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Credhos, Nomadesc, Cahucopana take part in the National Mobilization with Colombian unions, social movements the day after Decree 1525

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo by Nomadesc.

The Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (Credhos) has posted on social media: “We are mobilizing this October 14th! …We are mobilizing against: The dismantling of the minimum wage. The criminalization of social protest. The privatization of public education. Discrimination, stigmatization, and structural violence. The privatization of Ecopetrol and fracking.”

This afternoon, CREDHOS posted on Facebook: “From CREDHOS we participated and supported the mobilization of October 14, being part of the Human Rights Commission of the Barrancabermeja Strike Committee. We reaffirm our commitment to defending the social protest and demanding guarantees for those who exercise this right in a peaceful manner, without criminalization or stigmatization.”

The Association for Social Research and Action (Nomadesc) also posted on social media: “Today, October 14, 2026, thousands of residents of Cali took to the streets to participate in massive demonstrations. Workers, union members, young people, and adults alike gathered to express their dissatisfaction with the decisions and measures taken by the government led by Abelardo de la Espriella. During the protests, demonstrators voiced concern over government policies that they believe threaten rights won through decades of social, labor, and grassroots struggles.”

And the Humanitarian Action Corporation for Coexistence and Peace in Northeast Antioquia (Cahucopana) posted: “Cahucopana is in Bogotá! A delegation of women from #AMUSUNASB [the Association of Women in Overcoming of Northeastern Antioquia and Southern Bolívar], along with peasant farmers and agro-miners from #AMATNASB [the Ancestral and Traditional Agro-Mining Association of Northeast Antioquia and South Bolívar] and #CAHUCOPANA, is currently in Bogotá participating in the National Mobilization for Life, Territory, and the Rights of the People.”

All three organizations are accompanied by Peace Brigades International.

The Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation (FNEB) also posted on social media: “Our quest is also a form of resistance. This October 14, we continue to raise our voices for those who need us and demand truth and justice. From the camp and deployment in front of the Prosecutor’s Office bunker, the women searchers of ASOMADCA [the Association of Mothers and Women Searchers of Cartago, Valle] and the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation reaffirm that we will not stop fighting until we find our loved ones. Because memory walks, the search continues and hope endures!”

And the Catatumbo Peasant Organization (Ascamcat) posted on their Facebook page: “ASCAMCAT took to the streets to demand the implementation of the Peace Agreement, especially the Full Rural Reform, a historic debt to the Colombian peasantry. Without land, without guarantees, and without a transformation of the countryside, there will be no complete peace!”

Union mobilization

Also mobilizing on October 14 were unions including the Central Union of Workers (CUT), the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC), the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) and the Colombian Federation of Educators (Fecode).

The Associated Press reports: “Unions, students and sectors of the opposition to the government of conservative Abelardo de la Espriella mobilized Wednesday through the streets of Bogota and other Colombian cities to express their discontent with the government and its social policies, which they consider regressive.”

“The march was also called by some unions, including the teachers’ union, against measures by De la Espriella that ‘modify decrees to make teaching work more precarious, privatize education and limit the right to protest,’ the Central Union of Workers said in a statement the day before.”

Excelsior adds: “On this day, in addition, the indigenous communities protest against a project to regulate the indigenous guard, a civilian entity for the defense of territories operating in the regions most affected by the armed conflict.”

Decree 1525, more than 4,000 riot police

The AP article highlights that the day before the protest, de la Espriella “published a decree that modifies the protocol for the use of force by the police during the protests. The new rule allows police intervention without necessarily exhausting dialogue, according to the decree. … ‘There are measures like the decree issued yesterday that are authoritarian,’ Percy Oyola, president of the General Confederation of Labor who was protesting in downtown Bogota, told The Associated Press.”

Agence France-Presse also explains: “The new decree modifies another executive order from 2021 that privileged dialogue and mediation before the public forces acted in the event of violent demonstrations.”

And Infobae reports: “According to the statement issued by [the Foundation for Press Freedom (Flip)], the decree does not establish explicit guarantees to guarantee the protection of the press during the journalistic coverage of the marches. ‘The law authorizes immediate interventions in the face of certain acts of violence and allows the omission of previous stages of dialogue and mediation without setting sufficient operational guarantees so that these actions do not end in aggressions against journalists or in restrictions on their work,’ Flip said.”

