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PBI accompanies Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation legal coordinator Andrea Torres Bautista on advocacy tour in Europe

By
Brent Patterson
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Video clip: Andrea Torres in Norway, June 19, 2026.

The Madrid-based Spanish alternative newspaper El Salto reports that Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation legal coordinator Andrea Torres Bautista is on an advocacy tour in Spain with Peace Brigades International.

El Salto explains: “Torres is a lawyer, specializing in the protection of human rights and the fight against violence against women, focusing on cases where the accused are members of the Colombian armed forces.”

The article also notes: “Torres has suffered serious attacks and death threats for her work and has precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and a protection scheme from the National Protection Unit (UNP).”

Women Searchers Act

One year ago this week, on June 18, 2024, Law 2364 of 2024, the Comprehensive Law for the Protection of the Rights of Women Searchers, championed by Bautista, was ratified by Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Seven moths later, President Petro signed the Decree authorizing the Women Searchers Act.

El Salto asked Torres what would happen if “the extreme right” wins the presidential election in Colombia this coming Sunday June 21.

Torres responded: “Well, I think the worst could happen. In legal terms, surely the law is not going to be implemented, it is going to remain on paper and there will be no guarantee of protection or recognition of women seekers. But also, I think our lives are at stake. In other words, I am personally afraid that if the right wing wins, they will kill us, they will continue to physically attack us, they will continue to persecute us, they will continue to harass us, forced disappearances will increase and the security situation and guarantee to continue doing our work will no longer exist. These days, I saw an interview given by one of the right-wing candidates and he said that he was going to come out with a list in hand with the names of the human rights organizations, as well as with the names of the guerrillas. And I was going to give the colonels 30 days to bring them in or eliminate them. That’s the tone of the right, right now. That makes us feel that there will be no guarantee for the organizations, much less for the women searchers who have denounced the State, who have denounced the military, the paramilitaries, the guerrillas.”

The full article can be read at Andrea Torres, abogada buscadora: “Si gana la extrema derecha en Colombia, están en juego nuestras vidas” (Sara Plaza Casares, El Salto, June 19, 2026).

Peace Brigades International has been accompanying the “Nydia Erika Bautista” Foundation (FNEB) occasionally since 2007 and in full since 2016.

Additional reading

–PBI-Canada congratulates the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation on the presidential signing of Law 2364, the Women Searchers Law (January 29, 2026)

–PBI-Colombia says threat against CREDHOS a violation to democratic participation ahead of June 21 presidential vote (June 18, 2026).

Poster for public forum in Spain, June 15, 2026.

PBI accompanies COPINH coordinator Bertha Zúniga Cáceres at UN in Geneva and on tour of European countries

By
Brent Patterson
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Video still from UN Geneva, June 19, 2026.

On June 6, 2026, the Spanish news agency EFE reported that Bertha Zúniga Cáceres met with human rights rapporteurs at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss the situation of Indigenous people in Honduras.

That article highlights: “Zuniga’s trip to Geneva, part of a tour of several European countries, is supported by Peace Brigades International, an NGO that sends international volunteers to conflict zones to protect activists from trade unionists, peasant leaders and others threatened by political violence.”

It adds that Zúniga laments [that the main actors in her mother’s death have not been brought to justice], citing among them the largest shareholders of DESA, ‘linked to one of the most powerful families in Honduras, the Atala Zablahs.’”

EFE explains: “[Her mother] Bertha Cáceres, an activist of the Lenca people and co-founder of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), was murdered on March 2, 2016 after years of defending the rights of her community that included protests against the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, promoted by the company Desarrollos Energéticos Sociedad Anónima (DESA).”

The Dutch bank FMO

The EFE article quotes Zúniga who says: “We have filed a complaint in the Netherlands against [the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO] and we hope that its responsibility will be determined.”

El Pais has previously reported: “[The report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI)] indicates without a doubt that at least part of the money used to pay the hitmen, 25,000 dollars, ‘originated in funds drawn by the [Dutch development credit bank] FMO and [the Central American bank] CABEI, in accordance with a payment order issued within the framework of the loan extended by those institutions.’”

Video still from UN Geneva, June 19, 2026.

The Global Gateway

EFE also reports: “COPINH, an organization of which Zúniga is currently general coordinator, is pushing for the inclusion of human rights and anti-corruption clauses in European Union strategies such as the Global Gateway, with extensive investments in Honduras, ‘so that the policies they implement are not left to the will of European banks or companies.’”

