"They Fear Us Because We Are Fearless": Reclaiming Indigenous Lands and Strength in Honduras
"They Fear Us Because We Are Fearless": Reclaiming Indigenous Lands and Strength in Honduras
Tuesday, 27 August 2013 16:22 By Tory Field and Beverly Bell, Other Worlds | Report
“Honduras has been known for two things only: being a military base for the contra attacks on the Nicaraguan revolution, and Hurricane Mitch.” So said Berta Caceres, co-founder and general coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH by its Spanish acronym). COPINH is an organization of hundreds of communities of Lenca indigenous peoples and small farmers.
The rest of the story, of the resistance of land reform and indigenous movements, what is at stake, and the source of much of the violence, are largely unknown in the US.
Multinational corporations are moving into Central America to exploit gold and other minerals, rivers, forests, and agricultural lands. One area of high interest in the corporate feeding frenzy is the indigenous Lenca region in the southwest of Honduras. The government has given outside businesses concessions to dam, drill, and cut, in violation of national law and international treaties. More corporations have simply moved in on their own.
The most pressing issue now affecting Lenca lands is a series of large hydroelectric dams which are already under construction. They are part of 41 dam concessions which may soon come under active exploitation. The concessions came thanks to a mining law passed in January 2013 by a national congress that was voted in under an illegal government that took power in the 2009 coup d’etat. The law allows for open pit mining as well as mining in populated areas, which opens the door for large-scale displacement. It limits access to public information, and allows consultation with affected populations only after the concession has been granted.
More:
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/18443-they-fear-us-because-we-are-fearless-reclaiming-indigenous-lands-and-strength-in-honduras