Category: Chapter 8

Siege and threats against the life of Miriam Miranda, OFRANEH coordinator and Garífuna defender

Chapter 8 / The Garífuna of Honduras

WHRD Alert Honduras

20 September 2023

In September this year [2023], Central America watchers received an alert from the Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD) about attacks and threats against the Garífuna human rights defender Miriam Miranda. Below the photo of Miriam, WHRD explains the situation and its background.

In the early morning of September 19, at least four unknown and heavily armed men entered the community of Vallecito, Colón, surrounding the house of Miriam Miranda, Garífuna defender and OFRANEH Coordinator.

Members of Miriam’s security team demanded the strangers to identify themselves, but they fled the scene. However, the security forces were able to determine that the men were carrying assault rifles and that they did not belong to the Garifuna community. They also heard the men say that next time they would come to “finish the deal”.

It should be noted that this incident occurred during the visit to this territory by the Technical Committee of the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders members and adds to the attacks, criminalization, persecution, harassment and murders that the Garifuna community has faced for decades.

In August 2022, after demonstrating for the defence and recovery of their territories and demanding the alive appearance of the four young Garifunas forcibly disappeared more than three years ago, Miriam Miranda was prosecuted for the crimes of illegal deprivation of liberty and disturbing the public order. In February of that same year, the Garífuna defender received text messages with threats against her life and that of her family. “You have been warned” they said, from an unknown telephone number.

Aggressions and violent incidents against the Garífuna community, as well as persecution and threats against the lives of their leaders for defending their territory, common goods and ancestral cultures, are on the rise. Last May, the Garifuna people commemorated 226 years of dispossession, resistance and struggle: however, assassinations against OFRANEH leaders continue, as well as attacks against Garifuna spirituality and cosmovision, such as the one that occurred in April 2023 with the burning of the Ancestral Health House of OFRANEH, located in the community of San Juan.

This has taken place in spite of the fact that the Garifuna communities have demanded at national and international levels the guarantee of their rights. Thanks to their struggle and in recognition of the multiple human rights violations against them, they have received sentences and provisional measures from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), the highest court in the Americas. The Court has repeatedly ordered the State of Honduras to adopt a series of measures to stop the violence against the communities and to protect their ancestral rights over their territory. The State, far from complying with its obligations, has contributed to the increase of violence in the communities.

The National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras and IM-Defensoras denounce and condemn this new aggression against Miriam Miranda and OFRANEH.

We are concerned about the seriousness of this attack that puts at risk the physical and emotional integrity of Miriam Miranda, the Garifuna communities and members of OFRANEH. We urgently call on the National Protection Mechanism to guarantee the necessary measures to safeguard the physical and emotional integrity of Miriam and to allow her to continue her legitimate work as a defender of the Garífuna people.

In addition, we hold the State responsible for any act of violence that may occur against her, and we demand that the Honduran government take immediate, responsible and effective action in response to these events, as well as respect for the identity and autonomy of the Garífuna people.

Finally, we call on national and international organizations to be vigilant in the light of this situation of risk faced by those who defend the territories and ancestral rights of the Garífuna people and to speak out against these acts.

Indigenous communities in Panama succeed in holding World Bank to account

Chapter 8 / Indigenous issues and development

We are grateful to the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL ) for making their relevant press release available. We have used CIEL’s material before and are pleased to be able to do so again on account of their reliability. “CIEL uses the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society.”

www.ciel.org , July 2023

Key words: Panama; Indigenous communities; free, prior and informed consent (FPIC); World Bank; Fourth electrical transmission line; Ngäbe-Buglé comarca.

In a historic investigation published on 16 June [2023], the independent accountability mechanism of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), found that the IFC failed to act in accordance with its own sustainability policy when helping to structure and tender a public-private partnership for the financing, construction, and operation of Panama’s Fourth Electrical Transmission Line project.

The investigation concluded that, as a consequence, free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC)[1] processes have not been carried out properly with the Indigenous Peoples in the region who could be affected. The CAO’s findings also recognise that Indigenous communities located outside of the officially recognized territory of the Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca have been excluded from FPIC processes altogether.

The IFC has been advising Panama’s state-owned electrical transmission company, ETESA, during the initial phases of the Fourth Line project before construction begins. According to the CAO, the IFC failed to provide adequate guidance regarding the need to engage with stakeholders before ETESA began a preliminary FPIC process, despite known contextual risks that could make it difficult to carry out proper consultations with Indigenous communities in the region. Similarly, the IFC’s guidance about designing the primary FPIC process left significant gaps regarding how to ensure an inclusive and culturally appropriate FPIC process. The investigation found that the IFC’s reliance on ETESA’s assurances regarding the adequacy of its FPIC processes was a key factor that led to these shortcomings.

In response to the CAO’s findings and recommendations, the IFC Board of Directors approved the IFC’s Management Action Plan to address these shortcomings. The plan was approved after the IFC added commitments to advise ETESA on an ongoing basis about the measures required to ensure that all Indigenous communities that could be affected by the project are identified and properly included in mandatory FPIC processes. In addition, the IFC agreed to provide guidance regarding the project’s environmental and social impact assessment, including the expertise and resources needed to conduct proper FPIC processes. The IFC also agreed to take steps to ensure that contextual risks are considered in similar projects going forward.