On June 15, 2026, Insight EU Monitoring reported: “The EU Council today adopted conclusions on Global Gateway, reaffirming it as the European Union’s worldwide investment strategy for building mutually beneficial partnerships and mobilising public and private resources to bridge the global investment gap. …The strategy represents the EU’s positive and comprehensive offer to partner countries, combining development cooperation, trade and investment policy.”

The European Council/Council of the European Union has explained: “The Global Gateway is an umbrella term for the EU strategy created to boost smart, clean and secure connections in the digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world. The EU’s original aim was to mobilise up to €300 billion in investments worldwide between 2021 and 2027. In October 2025 the Commission announced that this target had been met, and set a new objective of mobilising €400 billion in investments by 2027.”

Accompaniment

The coordinators of COPINH have been accompanied by Peace Brigades International since May 2016.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH at press conference hours before National Congress passes “Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agro-industrial Sector”

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 3, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted on social media:

“Social organizations reject the Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agro-industrial Sector.

In a press conference, accompanied by PBI, @arcahhonduras [the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras] and other organizations have identified this Law as a direct threat to human rights that: ignores historical rights on land, weakens environmental controls, fails the right to free and informed #prior consultation, privilege to large agro-industrialists and criminalizes the social protest.

From PBI we express our concern and urge the international community to guarantee the right to protest and remain vigilant about the security situation of signing organizations.”

Reportar Sin Miedo further reports: “The coordinator of [ARCAH] Cristhopher Castillo, said that the legislation responds to the interests of large economic groups and not to the real needs of the population. Castillo explained that there is a substantial difference between community food production and agribusiness aimed at the accumulation of capital to crush the peoples.”

Law passed on June 3, 2026

Reportar Sin Miedo then reported: “A few hours after social, peasant, indigenous and Afro-descendant organizations from different regions of the country expressed their rejection of the bill for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agro-industrial Sector of Honduras, the National Congress proceeded to approve it amid questions from opposition sectors.”

After that, Infobae commented: “The approval of the Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agroindustrial Sector by the National Congress has opened a broad debate among productive sectors, peasant organizations, human rights defenders and international organizations on the scope and possible consequences of the new regulations. …The implementation of the regulations and their effects in the coming months will be decisive in assessing their impact on one of the most sensitive issues in the Honduran reality: agrarian conflict and the coexistence between economic development, productive investment and the rights of rural communities.”

Immediate interventions by National Police

After the passage of the “Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agroindustrial Sector of Honduras”, El Heraldo noted: “The forces of public order will be obliged to intervene immediately in cases of strikes, demonstrations or protests on public roads. In such crisis scenarios, the National Police and road authorities must enable safe logistics corridors and clear accesses, ports and routes without delay.”

Law then expanded to include energy and tourism

Then on June 10, Criterio.hn reported: “In a clear violation of parliamentary regulations, the National Congress of Honduras expanded the scope of the Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agroindustrial Sector to include the energy and tourism areas.”

Safe House Law

And on June 15, Criterio.hn further reported: “Not satisfied with the legislative shield granted to sectors such as agribusiness, energy and tourism, the liberal deputy for Puerto Cortés, Alex Berrios Lamothe, promoted the initiative called the Safe House Law. Presented as a response to crime, the initiative deepens the protection of private property by expanding the cases of legitimate defense, even in situations where the protected legal asset is not life but property.”

In another article, Criterio.hn additionally notes: “Pedro Mejía, a lawyer for the Agrarian Platform, [says] the reform is aimed at peasant and indigenous movements that maintain processes of territorial recovery and vindication of ancestral rights.”

That article adds: “He warned that owners or companies could invoke legitimate defense to act against these populations in the face of alleged threats to their property or heritage, even when there is no risk to life, which he considers unconstitutional and contrary to international human rights standards.”

The Asfura presidency

This is happening in the context of the aftermath of the November 30, 2025, presidential election in Honduras.

The Associated Press reported: “On Wednesday [November 26, 2025, Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura] received the endorsement of U.S. President Donald Trump.”

On December 5, 2025, PBI-Honduras accompanied several peasant and Indigenous organizations in a press conference, march and stand in front of the United States Embassy in Tegucigalpa where they alleged interference of the United States government in the electoral process of Honduras.

