Ag Missions Communique from Vallecito on Indigenous Land Rights
COMMUNIQUE FROM VALLECITO, HONDURAS
FROM AGRICULTURAL MISSIONS, INC (AMI)
MAY DAY, 2013
Captions: Our Garifuna territory is Not For Sale / OFRANEH
International Solidarity Gathering for the Claiming of theTerritorial Rights of the Garifuna People
From April 26 to 29, 2013 in Vallecito, Municipalidad de Limón, Dept. Colón, Honduras the International Solidarity Gathering for the Claiming of the Territorial Rights of the Garifuna People took place, as a collaboration between Agricultural Missions, Inc (AMI) and the Garifuna organization OFRANEH (the Fraternal Black Organization of Honduras) with the presence of representatives of the indigenous peoples of the Pech, Lenca, Miskito, Maya-Chorti, Tolupan and Garifuna Peoples, along with international representatives from Agricultural Missions, Inc (AMI), from a diverse Salvadoran delegation including social activists, students, and indigenous community leaders coordinated by Siglo XXIII, with volunteers from School of the Americas Watch and the Alliance for Global Justice, and from alternative media organizations. Delegates to this gathering hailed from the U.S.A., Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Germany, Spain, Haiti, Mexico, and France together with the Honduran First Peoples and select allies. Together we analyzed, discussed and took positions on themes of interest for our peoples and in particular for the Garifuna people. The Gathering studied the interrelated themes of Land, Culture, Climate and Sustainability.
We are grateful for the excellent hospitality of the OFRANEH hosts who prepared comfortable living conditions and excellent food for the more than 220 people gathered. We were impressed by the infrastructure improvements on what began as a humble encampment last September during the intensive campaign to re-survey the land, and which will serve to host the first permanent inhabitants and future visitors to the 2,500 acres of land in process of recuperation, 83% of which is still encircled by the fences erected by the land usurpers.
The Agricultural Missions´ delegation affirms our solidarity with the First Peoples of Honduras, and with the effort to recover and defend ancestral lands from usurpation and destructive forms of development. We understand the huge challenge of claiming ancestral land rights in a context of widespread impunity following violent crimes against the Honduran people following the 2009 coup d’etat. Large Honduran landlords as well as transnational and national corporations are taking control or more and more land, for the purpose of expanding already vast monocultures of African Palms to produce bio-diesel, for various mining and mega-construction projects and dams, and for forms of mega-tourism that callously displace people from their ancestral coastal lands. We understand the tremendous commitment and effort required to maintain and restore cultural integrity within the Garifuna and other Indigenous communities, at a time where youth and adults are increasingly enticed to migrate to urban areas where money flows more readily, many leaving Honduras altogether. At the same time, we rejoice at witnessing the powerful spiritual connection expressed by the traditional Garifuna ceremonies involving drums, maracas, singing voices, incense and a willingness to let the spirits of the ancestors flow through the bodies of the participants. This spiritual practice, we believe, is an essential and powerful, unifying and inspirational force for the maintenance of the traditional Garifuna culture and ways of life. We were also witness to the power of non-violent resistance. Miriam Miranda, the Coordinator of OFRANEH stated, “They had their guns, but we had our drums and our ancestors.”
We encourage the Garifuna people to pursue their strategy of resettlement upon these reclaimed lands, whether in Vallecito or in places like Trujillo and Tela and in all of the 34 Garifuna communities on the Honduran coast. We applaud the examples we witnessed in other Garifuna communities where agricultural production that is small-scale, low-input, diverse and aimed at feeding the community first before producing for sale and profit, is being developed and practiced. We challenge our sisters and brothers of OFRANEH and ourselves to follow through with solidarity actions and collaborations, including training and education and sharing of best practices in agro-ecology that will further a resurgence of traditional agricultural production, processing and distribution of grain, fruit and root crops, including the traditional elaboration of cassava bread, as well as, fishing and animal husbandry practices. We praise the vision of the Garifuna leaders to understand that secure land and fishery tenancy and access is an absolute prerequisite for the long-term sustainability of Garifuna culture itself.
We have proposed helping OFRANEH and the Miskito people send representatives to partner peasant organizations in Haiti to learn from their considerable experience with and knowledge of agro-ecological practices, and of their efforts to promote agrarian reform and to defend and pursue food sovereignty in all aspects, including prohibiting transgenic seeds in their communities. Like OFRANEH, the Haitian peasants are also fighting the development of agro-fuel monocultures that would supplant food production.
