We have included the following short extracts from the monthly news alert of the Aguán valley to illustrate the local effects of the corrupt election held in November 2025. They also illustrate the mechanisms by which power can be deployed to threaten those who attempt to defend their land, environment and community.
Tocoa, Colon, Honduras – During the month of November, general elections were held in the country. Prior to the elections, the Agrarian Platform issued a statement warning of a plan to create the political conditions for an electoral coup, one that would favour the return to power of the business, political, and criminal sectors that had benefited from the 2009 coup and the narco-dictatorship. Days later, popular organisations spoke out against US interference in the electoral process and called for the consolidation of popular unity to defend the self-determination of peoples and territories.
Furthermore, the modus operandi that enables criminalization, exploitation, and plunder in Colón was once again evident. While the mayor of Tocoa, Adán Funez, hands over land titles to people who administer social media platforms which harass leaders, campesino communities, and environmental defenders, Funez is also attempting to remove councilman Leonel George, known in the region for his environmental advocacy, from office.
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Adán Fúnez Donates Land to Social Media Page Administrators: An investigation by Contracorriente reveals that the mayor of Tocoa, Adán Fúnez, donated land to administrators of social media pages that conduct smear campaigns against leaders and grassroots, campesino, and environmental organisations in Tocoa. Among the beneficiaries are Héctor Madrid, a journalist, correspondent for several media outlets, and administrator of the Noticias de Colón HN Facebook page, and Erlin Henríquez, an evangelical pastor who also administers pages and groups on Facebook. Both received land in the municipality of Tocoa between 2015 and 2016. These same individuals have disseminated content defending various people with alleged ties to organised crime, including the criminal group Los Cachos.
Solidarity with Councillor Leonel George: On November 13, organisations demonstrated in solidarity with Councillor Leonel George, a member of the Tocoa Municipal Committee for Common and Public Goods, who, along with three other councillors, has been summoned to a hearing by the Ministry of the Interior and Justice. The hearing was requested by the mayor of Tocoa, Adán Fúnez, who sought their removal from office as municipal councillors due to their absences from three consecutive regular sessions.
In an interview, Leonel George described the situation as “selective persecution” and “revenge” on the part of the mayor, because the four councillors summoned to the hearing were the same ones who had denounced Adán Fúnez for abuse of power.
Popular movements speak out on elections: On November 27, popular organizations and movements in Honduras issued statements regarding the general elections, reaffirming their independence and commitment to defending human rights and land, and warning of the serious risk posed by political forces seeking to return to authoritarianism, corruption, and dispossession. On November 28, the campesino movement organized in the Agrarian Platform warned of the development of media campaigns and the creation of political conditions aimed at justifying an electoral coup in the general elections.