Forty years after Peace Brigades International was founded and at nine years since we first arrived in Honduras, we are continuing to provide integral accompaniment to organizations and human rights defenders at risk: “International presence is the indigenous communities’ bulletproof vest” (Donald Hernández, coordinator of CEHPRODEC).
In January 2021, over 8,000 migrants left San Pedro Sula for the United States, fleeing the insecurity, poverty, and uncertainty of Honduras, a situation that had worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the grave impacts of Hurricanes Eta and Iota. Participating in this caravan were approximately 300 members of the LGBTQI+ community, of whom 100 were trans woman.
When the protests first began in Guapinol, Juana Ramona Zúñiga was in a meeting with the community council. She received a call; they wanted her to join a demonstration in the street. “The struggle is contagious.
“Honduras will not be ZEDE-d,” has been the main response of Honduran society in the face of the imminent implementation of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDEs, as per the abbreviation in Spanish) in different areas throughout the country. These zones are defined by the Honduran Secretary for Economic Development as areas of Honduran national territory, which are subject to a “special regime”, and in which investors control fiscal policy, security, and conflict resolution.
When she discovered that a hydroelectric project was threatening her community’s river, Alba Domínguez, a member of the San José Civil Society, changed her sewing machines for meetings, picket lines, and other acts of protest. “I could only find time to sew at night. Little by little, I lost clients because I did not have the time. In the end, I had to leave my job”.
“It’s not just that they kill us. They don’t even investigate who did it”. This is how LSettingsGBTQI+ community organisations in Honduras describe the situation in the country, where over 90% of hate crimes go unpunished.
2020 was a year defined not only by the questionable handling of the COVID-19 health emergency, but also by the impacts of hurricanes Eta and Iota. According to Centro de Estudios para la Democracia (CESPAD), these events, “have worsened food insecurity due to the lack of employment in the country, the depletion of food reserves, the increase in food prices, land and envi
Last November, Honduras underwent its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR). One of the country’s most-lauded advances was the creation of the National Protection Mechanism (the Mechanism), based on the National Protection Law, which was drafted as a result of the recommendations made during the previous UPR cycle in 2015.
María Felicita López is an indigenous feminist leader from the Department of La Paz, Honduras and works with the Independent Indigenous Movement of La Paz, Honduras (MILPAH). For many years she has fought for human rights, women’s rights, and in defence of the environment in her native Department, La Paz.