Echoing our Indigenous Sisters and Brothers we DENOUNCE the following:
-Violations of the International Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization and of the UN Declaration of Indigenous Peoples, denying previous, full and free consent before land is used or abused in any way, or people are displaced, sometimes violently;
-The increase in land grabs occurring across Honduras, followed by repression of family farmers attempting to re-occupy such lands for their survival, in practically all the departments of Honduras;
-The prevailing impunity, corruption and false witness experienced in the security and judicial systems of Honduras as well as in the oligarchy-controlled media;
-The unquestioning support of the U.S. government for the coup-successor government of Pepe Lobo and the National Congress, who ignore human rights violations including assassinations, violent repression and the jailing of those opposing the wealthy families’ arrogant plunder across Honduras;
-The concessions of territories, rivers, forests, sub-soil minerals to transnational corporate interests for destructive profit-taking and in particular the hydro-electric dam by Agua Zarca corporation that the Lenca sisters and brothers of Rio Blanco are currently stopping through a rural road blockade;
-The pursuit of the ¨Charter Cities¨ (Ciudades Modelos) agenda and the remaking of Honduran law to accommodate such foreign enclaves within Honduras not subject to Honduran governance, security or taxation, that are slated to be located on indigenous lands without consultation and in violation of the international treaty enshrined in Convention 169;
-The displacement and theft of 14,000 hectares of land belonging to the Maya-Chorti people and their exclusion from ceremonial centers (Copan Ruinas) which now cater to tourists and to which Maya-Chorti people themselves are denied access;
-The massacre of four civilian Miskito people in Ahuas and the white-washing of that crime that was committed from a helicopter manned by US officers of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA);
-The implementation of false solutions to climate change such as the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Forest Degradation and Destruction) which serve to commodify the life in forested areas and subject it to capitalist markets and credit schemes that do nothing to stop the destruction and empower those with wealth and power to earn more profits from their harmful land practices;
-The continuing loss of cultural identity among indigenous peoples due to a State that is racist, classist, and discriminatory;
Therefore, we echo the calls of our Honduran partners and DEMAND that:
-There will be a cessation of land usurpation against indigenous peoples and family farmers of Honduras, and of collusions for that purpose with the Honduran government;
-There will be an annulment of laws such as the Special Economic Development Region (Charter City) law, the Mining law, the Hydrocarbon law, and Decreed Concessions of Rivers for Hydro-electric dams that impact the integrity of the Indigenous Peoples´ Territories;
-There will be government actions for mitigation and adaptation to climate change that go beyond the false solutions pushed by international financial institutions particularly for the coastal peoples Garífunas, Misquitas, Pech and Tawakas already severely impacted by storm surges and loss of coastal fringe lands;
-That the Honduran government respect Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization and that professional lawyers stop confusing the Honduran people by denying that international Conventions hold precedent over national laws, a principle made explicit in Article 18 of the Honduran Constitution;
-That protection orders be emitted to physically and psychologically protect community leaders of Indigenous organizations defending our lands and biodiversity, whose lives are under threat;
-We demand that once and for all the Honduran government cleanse and settle the title dispute of the lands that belong to the Garifuna people in Vallecito delivering to them access to all the fruits of this land;
-We stand in solidarity with our Lenca sisters and brothers impacted by open-pit mining on the lands slated for the Hydro-electric dam by Agua Zarca corporation;
-We demand justice for the families of those killed and wounded by DEA agents from the U.S. on the Patuca River in Miskita territory.
-We demand the release of José Isabel Morales, known as Chabelo from Guadalupe Carney, Aguan who is a political prisoner convicted and sentenced in a flawed judicial procedure.
Together with our Garifuna sisters and brothers we invoke the spirits of our ancestors, and prophets, from Abraham to Esther and Moses, from Isaiah to Martin Luther, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Cesar Chavez, from Jesus Christ to Sitting Bull and Malcolm X, and in respect of our very gracious hosts and partners, we amplify praise and respect for their historic heroes, namely Lambardo Lacayo who first envisioned a Garifuna place of sanctuary in Vallecito and who was assassinated for his struggle, to those who fought and resisted the yoke of those who would have enslaved them, among them the Garifuna and Indigenous leaders of Satuyé, Baráuda, Itaca and Lempira, and whose emancipatory sacrifices live on in the hearts of their descendants living today. As the Garifuna celebrate 216 years of presence in Honduras, they declare once again on April 30, 2013: Victory will be Ours!!
Congressional Letter Jan 25 calls for investigation of DEA killings in Ahuas, cites OFRANEH denunciations (version en español abajo)
Contact: Andy Phelan at 404-593-9126
Jan. 30, 2013
Rep. Johnson, 57 colleagues call for investigation into DEA-related killings in Honduras
Members call for review of counter-drug operations affecting Afro-Indigenous communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) and 57 colleagues sent a letter today to Secretary of State John Kerry and Attorney General Eric Holder calling for the investigation of alleged abuses by Honduran security forces and the possible role DEA agents played in a shooting incident that led to the tragic death of four indigenous villagers on the Patuca River in northeastern Honduras.
The State Department and the DEA have acknowledged involvement in the May 11, 2012, incident. A pregnant woman and a 14-year-old boy were among the four villagers killed. Several other innocent bystanders were injured.
Johnson and his colleagues are urging theseU.S.government agencies to “press ahead with a full investigation to better determine exactly what occurred and what role was played byU.S.agents,” as “official inquiries into the matter have been perfunctory, and deeply flawed.”
They also voiced their concern regarding the worsening human rights situation of Afro-indigenous communities since the June 2009 military coup inHonduras. These communities have been hit particularly hard by drug-related violence from both drug-traffickers and U.S.-backed drug war inHonduras.
“The rate of impunity of alleged abuses perpetrated by state security forces has risen to unprecedented heights” and consequently, they strongly recommend “a review on the implementation of counternarcotics operations carried out by our government in Honduras taking into account the unique conditions and high vulnerability of Afro-descendent and Indigenous communities,” the letter states.
The text of the letter to Sec. Kerry. Mr. Holder received the same letter:
January 30, 2013
The Honorable John Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S.Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington,DC20520
Dear Secretary Kerry:
We write to express our concern regarding the grave human rights situation inHonduras, and in particular the dire situation of Afro-Indigenous Hondurans in the aftermath of the June 2009 military coup.
We request a thorough and credible investigation on the tragic killings of May 11 in Ahuas to determine what exactly occurred and what role, if any, was played by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents. We also call for an immediate investigation into alleged abuses perpetrated by Honduran police and military officials in the country.
We are troubled to hear of the threats and repression targeting Afro-Hondurans who have bravely voiced their alarm over the steady deterioration of democracy in their country. We are also concerned regarding acts of violence and intimidation against Afro-Indigenous people defending their historic land rights. We are particularly disturbed to learn of the effects of a militarized counternarcotics policy on Afro-Honduran communities, and the participation ofU.S.agents in operations that have led to the deaths of Afro-indigenous civilians.
On May 11, 2012, four Afro-Indigenous villagers, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed during the course of a drug interdiction raid inAhuas,Honduras. Three others were seriously wounded. At least ten U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents participated in the mission as members of a Foreign-Deployed Advisory Support Team (FAST), a DEA unit first created in 2005 inAfghanistan. According to the New York Times, Honduran police agents that were part of the May 11 operation “told government investigators that they took their orders from the D.E.A.”