On December 8, 2025, PBI-Honduras observed several Honduran land and territory organizations, including ARCAH and the Agrarian Platform, file a “motion to annul the election results with the National Electoral Council and a complaint for electoral crimes with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.”

Asfura was declared the winner of the election on December 24, 2025, and was sworn into office on January 27, 2026.

On March 4, 2026, PBI-Honduras observed a press conference organized by popular movements who warned of the “serious repercussions” of the Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agro-industrial Sector.

As noted above, that Law was passed on June 3, 2026.

We continue to follow this.

Canada to attend World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia despite attacks against human rights defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by CADSI.

The Ottawa-based Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), “the leading national voice of over 1,000 defence, security and emerging technology companies”, has posted on social media:

“A major milestone for Canada’s international delegation engagement was announced today at Eurosatory 2026 [an arms fair in Paris, France].

Representatives from the Government of Canada and Global Affairs Canada formalized an agreement on Wednesday [June 17, 2026] to secure a dedicated Canadian exhibit space at World Defense Show 2028 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia [that will take place on January 16-20, 2028]. This agreement will establish the first-ever Canadian National Pavilion within the show’s North American Zone in 2028.

This will create a new platform for our future members and Canadian companies to showcase their capabilities and pursue opportunities in one of the world’s fastest-growing defence markets.”

This past week, CADSI also posted from Eurosatory: “We welcomed Trade Commissioner Service representatives covering Europe, the Middle East, and other priority markets to meet with our delegates, creating a unique opportunity for Canadian companies to pursue growth abroad.”

Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia

The 2025 Annual Report on Strategic Goods and Technologies Pursuant to Section 27 of the Export and Import Permits Act, published by Global Affairs Canada, notes: “Saudi Arabia was the largest non-U.S. export destination by value, receiving approximately $404 million in Canadian military exports (accounting for approximately 19.8% of the total value of non-U.S. military exports)…”

In 2014, the Government of Canada signed a $14.8 billion deal with the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia (KSA) to deliver over 14 years an undisclosed number of light-armoured vehicles (LAVs) to be manufactured by General Dynamics Mission Systems Canada, based in London, Ontario. The deal was arranged by the Ottawa-based Canadian Commercial Corporation, a Crown corporation that brokers contracts between Canadian suppliers and foreign governments.

“No credible evidence”

Following a public outcry about the $14.8 billion sale of light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, Global Affairs Canada conducted a risk assessment that in September 2019 concluded: “Officials found no credible evidence linking Canadian exports of military equipment or other controlled items to any human rights or humanitarian law violations committed by the Saudi government.”

In August 2021, Amnesty International and Project Ploughshares countered this assertion with their 50-page report: “No Credible Evidence” Canada’s flawed analysis of arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

Concerns for human rights defenders

In April 2026, Amnesty International further stated: “Despite a series of releases of individuals arrested for exercising their right to freedom of expression, authorities continued to severely restrict freedom of expression and association, with critics and human rights defenders facing long prison terms, grossly unfair trials, and arbitrary travel bans including for those recently released from detention.”

The Dublin-based Front Line Defenders also notes: “Human rights defenders, activists and individuals [in Saudi Arabia] who criticise government policies or express dissent or diverging opinion to those of the authorities are subjected to harassment, surveillance, arbitrary detention, smear campaigns, prolonged and unfair trials. Family members of HRDs [human rights defenders] are also targeted and subjected to intimidation and harassment at the hands of the authorities.”

Overall, in the Freedom in the World report produced by Freedom House, Saudi Arabia is given a score of 9/100 and is considered “not free”.

An agenda to increase arms exports

This past February 2026, “Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy” highlighted Canada’s intention to: “Substantially increase financial support for export promotion efforts, and add new Trade Commissioners in the UK and key EU markets and ramp up Canada’s presence at major global defence and aerospace trade shows.”

The Government of Canada says this means “a stronger and more visible Canadian presence at major international defence and aerospace trade shows.”

This “more visible Canadian presence” seemingly now includes the World Defense Show 2028 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on January 16-20, 2028.

Arms exports and human rights

As part of our commitment to accompaniment and the protection of the lives of human rights defenders, PBI-Canada is monitoring the relationship between weapons companies and human rights violations by State-based actors importing weapons that could be used against defenders, organizations and communities.

The Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute recently called on European governments to “create a binding human rights, environmental and due diligence exclusion framework for European Union funding, preventing public money from going to companies involved in war crimes, occupation, repression, genocide, environmental destruction or serious human rights abuses.”