The day before the protest, The City Paper Bogota reported: “More than 4,000 members of the National police’s Anti-riot Squad – ESMAD – are expected to be deployed on Bogotá’s streets on Wednesday…”

The Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) posted on social media: “October 14, 2026. We are alert about the intervention of the Dialogue and Order Maintenance Unit (UNDMO) during the social protest day that is taking place in Ibagué. We demand that the National Police respect and guarantee the right to social protest, refrain from arbitrary or disproportionate use of force and protect the life and integrity of protesters. In videos spread on social networks it is observed that the police have apprehended protesters. We demand that you respect your life and personal integrity and fully guarantee your rights.”

We continue to follow this.

Additional reading: Why are the marches TODAY, October 14 in Colombia? Reasons for the National Strike (Caracol, October 14, 2026).

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Maya Ch’orti’ Councils of Olopa and San Juan Ermita, the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque on Indigenous Resistance Day

By
Brent Patterson
-

On October 13, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on social media:

“Today, #PBI is accompanying the Maya Ch’orti’ Councils of Olopa and San Juan Ermita, as well as the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque, at a gathering of Maya Ch’orti’ communities from Chiquimula. The event commemorates #IndigenousResistanceDay—a resistance that has endured from the Spanish invasion to the present day.

During the event, the communities reflected on the struggles they have led, including the Plurinational Uprising movement, the defense of their territory, and the recognition of their ancestral lands.

The gathering took place at the Chiquimula Governor’s Office, where Indigenous authorities were invited to raise the flag of the four peoples alongside the Governor. Through an official resolution, the Governor acknowledged the role of cultural identity in history, mandating that public institutions contribute to recognizing the country’s cultural diversity.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International accompanies the Maya Ch’orti’ Council of Olopa, the Maya Ch’orti’ Council of Ancestral Indigenous Communities of San Juan Ermita, and the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH and civil society organizations at sit-in to oppose the privatization of water

By
Brent Patterson
-

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

“’Water is not a business; it cannot be commodified.’

@arcahhonduras [the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras] and other civil society organizations have staged a sit-in outside Tegucigalpa City Hall to oppose the privatization of water in the Central District.

They denounce the fact that these negotiations are taking place amidst a severe water crisis. Furthermore, they point out that the company involved in this privatization has faced international accusations regarding human rights violations in #Palestine.

As PBI, we reiterate that water is a common good essential for survival, and access to water is a fundamental human right.”

Media coverage

Criterio.hn reports: “Citizens and members of organizations defending access to water held a temporary sit-in in front of the offices of the Mayor’s Office of the Central District, in downtown Tegucigalpa, on Tuesday to reject the approaches of Mayor Juan Diego Zelaya with the Israeli company Mekorot for alleged advice on water issues.”

“On June 23, Zelaya admitted to Radio Progreso that he was holding talks with the Israeli company, after Criterio.hn published the article ‘Mekorot and water diplomacy, the Israeli model that could be expanded in Honduras,’ about the talks that the central government would be carrying out with the company.”

The article continues: “Through a statement, the demonstrators denounced the attempt to privatize the water service and rejected Mekorot’s entry into Honduras. The Israeli company has been accused of cutting off water supplies to the Palestinian population, in the context of what a commission of inquiry of the UN Human Rights Council described as genocide. In addition, he faces accusations for alleged cases of corruption in contracts signed with Latin American governments, they detailed in the statement.”

Photo by PBI-Honduras.

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has been accompanying ARCAH since September 2022. PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met Castillo in Tegucigalpa on October 28, 2024, then again on March 3, 2026.

Further reading: PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH protest in Tegucigalpa against Israeli water company Mekorot and the privatization of water (PBI-Canada, October 14, 2026).

PBI-Canada hosts webinar to promote PBI-Honduras call for field volunteers, deadline to apply is October 30

By
Brent Patterson
-

On October 14, Peace Brigades International-Canada hosted a webinar to promote the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project call for applications for field volunteers. The deadline to apply is October 30.

The webinar featured Christopher Castillo of the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras (ARCAH) who was at the Viva Berta! Garifuna People’s Camp for Life, and Beatriz with PBI-Honduras joining from the team house in Tegucigalpa. The webinar was moderated by Marianna Tzabiras, a member of the PBI-Canada Board of Directors based in Toronto.