We understand that this tragic incident has been extremely traumatic for the otherwise peaceful and tightly knit community of Ahuas. Although Honduran human rights groups and international organizations such as Human Rights Watch have demanded thatU.S.and Honduran authorities conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of this incident, the investigation has not been properly conducted. For instance, official inquiries into the matter have been perfunctory, and deeply flawed. Credible testimony indicates that the victims were innocent bystanders and not drug traffickers. As Honduran authorities have yet to address the issue, our government should press ahead with a full investigation to better determine exactly what occurred and what role was played byU.S.agents.
On June 22, the Fraternal Organization of Black People of Honduras (OFRANEH), one of the most prominent groups representing Afro-Indigenous Hondurans, objected to what it views to be racially biased, “outrageous and dangerous” statements given to the New York Times and the Washington Post byU.S.officials following the May 11 killings. OFRANEH claimsU.S.officials made unsubstantiated accusations of drug trafficking against the entire Afro-indigenous communities in the Moskitia region ofHonduras.
OFRANEH states that since the coup, drug traffickers have been increasingly targeting Afro-Indigenous communities, claiming their traditional lands, and killing those who stand in their way. Human rights groups confirm that the Honduran judiciary has done little to defend the basic rights of these communities. For instance, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States has ordered the State of Honduras to cease and desist from approving any title transfers on land in the Afro-Indigenous community of Triunfo de la Cruz in order to protect its vulnerable population from attacks by drug traffickers anxious to secure access to theCaribbean. Currently, many more Afro-Indigenous communities seek similar protection. We note that, even in this context, Afro descendent and Indigenous leaders assert that theU.S.-backed drug war inHondurashurts their communities.
In addition, since the country’s June 2009 military coup, according to numerous reports, the rate of impunity of alleged abuses perpetrated by state security forces has risen to unprecedented heights. According to Honduras’ leading human rights organization, the Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), over the last three years, more than ten thousand complaints have been filed regarding police and military abuses, very few of which have been investigated. Furthermore, State security forces are also directly carrying out repression against government critics. For instance, Afro-indigenous leader, Miriam Miranda, president of OFRANEH, was physically attacked and arrested by a departmental police chief in May 2011.
Finally, we strongly recommend a review on the implementation of counternarcotics operations carried out by our government inHondurastaking into account the unique conditions and high vulnerability of Afro-descendent and indigenous communities, who are disproportionately affected by drug trafficking activities.
Sincerely,
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. Gregory W. Meeks
Member of Congress Member of Congress
John Conyers, Jr. Karen Bass
Member of Congress Member of Congress
James P. McGovern Barbara Lee
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Sam Farr Luis V. Gutierrez
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Michael M. Honda John Lewis
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Bobby L. Rush Peter DeFazio
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Frederica Wilson Janice D. Schakowsky
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Sheila Jackson-Lee Danny K.Davis
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Lacy Clay Edward J. Markey
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Raúl M. Grijalva Charles Rangel
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Jared Polis John Tierney
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Emmanuel Cleaver II Yvette Clarke
Member of Congress Member of Congress
JoseE. Serrano Gary Peters
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Anna G. Eshoo David Cicilline
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Paul D. Tonko Chaka Fattah
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Jackie Speier Michael E. Capuano
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Rosa L. DeLauro Jim Langevin
Member of Congress Member of Congress
George Miller Michael H. Michaud
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Zoe Lofgren Maxine Waters
Member of Congress Member of Congress
DorisO. Matsui James P. Moran
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Peter Welsh Eleonor Holmes-Norton
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Carolyne B. Maloney Bill Foster
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Earl Blumenauer Lois Capps
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Keith Ellison Marcy Kaptur
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Alcee L. Hastings John Yarmuth
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Louise M. Slaughter Chellie Pingree
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Donna F. Edwards Jim McDermott
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Al Green Ed Pastor
Member of Congress Member of Congress
David Price Chris Van Hollen
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Cc Michele M. Leonhart, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration
Cc Lisa J. Kubiske, U.S. Ambassador toHonduras
Cc Ricardo Zuñiga, Senior Director for theWestern Hemisphere
Spanish version
Jan. 30, 2013
Rep. Johnson y 57 otros congresistas hacen llamado para una investigación de asesinatos relacionados con la DEA en Honduras
Congresistas hacen llamado para análisis de operaciones anti-drogas afectando a comunidades afro-indígenas
WASHINGTON, D.C.- El representante Hank Johnson (GA-04) y 57 colegas mandaron hoy una carta a el Secretario de Estado, John Kerry y al Fiscal General Eric Holder pidiéndo una investigación sobre supuestos abusos por fuerzas de seguridad hondureñas y el posible papel jugado por agentes de la Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) en un incidente que resultó en la trágica muerte de cuatro indígenas en el Río Patuca en el noreste de Honduras.
El Departamento de Estado y la DEA han reconocido su participación en el incidente del 11 de mayo de 2012. Una mujer embarazada y un niño de 14 años fueron entre los muertos. Varias otras personas inocentes fueron heridas.
Johnson y sus colegas están instando al gobierno estadounidense a que “avance con una investigación completa para mejor determinar exactamente lo que ocurrió y que papel fue jugado por agentes de Estado Unidos,” ya que “investigaciones oficiales sobre el tema han sido perfunctorias y profundamente falladas.”
También hicieron saber su preocupación en cuanto a la situación de derechos humanos que viene empeorando para comunidades afro-indígenas desde el golpe militar de junio de 2009 en Honduras. Estas comunidades han sido fuertemente golpeadas por violencia relacionada al tráfico de drogas y a la guerra anti-droga en Honduras apoyada por Estados Unidos.
“la tasa de impunidad en los casos donde las fuerzas de seguridad del Estado han cometido presuntos abusos se ha elevado a niveles sin precedentes. —-“ y consecuentemente, se les recomienda hacer “una evaluación de las operaciones en contra del narcotráfico realizadas por el Gobierno de EE.UU. en Honduras, teniendo en cuenta las condiciones singulares y la alta vulnerabilidad de las comunidades afro-indígenas“ dice la carta.
