agraria establece que Las cooperativas tienen la prohibición de vender o transferir la totalidad o parte de las tierras adjudicadas salvo autorización previa del Instituto Nacional Agrario (INA) y este ente nunca autorizó la venta de estas tierras.

2- Existe un convenio entre el presidente Zelaya y estos grupos campesinos del Aguan firmado a principios del mes de Junio del 2009 antes del golpe de Estado, en el que se acordó que una comisión técnica jurídica investigaría sobre la legalidad de la tenencia de esas tierras y a los supuestos propietarios Miguel Facusé, René Morales y Reinaldo Canales se les pagarían las mejoras que ellos hayan hecho; pero las tierras serian entregadas a las y los campesinos del MUCA.

3- Exigimos al Ministerio Público, al Juzgado de letras de Tocoa y demás entes involucrados en este asunto abstenerse de ejecutar desalojos violentos al movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguan (MUCA), ya que la problemática agraria es responsabilidad del Estado a través del Instituto Nacional Agrario (INA) y no del ejército y la policía y menos cuando hay un convenio firmado por el gobierno con los grupos campesinos de esta zona.

4- Demandamos que mientras no se agote el trámite investigativo de la tenencia de estas tierras por parte del INA ,se pare todo tipo de desalojo , así como también la persecución y hostigamiento en contra de los miembros del Movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguan (MUCA).

5- Desde ya responsabilizamos a la fiscal de Tocoa Adoris Molina Reyes y a la jueza Suyapa Karina Basha Pinel, a los supuestos propietarios, a las Fuerzas Armadas y a las autoridades de facto de todo hecho violento que pueda suscitarse ya que para mañana jueves 14 de enero del 2,010 se tiene previsto otro desalojo a las compañeras y compañeros que se mantiene en posesión de las tierras en la denominada margen derecha del Rio Aguan.

6- Hacemos el llamado a la comunidad nacional e internacional y en especial a las organizaciones sociales y populares hondureñas, a los organismos defensores de Derechos Humanos a solidarizarse con nuestra lucha.

Tegucigalpa M, D, C, 13 de Enero del 2,010

Firman:

Movimientos Unificado Campesino del Aguan (MUCA)

Vía Campesina en Honduras

Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC)

Consejo Coordinador de Organizaciones Campesinas de Honduras (COCOCH)

Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular (FNRP)

Fian Internacional, organismo defensor de Derechos Humanos

Urgent! Attack against Garifuna community radio in Triunfo de la Cruz

Urgent! Attack against Garifuna community radio in Triunfo de la Cruz

January 6, 2010

Today, early this morning, the Faluma Bimetu community radio was the victim of an attack carried out by unknown authors who set fire to the room where the community radio was installed.

Faluma Bimetu has been around for more than a decade, during which it has focused on strengthening Garifuna culture, as well as participating in the creation of an early alert system, programs concerning HIV/AIDS, and providing general information that goes beyond the habitual distortion that is normally promoted by mass media.

The Garifuna community radios fulfill a social function without any profit motive, especially Faluma Bimetu, which has been transmiting in an area that has been converted into a highly conflictive region by the powerful Honduran elites, because of the interest that financial groups have in displacing the Garifuna communities to use our beaches for their tourism projects.

In recent years, the Municipality of Tela has divided the community by way of a parallel Community Council (“Patronato,” the State-recognized form of local government) that favours the interests of tourism businesspeople. The Faluma Bimetu radio has been one of the champions of the defense of ancestral territory.

Eyewitnesses to the attack report that the humble building where the radio was housed has been destroyed, and that equipment has been lost. This incident is an enormous loss for the community of Triunfo and for the Garifuna people in general.

Fraternal Black Organization of Honduras, OFRANEH

Tel. (504) 442-0618, (504) 450-0058

Av 14 julio, calle 19, Contiguo Vivero Flor Tropical, Barrio Alvarado, La Ceiba, Honduras

email: garifuna@ofraneh.org, ofraneh@yahoo.com

Urgente: atentado contra la radio comunitaria de Triunfo de la Cruz.

Urgente: atentado contra la radio comunitaria de Triunfo de la Cruz.

Hoy, en horas de la madrugada, la radio comunitaria Faluma Bimetu sufrió un atentado perpetrado por desconocidos, los que incendiaron el local donde se encontraba instalada la radio comunitaria garífuna.

Faluma Bimetu tiene más de una década de vida, en la cual se ha centrado en fortalecer la cultura garífuna, al mismo tiempo participando en la creación de un sistema de alerta temprana, programas referentes al VIH/SIDA, y proporcionar información en general mas allá de la distorsión habitual que suele ser promovida por los medios de comunicación masivos.

Las radios comunitarias garífunas cumplen un función social sin ninguno espíritu de lucro, en especial la de Faluma Bimetu,la que venía transmitiendo desde una zona que la elite de poder hondureña la ha convertido en altamente conflictiva, dado el interés que tienen grupos financieros en desplazar a las comunidades garífunas para utilizar nuestras playas en sus proyectos turísticos.

En los últimos años la Municipalidad de Tela ha dividido la comunidad por intermedio de un Patronato (figura estatal de gobierno local) paralelo, afín a los intereses de los empresarios turísticos. La radio Faluma Bimetu ha sido una de las abanderadas en la defensa del territorio ancestral.

Testigos oculares del atentado ocurrido, señalan la destrucción del inmueble donde se encontraba la radio, además de la sustracción de equipo. El hecho acontecido es una enorme perdida para la comunidad de Triunfo y el pueblo garífuna en general.

Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña, OFRANEH
Teléfono (504) 4420618, (504) 4500058
Av 14 julio, calle 19, Contiguo Vivero Flor Tropical, Barrio Alvarado, La Ceiba, Honduras
email:garifuna@ofraneh.org, ofraneh@yahoo.com