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Mexico meets with Sonora State Human Rights Commission as part of campaign to strengthen Protection Mechanism

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by CEDH.

The Sonora State Human Rights Commission (Comisión Estatal de Derechos Humanos de Sonora-CEDH Sonora) has posted on social media:

“Protecting human rights defenders requires teamwork, constant dialogue and strong support networks.

For that purpose, the president of the CEDH Sonora, Lic. Cervando Flores Castelo, and staff of the State Commission of Human Rights of Sonora held a working meeting with the organization Peace Brigades International (PBI) Mexico to share experiences and explore mechanisms of collaboration that strengthen the accompanying advocates and civil society organizations.

During the meeting, the importance of generating coordinated actions that respond to the specific needs and contexts of those who carry out human rights defense work was discussed.

From the CEDH Sonora we continue to promote spaces for dialogue and cooperation that contribute to the promotion, protection and defense of human rights.”

PBI-Canada supports call to strengthen Protection Mechanism

PBI-Mexico and PBI-Canada continue to collaborate on advocacy strategies to highlight the need to strengthen the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico.

–PBI-Canada participates in APG-organized call with Global Affairs Canada on the Mexico-Canada Human Rights Dialogue (June 15, 2026)

–PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico meet with the Embassy of Canada in Mexico to highlight the need to strengthen the Protection Mechanism (February 27, 2026)

–PBI-Canada co-organizes webinar with PBI-Mexico and Espacio OSC on Protection Mechanism in Mexico (February 13, 2026)

–Photo-journal of PBI-Mexico accompanied Espacio OSC advocacy tour in Canada on Protection Mechanism (September 26, 2025).

PBI-Colombia says threat against CREDHOS a violation to democratic participation ahead of June 21 presidential vote

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Organization of American States (OAS) observation team prepare for the June 21 presidential vote in Colombia.

On June 3, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project posted on social media:

“Threats directed against social and political leaders constitute a serious violation of human rights and the exercise of democratic participation. In this context, PBI reaffirms the importance of guaranteeing security, protection, and the necessary conditions so that social and political leaderships, as well as human rights defenders in the Magdalena Medio, can carry out their work and exercise their rights without threats, intimidation, or acts of violence.”

This follows the Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights (CREDHOS) posting on social media:

“Less than 24 hours after the presidential elections, a pamphlet attributed to the ACSN circulated, declaring several people in the municipality as military targets, including social and political leaders linked to the Municipal Human Rights Committee, CREDHOS, and the Historic Pact.

These events are occurring in a context of high political tension and disputes over economic interests associated with extractive projects in the territory, including the possibility of enabling hydrocarbon exploitation through fracking.

We demand that the National Government and the departmental and municipal authorities immediately adopt effective measures to guarantee life, integrity, and permanence in the territory, as well as to advance investigations that allow these events to be clarified.

The defense of human rights and political participation must have full guarantees.”

The ACSN

CREDHOS has stated the Association of Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (ACSN) “represents a reconfiguration of the territorial dispute with the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), in the context of the internal armed conflict.”

“Economic powers that promote the deepening of extractive economies”

Justice for Colombia has noted: “Far-right presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella broadly outperformed progressive senator Iván Cepeda in Santander. However, Cepeda won in two municipalities, Puerto Wilches and the city of Barrancabermeja. Activists fear the threats could be reprisals for results that saw Cepeda gain 55.6 per cent of the vote in Puerto Wilches, 20 per cent more than De la Espriella.”

CREDHOS further comments: “This threat, carried out within the framework of the presidential elections, represents coercion against members of the Historical Pact Political Party and an attack against the democratic exercise of political participation, intensifying the persecution of the left-wing social and political movement in the municipality of Puerto Wilches. where tensions currently exist between popular sectors and economic powers that promote the deepening of extractive economies, including the possibility of enabling hydrocarbon exploitation through fracking.”

Second-round vote, June 21

The first round of the presidential election took place in Colombia on Sunday May 31, 2026, with a second round about to take place on Sunday June 21, 2026.

WOLA has reported: “Far-right outsider candidate Albelardo de la Espriella secured 43.74% of the vote in Colombia’s first-round presidential election, setting up a June 21 runoff against leftist candidate Ivan Cepeda, who received 40.9% of the vote, following a collapse in center-right support. De la Espriella finished three percentage points ahead of Cepeda, a margin of approximately 670,000 votes.”