El texto de la carta:
January 30, 2013
Estimado Secretario Kerry / Estimado Fiscal Gerente Holder:
Nos dirigimos a usted para expresar nuestra preocupación ante la grave situación de derechos humanos en Honduras, en particular la situación dramática de los hondureños afro-indígenas desde el golpe militar de junio de 2009. Solicitamos una investigación exhaustiva y fiable de los asesinatos trágicos del 11 de mayo en Ahuas para determinar exactamente lo que ocurrió y qué papel tuvo la Administración de control de drogas de los EE.UU. (Drug Enforcement Agency—DEA), si es que tuvo alguno. También pedimos una investigación inmediata sobre los presuntos abusos cometidos por la policía hondureña y por militares en ese país.
Nos preocupa enterarnos de amenazas y represión dirigidas a afro-hondureños que han estado advirtiendo valiosamente sobre el deterioro constante de la democracia en su país. También estamos preocupados con respecto a los actos de violencia e intimidación contra los afro-indígenas que defienden derechos históricos sobre sus tierras. Nos preocupa particularmente los efectos, en las comunidades afro-hondureñas, de una política de lucha contra el narcotráfico que sea de carácter militar, y de la participación de agentes estadounidenses en operaciones que han resultado en la muerte de civiles afro-indígenas.
El 11 de mayo de 2012, cuatro campesinos afro-indígenas, entre ellos un niño de 14 años, fueron matados en el transcurso de una operación antidrogas en Ahuas, Honduras. Otras tres personas fueron gravemente heridas. Por lo menos diez agentes de la DEA participaron en la misión como miembros del Equipo asesor y de apoyo en el extranjero (Foreign-Deployed Advisory Support Team—FAST), una unidad de la DEA creada en 2005 en Afganistán. Según el New York Times, agentes de la policía hondureña que participaron en la operación el 11 de mayo “contaron a los investigadores del gobierno que sus órdenes provinieron de la DEA.”
Entendemos que este incidente trágico ha sido extremadamente traumático para la comunidad tranquila y unida de Ahuas. Aunque grupos hondureños de derechos humanos y organizaciones internacionales como Human Rights Watch han exigido que las autoridades estadounidenses y hondureñas conduzcan una investigación exhaustiva e imparcial sobre este incidente, la investigación no ha sido realizada adecuadamente. Por ejemplo, las investigaciones oficiales sobre el incidente han sido superficiales y deficientes. Testimonios creíbles indican que las víctimas eran personas inocentes y no narcotraficantes. Dado que las autoridades hondureñas no han realmente abordado este tema, nuestro gobierno debe seguir adelante con una investigación exhaustiva para determinar exactamente qué fue lo que ocurrió y cuál fue el papel desempeñado por agentes estadounidenses.
El 22 de junio, la Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH), uno de los grupos más importantes representando a hondureños afro-indígenas, se opuso a declaraciones de funcionarios estadounidenses publicados en el New York Times y el Washington Post días después de las matanzas del 11 de mayo considerándoles prejuiciosas del punto de vista racial y “escandalosas y peligrosas.” OFRANEH afirma que funcionarios estadounidenses hicieron acusaron falsamente a comunidades afro-indígenas en La Moskitia de estar involucradas en el narcotráfico.
OFRANEH afirma que desde que ocurrió el golpe de Estado las comunidades afro-indígenas han sido victimizadas por los narcotráficantes, reclamando sus tierras tradicionales, y matando a aquellos que interfieren con ellos. Grupos de derechos humanos confirman que el sistema judicial hondureño ha hecho poco para defender los derechos fundamentales de estas comunidades. Por ejemplo, la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos de la Organización de los Estados Americanos ha ordenado que el Estado de Honduras cese la aprobación de transferencias de títulos de tierra en la comunidad afro-indígena de Triunfo de la Cruz, con el fin de proteger su población, que es vulnerable a los ataques de narcotraficantes que desean obtener el acceso al Caribe. Actualmente, muchas otras comunidades afro-indígenas buscan protecciones similares. Tomamos nota de que, incluso en este contexto, los líderes afro-descendientes e indígenas afirman que la guerra contra las drogas en Honduras, apoyado por los EE.UU., perjudica a sus comunidades.
Además, desde el golpe militar de junio de 2009, según numerosos informes, la tasa de impunidad en los casos donde las fuerzas de seguridad del Estado han cometido presuntos abusos se ha elevado a niveles sin precedentes. Según el Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH), una de las organizaciones de derechos humanos más importantes de Honduras, en los últimos tres años más de diez mil denuncias se han presentado en relación con abusos cometidos por la policía y los militares, pocos de los cuales han sido investigados. Además, hay represión en contra de críticos del gobierno por las fuerzas de seguridad del Estado. Por ejemplo, Miriam Miranda, una líder afro-indígena y dirigente de OFRANEH, fue agredida y detenida por un jefe de policía departamental en mayo de 2011.
Por último, recomendamos una evaluación de las operaciones en contra del narcotráfico realizadas por el Gobierno de EE.UU. en Honduras, teniendo en cuenta las condiciones singulares y la alta vulnerabilidad de las comunidades afro-indígenas, que se ven desproporcionadamente afectadas por las actividades de tráfico de drogas.
