Aguan Article

8/8/2019 Aguan Article

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Delegation of 90 national and international human rights defenders and jounalists

verified grave human rights violations under a coup-continuation regime at Bajo

Aguan Honduras where the monocrop African Palm is massively cultivated.

Rosie Wong, reporting from Colon, Honduras

After the 15 November 2010 massacre where a contingent of hundreds of security guards

of large land holder (illegally usurped) Miguel Facusse opened fire and murdered 5

campesinos where a community occupied the El Tumbador land to reclaim it, adelegation of Honduran and International human rights defenders and journalists (of

alternative medias) travelled into the region in December to document the massive human

rights violations in the region.

I had the privilege of joining this trip, those who came included: from Honduras human

rights organisations including COFADEH (whose coordinator just received the Tulipprize from Holland Government in recognition for her work and resistance), Centre of

Womens Rights Honduras, Women for Life, Right to Food Informational and ActionNetwork Honduras, Via Campesina Honduras, alternative medias: Globo Radio and TV,

El Libertador, amongst others. Internationally there was a delegation of 10 journalists and

activists from Germany and Austria.

On our way there in the bus, we kept passing by palm plantation after palm plantation,they are endless, and most palm plantations are owned by the same few (literally) large

land holder/usurpers Facusse, Morales, Canales and National Party parliamentarian

Oscar Najera.


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Palm plantations

These monocrops are killing biodiversity, have limited lifespans of 25 years and die, and

large landholders will use these to take advantage of carbon credits and subsidies underthe REDD (Reducing Emissions of Deforestation and Degradation) counting replacing

natural forests and food crops with palm plantations as reforestation. Likewise,increasing use of palm oil as biofuels under the carbon market qualifies the production as

part of the solutions to the existing environmental problems of dirty energy,disregarding the impact this has in displacing local populations and farmers including

Indigenous peoples, displacing food crops, and destroying the environment and

biodiversity of Honduras.

Honduras comes second in the region for the amount of arable land per capita, and BajoAguan is amongst the most fertile lands in Latin America. Despite this great availability

of land and high agricultural activity, because they are focussed on export crops (palm

oil, bananas, coffee, meat, and dairy products) controlled by few large landholders, more

than half the rural population (1.5 million people or 300,000 families) continue withoutaccess to land. Around half the rural population live on less than 50 cents (of US dollar)

income a day, and 25% have income of less than 25 cents a day (G. Trucchi, 23/11/10).

Loss of food sovereignty

Production of basic grains are increasingly replaced by export crops, as have the

concentration of land ownership in fewer hands, impacting strongly on the food security

of thousands of families. Honduras went from being one of the main producers of basicgrains in central America to producing much less than what it needs. Every year

Honduras has to import increasing amounts of corn, beans, and rice (G. Trucchi,23/11/10)

Eviction of farmers at Paso Aguan and Panama settlements of Bajo Aguan

Honduras

Our first visit on Thursday morning was to the communities Paso Aguan/Panama.. which

had just been evicted before we arrived by a contingent of army, police, and seemingly,also paramilitaries. When we arrived many of them were around and had done their dirty

work already. There were around 100 police, soldiers, and what many said to be

Colombian paramilitaries, with heavy arms, standing around, sitting in their vehicles,

moving about, inducing fear in the community and in the visitors.


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Here is one of the soldiers with balaclavas

Here journalists and human rights defenders were interviewing the police Public

Relations, Alex Madrid who was overpowering and kept saying that the police respect

human rights, that they were carrying out orders, that everything was within the law, and

that unless we have video or photographic evidence of police and military violence orpresence of Colombian paramilitaries, they maintained that they had done nothing wrong.

Many campesinos around gave testimonies that the security forces are displaying

completely different words and actions since the arrival of the big team of journalists andhuman rights defenders. When asked about the disarmament and why it is against the

campesinos who have no arms, and not against Facusses visibly heavily armed guards

Madrid said their job is not to confiscate all arms but all arms that are withoutpermission, whether they be of farmers or security guards. When journalists pointed out

that security guards and paramilitary gain easily and illegally access to permissions, he

said that is not within his responsibility, that has to be questioned to someone else.