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), has called on the State “to take all measures necessary to ensure that the presidential election process can be completed, in particular by preserving the safety of all presidential candidates.” It has also reminded the State “of its obligation to ensure that citizens may fully exercise their political rights safely and on an equal footing.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading

–PBI-Canada attentive to the situation for human rights defenders in the context of the presidential election on June 21 in Colombia (PBI-Canada, June 2, 2026)

–The international community monitors the election in Colombia for risks to human rights defenders, organizations and communities (PBI-Canada, March 21, 2026).

PBI-Guatemala accompanies family members of Luz Leticia at court hearing on her forced disappearance

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:

“’Our family has been fighting for 44 years to find out the whereabouts of our sister, and we’ll keep fighting until we know.’

Also this week, #PBI is accompanying the family members of #LuzLeticia during the oral and public hearings in the #casoluzleticiayotros case, which is being livestreamed by @verdadjusticiag [Truth and Justice in Guatemala]. Witness testimony, the presentation of documentary evidence, and expert reports are continuing.

You can find more information on the Linktree in our bio.

The trial is expected to continue throughout June and the first half of July.”

From Canada, we are also following the court proceedings via the Truth and Justice in Guatemala Facebook page and Instagram account.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Valentina Agustín, the mother of Luz Leticia Hernández Agustín, as well as Luz’s sisters, Marta and Mirtala.

PBI-Guatemala had also previously accompanied another sister during the 1980s before she had to go into exile in Canada.

Mirtala further explains to El Salto: “In 1987, my sister was a political exile in Canada, and my mother went to be with her. My sister took a job with the Canadian government, and with her salary, they decided to launch this legal battle. They hired legal counsel from the human rights law firm led by Edgar Pérez Archila, one of the attorneys handling several cases related to the genocide in Guatemala.”

Two years ago, Publico reported: “In addition to resolving their sister’s case, the family is fighting to create a museum that tells the story of repression in Guatemala. [Mirtala says] ‘We want the museum to be built in a military base in the capital, but the right wing is intransigent with this.'”

Photo: Mirtala, Valentina, Marta.

Luz Leticia

Luz Leticia Hernández Agustín studied at the Belen Institute, School of Commerce and Faculty of Economics of the University of San Carlos.

Verdad Justicia has posted: “Luz Leticia was born on November 22, 1957, the same day she was detained-disappeared, when she was 25 years old. Her family remembers her as a woman, she was a very intelligent, affectionate woman, such a beautiful smile and a hard worker.”

Mirtala has shared in an interview with El Salto that Luz Leticia was a member of Nuestro Movimiento (Our Movement). She explains: “The organization originated as a militant guerrilla group whose goal was to defend the people against poverty, abuses of power, and the actions of the security forces. In 1980, she had enrolled at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala; she was a certified public accountant and worked at the Army Bank. The university was under attack because many of its members—including professors, students, and leaders—were disappearing and being murdered. That was one of the reasons we believe my sister joined Nuestro Movimiento, which was like an insurgent group made up of young people from the capital who were challenging the security forces both in the capital and in the interior of the country.”

This movement kidnapped Jorge Mario Ríos Muñoz, the 19-year-old nephew of the de facto head of state at the time, Efraín Ríos Montt, on October 14, 1982. The objective was to exchange Ríos Muñoz for a comrade who had disappeared the previous month. UPI reports: “Rios Munoz was rescued unharmed in a shootout between police and his leftist kidnappers in Guatemala City.”

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has noted Luz Leticia and Ana Maria López Rodríguez were “captured on November 21, 1982, by security forces made up of elements of the special operations reaction battalion (BROE) and the intelligence service. (SIM) while they were at the address located in block 4, block “E”, lot 13 of the Monte Real II neighborhood, zone 4 of Mixco.”

On the accused, Prensa Libre also reports: “Cifuentes Cano was the director of a police division and worked closely with the Army in counterinsurgency operations during the de facto government of the dictator Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983), as explained by the Prosecutor’s Office before the Fifth Criminal Court of First Instance. The ex-commander is accused of the forced disappearance of the university students Luz Hernández and Ana López, who 40 years later have still not been located.”

Photo from NISGUA.

PBI-Colombia visits Casa Cultural Potosi, stands with those who defend life and territory in Ciudad Bolivar

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has posted on social media:

“On June 5, we visited @casaculturalpotosi [Potosi Cultural Centre] again alongside @justiciapazcolombia [Justice and Peace Commission], a community-led initiative that supports peacebuilding and cultural resistance among young people and children in Ciudad Bolívar through art and education.