Atentamente,
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. Gregory W. Meeks
Member of Congress Member of Congress
John Conyers, Jr. Karen Bass
Member of Congress Member of Congress
James P. McGovern Barbara Lee
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Sam Farr Luis V. Gutierrez
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Michael M. Honda John Lewis
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Bobby L. Rush Peter DeFazio
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Frederica Wilson Janice D. Schakowsky
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Sheila Jackson-Lee Danny K.Davis
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Lacy Clay Edward J. Markey
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Raúl M. Grijalva Charles Rangel
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Jared Polis John Tierney
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Emmanuel Cleaver II Yvette Clarke
Member of Congress Member of Congress
JoseE. Serrano Gary Peters
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Anna G. Eshoo David Cicilline
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Paul D. Tonko Chaka Fattah
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Jackie Speier Michael E. Capuano
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Rosa L. DeLauro Jim Langevin
Member of Congress Member of Congress
George Miller Michael H. Michaud
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Zoe Lofgren Maxine Waters
Member of Congress Member of Congress
DorisO. Matsui James P. Moran
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Peter Welsh Eleonor Holmes-Norton
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Carolyne B. Maloney Bill Foster
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Earl Blumenauer Lois Capps
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Keith Ellison Marcy Kaptur
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Alcee L. Hastings John Yarmuth
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Louise M. Slaughter Chellie Pingree
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Donna F. Edwards Jim McDermott
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Al Green Ed Pastor
Member of Congress Member of Congress
David Price Chris Van Hollen
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Cc Michele M. Leonhart, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration
Cc Lisa J. Kubiske, U.S. Ambassador toHonduras
Cc Ricardo Zuñiga, Senior Director for theWestern Hemisphere
Letter to US Gov: Blood on US hands in Honduras
THE U.S. FOOD SOVEREIGNTY ALLIANCE CONDEMNS THE KILLINGS OF PEASANTS BY HONDURAN PARAMILITARY FORCES AND DEMANDS A MORATORIUM ON U.S. SUPPORT FOR THE HONDURAN REGIME
On February 2, 2012 in the Aguán Valley of Honduras Juán Peres and Willian Alvarado, members of the Peasant Movement for the Recovery of Aguan (MOCRA), were assassinated by paramilitary forces. That same day paramilitaries surrounded the house of Rodolfo Cruz, also of MOCRA, threatening him and his family. These murders were committed by heavily-armed paramilitary units at the service of large landowners. On the 3 of February, with no provocation, a police checkpoint assassinated Naúm Dicua and wounded a companion. On the same day, hundreds of villagers protested in front of the County courthouse in Sabá, Colón and called upon the Mayor and county president to impart justice. Police fired shots and tear gas, repelling the crowd.
Close to 60 peasants and indigenous leaders have been assassinated since president Porfirio Lobo assumed power in fraudulent elections following the 2009 coup d’etat that deposed president-elect Manuel Zelaya. Most of these killings have taken place in areas that are subject to large “land grabs” that have been systematically displacing the Honduran peasantry.
Women have also been threatened, as a form of intimidation of other peasant women and their families. On October 23, 2012, Carla Yadira Zelaya, spokesperson of the Unified Peasant Movement of Aguan (MUCA) was kidnapped at 6:30am in a bus stop in the area of El Carrizal. Carla was blindfolded while her captors interrogated her for three hours about whereabouts of MUCA’s leadership, before she was thrown out of the car.
We call upon the Department of State and the White House to communicate to the Honduran government the seriousness of the systematic violations of human rights of Honduran leaders and members of organizations involved in land disputes.
We urge you to implement the recommendation in the letter sent by Representative Hank Johnson (GA) and 57 other Congresspersons to the Department of State and the Department of Justice on January 25, calling for a credible investigation into the DEA-instigated killings of civilians in Ahuas, including a youth and two pregnant women.
In addition, the leader of Afro-Indigenous communities also mentioned in that letter, Miriam Miranda, is, we have just learned, under death threat. The Honduran government must be informed that these threats are intolerable to the U.S. government, and that Honduran officials need to take measures to protect them.
We call upon the U.S. to initiate a moratorium on continued military and security cooperation with the Honduran government until the scandalous violations of human rights can be diminished in that country that now has the highest murder rate in the world, and is considered by many to be a “failed state”. The blood of innocent Hondurans is staining the hands of the U.S. government and the US people.
Open Letter to Secretary Clinton on Human Rights Delegation
Open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske regarding human rights delegation to Honduras, Nov 12-21, 2012
U.S. Delegation to travel to Honduras in support of human rights. Delegation especially vital with recent assassinations, assassination attempts of candidates for office in primary elections.
November 12, 2012
Dear Secretary of State Clinton and Ambassador Kubiske:
From November 12 through November 21, 2012, a delegation of persons active on human rights issues and organized with the Honduras Solidarity Network will travel to Honduras. The delegation includes people from communities across the United States from California, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and a multitude of places in between. The participants include people as young as 23 years of age and as old as 79. The group will be joined by representatives from other countries, including Canada, Poland, Costa Rica, Norway, El Salvador and Japan.
What unites this diverse group of people is their commitment to human rights in general and their concern about the ongoing escalation of human rights violations in Honduras in particular. As you know, since the military coup on June 28, 2009 that ousted the democratically elected government of Manuel Zelaya, there has been a systemic rise in violations of basic human rights in Honduras.
This situation has only worsened recently as Honduras enters into the primary elections that will choose candidates for the 2012 national elections. On November 3, 2012, LIBRE primary candidate for mayor of Morazan, Edgardo Adalid Motiño, was assassinated at LIBRE’s office in Morazan. On November 2, an attempt was made on the life of María Luisa Borjas, a primary candidate for mayor of Tegucigalpa and Comayaguela. These are just two examples of a wave of repression that has included the murders of other LIBRE organizers and candidates; the continuing murder of campesinos and their supporters- including four persons killed since November 5 - and threats made this year against human rights activists such as Bertha Oliva of COFADEH. These and other forms of repression against those viewed as opponents of those who perpetrated the coup have tragically marked the Honduran political scene since June 2009.We also want to note that members of a September 2012 delegation of members of the Honduras Solidarity Network and La Voz de los de Abajo of Chicago were shot at by armed gunmen in the Aguan region.
It is in this context that we travel to Honduras to provide human rights accompaniment to those who feel threatened by these attacks and by the legal impunity that has followed. The irony of Honduras voting in primary elections in the midst of such repression just after the United States completed its general elections on November 6 is worth considering. As U.S. leaders who hold their posts either directly through elections or via appointment by the highest elected official of the United States, the office of the president, we trust you understand the value of all people having the opportunity to express their right to suffrage without fear of intimidation and repression.