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Campesinos were in the process of gathering their few possessions with nowhere to go

but to leave.

Here is Alex we do everything within the law Madrid apparently it is also his right to film and

photograph us since we are filming and photographing him. There are also reports that a

military was filming people entering and leaving the hotel where we were staying as ameans of persecution and intimidation. If international visitors can be scared and

intimidated, and local reporters and human rights defenders more so for lots of reasons,

imagine the daily reality of fear and intimidation and persecution the farmers struggling

for land rights are under, with over 20 campesinos killed since the coup and a massacreagainst 5 farmers by Facusses security guards on 15 November 2010.

Evictions against the poorest of the poor

The communities being evicted lived in houses made of sticks and plastic covers for

roofs. They lived in appalling conditions, instead of improving their living conditions, thearmed forces came along and forcefully destroyed peoples sticks-homes with fire and

force.


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This little child kept picking up big pieces of things sadly and loading them onto a bus.

This is a picture of a youth Misael showing us the beating injury from police. He is from

a community with 200 stick houses. He said he was getting ready to go to work and

families were cooking breakfast when before 6am hit, families in their homes weresuddenly surrounded by security forces. He said they were told to be gone within an hour

or everything will be set on fire because police knew the cameras were coming. That

things would have been much much worse in terms of violence and they would bethrowing their clothes in the streets, if only the cameras werent coming, and that fewer

of the contingent was now present than before we arrived.

Fear

We had a lot of fear because they are armed.People cant say anything because they

can shoot at us, they shoot at us, capture us, put us in prison, they beat us..

They came looking for arms but found only machetes that we use to cut corn


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We just want a place to live and work. We dont know where we are going now. We are

just going to the streetIn Honduras there is a lot of land but much of it (is held by)

Facusse We hope that the government will make a solution, that we will have anothergovernment, because it is not just one family here, it is the whole Colon territory.

So that was one story from one of many settlements struggling for their land rights and toproduce for Hondurans.

Militarisation at the Agrarian State Department (INA in Spanish)

Since late November, the Agrarian State Department had been taken over by the military.Their excuse was that there were allegations that farmers kept arms there. On not finding

any arms, they are still there weeks later. So what are the real reasons?

Journalists caught up with Jose Andres Andrade Soto recently put in charge of this

regional Agrarian office. He has been announced to have the power to fire and hire, but

further to that he has literally no power. He could not make statements other than of whathas been said publicly already. The military did not allow him access to the buildings and

files of the department he is supposably the head of (no one can enter apart from themilitary, not him, not the workers). He could not answer the questions of why

militarisation continues.

Esly Banegas, the regional president of the SITRAINA workers union of the Agrarian

Department, said the departments job is to facilitate projects of Agrarian reform, and thatthe militarisation is there to violate rights of farmers and workers. The paper and

electronic documents about land rights and conflicts are there in the hands of military.

She said the real intention of militarising the INA is to close this regional office, fire and

remote everyone, and legalise the theft by Miguel Facusse of the Tumbador land wherethe massacre took place on 15 November 2010.

Outside the INA offices, the parade celebrating one year anniversary of the MUCA

Unified Movement of Aguan Campesinos involvement in land occupation to recovertheir land, made up of around 5000 families struggling for their land, passed by and

stopped to send a message to the military occupying the INA.


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Because media and regime spokespersons try to discredit the farmers land rights

movement and justify militarisation and paramilitary killings against farmers, they hold

up this sign/placard saying: These are the arms of MUCA: agriculture project,

fishery project. In sum, projects to create independence

At the same time some days ago, campesinos started blocking the highway to Trujillo 24hours a day it is now evicted on 15 December 2010. Their demand: demilitarisation.

Simply, get out soldiers, police, paramilitaries..