The case will now enter a monitoring phase, during which the IFC will report every six months to the CAO and the IFC Board of Directors regarding the actions it has taken to fulfill the commitments made to address the shortcomings identified in the CAO’s investigation report.

Feliciano Santos, a representative of Indigenous Ngäbe, Buglé, and Campesino communities and coordinator of the Movement for the Defense of the Territories and Ecosystems of Bocas del Toro (MODETEAB), stated:

When we submitted our complaint about the Fourth Line project to the CAO in 2018, we hoped that the CAO would recognize the legitimacy of our concerns and emphasize the need for the IFC to take action to ensure that our rights as Indigenous Peoples are respected in this project.  Now, four years later, the CAO has done just that.

We welcome the CAO’s findings and the actions that the IFC has committed to take in response. We reiterate that the IFC’s role is particularly important in light of ETESA’s previous failures to carry out adequate consultations — let alone proper FPIC processes — with communities affected by its projects, including the Third Electrical Transmission Line. 

While the hard work of ensuring full respect for our rights in practice still lies ahead, the outcome of this investigation reinforces the centrality of FPIC for development actors and paves the way for the IFC to play a constructive role in assisting ETESA in carrying out robust FPIC processes with our Indigenous communities. This is essential not only to meet the IFC’s own standards, but also to safeguard our Indigenous communities, our cultural heritage, our lands, and our resources in the face of the Fourth Line project.

Sarah Dorman, an attorney with the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), stated:

This is just the second case to be completed under the CAO’s new policy, which provides new guarantees for consulting with complainants about the commitments and actions that should be taken in response to CAO findings. This case shows that these accountability processes can work, especially when the concerns and insights of affected community members are taken seriously and incorporated in action plans at early, pre-construction stages of development projects — before irreparable harm might be done.

Just as importantly, the findings in this case represent a milestone for ensuring that Indigenous Peoples’ rights are respected in the context of projects supported by the IFC — not just in policy, but in practice. Through this investigation, the CAO confirmed that respect for Indigenous Peoples’ right to free, prior, and informed consent is a prerequisite for sustainable development. And it sets the critical precedent that development finance actors cannot shirk their responsibilities to Indigenous Peoples with impunity.

[1]  Note regarding FPIC: The right of Indigenous Peoples to free, prior, and informed consent allows Indigenous Peoples to give or withhold their consent for projects that would affect them or their territories. FPIC is now a well-established right: Not only is it enshrined in numerous regional and international instruments related to Indigenous Peoples, but it has also been incorporated into the environmental and social policies of development banks such as the IFC.

Garifuna Rights Defender Receiving Death Threats in Honduras

Chapter 8 / The Garífuna of Honduras

December 2022

From Rights Action, The Violence of Development website has received the information below about death threats to Alfredo Lopez, a leader of the Garifuna community in Triunfo de la Cruz, northern Honduras. These are extremely serious. It was from Triunfo de la Cruz that the four young Garifuna leaders were disappeared over two years ago, and they have never been found since and their disappearance has never been seriously investigated by the Honduran police.

Alfredo was interviewed in 2010 by The Violence of Development website in the radio station, Faluma Bimetu, not long after it had been burned down by opponents of Indigenous rights who were also part of the gangsterism of the Honduran government from 2009 until the Honduran election last November (2021). His 2010 interview appears in this website at: https://theviolenceofdevelopment.com/alfredo-lopez/

Rights Action has translated the Criterio article about the death threats to Alfredo and their introduction and the translation are given below.

 

Alfredo, speaking with a Rights Action delegation, May 2013, in front of Garifuna lands illegally captured by powerful African palm producers. PC: Camila Rich

In the 1990s, Alfredo spent over 6 years as a political prisoner in Honduran jails for his work and activism in defence of Garifuna land and human rights, threatened by corrupt, violent for-export African palm producers and international tourism operators.

Today, he is still defending Garifuna land and rights, still at great risk.

“The origin of the problems that the Garífuna people face in Honduras lies in the government’s disrespect for their communal territory and the State’s failure to comply with the Triunfo de la Cruz and Punta Piedra rulings. This has allowed third parties to appropriate the lands.”

This last incident in which López Álvarez was threatened is a clear example of the lack of action on the part of the Honduran State.”

 

 

Garifuna Leader Faces Death Threats if he Does Not Leave Triunfo de la Cruz Community

By Marcia Perdomo, marciaperdomo@criterio.hn
October 27, 2022
https://criterio.hn/amenazan-a-muerte-a-lider-garifuna-sino-abandona-comunidad-del-triunfo-de-la-cruz/

Tegucigalpa – The Honduran Black Fraternal Organisation (Ofraneh) denounced the death threat against the representative of the Triunfo de la Cruz Land Defense Committee, Alfredo López Álvarez, if he does not leave the community and cease the struggle for the restitution of the rights of the Garífuna people.

The statement was made during the session ‘Non-compliance with the judgments of the IACHR Court: the Garífuna case of Honduras’ during the second day of the Central America Donors Forum 2022 (CADF) held in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras.

Criterio.hn spoke with López Álvarez, who pointed out that things are going from bad to worse, because previously threats were not made directly. They even established a deadline of 24 hours for him to leave the community because the third parties of Playa Escondida believe that the community does not deserve to be there.

 

“I don’t owe anything to anyone, nor do I live off anyone, I am very independent. I don’t have to leave my house,” he affirmed.

