A year ago we found we were talking about Honduras, in mid-October, to tell Dumbledore what happens in Central America without the media will give even only a brief mention.
Thanks to information and reportage that we receive from people's organizations locally known during a trip to Honduras, thanks to blogs and journalists sites such as Giorgio Trucchi that keep us continually updated on the situation in Central America, we published the declarations of Honduras indigenous peoples to give voice to the oppressed of the land in which Italy has seen fit to invest, sensing possible gains on mega projects, tourism facilities devastating for local people, we had told of the eco-monster in the design phase, that the powerful yearn to make, in the lands of the northern region of Honduras paradise, washed by the Caribbean Sea that is tempting to all national and international speculators, including Europe and Italy topped the list.
Well, every year on October 12 Copinh, Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, tries to scream louder to demand rights and dignity of indigenous peoples with respect to those who are celebrating the discovery of America on that date, the beginning of the European domain on lands and peoples for more than five hundred years trying to defend their roots, their cultures and their natural resources, which inevitably also become economic. This year Copinh has produced a Tegucigalpa vigil to commemorate "518 years after the arrival of European invaders in our continent." The vigil of protest was made late in the evening in front of the embassies of the United States and Spain. With signs, banners, candles and shouting slogans, fighting men and women of this organization have condemned "the genocide, the looting of our natural resources, the exploitation of our peoples by colonialists countries and local oligarchies.. "
"We are here in front of the U.S. Embassy to condemn the death project that this country has developed for decades against the Honduran people and against all the people who demand freedom and emancipation, " said Bertha Caceres, national coordinator of Copinh.
According to Caceres, we must continue to report the liability of the European and American empire, because as more than 500 years ago, continue to develop "colonialism, looting our countries through free trade agreements, coups and military ocupation.
Moreover, with their multinational projects they continue to promote death, as in the mining sector, the privatization of water, destruction of forests and the plundering of our culture, knowledge and biological diversity. You want to impede our right to be sovereign and sovereign-continued-Copinha coordinator, to have self-determination. These powers are in the world the power of death, greed and plunder. "For Copinh, October 12th isn’t Race Day, and even less the discovery of America or of the meeting between races, but is a day of resistance.
"We are commemorating the day of indigenous, black, mestizo and popular resistance throughout the continent. We continue to struggle against the occupation, as we have been taught by Lempira, Mota, Barauda, Cincumba, Copan Calel and all of our clean and free, "said Caceres.
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vigil protest Copinh (Civic Council of Popular
and Indigenous Organizations Honduras) in front
of the embassies of the United States and Spain
(photo by G. Tricks). |
 Bertha, Coordinator of COPINH
In a statement released by Copinha, it is stressed that the draft rule is accompanied by coups. "They have tried in Venezuela, they have succeeded in Honduras and recently have tried in Ecuador.
We have said from the beginning: Honduras has been a script to follow in the future to enforce the draft rule and continue to steal our resources. Now they try to show interest in a Constituent Assembly, which is not what the people want. It serves instead to strengthen the project of domination and plunder, "he denounced the Copinh coordinator. In the statement, the indigenous and popular organization has shown that people continue resistance, "stepping up the fight to build a more just and more humane society. "
In the specific case of Honduras, the Copinh, along with a multitude of organizations that make up the resistance, promotes the re-establishment of a country to be "multicultural, multilingual, which promotes cross-cultural democracy, with the right to direct participation of our people through the Plenipotentiary National Constituent Assembly, independent, popular and democratic, "says the text of the press release. The goal is to create a new Constitution of the Republic, "to generate a political pact which defines that the natural resources are of our people and not of corporate or oligarchy. " Which also allows "the referendum withdrawal of institutional positions, which recognizes the rights of women, youth, boys and girls, which redistributes wealth in an equitable manner, putting an end to the privileges of the national oligarchies, that did so much damage to our countries ".
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Bertha |
Similarly, the Constitution calls for a Copinh "to return sovereignty to the country, forcing foreign troops to withdraw, and that allows us to regional integration with countries and governments democratic and popular of our America. " The Copinh asks, finally, to end impunity for those who violate human rights, the corrupt and those who "favored coups. " And also that the new constitution recognizes the community property, the rights of working men and women, to protect the ecosystem and help to halt climate change, "says the document. "The purpose of the struggle of resistance is the re-establishment of Honduras and the Constituent Assembly is an instrument for achieving this goal. In this sense, "concluded Cáceres-must participate in this effort in all areas of strength, without exclusion. We need to develop participatory processes, horizontal, in which there is debate and criticism
In the release, the Copinh has also appealed to the coordinator of the National Front of popular resistance, FNRP, and former President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, so that "despite all the risks and legal persecution against him, and help you return to the country, from 'inside, the re-establishment of the country, because the time is crucial and we need his presence. "
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Manuel Zelaya |
Massacre and barbarism in Bajo Aguan
After one month from the indigenous statements tragic events we are going to illustrate how the socio-political situation is very serious and that attempts at self-organization and struggle are suppressed and discouraged with the physical elimination of people. It was a real massacre Monday, November 15, at finca in El Tumbador, municipality of Trujillo in northern Honduras. An army of more than 200 security guards of the oil palm producer Miguel Facussé Barjum, president of the Corporation Dinant, attacked with heavy caliber weapons the members of the Peasant Movement dell'Aguán, Mca, (photo MCA) who had recovered those same lands for more than nine months. Lands that were usurped from their bloodthirsty schemer to plant oil palm.
