Aguán News Alert | June 2024
Image Description: Communities in Tocoa oppose the illegitimate thermoelectric plant. | Photo Credits: Radio Aguán.
Tocoa in Opposition to the Illegitimate Thermoelectric Megaproject
Tocoa, Colón, Honduras. – During the month of June, the Agrarian Platform and Coordinator of Popular Organizations of Aguán (COPA in Spanish) strongly denounced and resisted the illegitimat “open” town hall meeting pushed by Tocoa mayor, Adán Fúnez (a driving force behind the Pinares/ECOTEK petcoke thermoelectric plant); the violent displacement of campesinx families in El Progreso, Yoro, by security forces and sugar corporations; and threats against cooperatives by armed criminal groups.
Additionally, they demanded that the government of President Xiomara Castro respect campesino land possession; investigate the abuses of the armed forces against campesinx communities on behalf of large agribusiness companies; and launch a plan to protect human rights and environmental defenders in the Aguán region.
Latest News
Water Contamination Examination: On June 1st, the leaders of the associative enterprises and campesino cooperatives grouped together in the Agrarian Platform participated in a training workshop and examination of the level of contamination of the rivers in their communities.
Freedom for Gloria: On June 1st, Gloria Marina Enamorado Melgar was released from jail. After being held for more than 20 days under false accusations of usurpation by the Dinant Corporation, she finally reunited with her family.
Forced Displacement in El Progreso: On June 5th and 6th, the Secretary of Security, under Sec. Gustavo Sánchez, mobilized a strong contingent of the National Police, the Police Investigation Directorate (DPI in Spanish) and the “Cobras” Special Forces to evict campesinx families from the Movimiento Campesino Sin Tierra (Peasants Without Land Movement) in El Progreso, Yoro. During the violent eviction, the security forces assaulted women, children and the elderly, displacing 300 families that have occupied these lands from the Agrarian Reform since May 10th, 2023. The police contingent was acompanied by employees of Azucarera del Norte S.A. (AZUNOSA) and used machinery from AZUNOSA to destroy the houses and crops of the campesinx families. The Agrarian Platform and COPA denounced the violent expulsion of the campesinxs and the police protection of agribusiness, demanding that President Xiomara Castro respect campesinx land possession. Despite the extreme violence of the State and large sugar companies, the people’s resistance continues— on June 9th the campesino families returned to their lands in El Progreso.
Image description: Police officers harass and attack campesinxs, including women, children, and the elderly. | Photo Credits: Radio Progreso.
NO to the Thermoelectric Plant: On June 10th, the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods, the Agrarian Platform, COPA and other land defenders protested in front of SERMUNAST, where a meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Tocoa was taking place. The communities and organizations strongly rejected the imposition of a highly contaminating petcoke thermoelectric plant by the company Pinares/ECOTEK. This megaproject was supported by Tocoa mayor, Adán Fúnez, through a closed of abusive and illegal town hall meeting. On June 13th (the day of the town hall), they continued their rejection of the thermoelectric plant, denouncing the imposition of the project through intimidation by police, anti-riot cops and a group of armed men at the service of the company. The protestors blocked highway CA-13, on the way to Ceibita, Tocoa (the community where the illegal town hall was held—an area that has been heavily militarized in response to the resistance). Despite direct threats against social leaders Wendy Castro and Jefry Rivas, these defenders of life, water and the environment continued to fight against the thermoelectric plant, the illegitimate town hall, and the use of armed groups by Adán Fúnez and Lenir Pérez to intimidate the communities Organizers called on the Honduran people and international human rights organizations to stay alert to the threats against land defenders in the Aguán region and to involve themselves in the fight against Pinares/ECOTEK.
Image Description: Community members oppose Pinares-Ecotek. | Photo Credits: Radio Aguán.
NO to the Illegal Town Hall Meeting: On June 17th, the Agrarian Platform, COPA, the Committee of Common Goods, and the communities of San Pedro, Ceibita and Tocoa marched to the Tocoa mayor’s office to deliver a copy of the Resolution of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice that prohibits the “open” town hall meeting convened by Adán Fúnez in Ceibita on June 13th.
Image Description: A sign protesting the Pinares-ECOTEK mining project that reads “The people said no, and no means no.” | Photo Credits: Plataforma Agraria.
Threats against the Camarones and Chile Cooperatives: On June 19th, the campesino cooperatives “Camarones” and “Chile” were threatened with an extrajudicial eviction by the criminal group “Los Cachos”. The criminals arrived at different parts of the cooperatives in the afternoon. Later that night, they began to fire weapons as an act of intimidation against the campesino families. “Los Cachos” had already shot at members of the “Camarones” cooperative in June 2022. The Agrarian Platform and COPA demanded that the National Protection Mechanism immediately launch an urgent protection plan in order to safeguard the lives of human rights and land defenders in the Aguán.
Ratification of the Illegal Town Hall Meeting: On June 27th, Adán Fúnez and three council-people illegally ratified the June 13th “open” town hall meeting about the thermoelectric Pinares/ECOTEK, disobeying both the Resolution of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice and the will of the people.
Member of Remolino Cooperative Still Missing
Abel López Perdomo is still missing, after being kidnapped on January 30, 2024. June 30th marked six months since his disappearance. In half a year, there have been no answers from the authorities about the whereabouts of Abel.
Historical Context
In the 1990’s, World Bank-led structural adjustment measures transformed the Bajo Aguán region of north-east Honduras from one of the nation’s primary sources of fruits, vegetables and basic grains into an African palm oil monoculture destined for export to insatiable Global North markets. Over the course of this process, thousands of campesinos were dispossessed of their farms to make way for massive palm plantations, owned by a handful of Honduran elite.
Since then, campesino cooperatives have engaged in a multi-decade struggle to recover their land, suffering violent repression by corporate and state entities as a result. The immediate post-coup period was especially brutal, taking the lives of approximately 150 small farmers by 2014. In recent years, many more have been murdered, disappeared, and criminalized. The vast majority of these crimes remain in impunity.