Therefore, our delegation is writing to you, Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Kubiske to inform you of our trip and to request the following:
· That you communicate to your colleagues in the current Honduran government of Pepe Lobo Sosa the Honduran government’s responsibility to provide a climate free of fear and repression for all Hondurans at all times and particularly throughout the electoral process over the next year.
· That as U.S. officials committed to the principles of democracy and human rights, you express to your Honduran colleagues in the government of Pepe Lobo Sosa that the members of our delegation have the right to travel freely and without fear in Honduras in order to carry out our human rights accompaniment work. If we find that we cannot carry out our work effectively because of acts of intimidation, we will contact you and we expect that you will act quickly and in good faith to protect the rights of all those involved in ensuring Hondurans can freely express themselves.
Finally, we also want to make clear the position of the Honduran Solidarity Network that until human rights and democracy are respected by the government of Honduras, we continue to call for the suspension of all U.S. Military and Police Aid to the Honduran government.
On behalf of the Honduras Solidarity Network delegation and all the member organizations of the Honduras Solidarity Network, we thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Member Organizations of the Honduras Solidarity Network
Agricultural Missions
Alliance for Global Justice
Bay Area Latin American Solidarity Committee
Center for Constitutional Rights
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
Comite de Solidaridad Graciela Garcia
Colectivo Honduras USA Resistencia
Comite de Solidaridad Seattle
Friends of Honduras
Friendship Office of the Americas
Hands off Honduras
Hondureños por la Democracia
Interfaith Committee on Latin America
Celeveland InterReligious Task Force on Central America
International Action Center
La Voz de los de Abajo
Latin America Grassroots International
Latin America Solidarity Organization
Madre Tierra
Marin InterfaithTask Force on the Americas
Milwaukee Latin America Solidarity Committee
National Lawyers Guild Task Force on the Americas
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee
Proyecto Hondureño
Rhode Island Mobilization Committee to Stop War and Occupation
Rights Action
School of Americas Watch
Tonatierra
U.S. - El Salvador Sister Cities
US Peace Council
Witness for Peace
Cc: Senate and Congressional Offices
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Latest communique from OFRANEH coordinator Miriam Miranda
We succeeded in breaking the gate of shame in Vallecito!! We are achieving the re-surveying of our lands!!
3:28 p.m. eastern time, (2:28 Honduran time) Thursday, September 13, 2012
Vallecito
At this very Moment we have advanced our struggle. We are almost finalizing the process of re-surveying the lands of the 5 Production Cooperatives of the Garifuna People in Vallecito, lands that were in the hands of the widow of Reynaldo Villalobos, who lives in Icoteas, Limón, Colón department.
By order of the Attorney General and the authorities who accompanied the process the gate of shame was breached that blocked the Garifunas from access to our own lands.
A Judge of Trujillo emitted a decision against our ancestral and legal rights. But after great pressure, patience and accompaniment by our ancestors, we were able to open the gate.
The Struggle Continues because we must all succeed in achieving an eviction order for the widow of Reynaldo Villalobo of the Garifuna lands.
This lands is to be dedicated to erect the University of the Garifuna People of Honduras. This land is the promised land to guarantee the food security of the Garifuna people.
The process of land surveying has not even been concluded, yet the Garifuna people are already receiving death threats!! The security guards of the widow of Reynaldo Villalobos have said that after tomorrow they will assassinate any Garifuna person who enters the town of Icotea. (Icotea is the neighboring town where the widow lives. It is a non-Garifuna town and where the Garifunas of Vallecito must pass the night en route to the camp and where we buy our food stuffs and where we would go in an emergency.)
So let´s continue sending letters to President Pepe Lobo to guarantee the security of all the Garifuna who remain in the Vallecito camp.
We hold Señora Paula Castro, widow of Reynaldo Villalobos, resident of Icotea, Limón, Colón responsible!
OFRANEH sends its profound thanks to all the persons who individually or as organizations, in Honduras and internationally who have helped and supported us to advance in this first important step.
A special thanks goes to Stephen Bartlett of Agricultural Missions who took up this process as his own. Thanks to him and many others the authorities of Honduras have received and continue to receive many letters. (Note from translator Stephen B: Everyone who sent a communication, a prayer or resources for this effort deserves praise!! Just remember as we celebrate this initial significant victory, we may be called upon again!)
We don´t want death, we do not seek violence, we struggle for what is ours.
No to the Charter Cities!
Yes to the agenda of LIFE!
No to the agenda of Death!
September 13, 2012
Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña, OFRANEH
Alert: Urgent request for solidarity as Day 2 of Land Recovery begins over the presence of armed men in expensive vehicles
Government officials to contact; (Thus far, international pressure has forced the Honduran government to give lip service to protecting the Garifuna gathered in Vallecito for the land re-surveying and adjudication by the National Agrarian Institute (INA). Let’s keep up the pressure to assure they actually do what they are beginning to say they will do.)
Minister of the National Agrarian Institute (Ministro del Instituto Nacional Agrario), Sr. Cesar Ham: cham@ina.hn, hrodriguez@ina.hn; + from US (011 -504)96-69-15-29; 94-55-04-77.
Ministry of Security (Ministro de la Secretaria de Seguridad), Sr. Pompello Bonilla: (011-504) 99-90-17-73.
Police Chief (Director General de Policia), Juan Carlos Bonilla: (011-504) 97-58-17-30.
Spokesman for the Police (Vocero de la Policia), Héctor Iván Mejía: (011-504) 94-62-47-29
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Glaring by their absence are the Honduran authorities overdue in Vallecito (Colon)
Since yesterday, many communications have been sent to the current government administration, about the menace and threats directed at the representatives of the Garifuna communties, awaiting the process of land title remediation, of the associative (Garifuna) businesses of Vallecito.
In the corridor between Trujillo and Moskitia there are numerous bands associated with organized crime, those tied to business interests, African palm plantations and narco-politicians. The area possesses a high level of assassination that are never brought to justice. We make a call to the “Authorities” to protect the Garifuna in Vallecito adequately, thus avoiding a possible massacre at the hands of those bands of assassins who seek to hold the people hostage.
