Honduras: Indigenous Fight for Land Continues

Jul 13, 2021

Dear Readers,

Honduras saw a beacon of justice for Berta Cáceres' murder. Last week, David Castillo, U.S. trained ex-military officer and former president of the company Desarrollos Energéticos S. A. (DESA), was found guilty of masterminding her assassination in 2016. Berta's family welcomed the verdict and say it is a "collective victory" and an important step towards justice.

Hondurans' battle for land and sovereignty are not over. Garifuna people have gone missing or are detained for land usurpation.

We have also covered in the last few weeks how Indigenous peoples, grassroots organizations, academics, public prosecutors, municipal authorities of Tela are opposing the installation of Special Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs), also known as "model cities." These model cities have their own political system based on free market capitalism. The UN warned in June that ZEDEs could pose serious risks for human rights.

Currently, approximately 35% of Honduran territory (in departments next to the Gulf of Fonseca and the Caribbean Sea) would be available to the special ZEDE regime. A lot of Indigenous and Afro-descendant populations live in these departments, with a history of territorial conflicts. Stay tuned as we cover these developments.

In this newsletter, you'll also find out about museum repatriations to Costa Rica, news on Bitcoin in El Salvador, COVID-19 updates, and good news for the growing film scene in Central America. Have a good newsletter read!

Salú,

Melissa

Arsenia Álvarez, 56, a native of the Garífuna community of Sambo Creek, celebrates the outcome of the trial against David Castillo, who was found guilty of the murder of Berta Cáceres. Tegucigalpa, July 5, 2021. Photo: Martín Cálix/Contracorriente

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Headlines

Migration

📰 Detention: The Biden administration plans to end the detainment and detention of most pregnant and postpartum migrants. // An immigrant support hotline that was featured in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” and consequently banned by ICE has been reintroduced in detention facilities.

📰 Enforcement at the Border: The governor of Nebraska is providing further troops to aid the Texas governor’s law enforcement efforts at the US-Mexico Border.

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Honduras

📰 Berta Cáceres: David Castillo, U.S. trained ex-military officer and former president of the company Desarrollos Energéticos S. A. (DESA), was found guilty of masterminding the murder of Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres. The next step is to "take on the owners of the company" — the Atala Zablah family — COPINH shared on social media.

📰 Human Rights: Jenny Boden, a 63 year old Garifuna woman, is detained in Tocoa as she is accused of land usurpation. “The criminalization of ancestral land defenders continues” noted the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras regarding the case. // The Secretariat of Health has not paid health workers in psychiatric hospitals, denounced the Worker’s Union of the Mario Mendoza Hospital.

📰 Elections: The National Electoral Council (CNE) sent a budget proposal to the Honduran National Congress for new, digital equipment for the transmission of votes. Yet, the National Congress has not responded to the request, despite the need to prevent fraud in the upcoming November elections.

📰 ZEDEs: Indigenous communities demonstrated against the installation of the Special Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs). Public prosecutors also argue against ZEDEs.

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Belize

📰 Politics: Over 350 delegates of the United Democratic Party participated in a convention to vote out, or recall, Patrick Faber as the UDP's Party Leader. Faith in Faber came into question after a video was leaked of him assaulting the mother of his child; this was not the first instance of allegations of domestic violence against Faber.

📰 Agriculture: Belizean farmers are receiving support from the government through a 6-year program to finance a sustainable, ecologically-friendly future for agriculture, called Resilient Rural Belize. // Belize is strengthening trade relations with neighboring Mexico through cattle and shrimp exports.

📰 COVID-19: Frontline workers—including healthcare workers, police, soldiers, tourism workers, and more—who are still unvaccinated will be required to submit negative COVID-19 tests every two weeks. As of July 9, forty-two new cases of the virus have been detected in the country.

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Costa Rica

📰 Delta Variant: Costa Rican health authorities have put the country on alert with the latent threat of the Delta variant. Experts report that a person dies every two hours from COVID-19 and someone is hospitalized every 15 minutes in the country.

📰 Artifacts Returned: The Costa Rican National Museum has obtained 1,305 pre-Colombian artifacts from the Brooklyn Museum that had been taken from the country by U.S. railroad tycoon Minor Keith in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

📰 Clara Sola: The highly anticipated film directed by Costa Rican-Swedish filmmaker Nathalie Álvarez Mesén and starring Costa Rican dancer and actor Wendy Chinchilla Araya premiered at the Cannes Film Festival Directors’ Fortnight last week. Critics call it an “atmospheric film” that “conjures a memorably earthbound abracadabra.”