López Álvarez won a case against the State of Honduras before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in February 2006 after his right to personal liberty, right to personal integrity and right to judicial guarantees and judicial protection were violated, following an arbitrary illegal detention, which ended up resulting in his imprisonment in a detention centre for 6 years and 4 months.

 The vulnerability of the Garífuna people

The origin of the problems that the Garífuna people face in Honduras lies in the government’s disrespect for their communal territory and the State’s failure to comply with the Triunfo de la Cruz and Punta Piedra rulings. This has allowed third parties to appropriate the lands.

This last incident in which López Álvarez was threatened is a clear example of the lack of action on the part of the Honduran State.

[Álvarez] shared that the origin of the threat comes from the fact that the community opened a cemetery, after the previous cemetery had reached capacity. The new cemetery is within the ancestral territory of the community of Triunfo de la Cruz, Tela, in the Honduran Caribbean, but was seized by the residents of Playa Escondida.

“Playa Escondida is where all the invading politicians live, who have houses to go for walks and vacations,” and even Colombians, who believe they own the community, said López Álvarez.

 

The state of Honduras must urgently intervene

According to Edy Tábora, lawyer of the Bufete Justicia para los Pueblos and representative of Ofraneh, the State of Honduras has a responsibility to intervene to restore the territory to the Garífuna community, especially because this land has been taken by people with a lot of power in Honduras and abroad, with the objective of implementing hydroelectric, mining, and mega-tourist projects.

Edy Tábora, Justice for the Peoples Law Firm

This lack of government action is costing the lives of Garífunas who have been murdered for demanding land restitution and land titling, not only in Triunfo de la Cruz in Tela, Atlántida, and Punta Piedra in Iriona, Colón, but also in the rest of the communities along the Honduran Caribbean coast.

Tábora remarked that the State has the obligation to clean up the territory and prevent further acts of violence against the Garífuna people. One of the concrete acts that the State can carry out is to put a stop to the criminalization of the Garífuna.

In addition, he said that the State must guarantee their safety and prevent the repetition of regrettable events such as the forced disappearance of the four Garifuna of Triunfo de la Cruz, and actions such as those denounced by Alfredo Lopez, who took the State to the Inter-American Court, won the case and now receives threats to leave his community in 24 hours.

“This is an urgent, serious situation and the State must react immediately,” concluded the legal professional

https://criterio.hn/amenazan-a-muerte-a-lider-garifuna-sino-abandona-comunidad-del-triunfo-de-la-cruz/

Army and Police Move to Evict Indigenous Communities in Baja Verapaz

Chapter 8 / Other Central American indigenous land disputes

Guatemala Human Rights Commission (ghrcusa)

November 25, 2022

During the night of November 24, according to reports, numerous soldiers, police officers, and heavily armed civilian men are making incursions into the Q’eqchi and Poqomchi communities in the Sierra de las Minas, Baja Verapaz.

Already, for five days now, numerous contingents of soldiers and police officers have been occupying and controlling communities in the area. In the face of the armed and intimidating force of the military, members of the communities of Pancoc and Monjón fled their homes. Members of the army and the National Civil Police then entered and occupied the homes of community members, consumed their foods, killed and consumed their animals, and reportedly seriously injured more than one community member.

We are deeply concerned that more illegal and arbitrary evictions, including of the Dos Fuentes and Washington communities, will follow. These communities received protective orders from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in October 2020. Their rights must be respected. The Guatemalan government agreed to protect the rights to life and personal integrity of the Poqomchi’ Mayan families of the Washington and Dos Fuentes communities; use culturally appropriate measures to improve their living conditions, nutrition, and access to water; prevent acts of violence by third parties; and investigate the attacks that led to the granting of protective measures.

Instead, your government took action that put Indigenous communities at greater risk, in 2021 creating the Observatory on Property Rights and a special Prosecutors Office for the Crime of Usurpation—usurpation being a charge often levelled against Indigenous communities claiming their ancestral lands. Two months ago, the Guatemalan army inaugurated its first new military brigade in ten years, based in Baja Verapaz.

The entire Sierra de Las Minas area is now militarized, and as a result of the heavy presence of soldiers and police officers, members of Indigenous communities have not been able to freely circulate to carry out essential tasks of daily life.

Your government has systematically and repeatedly violated  basic standards that evictions must meet under international law. Various Poqomchi’ and Q’eqchi communities now fearfully await illegal and arbitrary forced eviction.

We urge the Guatemalan government to:

  • guarantee community members’ rights to life, liberty, and physical safety;
  • cancel eviction orders that violate human rights and international standards, and place Indigenous communities, including families with children, in grave danger;
  • immediately demilitarize the Sierra de Las Minas area and guarantee the safety and free movement of members of these threatened Indigenous communities;

comply with all obligations in the IACHR precautionary measures for the communities of Dos Fuentes and Washington, as well as obligations of the Guatemalan Constitution and international treaties adopted by Guatemala related to demilitarization and Indigenous rights.

State Security Forces Open Fire on Q’eqchi’ Community in El Estor

Chapter 8 / Other Central American indigenous land disputes

Guatemala Human Rights Commission (ghrcusa)

9th December 2022

In the early morning of December 6, hundreds of Guatemalan police and military forces attacked the Q’eqchi’ community of Chapín Abajo in El Estor, Izabal. The group arrived via boat, working alongside what witnesses have reported as local paramilitary groups, and entered the community by force. These State security forces were acting on behalf of the major land holder and African palm oil company, Naturaceites that filed an eviction notice, accusing the community of “usurpation of land.”

