PBI-Honduras has posted:

“Yesterday we accompanied the CNTC Tegucigalpa in a meeting with the peasant base Brisas del Humuya (El Progreso, Yoro), to hear about their advocacy work in the community. From PBI we applaud the work of the CNTC to ensure food security and reiterate our concern about the criminalization of land defenders in Honduras.”

Access 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.

PBI-Honduras has previously explained: “Of the 404 communities that form the National Union of Rural Workers, just 20% have titles to their lands. Many others have worked and lived on their lands for three or four decades and have spent 15 years awaiting the official recognition of their rights that never seems to arrive.”

As a result of this, evictions of farmers are not uncommon.

Government policies that have prioritized mining concessions, hydroelectric dams and large-scale export monoculture further complicate the situation.

Threats against the CNTC

In April of this year, Ojalá (a digital weekly co-founded by Canadian journalist Dawn Marie Paley) reported: “Over the last 15 years, private and state security forces have killed at least 180 organized agricultural workers.”

That article adds: “More recently, semi-autonomous assassins and paramilitary groups became increasingly important. Some of these have documented ties to private security operatives known to have worked for palm corporations, as well as to military officers.”

In January 2023, Abelino Sánchez, regional secretary of the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) and president of a peasant cooperative in the department of Cortés, was seriously injured after being shot twice by two men who came to his house. He had received death threats related to a land conflict.

This past June, PBI-Honduras tweeted about the risks experienced by members of the CNTC: “We are concerned about the situation of threats, surveillance, attacks and criminalization against the people of the organization and its bases.”

In August 2024, CNTC member Olman Garcia was murdered. At that time, PBI-Honduras stated: “We recognize the important and courageous advocacy work that Olman carried out to promote access to land and land tenure for small farmers in Honduras. His murder highlights the risks that land defenders continue to face in the country.”

We remember too that ten years earlier, Honduran campesino movement leader Margarita Murillo, a founder of the CNTC, was shot and killed on August 26, 2014.

Photo: Margarita was a founder of the CNTC in 1985 and became a member of its Board of Directors. She was 55 years old when an assassin shot her in the forehead while she was working the land in Planón, Villanueva, Cortés.

Even further back, Amnesty International raised concerns about the lack of investigation into the possible extrajudicial execution of Manuel de Jesus Guerra Arita, assistant secretary of the CNTC, on December 8, 1991.

The rights of peasants

At this time, we recall that Canada abstained in the vote on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other people working in rural areas that was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2018.

PBI-Honduras has noted that this UN Declaration recognizes key elements such as “the right to land, to natural resources and to food sovereignty, based on the principle of equality between men and women.”

The full text of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other people working in rural areas can be read here.

Despite Canada’s abstention, the resolution in support of the Declaration passed.

The CNTC and the labour movement

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.

PBI-Honduras has been accompanying the CNTC since May 2018.

Photo: Franklin Almendares, General Secretary, National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC).

On October 9, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) posted:

“COPINH present at the Embassy of El Salvador in Honduras, demanding the release of the 5 ADES/Santa Marta defenders.

COPINH joins the demand for freedom for the defenders of Santa Marta, who have tirelessly defended the ban on metal mining in El Salvador. Today, they are on trial in order to silence their struggle and open the doors to extractivism, a direct threat to communities and the environment.

We demand their immediate release!

Enough political persecution! #Santa Marta is not alone

#Freedom for the 5“

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied COPINH since May 2016.

Radio-Canada has reported: “Five community leaders and environmental defenders fighting the mining industry in El Salvador are facing a trial described as a direct attack on the defense of water and life.”

That article continues: “The community of Santa Marta, El Salvador, has opposed mining projects for more than a decade, particularly those run by foreign companies, often linked to Canadian-based mining interests.”

It further notes: “Ever Hernández, of the Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES) … explained that Canada, as the host country for a large part of the mining companies with operations in the region, has a key role in this conflict. According to him, Canadian mining companies have influence in Latin America, and sometimes communities must face legal proceedings and even criminalization when they oppose their operations.”

Photo: Supporters outside the Embassy of El Salvador in Ottawa on September 25 call for the release of the Santa Marta 5.