This space was born out of the memory of teachers murdered for rescuing teenagers in Ciudad Bolívar, and today it continues to thrive with a community library, a communal kitchen, and a music collective, @cocinolproduce [Cocinol Produce Collective], which has its own rap recording studio. In the garden, the organization @engativacultiva [Sergio Engativa farms] works on environmental education and the propagation of native species to restore the subxerophytic ecosystem of Cerro Seco.

During the tour, we reached the Palo del Ahorcado [Hanged Man’s Tree], a tree that symbolizes this resistance and has already survived two attempts to cut it down. We also had the opportunity to meet @emisoralaterraza [La Terraza Radio Station], a voice that, through artistic expression and grassroots communication, strengthens the community fabric of the area and contributes to the defense of Cerro Seco against mining interests and uncontrolled urban expansion.

At PBI Colombia, we continue to stand in solidarity with those who, through culture and memory, defend life and the territory in Ciudad Bolívar.”

PBI-Canada has previously highlighted this situation in these articles:

–PBI-Colombia accompanies Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission in defence of “Hanged Man’s Tree” near Bogota after fire (February 4, 2026)

–PBI-Colombia accompanies Justice and Peace Commission to Casa Cultural de Potosi after it was vandalized (March 22, 2026).

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Honduras visits Indigenous Lenca Rio Blanco community, affirms right to land for Indigenous and peasant communities

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“For two decades, the Río Blanco community has played a key role in defending the #Gualcarque River, which is threatened by energy megaprojects.

Today, a land dispute is ongoing, and this Lenca indigenous community, located in the department of Intibucá, continues to defend the lands where they live and have farmed for years.

During our visit as PBI, we were able to observe firsthand the destruction of their crops and speak with the community about the harassment and threats they have suffered in recent weeks. For this reason, we emphasize the importance of the #righttoland for indigenous and peasant communities.”

COPINH opposition to the Canjel dam

At this time we recall a PBI-Canada article published in August 2021:

On January 30, 2015, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) issued this condemnation of the Canjel dam and named “HYDROSYS (Canada)” along with Blue Energy.

On March 4, 2016, Telesur reported: “Two years after the [Rio Blanco] community set up a road blockade [in April 2013] to resist the foreign-backed Agua Zarca dam project on the Gualcarque River, Caceres and her fellow activists found out that Blue Energy planned to build a dam on another local waterway, the Canjel River.”

That article adds: “The community was never consulted about the project and COPINH publicly opposed the dam.”

Blue Energy said dam was in Santa Barbara

On March 9, 2015, Upside Down World reported: “When Blue Energy filed paperwork with Honduras’ Environmental Ministry, they listed the project as being located in the Municipality of Intibucá.”

“However, when the Environmental Ministry requested the company provide documentation of authorization to construct the dam in Intibucá, Blue Energy responded by simply claiming the dam was now in Santa Barbara. In this way, they avoided consulting the Indigenous people of Intibucá.”

That article adds: “In December 2014, Rio Blanco community members walked the borders of the Rio Blanco territory and found the dam being constructed; the Indigenous elders of Rio Blanco report the dam is partly in Lenca territory, in Intibucá.”

The Canadian company that built the dam

On March 7, 2016, the Honduras Culture and Politics blog also noted: “Recently, a new dam project in the same region, on the Rio Canjel, was awarded to a US firm, Rio Energy LLC, owned by Peter L. Ochs of Capital III, along with Canadian firm Hydrosys Consultants.”

That article highlights: “Hydrosys has sole responsibility for the planning and construction according to their own project description.”

Then on August 9, 2016, Radio Canada International (RCI) reported: “So far, the Canadian government has not made any statement concerning the case of Berta Cáceres, which is surprising since a company from this country, Hydrosys, has directly participated in the feasibility studies, plans and specifications for the construction, supervision, construction management and commissioning of the Canjel River hydroelectric project in the Lenca indigenous territory to which Cáceres was openly opposed.”

Police search for Caceres on bus en route to protest Rio Canjel project

The Honduras Culture and Politics blog adds: “On January 27 of [2016], a bus load of Rio Blanco protestors was stopped on their way to protest the Rio Canjel project by Honduran police in the community of Agua Caliente and the bus was searched for the presence of Berta Cáceres, who fortunately was not aboard the bus but rather back in Rio Blanco.”