Forty-eight people from around the world registered for the webinar. There were many good questions asked and answered.

The information to apply to be a PBI-Honduras brigadista is here.

The application and selection procedure

During this webinar, Beatriz explained: “We need to distinguish between the application procedure and the selection procedure. The application procedure is very simple. You have to go to our website, which is pbi-honduras.org, and in a section called Involucrate, you’re going to find three parts, one information about the role, the requirements that the person must comply with. For example, having a nationality that’s different from Honduras to speak Spanish, have a commitment towards the different sexual and gender expressions, to be able to commit to stay 12 months there.”

“Then you’re going to have a second PDF, which is the request itself, not just the CV itself. It’s more like a questionnaire. And you’re going to be asked if you’ve ever lived in a community, what you understand with concepts like nonviolence, to get to know you a little better. And the third PDF are some references, somebody that knows you from work, a boss, or maybe an academic supervisor, a teacher, some people that you volunteer with.”

“Then there’d be selection procedure, which is a bit longer. And first of all, it would be like a phase with personal interviews. People that pass these interviews would then pass to a self-training phase and information. Workbooks are sent so that you understand what is Honduras, what’s happening here. And finally, the people that complete that self-training go to a training week.”

Beatriz added: “Many people ask, why is the process so long? It’s not that long, but it’s a bit long. And I see that as a question of responsibility for human rights defenders that we accompany here in Honduras, and also for the volunteers themselves, because the context is a bit complicated here.”

International accompaniment works

Christopher highlighted during the webinar: “People who are defending the land, this is a very special lack of security context, because we don’t only have to face companies, but also organized crime. When we defend a river or we face a businessman, this businessman is usually tied to organized crime. This is why it’s important to understand this accompanying.”

He further commented: “Something that works is this international accompaniment, because the very presence of international organizations is a warning that the world is watching. Our very national police, our army, there are less cases of repression when international observers happen. Mainly if it’s organizations of human rights, this is something important, because international press has a lack of respect here. Journalists are already repressed here, harassed. But human rights organizations and international accompaniment organizations still have some respect due to the awful image of Honduras in terms of human rights.”

Apply by October 30

To support this important work as a PBI-Honduras field team volunteer, click here.

Additional reading: PBI-Honduras seeking applicants for 12-month field volunteer positions, deadline to apply is October 30 (PBI-Canada article, October 12, 2026).

Canada accelerates “defence and security” exports to Guatemala; US lifts 47-year embargo on arms sales

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca DHC-6 Twin Otter. Photo from IPMS/Guatemala Facebook page, October 12, 2026.

On June 22, 2026, the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) published an article titled: CCC to Accelerate Canadian Defence Exports to Guatemala.

That article notes: “CCC is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Guatemala. The agreement establishes a government-to-government (G2G) framework to support Guatemala’s expedited procurement of Canadian defence and security solutions.”

With this announcement, it is likely that Guatemala will be one of the 100+ international delegations that attend the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa on June 2-3, 2027 where “$1B+ in business deals happen every year”.

The CCC also highlights: “This agreement builds on CCC’s growing defence export relationship with Guatemala, including a recent contract to supply a Canadian-built Twin Otter Classic 300-G aircraft.”

Pentagon Buys Canadian Transport Aircraft for Guatemala

In June 2025, Defense Post reported: “The US Department of Defense has awarded a $10.1-million contract to Canadian manufacturer De Havilland to supply a transport aircraft to Guatemala. The deal, part of a foreign military sale, includes one DHC-6 Twin Otter Classic 300-G, spare parts, and ferry flight services. Work will be carried out in Calgary, Alberta, through December 2025.”

No CCC follow-up on human rights violations

In May 2018, Ottawa Citizen reporter David Pugliese reported: “The Ottawa-based CCC, which helps Canadian exporters get contracts with foreign governments acknowledges it conducts no follow-up to ensure exported Canadian-built equipment isn’t being used to abuse human rights.”

US weapons sales to Guatemala

On September 29, 2026, the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) also documented: “For the first time in more than four decades, Guatemala has purchased weapons from the United States and, in the words of the State Department, is ‘building one of our hemisphere’s most extensive migration partnerships.’”