OFRANEH
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The Garifunas who were in Vallecito spent the night under a constant chatter of automatic weapons, gathered here in order to accompany a process of re-surveying of the lands adjudicated by the National Agrarian Institute in 1997 for the associative (Garifuna) businesses.
As is publically known, the Trujillo-Moskitia corridor has for a decade been in the hands of organized crime, without any governmental administration assuming control of the zone, which has fallen into the hands of Feudal Lords and their bands of assassins.
The Minister of the National Agrarian Institute (INA) committed himself since July, 2010 to re-survey and remediate lands for the six (Garifuna) businesses, lands that have been 70% expropriated by outsiders. In the 1990s Miguel Facusse took control of Punta Farallones, a Garifuna hamlet of Limon, after which the Palm Man of Death planted 250 acres in African Palm within the lands of the cooperative Ruguma, a situation that following judicial litigation, was ruled by the Supreme Court to be the lands of the Garifuna.
We demand the immediate presence of officials of the INA, and the Ministry of Security to stop the intimidation and menace against the Garifunas present in Vallecito, now that the safety of this territory is in doubt and the remaining Garifuna communities are impacted by the failed state that exists in Honduras.
OFRANEH
Organizacion Fraternal Negra Hondureña
Calle 19, #130.
Barrio Alvarado
La Ceiba, Atlantida,
Honduras
telefax: 504-24432492
email:garifuna@ofraneh.org/ ofraneh@yahoo.com
http://www.ofraneh.org
http://www.ofraneh.wordpress.com
OFRANEH campaign to Recover Garifuna Lands: Solidarity Requested
July 1, 2012
IN HONDURAS, THE CONFISCATION AND STEALING OF THE GARIFUNA LANDS BY THE POWERFUL AND THE WEALTHY IS AN INJUSTICE THAT REQUIRES US TO ACT NOW.
Dear Friends and Colleagues of Agricultural Missions:
Our decades-long partner Fraternal Black Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH) requests support for an upcoming campaign to recover nearly 2,500 acres of land titled to six Garifuna cooperatives 18 years ago. Since that time 86% of those lands have been invaded by non-Garifuna persons, among them the most powerful economic families of Honduras. The campaign seeks to force the Honduran government to recognize the titles of this land, clearing away illegal secondary (fraudulent) titles, and subsequently to establish a national Training Center for the Garifuna people in the heart of those lands. This land recovery effort comes in a context of multiple land occupations and agrarian reform efforts undertaken by farmer and indigenous organizations across Honduras that have been opposed with governmental and paramilitary violence since the Coup d´Etat of 2009. OFRANEH has been a strong ally and movement building partner of a broad alliance of farmer and indigenous organizations across Honduras, has along with the Civic Council of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras (COPINH) and others co-founded human rights observatories in Bajo Aguan and in indigenous territories of Honduras.
The six Garifuna cooperative organizations, Saway, Kuguma, Walumugu, Saway Sufritiñu, Sinduru Free and Satuye, recently held an assembly and collectively decided to work to recover this land holding that is the largest contiguous land holding of the Garifuna people. Central to this plan will be a month-long Re-Occupation of the lands in late July by at least 700 Garifuna persons and their allies. Associated to this will be a variety of educational and advocacy activities designed to apply political pressures to political figures of the national agrarian reform institute (INA) and related government institutions to make good on past promises and to recognize the land titles and apply Honduran laws.
Agricultural Missions extends an invitation to you to join us in our efforts to confront this injustice against the indigenous people of Honduras by supporting this movement of peoples of the land. You can do so now by providing a financial contribution to the land occupation campaign, including support for legal accompaniment. You may also travel to Honduras and participate as a human rights observer present with the Garifuna people in struggle. In the long term, you can also support the continuing education on the context of Honduras here in the US.
Our goal is for AMI to raise $5,000 (of a total budget of $28,000) to support various aspects of this struggle including the legal accompaniment and communications and messaging during and after the planned Land Recovery campaign. Other national and international partners are also being mobilized to support this effort.
Will you, your organization or agency, be part of this effort? We look forward to partnering with you to support this important grassroots effort of the people to reverse land grabbing and restore a measure of justice and autonomy to a noble people who have survived for 219 years on the Caribbean coast of Central America.
Please let us know, even if only to send a message of moral support to our sisters and brothers of OFRANEH. Checks made out to Agricultural Missions (with the word Garifuna in memo line) can be sent to AMI, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 810, New York, NY 10115 or you can go to our website and contribute using Paypal: www.agriculturalmissions.org
For more information please contact Stephen Bartlett, Coordinator for Education and Advocacy/Latin America Liaison for Agricultural Missions: sbartlett@ag-missions.org 502 896 9171 in home/office in Louisville, KY
Thanks for your time and we look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Stephen Bartlett and Winston Carroo
May 16 attack near La Confianza, Aguan: Report from Permanent Observatory
A report from the Permanent Observatory for Human Rights in Bajo Aguan reports the following (and I paraphrase in translation the longer message below…):
Subject: Climate of Terror Prevails in Honduras, Wednesday May 19
“The process of recovering land initiated in the Aguan Valley and now extended in different latitudes across Honduras has provoked the militarization by the landlords in the diverse regions and the implementing of a state of terror produced by detentions, land invasions, and persecution of leaders and assassinations carried out consecutively, such as the case of the indigenous groups of COPINH, of the Tolupanes in Montanya del Flor and the assassinations of members of the Miskito organization MASTA, as well as the Farmer Movement of Aguan (MUCA) where today, May 16 a double cabin white vehicle with armed men, shot against the life of Juan Jose Peralta Escoto, 70 years of age who died on the spot. The driver was his son in law Jose Antonio Veliz and his son Juan Jose Peralta Barrera in another vehicle loaded with firewood. These were wounded. This occured near the settlement of La Confianza at 9 a.m., the murdered man and Veliz are members of the MUCA settlement in Marañones, while Juan Jose Peralta is a member of the National Movement for Recovery in Rigores who lived temporarily in La Confianza. Aguan is suffering a re-militarization, which contradicts the version of the Minister of Agrarian Reform Cesar Ham and the minister of security in this ¨pacified” area, a militarization at the moment of a payment is due for the lands in conflict (by those who signed that agreement), which could mean a military intervention, and the letter sent to the Observatory by Roger Pineda of Dinant Corporations (the palm oil refinery) stating that as long as the payments are not made, that the lands belong to Miguel Facusse* (the largest landholder of Honduras,(note by Stephen B: *Facusse never paid for most of the lands himself)).