Video evidence reveals excessive force was used against the community. The forces opened fire, launched teargas, and beat community members. So far, two have been reported injured, including one minor who has been hospitalized from gunshot wounds and remains in critical condition. Dozens of community members, including children, were exposed to unsafe levels of tear gas. Five have been detained, including two minors. Local Q’eqchi’ Ancestral Councils have asked for an official observation mission from the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (PDH) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to visit the area to verify the situation.

Both national and international groups came forward, denouncing the attack. The Forum of International Organisations in Guatemala (FONGI) condemned the excessive use of force and called upon the State of Guatemala to “comply with its human rights obligations.” In an alert published on December 7, GHRC expressed concerns for “the safety and well-being of indigenous communities in El Estor and throughout Guatemala, as cases of violent evictions by state security forces in collaboration with paramilitary groups have increased this year.”

An earlier update from the GHRC (dated 1st September 2022) shows that the government and security forces’ eviction tactics on behalf of national and international companies is actually a fully-fledged government strategy in favour of the elites of the country and to the harm of Guatemala’s own people. A 1st September [2022] update follows.

 

Police Attempt to Evict Communities in Purulhá for the Third Time  

In the early hours of the morning, hundreds of agents of the National Civil Police moved into the communities of Pancoc, Los Encinos and Mojón in the municipality of Purulhá, Baja Verapaz, in an attempt to evict the inhabitants of the communities. Unknown armed actors also entered the community, resulting in one injury by firearm. Community members speculated that the armed actors were hired by large landowners of the San Rafael and San Luis farms who have claimed ownership over Maya Q’eqchi’ and Poqomchi’ territories in the area and have filed several requests for evictions of the communities this year. The eviction was suspended once more, but police forces reportedly stayed in the area.

This incident marks the third eviction attempt by police in Purulhá this year that has resulted in violence. The community received precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2017 after threats made to them by large landowners in the area.

Mayans call for international action to halt violations of their rights

Chapter 8 / Other Central American indigenous land disputes

By Last Real Indians   –  reproduced from ENCA 85, newsletter of the Environmental Network for Central America, July 2022.

Original article from Popular Resistance, May 25, 2022

Key words: Guatemala, Indigenous Culture, Indigenous Rights, Mayan Peoples

The Mayan Council Chilam B’alam of the K’iches, the Mayan Council Komon Ajq’ijab’, the National Coordinator of the Territories of Life Network (Coordinadora Nacional Red Territories de Vida), the National Ajq’ijab’ Council “Oxlajuj Ajpop,” and the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), inform the national and international communities that on May 4th, 2022 they presented a communication requesting urgent action by the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure.

The urgent communication was submitted in response to the first reading of Bill No. 5923, “Rescue of the Pre-Hispanic Heritage”, developed by the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala. Its provisions will cause the dispossession, privatization, and economic exploitation of two thousand seven hundred and fifty-four (2,754) ceremonial centres, sacred sites, and other elements of Mayan spiritual, religious, and cultural heritage. Ceremonial areas in 22 Guatemalan departments will be impacted, including those surrounding Lake Atitlán in the department of Sololá which is sacred to the Maya Kaqchiles.

The submitting organisations are calling for urgent action by these UN human rights mandate holders to address the promotion of this Bill by the Guatemala Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Cultural Commission of the Congress, and the Congress itself, which in their view represents serious human rights violations and fails to comply with Guatemala’s obligations under various international and regional instruments affirming the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Specifically, if adopted, the Bill would violate Guatemala’s obligation to carry out effective consultations for the purpose of obtaining the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Mayan Peoples, and would maintain the pattern of racism and discrimination carried out against the Indigenous Peoples of Guatemala.

These Indigenous organisations call upon these thematic Rapporteurs and the CERD to take action in support of the Mayan Peoples’ rights in accordance with their mandates and provide strong recommendations to address and remedy this urgent situation currently faced by the Mayan People. 

For further information related to this note, please contact juanleon@treatycouncil.org or visit www.iitc.org.

Whаt dо Мауа сuѕtоmаrу lаnd rіghtѕ mеаn tо thе Мауа?

Chapter 8 / Land disputes and encroachments into indigenous territories in Central America / Other Central American indigenous land disputes

We are grateful to Aaron Humes of Breaking Belize News, an online news service covering Belize, the Caribbean and Central America, for permission to reproduce his short article on the struggle for Mayan land rights in Belize’s southern district of Toledo. The original article can be found at:

https://www.breakingbelizenews.com/2022/02/12/what-does-maya-customary-land-rights-mean-to-the-maya/

Ву Ааrоn Нumеѕ, Breaking Belize News

12 Fеbruаrу, 2022

Key words: Toledo; Mayan land rights; FPIC and ILO 169; land use in Indigenous villages.

 

Рrеѕеntеrѕ at a recent meeting in Belize hаvе frаmеd thе оngоіng ѕtrugglе fоr Мауа сuѕtоmаrу lаnd rіghtѕ іn thе Тоlеdо Dіѕtrісt [of Belize] аѕ lеѕѕ оf аn оffеnѕіvе аnd mоrе оf а dеfеnѕіvе rеасtіоn tо уеаrѕ оf dерrеdаtіоn.