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Truillos – Campesinos |
Attack of the paramilitary groups has left a balance of five tragic deaths - Theodore Acosta (45), Ignacio Reyes (50), Raúl Castillo, 45, Ciriaco Muñoz (45) and José Luis Sauceda Pastrana (32) - one disappeared - Noé Pérez - and several people wounded, some of whom are hospitalized in serious condition. "The Facussé guards arrived at 5 in the morning and ordered the farmers to leave the place. Faced with the refusal of the latter they have called for reinforcements. They arrived more than 200 guards and without a word opened fire with powerful weapons, "said Santos Cruz, a member of MCA, to the list" Nicaragua y más "and to Sirel. According to several witnesses, the impresario palmero guards have used military weapons: AK-47, M-16 and R-15 rifles. They invaded the property and began chasing members of the MCA for more than four hours.
Not even the police, who as always arrived when the situation had calmed down and the massacre consumed, was able to enter the grounds, which are totally controlled and protected by guards. "It was a massacre. They shot to kill. The people fled among the trees, trying to protect themselves. There are still two missing companions (a, José Luis Sauceda, was later found dead with three shots of R-15 to face after the interview) and you do not know if they are hidden or have been murdered and their bodies are still in the property. No one can enter. These lands are ours and we will defend them, "said Cruz.
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Tornabe |
Corruption and looting
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Martina Melendez |
The finca El Tumbador is part of one of the many "black stories" that helped the usurpation of land in Honduras by unscrupulous landlords. When Temístocles Ramírez de Arellano, Puerto Rican nationalized U.S. was forced to sell his 5,724 acres to the State in the Bajo Aguan, those lands were passed to the National Agrarian Institute, Ina, for purposes of agrarian reform. On these lands the government of Honduras has installed the infamous Regional Centre for Military Training (CREM), where during the 80s American experts trained in the art of killing the dark Honduran, Salvadoran, Guatemalan and Nicaraguan Contra forces. Perfecting techniques appeal to the law of corruption and modernizing agriculture, promoted the early 90's to undermine the agrarian reform initiated in previous decades, landowners were able to illegally take possession of this land and began planting oil palm.
When farm families became aware of the existence of a writing by which the Attorney General's Office passed the wholesale land to the INA, they began to organize and plan their recovery. "The Ina has already measured the lands of the finca El Tumbador. He defined that are part of what was the CREM and must be delivered to the farmers, who must pay only the value of the improvements made in recent years - said Esly Banegas, coordinator of the Regional Coordination of Popular dell'Aguán organizations, Copa -. What happened is absurd. There are already ongoing negotiations and the same Facussé agreed that those are tax land for land reform. The farmers of the MCA have been constantly harassed and threatened and what we saw yesterday was a clear indication that the power in Honduras is in the hands of hegemonic economic groups. It is they who rule the country, "said Banegas. For the peasant movement unified of Aguán, Muca, the massacre perpetrated by guards Miguel Facussé shows the weakness and connivance of the government of Porfirio Lobo with the national oligarchy. "The regime of Porfirio Lobo, the Ministers of Security and Defence and Miguel Facussé are primarily responsible for what happened. They want to sow terror in the region to stop the struggles for land, and have already warned that they will militarize the area again - said Juan Chinchilla, head of Muca -. The Muca is solidarity with comrades and companions of the MCA. We are outraged by this new massacre and the ineptitude of this regime. We demand that you investigate thoroughly. No more impunity, "he remarked Chinchilla. Faced with this situation, the MCA is preparing for what may happen in the coming days.
"We are hurt. In ten years they have killed more than 20 companions. It is a campaign of terror, to frighten, to make us give up the defense of our land rights. We are preparing and we are taking the necessary measures and will not stop us, "said Santos Cruz.