Their article continues: “On September 21, Guatemala received the first shipment of weaponry from the United States government in decades, following the lifting of restrictions that had limited US military sales to the Guatemalan Army. The $5.03 million acquisition, made through the US Foreign Military Sales program, included 2,699 M4A1 rifles, 59 M240 machine guns, 57 grenade launchers, and 11,220 30-round magazines. A prior delivery of grenade launchers was made in June.”

M4 rifles are made by US-based Colt’s Manufacturing Company, and M240 machine guns are made by FN America (the US subsidiary of Belgian firm FN Herstal) and the US-based company Ordnance.

Human rights violations in Guatemala

The GHRC also provides this historical context: “Foreign Military Sales to Guatemala were restricted in 1977 because of the egregious human rights violations committed by the Guatemalan Army during the internal armed conflict, and the restriction was maintained for decades because of ongoing concerns about human rights violations and about the misuse by the Army of US-provided equipment.”

The Fenix mine

The GHRC further highlights: “In 2021, jeeps [provided by the United States] were reportedly used to repress a protest of the Fenix mine.”

According to reports from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), on October 24, 2021, Guatemalan security forces misused specialized Jeep J8 vehicles against the Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ land defenders.

Giovanni Batz, an Assistant Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, has written in ReVista Harvard Review of Latin America: “According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Guatemalan government has misused on several occasions military equipment and aid donated by the United States. For example, on October 24, 2021, the Guatemalan government misused jeeps donated by the Department of Defense against anti-mining protestors in El Estor, according to GAO reports.”

The Progressive has reported: “Police raided the houses of Carlos Choc and Juan Bautista Xol [on October 26, 2021], both local correspondents for the independent media outlet Prensa Comunitaria, as well as the offices of local radio station Xyaab’ Tzuultaq’a. The attacks on the press have raised concerns from international press freedom and Guatemalan human rights organizations.”

Accompaniment of Carlos Choc

PBI-Guatemala has noted: “Carlos Choc has been criminalized and prosecuted because of his journalistic work, which he has used to report on human rights violations against the Q’eqchi’ people and the environmental pollution caused by the Fenix mine in the El Estor municipality. We began accompanying him in April 2025.”

Photo: PBI-Guatemala accompanies journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc to meet with women’s cooperative in El Estor (PBI-Canada, February 24, 2026).

PBI-Canada research on arms exports and HRDs

Peace Brigades International-Canada, within our commitment to the holistic protective accompaniment of organizations, defenders and communities, continues to monitor, research and analyze the implications of the export of military goods produced in Canada on the lives and safety of the human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and workers movements accompanied by Peace Brigades International.

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: Guatemala buys arms from U.S. after decades of embargo against the army for human rights violations (Associated Press, September 21, 2026).

PBI-Southeast Asia co-organizes workshop on strengthening community-led action to protect defenders before harm occurs

By
Brent Patterson
-

“How can communities affected by development projects prevent harm before it’s too late?”

The Coalition for Human Rights In Development has posted on social media about an interactive workshop titled: “Defender Alerts: Forecasting Risks with Preventive Protection for Community-Led Development”.

The social media post adds: “Together, we’ll learn how to trace projects, financiers, and companies through the Early Warning System, connect this information with community-led strategies, and build a global network for preventive action.”

Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) also posted on social media: “IPRI Executive Director Joan will bring an Indigenous Peoples’ rights perspective to the discussion on early information and preventive protection to help communities act before harm occurs.”

The workshop took place at the International Peoples Assembly in Bangkok, Thailand.

That Assembly is being held at the same time as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) annual meeting that is taking place from October 12-18 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok.

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH protest in Tegucigalpa against Israeli water company Mekorot and the privatization of water

By
Brent Patterson
-

Video still of press conference/protest. The banner can be read as “Investors Out” and/or “Zionist Investments Out”.

Criterio.hn reports: “Citizens and members of organizations defending access to water held a temporary sit-in in front of the offices of the Mayor’s Office of the Central District, in downtown Tegucigalpa, on Tuesday to reject the approaches of Mayor Juan Diego Zelaya with the Israeli company Mekorot for alleged advice on water issues.”

“On June 23, Zelaya admitted to Radio Progreso that he was holding talks with the Israeli company, after Criterio.hn published the article ‘Mekorot and water diplomacy, the Israeli model that could be expanded in Honduras,’ about the talks that the central government would be carrying out with the company.”