Death threats from Blue Energy

Telesur has also reported: “Caceres warned on multiple occasions that she had received death threats and other harassment from state and corporate agents, including Canadian hydroelectric giant Blue Energy, as a result of her activism resisting unwanted development projects on Indigenous territory.”

That article adds: “Caceres made statements [in April 2015] claiming that ‘men close to Blue Energy’, a transnational Canadian company looking to build a dam in the Rio Blanco area in western Honduras, or people ‘close to politicians’ and ‘death squads promoted from government policies’ were behind the death threats leveled against her.”

On April 28, 2016, less than two months after Caceres was murdered, this media release stated: “CIMA+, one the largest Canadian consulting engineering firms, has recently merged with Hydrosys Consultants Inc., a firm specializing in engineering services for hydropower and hydraulic structures.”

Furthermore, CIMA+ notes on its Hydropower Construction, Honduras webpage that its client was “Blue Energy SA” and that “CIMA+ provided a complete range of engineering for the construction of the 3 MW hydropower project.”

That webpage adds: “CIMA+ also ensured work supervision. The final stages of the project were achieved with the support of a local partnership and technology transfer by CIMA+ experts to our client’s local employee. The project included a large concrete weir with a desander and a 4 km penstock leading to the powerhouse located 290 m below.”

PBI-Canada visits Lenca territory

PBI-Canada was present on Lenca territory in March 2026 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the killing of Berta Caceres.

For more on that: Photo-journal of PBI-Canada with PBI-Honduras accompanying COPINH on the 10th anniversary of the sowing of Berta Caceres (March 3, 2026).

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) since May 2016.

Transnational Institute says public money should not go to corporations involved in war crimes, genocide and human rights abuses

By
Brent Patterson
-

Image from European Council website.

The European Council, comprised of the heads of state or government of EU countries, European Council President, European Commission President, is meeting for a two-day summit in Brussels this June 18-19, 2026.

The Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute has highlighted that the European Council will discuss the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2028–2034).

TNI notes: “The proposed Competitiveness Fund under the 2028–2034 MFF would allocate €131 billion to armament and space, around five times more than in the previous budget cycle [€28.97 billion in 2021-2027].”

They are calling on Members of the European Parliament and EU governments to reject the proposed €131 billion envelope in the MFF, to halt the militarization f the EU budget, and, among other demands, to “create a binding human rights, environmental and due diligence exclusion framework for EU funding, preventing public money from going to companies involved in war crimes, occupation, repression, genocide, environmental destruction or serious human rights abuses.”

Peace Brigades International-Canada takes note of this because in June 2025 Canada and the European Union signed a “Security and Defence Partnership” that, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated at the time, is “the intentional first step toward Canada’s participation in Security Action for Europe (SAFE), an instrument of the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030.”

This week, CBC News further explained: “The European Parliament formally welcomed Canada into the defence borrowing and procurement agreement known as Security Action for Europe (SAFE) [on May 20, 2026], the only non-European country to join. The 150-billion euro [the equivalent of C$240 billion] program grants preferential access to defence contracts financed through low-interest loans. It’s part of a broader initiative aimed at reducing the continent’s military reliance on the United States. As the first non-European country taking part in SAFE, Canadian companies can partner with European peers to bid on joint projects and access favourable financing.”

In reference to European military spending, Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty describes Europe as a “major marketplace for us.”

This past February 2026, “Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy” highlighted Canada’s intention to: “Substantially increase financial support for export promotion efforts, and add new Trade Commissioners in the UK and key EU markets and ramp up Canada’s presence at major global defence and aerospace trade shows.”

The Government of Canada says this means “a stronger and more visible Canadian presence at major international defence and aerospace trade shows.”

This includes the ILA Berlin Air Show (June 2026 in Germany), the Eurosatory arms fair (June 2026 in France), the International Defence Industry Exhibition (September 2026 in Poland), the Defence & Security Equipment International/DSEI arms fair (March 2027 in Germany), and DSEI (September 2027 in the United Kingdom).

Some of the companies that attend these arms fairs are implicated in the list of Companies Profiting from the Gaza Genocide published by the American Friends Service Committee Action Center for Corporate Accountability.

We continue to follow this situation and to make the link between the export of weapons and the human rights violations committed by State-based actors against organizations, defenders and communities.

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