Photo: Jennifer Jewell, (Photos and Names of farmers killed over Aguan land disputes.)
The commandos of the armed forces led by foreign officials have appeared in the municipalities of Trujillo, Sava, Tocoa and Sonaguera where they have been active until far into the night and early morning, some nearby the farmers´ land settlements. Their presence of U.S. intelligence officials has been detected and of the arrival of the CIA into the area. We make a call of National and International Alert to oppose this climate of terror imposed by the current regime on diverse sectors of Honduran society, especially the farmer movement and sectors in permanent resistance. The assassinations in honduras have the goal of stopping the advance of the social movement that defends the rights of the people, such as in the case of our ancestral indigenous peoples who struggle to maintain their fundamental land base to sustain their culture.
Released on May 16, 2012 from Tocoa, Colon,
No more detentions and attacks. No more violations of human rights in Aguan and across Honduras.
Wilfredo Paz
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COPINH Denunciation: US(DEA) and Honduran military violence & Lenca detentions
Civic Counsel of Popular Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH)
To the Indigenous and Afro Peoples of Honduras, to the international and national community in the face of the crime perpetrated against a group of members of the Miskito People by US and Honduran troops, and in the face of more repression against the Indigenous Peoples and against our organization itself, we declare:
*1.- The strongest condemnation of this crime undertaken by members of the U.S. and Honduran armies who occupy Honduran Moskitia, a deed that led to the assassination of several people, including pregnant Miskita women and Miskita children.
2.- That this action on the part of the repressive U.S. and Honduran forces adds to other actions perpetrated directly against the indigenous and campesino peoples, such as the assassination of our colleague Santos Alberto Dominguez at the hands of the police, who remain in impunity, and also the participation of U.S. troops in repression of the farmer communities of Bajo Aguan, which has been denounced repeatedly by those communities and organizations of that region.
*We are being informed now that police elements are indiscriminately pursuing members of COPINH of the Lenca community of Cuchilla, in the municipality of Ceguaca, Santa Barbara and the arrested COPINH members Presentación Casteñanos Muñoz, Bonifacio Trochez and Nelson Gómez at a time when this community has maintained for the past month a struggle for the recovery of ancestral lands and will continue that struggle. The community denounces that they have not been charged for any crime by means of a judicial order.
*That at this moment the Honduran police and (corporate) lumber guards have been involved in attacking indigenous Tolupan brothers and sisters in the community of Lavanderos in the Mountain of the Flower, who are defending their territory against the industrial tree cutters who have violated Tolupan territory.
3.- For years we have been denouncing the strategy of total intervention by the U.S. in Honduras, the military bases installed since the coup d’etat, the threat of installing more such bases in the Lenca region, the hunger of transnational and oligarchy imperialism to take over the Indigenous and Afro territories, their biodiversity, knowledge and cultures along with the goal of converting us into their slaves.
4.- That this murderous action, not the first committed by the U.S. and Honduran army, is part of a policy of imposing fear, displacement, control and reproducing the terrorist U.S.-Colombia policy against the peoples as a strategy of strengthening the hegemonic domination of the U.S. in the continent, using projects such as the hypocritical “war on narcotraffic”, with the movements of the Fourth Fleet, components of militarization and security for the Free Trade Agreements, projects of Security for Central America that include financing by the international financial institutions (IFIs) with more external debt, along with the coup d’etat in Honduras and the increase in numbers of troops, military bases and operations of war that violate the individual and collective rights of the First Peoples.
5.- It is crystal clear that this policy of terror, of subjugation and pillage against the indigenous and Afro peoples, against the Honduran people in general are increasing according to a plan already agreed upon in the U.S. and will accelerate while the people in resistance in Honduras continue to undertake the social and political struggle to Re-Found our Motherland.
6. - We demand the immediate freedom of our COPINH member and respect for his physical and emotional well being; we add our voices to the demands of the Territorial Counsels, the organizations of the Miskito People who demand the departure of U.S. troops from their sacred ancestral territory which has been forced to grieve and has suffered bombardments and indiscriminate machine gun fire. We add our voices to the call that those responsible for this atrocity are the Honduran and U.S. military and demand the punishment of those responsible and that in this case they not remain in impunity.
7.- The U.S. army, the Honduras army and other repressive military forces are not welcome in any place in our territories. We demand their disappearance. We have had enough of the deceitful discourse about the “fight against drugs”. We demand respect for the life, territories, cultures, autonomy and legitimate right we have to defend ourselves against this imperialist, elitist and colonialist invasion.
8.- We energetically call on all the indigenous and Afro peoples to follow the example of the great rebellious spirits of the Miskitus, of Lempira, of Barauda, of Cicumba, Copan Galel and all our ancestors who taught us the path of dignity, of rejection of the oppression and of rising up against them.
Intibucá, May 15, 2012.
Note (May 16): Ubaldo Pineda, member of COPINH and a leader of the National Front for Popular Resistance, has also been detained.
TO DEMAND THE FREEDOM OF THE COPIN COMPAÑEROS CALL (504) 99-90-75-48 TO THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF THE POLICE, WILMER AGUILERA AND TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY CONCERNING ETHNIC AND CULTURAL HERITAGE, CONTACT LAWYER JANNY DEL CID AL (504) 95-65-33-61
