OFRANEH denounces Canadian Randy Jorgensen for trafficking archaeological items, usurpation of Garifuna lands
Video still: Press conference in front of the Ministerio Publico.
Criterio.hn reports: “[On November 26 at a press conference in Tegucigalpa] the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH) denounced Randy Roy Jorgensen, a Canadian citizen better known as ‘King of Porn’, outside the Public Prosecutor’s Office [Ministerio Público/MP] for his involvement in the largest illegal trafficking of archaeological heritage assets in the Garifuna ancestral territory of Trujillo Bay that involves the looting of more than 3,500 archaeological pieces.”
The article adds: “The recovered objects come mainly from sacred Mayan sites and other pre-Columbian cultures, such as the Chorotega, Olmec, Lenca and Tolupanes. It has been determined that many of these assets were obtained through illicit excavations and looting of cemeteries and graves. The jade and green stones found are especially valuable, as they are associated with funerary ceremonies and were central elements in the burial rituals of Maya sovereigns.”
It further notes: “Edy Tábora, a lawyer with the Justice for the Peoples Law Firm [Bufete Justicia para los Pueblos], denounced the lack of action by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Honduras in the face of the growing looting of indigenous territories and the illegal trafficking of cultural property. According to Tábora, the lack of response to multiple complaints has allowed organized crime structures to operate with impunity, making it easier for foreigners to dispossess indigenous peoples of their lands.”
Video still: Tabora speaks at press conference.
Complaints about money laundering
Criterio.hn also reports: “In the specific case of Trujillo Bay, the MP has in its possession several complaints for money laundering against Randy Roy Jorgensen, but to date has not filed formal accusations. Tábora stressed that the MP must act urgently to guarantee justice and protect the rights of indigenous peoples. The lawyer called on citizens and the international community to unite in denouncing these illicit acts and pressure the MP to take concrete measures.”
Additional reading: 233 assets of alleged Canadian scammers seized in Colón: Due to alleged irregularities in the sale of land lots, several assets were seized from Canadian citizens who were denounced for fraud (El Heraldo, April 11, 2024) and Massive police presence in the bay of Trujillo, Colón intends to evict and imprison Garifuna defenders of OFRANEH who are recovering their ancestral territory [from Randy Jorgensen] (Urgent Alert, June 26, 2024).
Usurpation of territory
And the Criterio.hn article further notes: “[OFRANEH defender Melissa Martinez also] questioned the slowness of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to capture the Canadian citizen accused years ago of the crime of usurpation to the detriment of the Garifuna communities of Cristales and Río Negro in Trujillo, department of Colón, Atlantic area of Honduras and other crimes.”
On December 5, 2014, journalist Sandra Cuffe reported in Ricochet: “As Canadian investors gradually take over lands in Honduras’ Trujillo Bay for tourism and real estate projects, Afro-Indigenous Garifuna communities along this stretch of Caribbean coastline are being displaced. A new cruise ship port is now open for business in Trujillo, a town of just over 10,000 about 400 kilometres north of the Honduran capital. Rio Negro, a Garifuna community, was largely displaced under threat of forced expropriation to make way for the project. Sixteen kilometres to the west, the Garifuna community of Guadalupe is now bordered by Alta Vista, one of Canadian investor Randy Jorgensen’s several residential development projects marketed to Canadian snowbirds.”
Cuffe also writes about Jorgensen’s home in Coroz Alta, “a residential development a few kilometres west of Trujillo on an estate now billed as a private nature park.”
She adds: “Cruise ship passengers come here on day trips organized by Banana Coast Tours, one of Jorgensen’s companies linked to the new Banana Coast cruise ship terminal, another of his projects.” Cuffe then further specifies: “Banana Coast is owned and run by Grande Trujillo Autoridad, of which the driving force, primary owner and president is Randy Jorgensen.”
Cuffe’s article can be read in full at ‘Little Canada’ displacing Afro-Indigenous communities in Honduras (Ricochet, December 5, 2014).
The Toronto Star has also reported: The Canadian porn king and the Caribbean paradise: Is a businessman taking advantage of lawlessness to scoop up land — or offering Honduras’s Garifuna a way out of poverty? (November 20, 2016).
PBI-Canada
On October 31, PBI-Honduras and PBI-Canada met with Garifuna defender Mabel Robledo, the president of the board of trustees of the community of Nueva Armenia and a member of OFRANEH. We travelled there after visiting Tocoa and Guapinol. More at: Photo-journal of PBI-Canada visit with PBI-Honduras accompanied organizations, defenders and communities (November 1, 2024).
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