Ассоrdіng tо hіѕtоrіаn Fіlіbеrtо Реnаdоѕ, thе Мауа раrtісulаrlу іn thе Тоlеdо Dіѕtrісt hаvе а lоng аnd nаturаl rеlаtіоnѕhір wіth lаnd аnd hоw іt іѕ uѕеd. Fоr thеm іt іѕ а реrѕоnаl, ѕріrіtuаl соnnесtіоn trаnѕсеndіng mеrе Wеѕtеrn іdеаѕ оf ‘оwnеrѕhір’.

Аѕ ѕuсh, соmmunаl lаnd tіtlе іѕ lеѕѕ аbоut whо оwnѕ thе lаnd аnd mоrе аbоut whаt іѕ dоnе wіth іt.

Мауа lеаdеrѕ tеll uѕ thаt thеу hаvе adapted аnd wіll соntіnuе tо аdарt tо mоdеrn tіmеѕ wіth rеfеrеnсе tо thеіr hіѕtоrу аѕ а реорlе. Тhuѕ, соmmunаl lаnd tіtlе еnсоmраѕѕеѕ rесоgnіtіоn оf fаmіlу іnhеrіtаnсе, оutѕіdеr іntеrvеntіоn аnd оthеr соnсерtѕ.

Whаt thе Мауа рrіmаrіlу аѕk fоr, ѕаіd ѕроkеѕреrѕоn Сhrіѕtіnа Сос, іѕ tо wоrk tоgеthеr wіth gоvеrnmеnt аnd thіrd раrtіеѕ іn gооd fаіth. Undеr thе FРІС рrоtосоl[1], соmmunіtіеѕ wіll lіѕtеn tо іnfоrmаtіоn gіvеn tо thеm аbоut рrороѕеd рrојесtѕ, аnd dесіdе fоr thеmѕеlvеѕ whеthеr ѕuсh рrојесtѕ wіll bе аllоwеd, оr dіѕаllоwеd.

Тhеrе іѕ аlѕо а rоlе fоr thе Тоlеdо Аlсаldеѕ Аѕѕосіаtіоn (ТАА) іn ѕіtuаtіоnѕ whеrе асtіvіtіеѕ іn оnе vіllаgе mау іmрасt оthеrѕ.[2]

Сос dеѕсrіbеd “соnсеntrіс сіrсlеѕ” оf lаnd uѕе іn vіllаgеѕ ѕuсh аѕ Ѕаn Веnіtо Роіtе, rаdіаtіng оutwаrd frоm thе сеntеr оf thе vіllаgе tо еnсоmраѕѕ іndіvіduаl hоuѕеѕ, fаrmіng, fіѕhіng, аnd huntіng grоundѕ. Тhе futurе роlісу оf thе gоvеrnmеnt аnd оf vіllаgеѕ wіll rесоgnіsе thіѕ аnd аdарt tо асtіvіtу оn thе grоund.

 

[1]  The FPIC protocol mentioned here refers to the International Labour Organisation’s Convention Number 169 – generally referred to as ILO 169 – which states that developments on Indigenous lands should not be carried out without Free, Prior and Informed Consultation (FPIC) with all those persons and communities potentially affected by such development. See Box 8.1 of the book ‘The Violence of Development’ and the first entry in this chapter of the website – ‘ILO Convention No. 169 On Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’.

[2] Aaron Humes subsequently informed us that the TAA and the Maya Leaders Alliance held their press briefing about this subject following a meeting in Belize City. The meeting was essentially about a lack of proper consultation with the TAA and other relevant entities. Aaron also cautioned us that the grievances are nowhere close to being resolved at this time.

 

The Lenca peoples’ struggle against hydro-electric projects in Intibucá, Honduras

Chapter 8 / Land disputes and encroachments into indigenous territories in Central America / The Lenca people of Honduras

The reader is referred to Chapter 4 of this website for news of the award of the Goldman Environmental Prize to Berta Cáceres for her leadership of COPINH’s struggle against hydro-electric power projects in Honduras, and in particular for a link to a video clip of her acceptance speech.

Se refiere el lector/la lectora a Capítula 4 de esta página web para noticias del otorgamiento del Premio Goldman a Berta Cáceres para su liderazgo de la lucha de COPINH contra proyectos hidroeléctricos en Honduras, y especialmente para ver el vínculo al video de su discurso de aceptación.

Indigenous developments in Nicaragua: The OAS and Nicaragua – again

Chapter 8 / Indigenous issues and development

With the last set of additions made to The Violence of Development website (December 2021), we included a letter from the Nicaraguan government to the Organisation of American States (OAS) terminating that country’s membership of the Organisation and setting out the reasoning behind the government’s decision.

Under the Directorship of Luis Almagro, the OAS has consistently undermined and reported against those countries in Latin America and the Caribbean which follow a strongly or even slightly socially directed political and economic policy line. The OAS was largely responsible for spreading the lies about the Bolivian election which resulted in a right-wing coup which unseated the democratically elected Evo Morales. It has consistently disseminated untruths and half-truths about the Chavez and Maduro governments in Venezuela; and it has been instrumental in persuading the mainstream western media that the November election in Nicaragua was illegitimate.[1]

Before the Nicaraguan election and before Nicaragua’s withdrawal from the OAS, however, Nicaragua’s Ambassador to the OAS, Luis Alvarado, spoke at the OAS Special Session on the occasion of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. He recalled that Nicaragua is a multi-ethnic and multicultural nation.