Gaia Raimondi
Declaration of the meeting of indigenous
Honduras peoples for the defense of territories
We are gathered here, representatives and members of indigenous peoples Tulupanes, Pech, Miskitos, Maya-Chortis, Lencas and Garífunas in the community of Sambo Creek, in the 2nd and 3rd of October this year, and consider the following observations. The offensive by the nation-state and elite power in Honduras against the indigenous peoples of Honduras has been continuous and systematic, from the coup of 28 June 2009, we saw a resurgence of internal colonialism, with the intent to strengthen the Plan Puebla Panama (renamed as the Mesoamerica Project), and the Merida Initiative (the local version of Plan Colombia), strategies by which the international financial institutions claim possession of rivers, forests and energy resources, which form part of the functional habitat of our peoples.
The effects of climate change in Honduras have been ignored by various government authorities, who have not taken the necessary measures to prevent the destruction of biodiversity, since Honduras is listed as one of the countries of the world most affected by global warming. Nevertheless, we see our people subjugated by the instruments from the Carbon Fund of the United Nations, such as Clean Development Mechanism (MLD) and the plan to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) , that capture our rivers and forests, after we treated them for centuries, and the proof is the recent award of 41 river basins for the construction of dams, without consultation with the community.
There has been a violation of the right to consultation, that we indigenous peoples possess right denied by the State of Honduras, who also signed and ratified the ILO Convention 169 and the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples, right there that these legal instruments recognize. Nation of the current administration plan, granting of water catchment areas by the national parliament to entrepreneurs associated with the clique in power, creating the "Secretary for the development of Afro-Honduran and indigenous issues" from the consultation process prior, free and informed for these initiatives, we indigenous people were excluded. We indigenous people of Honduras have suffered forced displacement caused by local pressure, without the decades-old conflict have been resolved, but remain in legal limbo, as a consequence of the precariousness of the justice system that prevails in the country. Frequently, they become human rights violations and denial of the fundamental right to food.
Given the persistent belief that we Indians are opposed to development, we declare that this belief is absolutely false, as the environmental crisis is located in the world, requires an immediate questioning of the development model imposed and enormous consequences of of hydrocarbons, as well as the systematic destruction of rivers, energy addiction to please the rich countries of the world and advocates of such an obsolete model.
We rebrand our status as indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities, name given to us by the nation-state and the media, a name which denies our historical rights as peoples, ethnic minorities, making us easy without any right whatsoever.
Therefore, we agree and we demand:
- Further to the agreements that emerged from the different meetings on their way to the PRC of Honduras, which took place in the Lenca, Autoconvocate us to complete the Constituent Assembly of Indigenous Peoples and Blacks, people who come from the land, which allows us to reaffirm our vision of the cosmos and our struggle to build a new model of life that can only be achieved through the new foundation.
- Given the authoritarian and aggressive decision against our indigenous peoples on the part of the national parliament, which is in breach of ILO Convention 169 in an irresponsible and ignored the UN Declaration on indigenous rights, we will represent state 'alert and permanent mobilization, so as of now, we reject and condemn the granting of our rivers for the construction of dams (among them PATUCA I, II and III). At the same time we appeal to our communities, organizations and nations, to follow the example of our ancestors in the rebellion and the exercise of our rights with dignity.
- After analyzing the problem widely faced by indigenous women, where there is a clear violation of human rights of women, a product of patriarchy, we decide to give impetus to a process that would strengthen the articulation of indigenous women, to generate the proposal constituent of the population, based on respect for the right to life and dignity of women without patriarchy, capitalism without racism and without, so we Autoconvocate to create a national gathering of black and indigenous women, during the months of March to May 2011.
- We decided against promoting the initiative to create "Answering questions for the development of indigenous and Afro-Honduran, " because by that secretary is to encourage the government bureaucracy and politicization of indigenous issues, the division of our organizations, as well as encourage investment in the projects of death and plunder of our resources.
- We have agreed to the creation of an Indigenous Black and Honduras observatory, which oversees defense and validity of our human rights.
- We demand the immediate legal recognition of the territories in which we live, including the functional habitat already excluded from the headlines and then granted us in half.
- We make an urgent appeal to all the indigenous and black communities to make our deep spirit of rebellion and dignity, to exercise more than ever the historical right to self-determination and sovereign independence and, following the worthy example of Lempira, Cicumba , Barauda, Satuye, Galela Copan, and other ancestors and ancestors that we traced the path of emancipation.
Comunità Garifuna of Sambo Creek
Fraternal Black Organization Honduran, OFRANEH
Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, COPINH
Council of Indigenous Maya Chort Honduras, CONIMCHH
Association of Indigenous Tribes La Montaña de la Flor
Federation of Pech Tribes Honduras, FETRIPH
Miskitas Organization of Women, MIMAT
Federation of the Miskito people, FINZMOST |
anno
41 n. 359