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El Salvador

📰 COVID-19: The Minister of Health of El Salvador, Francisco Alabí, warned that the country registers an increase in official cases of COVID-19. // 203 families of deceased healthcare workers are still awaiting compensation that was promised to them.

📰 Violence: El Salvador’s Prosecutor’s Office reported that young girls and adolescents make up the majority of child abuse victims. // Within the last three years, 42 individuals have been exhumed as a part of the ongoing efforts to recover deceased victims from El Salvador’s Civil War.

📰 Bitcoin: The ECLAC, a United Nations commission, emphasized that El Salvador’s move to adopting Bitcoin “poses a number of systemic risks” and raises concerns about money laundering. // Deputy Foreign Minister Adriana Mira announced that the country is looking to create its own mining plant through a partnership with the French company Bigblock Datacenter.

📰 Workers' Rights: Vendors in Santa Tecla say they are denied the right to work after the newest Mayor, Henry Flores (Nuevas Ideas), evicted them from their traditional vending spots.

📰 Press Freedom: Mexican journalist who works for El Faro says El Salvador expelled him for work.

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Guatemala

📰 #RenunciaYaGiammattei: Sonia Gutiérrez Raguay, leader of political movement Winaq, filed a complaint with the Public Ministry against President Giammattei and other officials for the crime of fraud, embezzlement, abuse of authority, and illicit association in regards to the contract with Russia for the purchase of the Sputnik V vaccines. // President Gianmattei issued a prohibition against protests because “they help spread COVID-19”.

📰 #JusticiaParaRamazzini: Frank Ramazzini, an independent journalist and human rights activist, was one of four that died in an armed attack in a club on July 9. Ramazzini was recently appointed president of the Association for Justice and Human Rights and had denounced threats made against him.

📰 COVID-19: President Giammattei stated that containment measures will not be put in place to reduce the high number of positive COVID-19 cases as it affects the ability for citizens to work. Giammattei also stated that 220,000 teachers are expected to be vaccinated in July so schools can be reopened in August.

📰 Drug Trafficking: Guatemalan soldiers’ participation in a cocaine trafficking network linked to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico were exposed by a United States investigation.

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Nicaragua

📰 Elections 2021: Alianza Ciudadana (CXL) party closed their process for new presidential candidates with two candidates. The Partido Liberal (PLC) registered four candidates in their internal primaries.

📰 Press freedom: The recent imprisonment of 26 opposition leaders, including six presidential candidates, has generated self-censorship among the population, who fear dealing with the press.

📰 Diplomacy: The European Parliament approved a resolution which requests European Union countries to “ensure international financial security in the face of illicit operations originating from the Ortega-Murillo regime and its collaborators”. However, the European Commission -- the executive branch of the EU -- said that they have “very limited options” to pressure Ortega.

📰 Judicial: 10 political and social movements leaders have been forced into exile due to threats and obstacles to their job. The newest political prisoners (who have been detained in June) have not have trials nor had access to their lawyers or family.

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Panama

📰 COVID-19: The Panamanian ministry of health reported 833 new COVID-19 cases, which brings a total of 13,539 actives cases.

📰 Economy: The president of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, met with investors and businessmen in Austin, Texas, to try to reactivate the Panamanian economy and generate new jobs.

📰 Protests: On July 8, Banana Workers walked through the Changuinola district in memory of two Indigenous workers, Virgilio Castillo and Antonio Smith, and 500 people who were injured during the protest that opposed the chorizo law in 2010.

📰 Curfew: Entrepreneurs of cultural and entertainment events, owners of restaurants, hotels, travel agencies, lawyers, and civil society of Chitré, Herrera Province, gathered to protest the COVID-19 curfew that started on July 12.

Nuestra Moskitia

Indigenous peoples of Gracias a Dios mobilize against "Model Cities"

#BitcoinSV

✍️ USAID, Bitcoin and the Long Fight over El Salvador’s Sovereignty: Daniel Alvarenga, a Salvadoran-American journalist, recently published a new article for El Faro about his thoughts regarding Bitcoin and USAID.

🎓 Bitcoin Survey: Francisco Gavidia University released their survey results regarding what Salvadorans think about the newest Bitcoin law. The results showed that the majority of Salvadorans don’t trust Bitcoin and would prefer to continue using the dollar.

🎙️ Now What? Bitcoin Becomes Legal Tender in El Salvador. Now What? Listen to Central American News' special edition podcast episode with Dr. Campbell Harvey from Duke University, Nelson Rauda from El Faro, Ricardo Castaneda from the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Central American Short Film Wins Award

"Phosphoros", by Salvadoran filmmaker Susana Serrano, won first place in international film festival in the category of films up to 5 minutes. It was filmed using a cellphone.

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