“We celebrate the legacy of our Caciques Diriangén and Nicarao and so many other Miskito, Mayangna, Ulwa and Rama leaders, who never surrendered to colonial oppression and whose strength and wisdom inspired national independence, anti-imperialist struggle, the Sandinista Popular Revolution and the autonomy of the peoples of the Caribbean Coast and the construction of a genuine Nicaraguan democracy,” he said. He said that the government of Nicaragua has implemented “important programmes such as the Mother Earth Programme, which has allowed the demarcation and titling of 23 territories of the native and Afro-descendant peoples between 2007 and 2021, incorporating 314 communities that cover a territorial extension of more than 37,859 sq. km., with more than 205,315 inhabitants, 31 per cent of the national territory, more than any other country in our hemisphere. Technical and higher education has been strengthened, which is free through the National Technological Institute (INATEC), the community and intercultural universities, BICU and URACCAN and the Open Online University of Nicaragua (UALN) of the National Council of Universities. In the area of health, the ancestral knowledge and practices of Indigenous peoples have been integrated into the Family and Community Health Model (MOSAFC), which guarantees greater investment in health infrastructure, professional training and comprehensive organisation of the health sector, encouraging participation of all actors (midwives, healers, traditional doctors, brigadistas, nurses, doctors, wise men, etc.) in the intercultural management of health in Indigenous communities.” [Nicaraguan Delegation to the OAS, as reported in Informe Pastrán, 12 August 2021.]

[1]   See ‘Ten Reasons Almagro Has To Go’: https://popularresistance.org/ten-reasons-almagro-has-to-go/

Indígenas salen al paso de declaraciones de Carlos Alvarado en la COP-26

Chapter 10 / Climate change, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and carbon credits / Chapter 8 / Conservation and indigenous peoples

Con referencia a nuestro resumen de las noticias y los temas pertinentes a COP-26 – véase el artículo previo cargado en noviembre 2021 – el 5 de noviembre el periódico costarricense Semanario Universidad incluyó un artículo por Vinicio Chacón sobre las diferencias entre el discurso del Presidente Costaricense Carlos Alvarado a la conferencia COP-26 y la realidad experimentado por los Pueblos Indígenos en ese país. Estamos muy agradecido a Vinicio por su autorización de incluir el artículo y su traducción en nuestro sitio web La Violencia del Desarrollo.

 Por Vinicio Chacón | vinicio.chacon@ucr.ac.cr

 5 noviembre, 2021   Semanario Universidad, San José, Costa Rica 

Recordaron agresiones sufridas, los asesinatos y muchos de los incumplimientos a sus derechos territoriales, tras discurso del mandatario en cumbre mundial.

“El Presidente dice que reconoce que cuidamos los bosques; no deberían haber muertos por defender la tierra, ni siquiera deberíamos estar en esta lucha”, dijo un activista identificado como Lesner, recuperador Bribri del clan Tuádiwak, en el territorio de Salitre.

Sus fuertes palabras fueron divulgadas por la Coordinadora de Lucha Sur Sur (CLSS) en un comunicado con el que salió al paso de las manifestaciones hechas por el presidente Carlos Alvarado en Glasgow, Escocia, en el marco de la cumbre mundial de cambio climático COP-26.

Durante la realización de un foro denominado “Bosques y Uso del Suelo” que se realizó el pasado lunes, Alvarado manifestó que “los mayores guardianes del bosque y la tierra son los Pueblos Indígenas”, al tiempo que resaltó el Programa de Pago por Servicios Ambientales (PSA) como un mecanismo para la conservación de bosques.

Al respecto, las organizaciones indígenas y campesinas que integran la CLSS expresaron un inconformidad con lo dicho por Alvarado, en primer lugar porque el Estado “no ha sido capaz, ni ha tenido la voluntad política para garantizar la vida e integridad personal de los Pueblos Originarios” y al respecto recordó “los asesinatos por razones políticas de Sergio Rojas Ortiz, Uniwak del Pueblo Bribri de Salitre el 18 de marzo de 2019 y de Jerhy Rivera Rivera del Pueblo Brörán de Térraba el 24 de febrero de 2020”.

En efecto, dos asesinatos en menos de un año de “hermanos que fueron asesinados defendiendo sus territorios y Pueblos”.

Al mismo tiempo, la organización recordó que el Informe de agresiones y violaciones a los Derechos Humanos contra los pueblos originarios en la Zona Sur de Costa Rica, publicado por la misma CLSS, denunció que durante 2020 se dieron 14 amenazas de muerte contra activistas de los Pueblos Originarios de la Zona Sur del país, así como dos defensores de los derechos humanos de estos Pueblos.

Ello es sólo una pequeña pero significativa parte de los 86 incidentes documentados en ese Informe y que se mantienen en la impunidad.

 

Deuda pendiente

Con gravedad, la CLSS subrayó que en los territorios indígenas de la zona Sur se mantiene una ocupación ilegal según detalla de un 40% de esos territorios por parte de personas no indígenas, que en algunos casos alcanza el un 75%.

Precisamente respecto al tema de saneamiento territorial, la CLSS resalta que el Plan de Recuperación de Territorios Indígenas (PRTI) que inició el gobierno en 2017, no se ha materializado en la devolución efectiva de “ni un solo terreno”, a excepción de dos fincas de Salitre que ya habían sido recuperados por los propios indígenas pero que “contrario a lo que este Pueblo solicitaba”, fueron entregados a la Asociación de Desarrollo Indígena.

