agriculture

From February 16 to 20, the Colón city of Tocoa hosted the International Meeting for Human Rights in Solidarity with Honduras, convened to denounce the critical situation of human rights abuses in the country and particularly in Bajo Aguán, and to devise mobilization strategies. The event was organized by the Permanent Observatory for Human Rights in Aguán and numerous national and international organizations.

Over the course of four days, the more than 1,200 delegates from across Honduras and several countries around the world learned about, discussed and exchanged views on the human rights crisis in the country in general and the Bajo Aguán region in particular.

They also heard heartrending testimonies from victims of harassment and repression, and learned of the different forms of struggle implemented by peasant organizations that are fighting for access to land and the right to food security and against a predatory and exploitative single-crop production model backed by international financial agencies.

“We had a massive response to the call, in a great show of international solidarity. The challenge before us now is to draw on this solidarity and build an international movement against the coup, human rights abuses and impunity,” Bertha Cáceres, coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), told Sirel.

The meeting included thematic workshops on gender, childhood, indigenous peoples and afro-descendant communities, held in various peasant settlements.

“The result has exceeded all expectations. The presence of a hundred international delegates and more than 30 foreign journalists gives us strength and great hope for the future,” Cáceres said.

The event also saw some very moving moments, including a tribute paid to the victims and martyrs of Bajo Aguán and the testimonies of the survivors. In a little over two years, 45 organized peasants have lost their lives in this region’s land conflict.

“It was a heartbreaking moment. You could see the need for justice and a sense of impotence in the faces of the victims’ families. Our challenge now is to channel that pain and use it to fuel our struggle and coordination efforts,” the indigenous leader said.

According to Esly Banegas, leader of the Coordinating Group of Popular Organizations of Aguán (COPA), the meeting exposed the hypocrisy of the regime.

The government “wants to make the international community believe that because it has signed agreements with some peasant groups it has solved the conflict in Bajo Aguán. We know that’s not so and that the regime will continue with its policy of violence and terror.”

“We need to keep letting the world know what’s going on in the region, increasing solidarity, combating impunity, and promoting unity,” said Banegas, also the president of the Tocoa division of the National Agricultural Institute Workers’ Union (SITRAINA). She welcomed the presence of IUF Latin America’s (Rel-UITA) at the meeting and thanked the organization for its systematic coverage of the conflict in Bajo Aguán.

Final statement

The event came to a close with a Final Statement issued by the Organizing  Committee, calling for, among other demands, a real solution to the land conflict in Bajo Aguán “without indecent land sale negotiations.”

The statement also called for the immediate release of José Isabel Morales, a political prisoner jailed for his involvement in the Peasant Movement of Aguán (MCA), as well as the dismissal of all charges against the more than 500 peasants unjustly sued, the demilitarization of the region, an end to impunity, and the strengthening of the Permanent International Observatory for Human Rights in Aguán.

Lastly, the national and international delegates agreed to carry out a number of actions, which will be monitored by an ad hoc committee.