The trial began on Tuesday October 8 and was scheduled to conclude yesterday, Thursday October 10.

ElSalvador.com has explained: “According to the accusation, the defendants would have murdered a woman in August 1989, in the context of the civil war, allegedly considering her an Army informant. [But] ‘Due to the lack of proof and scientific evidence in the process of its purchase, it is unobjectionable that the criminalization and persecution of the environmentalists of Santa Marta has a political motive, which is to silence the opposition to metal mining and its reactivation in the country,’ said Dr. María Julia Hernández in a statement.”

On October 9, Diario Co Latino reported: “The Santa Marta community and ADES have denounced through social networks, nationally and internationally, that elements of the National Civil Police (PNC) are mistreating their fellow community leaders during the transfers to the Public Hearing, in the Sentencing Court of Sensuntepeque [a town more than 86 kilometers from the capital San Salvador].”

The following day, Diario Co Latino noted: “Pedro Cruz, from the defense team of the five environmentalists from ADES and Santa Marta, reported that the verdict of the Sentencing Court of Sensuntepeque, Cabañas, will not be known until Tuesday, October 15 of this year.”

We continue to follow this.

#LibertadParaLos5

Photo: Cofadeh coordinator Bertha Oliva speaks at media conference, October 9, 2024. Photo by Orlando Sierra/AFP.

The Spanish news agency EFE reports: “The Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (Cofadeh) warned on Wednesday [October 9] that the lives of the relatives of environmentalist Juan López, murdered on September 14, may be in danger, so it called on the authorities to prevent a new crime.”

The video of the Cofadeh media conference can be seen here.

López was a member of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods (CMDBCP) of Tocoa and a defender of the Guapinol River from a mining-thermoelectric plant-iron oxide pelletizing plant megaproject.

Cofadeh coordinator Bertha Oliva said: “We are calling on the mechanism for the protection of human rights to guarantee the safety of Juan López’s wife, children and his companions who accompanied him in his campaign.”

Video still: Juan Lopez.

Expansion adds: “Leonel George, Lopez’s colleague in the CMDBCP and also a councillor, told AFP that Lopez’s family already has police protection, but that other people around him are still exposed to significant risks.”

Cofadeh to call on Public Ministry

The EFE article adds: “Oliva indicated that on Thursday [October 10] Cofadeh will be present at the headquarters of the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office) to demand social justice and demand security for the family of the murdered environmentalist and his colleagues.”

First hearing of suspects

EFE also notes: “So far, Honduran authorities have arrested, last week, four men involved in the crime against López, of whom three appeared before a court in San Pedro Sula, north, where they were sentenced to judicial detention and must appear this week in an initial hearing.”

Tunota.com adds: “After hearing the presentation of the prosecution and the defense, the judge determined that the three defendants will remain held in the National Penitentiary of Támara, in Francisco Morazán.”

For more on this: PBI-Honduras accompanies the Municipal Committee at initial hearing for three men accused of killing Guapinol River defender Juan Lopez (PBI-Canada article, October 9, 2024).

UN Special Rapporteurs note responsibilities of companies

United Nations Special Rapporteurs, including Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, have stated: “His murder is part of a framework of attacks, intimidation and criminalization of human rights defenders who make up the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods (CMDBCP) and who publicize the negative consequences of the activities of the mining company Inversiones los Pinares (formerly EMCO Mining Company) in a protected area and the steel company Inversiones ECOTEK.”

Their statement adds: “The two companies belong to EMCO Holdings, which would have partnered with a large overseas steel company.”

The UN Special Rapporteurs further highlighted: “As part of their responsibility to respect human rights, companies, including investors, must ensure that their actions or omissions do not result in reprisals, violence or intimidation, or the use of legal proceedings against defenders, throughout their value chain.”

U.S.-based Nucor corporation

An investigative report by Contra Corriente and Drilled reveals that U.S.-based Nucor maintained a relationship with Inversiones Los Pinares, the company behind a controversial mining megaproject in Honduras, at least until September 30, 2023, despite having claimed to have ended their ties in October 2019.