Cabe recordar que estas asociaciones de desarrollo son instancias impuestas a los pueblos indígenas por el Estado, pero no se corresponden con sus tradiciones culturales o históricas, mientras que la organización de autogobierno que reconocen en el caso de ese territorio Bribri es el Concejo Ditsö Iriria Ajkönuk Wakpa.

La CLSS también denunció que el Estado ha sido incapaz de devolver los terrenos priorizados por las organizaciones propias de varios Pueblos Originarios, específicamente ocho en Salitre, 13 en Cabagra y 17 en Térraba. Además, durante 2020 y 2021 se han dado tres resoluciones judiciales que ordenan el desalojo de personas del pueblo Cabécar de China Kichá y una del pueblo Brörán de Térraba, que apeladas oportunamente, pero que tres de ellas aún representan “un peligro y una amenaza de desalojo judicial”.

Con gravedad, la CLSS se refirió al PSA y destacó la omisión de Alvarado de que esos pagos son gestionados y administrados por las mencionadas asociaciones de desarrollo indígena, que como se dijo, no se consideran organizaciones propias, sino más bien impuestas por el Estado en estas comunidades.

“Tampoco señala Alvarado los muchos casos en los que se encuentra denunciadas y en procesos judiciales, algunas de estas ADI, no todas, por el manejo irregular de los fondos provenientes de PSA y la poca participación real de las comunidades y propietarios de estos bosques, en las decisiones y beneficios económicos”, apunta el comunicado.

Una mujer recuperadora en la localidad de Crun Shurin, en el territorio Térraba del pueblo Brörán, no identificada en el documento divulgado, observó que ser “guardianes de los bosques”, como dijo Alvarado, “nos ha costado dos asesinatos de defensores de nuestros derechos como Pueblos Originarios, muchas personas más no podemos ni siquiera dormir tranquilas con nuestras familias por las amenazas de los terratenientes; somos guardianes pero tenemos a los poderes del Estado en contra de nuestros derechos”.

Por ello, asevero que “no se vale que el mundo escuche estas mentiras del presidente Carlos Alvarado, ya que nuestras luchas son muy desiguales y nosotras como mujeres indígenas sufrimos toda clase de atropellos por seguir acompañando y conservando a nuestra madre tierra para evitar que las empresas transnacionales con sus proyectos extractivos la sigan matando”.

“Nuestra lucha continuará por defender nuestras tierras que son un todo: Bosques, Agua, Aire, Espiritualidad, Cultura y Autonomía; aunque nos tengan amenazadas y aunque el Presidente Alvarado mienta en los foros internacionales”, añadió.

Por su parte, Lesner también plantó cara al Presidente y dijo “no somos guardianes de nuestras tierras, nosotros somos parte de la tierra y la cuidamos de forma innata, natural. Ella nos cuida y nosotros la cuidamos, para nosotros el bosque es un ser vivo como cualquier otro elemento que compone esta tierra”.

Añadió que “no necesitamos dinero para cuidar nuestros bosques y tierras, porque a la hora de que se ofrece dinero por cuidar nuestros bosques y tierra, se pierde el sentido de vivir en equilibrio y se cuida solo por dinero. Nuestra cosmogonía dice como debemos vivir con nuestro bosque y tierra, el hacerlo pagado distorsiona esa forma de hacerlo.”

 

Indigenous groups rebut the statements of Carlos Alvarado at COP-26

Chapter 10 / Climate change, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and carbon credits / Chapter 8 / Conservation and indigenous peoples

Further to our round-up of Central America COP-26 related news and issues – see previous article uploaded in November 2021 – on 5th November the Costa Rican weekly newspaper Semanario Universidad included an article by Vinicio Chacón on the difference between Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado’s speech at the COP-26 conference and the reality experienced by Indigenous peoples in that country. We are grateful to Vinicio for his permission to include the article and its translation in The Violence of Development website.

By Vinicio Chacón   Vinicio.chacon@ucr.ac.cr | 5 November 2021,  Semanario Universidad, San José, Costa Rica

(English translation by Martin Mowforth)

 

Aggressions remembered, many assassinations and failures to implement land rights – after the leader’s speech at the global summit.

“The President says that he recognises that we look after the forests; there should be no killings of those who defend their land …”, said one activist identified as Lesner, a Bribri land recoverer of the Tuádiwak clan in the Salitre territory.

His striking words were repeated by the Coordinating Organisation of the South-South Struggle (CLSS by its Spanish initials) in a communication countering and examining the actual actions of President Carlos Alvarado against his words in Glasgow, Scotland, at the global summit on climate change, COP-26.

During one forum titled ‘Forests and Use of Soils’, Alvarado claimed that “the best guardians of the forests and the earth are the Indigenous Peoples”, at the same time he was projecting the Programme of Payment for Environmental Services (PSA by its Spanish initials) as a mechanism for forest conservation.

In this regard, the Indigenous and campesino organisations which make up the CLSS noted a mismatch between what Alvarado said, in the first place because the State “has not been able and has not had the political will to guarantee the life and personal integrity of the First Peoples” as witness “the 18th March 2019 assassination for political motives of Sergio Rojas Ortiz, a Uniwak of the Bribri People of Salitre and the 24th February 2020 assassination of Jerhy Rivera Rivera of the Brörán People of Térraba.” In effect, these were two assassinations in less than one year of “brothers who were assassinated for defending their lands and Peoples.”