The article continues: “Through a statement, the demonstrators denounced the attempt to privatize the water service and rejected Mekorot’s entry into Honduras. The Israeli company has been accused of cutting off water supplies to the Palestinian population, in the context of what a commission of inquiry of the UN Human Rights Council described as genocide. In addition, he faces accusations for alleged cases of corruption in contracts signed with Latin American governments, they detailed in the statement.”

Video clip from Honduras Times. In this 4-minute video clip from the press conference, the three speakers say:

“We are a collective movement in defence of the right to access water. Different organizations, peoples, movements, neighbourhoods, colonies, and people living in Tegucigalpa and Comayaguela have gathered in the feminist camp Viva Berta around a common goal. The defence of the right to access water for everyone, for the people, for life, not for the industry or for private interest.

With great conviction, we stand up to the complaint against the privatization of water in Honduras, a favourable scenario for the interest of money and power, through force and violence, to cut down the water of the people.

We denounce vigorously what Juan Diego Zelaya expressed on July 23 of this year, where he emphasized approaches between the municipal mayor of the Central District and the Israeli company Mekorot for alleged water-related advice. In the midst of a genocide condemned by the world, as well as the numerous allegations of corruption-involved contracts throughout Latin America.

We warn the Mekorot company that we will not allow its entry into installation in our territory or in our country.

[We demand] the immediate cancellation of any initiative of privatization, concession or commercialization of water [and] the immediate cancellation of any deal and relationship between the municipal mayor of the central district and Mekorot.

Water is not for sale, it is taken care of and defended.”

Photos and images of group statement from Reporteros de Investigación on Facebook.

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International accompanies ARCAH.

The Criterio.hn article notes: “Christopher Castillo, a member of the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras (ARCAH), said that the sit-in was a first warning action in the face of the rapprochement with Mekorot. He warned that, if they continue, the protests will spread to different municipal offices in the capital. He explained that the actions respond to decisions made in citizen assemblies held at the Viva Berta Feminist Camp, in which residents of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela, as well as other communities surrounding the Central District, have participated.”

Peace Brigades International has been accompanying ARCAH since September 2022. PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met Castillo in Tegucigalpa on October 28, 2024, then again on March 3, 2026.

Further reading: ARCAH to convene virtual meeting on September 5 on water privatization in Tegucigalpa and Comayaguela by Mekorot (PBI-Canada, September 4, 2026).

PBI-Honduras issues ALERT on threat against the René Alemán Pedrina González Dignified Camp

By
Brent Patterson
-

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

“ALERT

Threat Against the René Alemán Pedrina González Dignified Camp

The René Alemán Pedrina González Dignified Camp reports that four vehicles belonging to the company Agrecasa entered the camp without showing a permit and were moving about without license plates.

They also denounce the actions of the Puerto Cortés DPI (Directorate of Police Investigations), which entered the site without giving notice of its presence or the reasons for the visit.

PBI expresses deep concern for the physical safety of the people at the camp, who are beneficiaries of collective and individual protection measures granted by the Protection Mechanism.

We call for guarantees regarding the physical integrity and safety of all individuals and for adherence to human rights standards.”

Social media images

Image from Sector Medina Despierta Porti on Facebook. The text says: “Personnel from the Agrecasa mining company are entering without any authorization; we ask neighbors to come over and completely block the exit.”

And the text with this image says: “DPI personnel—in the age of communication—fail to announce their arrival; it is well known that Agrecasa is under investigation for crimes against public health and the environment”.

Video of the incident.

The camp

The Honduran Network for Escazú has explained: “Just an hour and a half from San Pedro Sula, a weathered hillside serves as a daily reminder of the wound inflicted by mining. The water no longer flows clear, the stones bear the marks of explosions, and yet the people of Sapadril have decided not to give up. …The dignified René Alemán and Pedrina Melgar encampments are made up of women who take turns cooking and keeping watch, elders who share their knowledge of the hill, and young people who understand that their future depends on this struggle.”

The mining company

America Magazine has reported that Agrecasa is a subsidiary of Michigan, USA-based American Aggregates LLC, a U.S. mining conglomerate, according to a 2017 report from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

The shipping company

Dating back to January 2014, American Aggregates LLC used the Montreal-based Canada Steamship Lines Ltd. (CSSL) Harmen Oldendorff bulk carrier to transport crushed limestone from Puerto Cortes, Honduras (a 30-minute drive from Brisas de Tramade) to Tampa, Florida. The CSL website further notes: “CSL Americas, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with additional offices in Vancouver, Canada, is a leading provider of high-performance self-unloading and transhipment operations across North, South, and Central America, the Caribbean, and Africa.”

Accompaniment

We follow the updates from PBI-Honduras about their physical accompaniment of the Dignified Camp in opposition to the mine as well as posts on the Medina Wakes Up Porti Sector (Medina Wakes Up) Facebook page.

Additional reading

–PBI-Honduras visits Dignified Camp established in opposition to Agrecasa limestone mine, pollution of Sapadril Creek and waterways (PBI-Canada, September 3, 2026)

–PBI-Research Unit initial study of the “Cantera Sapadril” open-pit non-metallic mine in Honduras (PBI-Canada, October 7, 2026).

 

PBI-Honduras visits the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) as they provide training on defence of territory and the right to land

By
Brent Patterson
-

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

“The @cntctegucigalpa [National Union of Rural Workers] continues to provide training to peasant grassroots groups and indigenous communities through the Margarita Murillo Agroecology School (EAMM).

Participants strengthened their technical and political capacities for the defense of their territory.

During PBI’s visit to their office, the CNTC National Board emphasized the importance of training the country’s youth for the agroecological transition and the right to land.”

Right to land

The National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) is a small-scale farming and trade union organization that fights for the distribution of land. In Honduras fewer than 5% of landowners control 60% of the fertile terrain.

Defence of territory

On April 9, 2026, the CNTC denounced the eviction of peasant families from the ‘7 de Febrero’ farming cooperative. At that time, the CNTC statement noted: “We condemn the excessive military and police deployment, including the use of ‘Black Mamba’ armoured combat vehicles, which were used against humble families, treating them as if they were ‘terrorists’ or highly dangerous criminals.”

Agro-Industrial law

On June 26, 2026, Honduras enacted Decree No. 107-2026, approving the Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agro-Industrial Sector, Energy Projects, Tourism, Livestock, and Small Agricultural Producers.

United Nations experts, including Andrea Bolaños Vargas, the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, have warned: “Under Decree No. 107-2026, land that had been previously cultivated by cooperatives and subsistence farmers for growing food would effectively be allocated to large-scale agri-business, livestock, energy and tourism activities and would not be subject to agrarian review or ancestral territorial claims. By 1 July, more than 1,000 eviction orders were reportedly issued for thousands of families that had lived on the land for a very long time; some of these orders have since been carried out.”

Accompaniment

Peace Brigades International has been accompanying the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) since May 2018.

The CNTC is affiliated with the Unified Confederation of Honduran Workers (CUTH) which in turn is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), along with 150+ labour organizations including the Canadian Labour Congress.

Further reading

–Honduran peasant organizations denounce before the UN a legislative decree that legalizes land dispossession in favor of agribusiness (Press release, July 27, 2026)

–PBI-Honduras accompanies press conference that says Agro-Industrial Law could become tool to persecute human rights defenders (PBI-Canada, September 10, 2026).

WEBINAR, OCTOBER 14

TOMORROW! Join us this WEDNESDAY October 14 at 1 pm ET to hear about what it is like to be a Peace Brigades International (PBI) brigadista accompanying human rights defenders in Honduras. English-Spanish interpretation. Register now at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yBgBZJ1lRgiy0q9itCpYKA#/registration #PBIaccompanies

PBI-Honduras seeking applicants for 12-month field volunteer positions, deadline to apply is October 30

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project is accepting applications to join its field team for a 12-month commitment.

PBI field volunteers work alongside human rights defenders at risk, providing protective accompaniment and international solidarity while living and working collectively as part of an international team.

-Location: Honduras

-Application deadline: October 30, 2026

-Commitment: 12 months

-Virtual training & selection: February 12–15 and February 19–22, 2027

PBI is looking for candidates who:

-are fluent in Spanish

-have experience with grassroots organisations, NGOs or social movements

-can commit to 12 months in the field

-share PBI’s principles of nonviolence, impartiality and consensus-based decision-making.

An opportunity for those interested in human rights, fieldwork, international solidarity and the protection of human rights defenders.

For more information and applications, click here.

WEBINAR, October 14

And to ask questions, join our webinar this Wednesday October 14 at 1 pm ET. You can register for this webinar by clicking here.

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