Photo: Google image of Nucor headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As of June 2024, the top investors in Nucor include the Royal Bank of Canada ($70 million), the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ($35 million), the Toronto-Dominion Bank ($19 million), TD Asset Management ($14 million) and the National Bank of Canada ($11 million).

Accompaniment

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and Guapinol River defenders since January 2019.

PBI-Honduras has posted:

“Today in San Pedro Sula we accompany the Municipal Committee for Defense of Common and Public Property in the initial hearing against the defendants in the case of the murder of #defender Juan Lopez. To achieve #justice for Juan, it is essential that there is an impartial, independent and thorough investigation into what happened.”

COPINH

The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) has also tweeted:

“The hearing against 3 people involved in the murder of Juan López began.

From COPINH, we are alert to the resolution of the trial and we hope that it is carried out in a diligent, transparent and fair manner.

We reaffirm our demands that the trial reveal the truth behind Juan’s murder and that justice be done.

We demand that the investigation into the murder of Juan López guarantee the protection of his family, the CMDBCP and his legal team, as well as the capture of the masterminds.”

US Ambassador

The US Ambassador to Honduras Laura F. Dogu also tweeted: “We are closely following the progress of the investigation into the murder of environmental defender Juan López. We are encouraged by the progress in the case. We urge that the judicial process be transparent and fair to ensure justice and protect those who defend the environment and human rights in Honduras.”

We continue to follow the X/Twitter accounts of Ambassador-designate Ioanna Sahas Martin and the Embassy of Canada in Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua.

The arrests

Reportar Sin Miedo has reported: “The defendants, Óscar Alexis Guardado Alvarenga, Daniel Antonio Juárez Torres and Lenin Adonis Cruz Munguía, were arrested on October 4 and 5 in Tocoa. According to investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the three participated in the surveillance and planning of the attack that ended López’s life.”

Photo from Reportar Sin Miedo.

After the three were arrested, the Committee stated:

“In the wake of the vile murder of our comrade Juan López on September 14, 2024, the Committee has remained firm in its demand for justice, demanding that all possible lines of investigation be investigated and that a thorough, independent and prompt investigation be carried out with international technical assistance and advice, without the participation of corrupt operators of the local justice system.  this, to guarantee the capture and punishment of the material and intellectual authors of the crime who paid and ordered the spilling of the innocent blood of compañero Juan López.”

They also highlighted:

“As a result of our demands and those of our legal team after the murder of our colleague Juan López, we have been victims of threats and surveillance and campaigns of stigmatization and hatred have been directed against us – the same ones that Juan López and other defenders denounced before his murder without having a response from the State.”

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and Guapinol River defenders since January 2019.

Video still: Juan Lopez.

Additional background on the megaproject

Image from Guapinol Resiste website.

The megaproject has seven components:

ASP and ASP2: “Inversiones Los Pinares received the rights to concessions “ASP” and “ASP2”, 100 hectares each, to dig for iron oxide.” The ASP mining concession was set to expire on January 28, 2024. On October 26, 2023, Inversiones Los Pinares asked for it to be renewed for up to 30 more years.

Thermoelectric plant: “The thermoelectric plant is based on pet coke [petroleum coke], a by-product derived from the oil refining process [that is] ‘highly polluting and harmful to health’.” The power is to be used for the pelletizing plant.

Iron oxide pelletizing plant: “A mining project by the Honduran company Los Inversiones Pinares will produce 800,000 tons of iron oxide pellets in its first year of operation, generating US$190 million in foreign exchange.”

Guapinol River and Ceibita stream concessions: “[The pelletizing plant needs] one hundred gallons of water per minute, consuming 52 million five hundred and sixty thousand gallons of water in a year.”

On August 1, 2018, the community established a Camp in Defence of Water and Life when the tap water in Guapinol turned chocolate brown and thick with muddy sediment after the company started widening a road for the mine.

Arrests, criminalization and judicialization followed.

The struggle to defend the Guapinol River from this megaproject has also taken the lives of Levin Alexander Bonilla (October 27, 2018), Roberto Antonio Argueta Tejada and José Mario Rivera (August 28, 2019), Arnold Joaquín Morazán Erazo (October 13, 2020), Aly Dominguez and Jairo Bonilla (January 7, 2023), Óscar Oquelí Domínguez Ramos (June 15, 2023) and most recently Juan López (September 14, 2024).

EMCO has also specified: “After 8 years of work, Phase 1 of raw iron production as a raw material began in Los Pinares and at the end of 2021 Phase 2 will start to export semi-processed iron to the United States.” 

An investigative report by Contra Corriente and Drilled reveals that U.S.-based Nucor maintained a relationship with Inversiones Los Pinares, the company behind a controversial mining megaproject in Honduras, at least until September 30, 2023, despite having claimed to have ended their ties in October 2019.

Photo: A mining company operating at the ‘Botaderos’ National Park, ‘Carlos Escaleras Mejía’, near Guapinol, Honduras. ©OHCHR/Vincent Tremeau.

Further reading: Investigative report details connections between U.S.-based steel producer Nucor and Los Pinares mine in Honduras (PBI-Canada, October 9, 2024).

Photo: “Protest of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods (CMDBCP) against the Ecotek thermoelectric project in Tocoa, during an open town hall to socialize the plant. Tocoa, Colón, December 2023. Photo: CC / Fernando Destephen.”

An investigative report by Contra Corriente and Drilled reveals that U.S.-based Nucor maintained a relationship with Inversiones Los Pinares, the company behind a controversial mining megaproject in Honduras, at least until September 30, 2023, despite having claimed to have ended their ties in October 2019.

The struggle to defend the Guapinol River from this megaproject has taken the lives of Levin Alexander Bonilla (October 27, 2018), Roberto Antonio Argueta Tejada and José Mario Rivera (August 28, 2019), Arnold Joaquín Morazán Erazo (October 13, 2020), Aly Dominguez and Jairo Bonilla (January 7, 2023), Óscar Oquelí Domínguez Ramos (June 15, 2023) and most recently Juan López (September 14, 2024).

Video still: Juan Lopez.

The article details:

“According to the income statements in the consolidated annual statement of the concession of Inversiones Los Pinares in 2022, until December 31 of that year the Honduran company had an account receivable from Nucor Corporation of 6,448,571 lempiras, about 260 thousand dollars, and at the same time Los Pinares had a long-term account payable in favor of the multinational for an amount of 860,923,000 lempiras, about 34.72 million dollars.

The following year, in 2023, the values in the accounts payable and receivable between Nucor Corporation and Los Pinares increased. An annual statement registered in the Los Pinares file indicates that by September 2023 Nucor’s debt with the Honduran company had risen to 6,706,134 lempiras, almost 271 thousand dollars. That is, it had increased by 11 thousand dollars. On the other hand, Los Pinares’ debt with the multinational increased to 862,466,500 lempiras, about 34.78 million dollars, rising 60 thousand dollars.”

A previous investigative report by Contracorriente, the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) and Univision Investiga, found that the U.S. firm has partnered with the project since March 2015 with the Panamanian company NE Holdings Subsidiary and since August 2016 through a second Panamanian firm with a similar name, NE Holdings. A spokesperson for Nucor said in November 2020 that the company decided to sell the shares in NE Holdings in October 2019.

Photo: A mining company operating at the ‘Botaderos’ National Park, ‘Carlos Escaleras Mejía’, near Guapinol, Honduras. ©OHCHR/Vincent Tremeau.

Notably, a feature article in RadioProgreso.hn speculates on three “lines of accusation” on who could have been behind the murder of Juan Lopez. The first line suggests “the mayor of Tocoa, Adán Fúnez, with whom López had permanent altercations, confrontations and disagreements”, the second line speculates “Lenir Pérez and his closest and most public partners in Inversiones Los Pinares and Ecotek” while the third line conjectures it was the military and its links to organized crime given “the army’s role in the security and intelligence services of Inversiones Los Pinares and Ecotek, but also [as] an investment partner of the company.”

Canadian connections

Photo: Google image of Nucor headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor has an office in Burlington, Ontario, as well as Vulcraft Canada locations in Leduc, Alberta; Ancaster, Ontario; Wetaskiwin, Alberta; and Montreal, Quebec.

Investors in Nucor have included the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (an institutional investor that manages the Québec Pension Plan), the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Montreal, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The Nucor Corporate Social Responsibility 2023 report can be read here.

The Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group, the largest shareholder in Nucor, has an office in Toronto, Ontario.

Photo: Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. is located in the Bay Adelaide Centre at 22 Adelaide Street West, Suite 2500, in Toronto.

Accompaniment

The Municipal Committee for the Defense of the Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) continues to demand an investigation of the murder of their comrade Juan Lopez with “international technical assistance and advice. without the participation of corrupt operators of the local justice system” in order “to guarantee the capture and punishment of the material and intellectual authors of the crime.”

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and Guapinol River defenders since January 2019.

Video still: A “Great Diocesan Walk” in Tocoa on Sunday October 6 to honour the life of environmental defender Juan Lopez.

As the Walk took place, Guapinol Exige Justicia tweeted: “True justice for our comrade and coordinator Juan Lopez will come once the murderous megaproject of Emco Holding is cancelled in its entirety and the Montana de Botaderos National Park and the Guapinol, San Pedro and Ceibita rivers are fully restored.”

La Prensa reports: “Honduran security forces arrested two men on Saturday [October 5] for their alleged involvement in the murder of environmentalist Juan López on Sept. 14, Honduran Security Secretary Gustavo Sánchez said.”

Video still: Bullet holes in the windshield of the car in which Lopez was shot to death, September 14, 2024.

That article continues: “The two suspects were detained ‘for investigative purposes’ by elements of the National Police during raids in the municipality of Tocoa, department of Colón, in the Caribbean of Honduras.”

Sánchez says: “[The detainees] belong to a criminal structure dedicated to contract killing in the area and were hired to carry out this criminal offense. We will not rest until we reach all those responsible for this unfortunate event.”

Tweet by Hondudiario.com

In response to the arrests of these men, the Municipal Committee for the Defense of the Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) continued to demand an investigation with “international technical assistance and advice. without the participation of corrupt operators of the local justice system” in order “to guarantee the capture and punishment of the material and intellectual authors of the crime.”

Their statement also highlights the ongoing concern: “As a result of our demands and those of our legal team after the murder of our colleague Juan López, we have been victims of threats and surveillance and campaigns of stigmatization and hatred have been directed against us – the same ones that Juan López and other defenders denounced before his murder without having a response from the State.”

They also clearly state their demand: “True justice for our colleague and coordinator Juan López will come once the murderous megaproject of Emco Holding, through its companies Inversiones los Pinares/Ecotek, is canceled in its entirety and the Montaña de Botaderos National Park ‘Carlos Escaleras Mejía’, and the Guapinol, San Pedro and Quebrada Ceibita rivers are fully restored. This includes the annulment of the mining concessions, the petroleum coke thermoelectric power project, the processing plant and the water concessions obtained by the company, and in turn, the comprehensive implementation of decree 18-2024 that would involve the demolition of all the structures of the mining company Inversiones los Pinares/Ecotek in Tocoa Colón.”

Photo: A mining company operating at the ‘Botaderos’ National Park, ‘Carlos Escaleras Mejía’, near Guapinol, Honduras. © OHCHR/Vincent Tremeau

Their full statement can be read at Pronunciamiento sobre las detenciones realizadas los días 4 y 5 de octubre en relación con el asesinato del defensor Juan López, coordinador de la CMDBCPT (October 5, 2024).

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and Guapinol River defenders since January 2019.

Video still: Juan Lopez at home, AFP Español. The 46-year-old was married to Telma and had two young daughters.

On October 3, a 136-page report was released titled The Corporate Assault on Honduras: How mafia-style investments undermine the Honduran people’s struggle for democracy and dignity (available in Spanish here).

The report authored by Luciana Ghiotto, Jen Moore, Aldo Orellana López, Karen Spring and Manuel Pérez-Rocha was published by the Institute for Policy Studies, the Transnational Institute, TerraJusta and the Honduras Solidarity Network.