At the same time, the CLSS published a report on the attacks against and violations of the human rights of the First Peoples in the Southern Zone of Costa Rica which denounced that during 2020 there were 14 death threats made against activists and human rights defenders of the First Peoples of the Southern Zone.

That is only one small element of the 86 incidents documented in the report and which remain in impunity.

 

Pending Debt

The CLSS emphasised that in the Indigenous territories of the Southern Zone an illegal occupation is maintained with 40 per cent of their territories held by non-Indigenous peoples, and in some cases this reaches 75 per cent.

With respect to the issue of land delineation, the CLSS noted that the Recovery Plan for Indigenous Territories (PRTI by its Spanish initials) initiated by the government in 2017 has not materialised with “not one single defined land area”, with the exception of two fincas [small farms] in Salitre which had already been recovered by the appropriate Indigenous Peoples but which “against the will of the People” were delivered to the Association of Indigenous Development.

It’s worth recalling that these development associations are organisations which were imposed on Indigenous Peoples by the State, but they do not correspond to their cultural or historic traditions, while the recognised organisation in Bribri territory is the Ditsö Itiria Ajkönuk Wakpa.

The CLSS also denounced that the State has been incapable of devolving the lands prioritized by the Original Peoples’ own organisations, specifically eight territories in Salitre, 13 in Cabagra and 17 in Térraba. Moreover, during 2020 and 2021 three judicial decisions ordered the eviction of Cabécar people from China Kichá and one decision relating to the eviction of the Brörán people of Térraba who appealed in time, but three of them are still under “the danger and threat of judicial eviction”.

The CLSS referred to the PSA and emphasised Alvarado’s omission that these payments are managed and administered by the above-mentioned Indigenous Development Associations, which as already mentioned are not considered as their own organisations but rather are seen as being imposed by the State on these communities. “Neither did Alvarado make note of the many denunciations and judicial procedures against the irregular management of funds from the PSA and the little real participation of the communities and owners of these forests in the decisions and economic benefits,” said the CLSS communication.

One unidentified woman, a land recoverer in the area of Crun Shurin in the Térraba territory of the Brörán People, observed that to be “a protector of the forests”, as Alvarado called them, “has cost us two assassinated First Peoples rights defenders, and many more of us cannot even sleep at peace at night along with our families because of the land owners’ threats. We are the forest protectors, but we face the powers of the State against our rights.”

Thus she asserted that “the world should not be listening to these lies by President Carlos Alvarado because our struggles are very unequal and as Indigenous women we suffer all manner of abuses for continuing to conserve our Mother Earth from the ravages of the transnational companies with their extractive projects.”

“Our struggle will continue to defend our lands which belong to all of us; Forests, Water, Air, Spirituality, Culture, and Autonomy; despite the threats we receive and despite the fact that President Alvarado lies in international summits,” she added.

For his part, Lesner also accused the President and said: “We are not protectors of our lands; we are part of the earth and we look after it in an intuitive and natural way. She looks after us and we look after her; for us the forest is a living being as are the other elements which make up the earth.”

He added that: “we don’t need money to look after our forests and our lands, because when we are offered money to look after the forest and the land, the sense of living in equilibrium is lost and we start looking after only money. Our cosmovision tells us how we must live with our forest and lands. Paying for it distorts this manner of living with it.”

An audio clip of a 2010 interview with Berta Cáceres

Chapter 8 / The Lenca people of Honduras

In 2010 Dominic McCann, Kerstin Hansen, the late Juliette Doman and Michael Farley conducted an interview with Berta Cáceres in her home town of La Esperanza in the department of Intibucá, Honduras. The interview was conducted on behalf of the Environmental Network for Central America (ENCA) which had recently supported a programme of cultivation of medicinal plants run by COPINH, the Honduran organisation of which Berta was the Director. To commemorate the 5th anniversary of Berta’s assassination, Dominic circulated an audio clip (of just under 5 minutes) of their interview with Berta. The clip is in Spanish only, and a link to it is given below the picture of Berta and the text following.

Berta Cáceres 

Interviewee: Berta Cáceres, leader of COPINH, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Peoples of Honduras
Interviewers: Dominic McCann, Kerstin Hansen, Juliette Doman and Michael Farley
Location: Intibucá, Honduras
Date: March 2010
Theme: COPINH; resistance; indigenous knowledge.
Notes: 

  1. The full interview with Berta can be found at: https://theviolenceofdevelopment.com/berta-caceres/
  2. The reader is referred to Chapter 4of this website for news of the award of the Goldman Environmental Prize to Berta Cáceresfor her leadership of COPINH’s struggle against hydro-electric power projects in Honduras, and in particular for a link to a video clip of her acceptance speech: https://theviolenceofdevelopment.com/berta-caceres-receives-the-goldman-environmental-prize-2015/
  3. Further below the link to the interview clip with Berta is another short recording made by Dominic of some community singing in San Francisco de Opalaca, Honduras, one of the communities with which COPINH worked.

From Dominic McCann:

For those who are interested this is part of an interview I recorded with Berta Caceres in 2010

Or listen here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c0qmucj0uc33y96/STE-001%20Berta%201%20%2864kbs%29.mp3?dl=0

And if you want to hear some uplifting singing from Copinh community: