Honduras: News & Updates

We wrote to officials in Honduras about the popular opposition to contaminating megaprojects among residents of Tocoa, Colón Department, in the Aguán Valley. Residents flatly rejected projects that are threatening the envirnonment, particularly their drinking water, by the companies Emco Holdings, Inversiones Los Pinares, and Ecotek (all three have interlocking ownership).

We urge that the government of Honduras respect and implement the demands of the popular assembly of more than 2,000 people held on December 9, 2023:

-cancel all permits and concessions to Emco Holdings (petroleum coke thermoelectric plant), Inversiones Los Pinares (iron oxide mining), and Ecotek (pelletizing iron oxide)

-offer protection measures to members of the CMDBCPT (Municipal Committee in Defense of the Common and Public Goods of Tocoa)

-sanction those responsible for the illegalities related to the mining project and the threats and stigmatization campaigns against the CMDBCPT

-independently investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for the 2023 murders of CMDBCPT members Jairo Bonilla, Aly Domínguez and Oqueli Domínguez

-pay for reparation of damages to the core zone of the Carlos Escaleras National Park

Journalists in Honduras carry out their work amid fear and self-censorship, and in a context of high risk and lack of protection by the authorities. While on his way home in Danlí, El Paraíso Department, on the night of December 21, 2023, journalist Francisco Javier Ramírez Amador, age 39, was attacked by armed individuals who also shot a police officer, an armed escort, who was with him. Francisco was killed; the pólice officer suffered two gunshots and was treated at a hospital.

We are urging that authorities in Honduras (1) publish the results of the investigation into the assassination of Francisco Javier Ramírez Amador and bring those responsible to justice, (2) strengthen the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists of Honduras by providing more technical support, administrative assistance, funding, and improved processes for risk analysis and evaluation, and (3) ensure that all entities responsible for the implementation of prevention and protection measures work in a coordinated and articulated manner.

We wrote to the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa, asking that it offer to bring together affected parties (including Crawfish residents, OFRANEH, and Próspera-ZEDE) to discuss a peaceful solution to the conflict on the Island of Roatán. Cryptocurrency investors, including citizens of the United States, are embattled with local residents over their plans to build infrastructure for tourism inside 58 acres it claims. The center of the battle is Crawfish Rock, a community of a few hundred mostly ethnic Garífuna residents.

OFRANEH (Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras) reported that on December 8, 2023, armed men broke into a meeting at which community members were discussing what they call violations of human rights by Próspera-ZEDE. Crawfish resident Vanessa Cárdenas was attacked and seriously injured. .  OFRANEH, along with local and national environmentalist groups, point to Erick Brimen, executive director of Próspera-ZEDE, as the instigator of violent aggression against the community of Crawfish Rock.

We wrote to the US Ambassador in Honduras, requesting that the embassy disclose any code of conduct guidelines that it communicates to US nationals who are conducting business in Honduras. Santiago Emmanuel Londoño, Vice-President of the Administrative Council of Lachansa (a mining company) has been accused of sexual harassment of an Indigenous Tolupán girl (a minor) in Yoro Department.

According to a complaint filed with the authorities in Honduras, Santiago Emmanuel Londoño entered the home of the girl without permission on at least three occasions. He made indecent comments and requests of a sexual nature. He proposed to the victim’s mother that she “lend him” the daughter. In exchange, he would give them money, trips, and employment.  On at least one occasion he burst into the home without notice, accompanied by two bodyguards. We are also asking that the US Embassy a statement condemning illegal and indecent behavior by US nationals while doing business in Honduras.

The Indigenous Lenca Council and affected communities in Reitoca (Francisco Morazán Department) oppose the illegal development of a dam project (Proyecto Hidroeléctrico Río Petacón) by the company PROGELSA on their ancestral territory. The project poses severe threats to their lands, livelihoods, spiritual beliefs, and cultural activities. The affected communities, who hold legal titles for the land dating back to 1735,  remain unwavering in demanding the cancellation of the hydroelectric concession.  They did not give their free, prior, and informed consent, as required by international law.  Because of their resistance to the dam, they have faced violent repression and criminalization.