Just prior to the release of the report, one of its authors, Manuel Pérez-Rocha, wrote in La Jornada (republished in English here) about meeting Guapinol River defender Juan López who was murdered on September 14 in Tocoa, Honduras.

Pérez-Rocha writes: “I met him when he came to Washington, D.C. to receive the Letelier-Moffitt human rights award on behalf of the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa, along with a large Honduran delegation. …The Honduran group received the Letelier-Moffitt prize for its campaign in defense of the Guapinol river against the wave of extractive industries funded by American, Canadian, and European corporations.”

Photo: Juan López and Juana Zúniga receive the Letelier-Moffitt award, 2019. IPS established the award to honour Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt who were assassinated in 1976 by the Pinochet regime for their work to defend human rights in Chile.

The report notes (on page 113): “After assuming the presidency in early 2022, Xiomara Castro declared that she would no longer issue permits for open-pit mines and that she would favor the protection of water and forests. One month later, on February 28, 2022, the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Mines (SERNA) issued a communiqué declaring ‘all Honduran territory free of open-pit mining’ and announcing ‘the review, suspension and cancellation of environmental licenses, permits and concessions’. However, as soon as this statement was made, it is likely that mining companies threatened to bring claims, contributing to the government diluting its commitment and delaying its fulfillment.”

The report continues (on page 115): “As for Los Pinares mining company, it is possible that since 2022 the threat of a lawsuit is contributing to delays in halting its open pit iron oxide mine and associated installations.”

The report also notes (on page 51): “Lenir Pérez and his wife Ana Facussé (daughter of Miguel Facussé, who was known as one of the richest men in Honduras), have organized their investments in the mining sector through companies registered in Panama. This is the case of NE Holdings Inc. which has operated from Panama in order to facilitate business with the US steel company Nucor, although its deal with the company was not consolidated due to conflicts in the municipality of Tocoa over the iron ore project in the community of Guapinol.”

The report describes the free trade agreement international arbitration lawsuits against Honduras as “mafia-style” because “most of them are by companies whose investments were made in an irregular manner during the period known as the narco-dictatorship in Honduras, after the 2009 coup d’état.”

The report further comments: “The 2009 coup d’état against President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, supported by the governments of the United States and Canada, was marked by the deepening of the unjust global neoliberal economic model in Honduras.”

Photo: Then Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces a “free trade” agreement has been reached with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, August 2011.Harper was the first foreign political leader to visit Honduras after the June 28, 2009 coup.

Photo: CEHPRODEC coordinator Pedro Landa visited Ottawa in March 2011 and January 2012 to speak against the free trade agreement and the General Mining Law in Honduras that Canadian officials helped to write.

This past week marks the 10^th anniversary of the Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement entering into force on October 1, 2014.

In a specific reference to that agreement, the report notes the case of Aura Minerals.

It states (on pages 113-114): “For years, Aura Minerals’ open pit gold mine in Copán has been the focus of conflict and questioned for the illegal excavation of the cemetery in the community of Azacualpa – including for not complying with orders from SERNA [the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Mines] and the Supreme Court of Justice to suspend activities. However, Aura Minerals is listed on the Canadian stock exchange and could invoke the Canada-Honduras FTA if it feels its investment is being affected.”

 Photo from Resumen Latinoamericano.

As the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project amplified: “From @Cehprodechn [the Honduran Centre for the Promotion of Community Development] they warn that if ‘mining concessions lead to territorial conflicts like @guapinolre or #Azacualpa , Honduras would be completely ungovernable’”

PBI-Honduras has also posted:

“After seven years, despite ratification in an Open Council and an injunction in their favour, the struggle of the Azacualpa community continues.
The exploitation of the hill has not stopped, and with it the dispossession of the land, the displacement of its inhabitants, exhumations and environmental pollution.
We at PBI express our concern for the complex situation experienced by the Maya-Chortí people, who in exercising their right to defend their ancestral lands suffer constant threats. We are also concerned about the intimidation and threats against Bufete Estudios para la Dignidad, who have been closely following the case.”

PBI-Honduras has accompanied the Honduran Centre for the Promotion of Community Development (CEHPRODEC) since May 2014 and Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and Guapinol River defenders since January 2019.