Adjacent to the INA, is some families who have been refuged there because theirsettlement was flooded; when military invaded INA, they also invaded the homes of these

families. Their work tools were taken from them, some farmers told of stories of one case

of stolen money which was returned later to save face, and another case of a stolen watch

that was never returned. So you can see them in the picture below, the caretaker tried toenter to stand with the community but the soldier didnt allow.


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Below are some of the workers of INA who have been sitting out here since military

invaded and overtook INA. Some 80% of the INA workers are unionised with

SITRAINA.

The message above says: MUCA/MCA: Cops, get out of Aguan. Soldiers, get out ofAguan.


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This last photo is of a mother giving testimony of his son having been assassinated.

On the Friday we visited several communities one after another, all with the same stories

and messages (My camera ran out of battery at this point! Sorry..)

Timeline of the Bajo Aguan farmers struggle and reference to the coup against PresidentZelaya

Agrarian Reform law 1962

The process ofagrarian reform peaked between 1973-1977, when the approval of a specificlaw and different decrees, 120,000 hectares were distributed to small landless farmers within 5years a total of 409,000 hectares were distributed over 3 decades, constituting 12.3% of ruralland, benefiting 60,000 (13%) of campesina families (G. Trucchi 23/11/10).

It was a period when through the INA, the state began to promote the migration of campesinos tounpopulated areas in the Atlantic coast, especially in the Bajo Aguan region. The state builthighways and roads, drainage systems, retention walls, schools, health centres, and compesinos

settlements grouped together as cooperatives to be competitive in the market. In 1970-1990, thebig producers were almost completely of campesina cooperatives and the region becameone of the most important productive centres of the country (Rios, in G. Trucchi, 23/11/10)

Agrarian Reform law arose out of international agreements adhered to in 1959 Punta de Estemeeting in Uruguay in the context of the Alliance for Progress, the purpose was to preventrevolutions like what was happening in Cuba with the arrival to power of Fidel Castro and withuprising of democratic governments like in Guatemala at the time with President Arbenz byimplementing social reforms. 57 of the 84 campesino cooperatives formed in Honduras tocultivate palm oil because it was known as the capital of agrarian reform (MUCA, 13/1/10).

1990: Law of modernisation and development of the Agricultural Sector

This modernisation law was introduced giving way to expansion of land by few largeagrobusiness-people (Facusse, Morales, Canales and Najera) at the expense of small farmerscollectives, in the Callejas administration and in the context of Structural Adjustment Agreementspropelled by international finance organisms. The land usurption was never legal nor through thisnew law which does not allow agrarian reform lands to be sold except back to the AgrarianReform department which is obligated to re-distribute this land to small landless farmers.However, using tricks and different interpretations of the law and wicked bureaucraticmodifications, leaders of campesino organisations were forced to sell the land in the context ofpersecution, corruption of campesino leaders and of state officials. The law did, complement thisland usurption process by the privatisation of the few previously free state services of credit,technical assistance, training and advice so that small farmers in financial difficulties had to sellthe land to large companies who receive loans from international financers like World Bank (G.Trucchi, 23/11/10).

Lidia Ramos said that with the Agrarian Modernisation Law in 1990 allowing individual rather thancollective ownership of land while some campesinos sold out, those who refused to sell werepersecuted by paramilitary, including her spouse. Members of the Maran~ones settlementreported the same story. As did MARCA members who said Facusse persecuted those whowouldnt sell, and falsified papers.

We have all the paperwork and have the right to recover the land: Gilberto Oliva, MARCA


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In 1990s, 40,000 hectares were cultivated with Palm trees in Honduras.

Large landholders tried to trick people to believe that the palm oil expansion will solve theproblems of poverty and unemployment in the area. Having lost their land the farmers returned tobeing labourers for the landholders/transnationals, as subcontractors in semi slavery conditions.Since palm cultivation is not labour intensive, high levels of unemployment and underemployment

is generated with palm plantations expansion in Bajo Aguan affecting thousands of families.Workers worked under difficult and coercive and precarious (temporary) conditions. They had toapply different chemicals like Roundup, Gramoxone, and Paraquat. At the beginning some selfprotection gear was given, but afterwards workers were told that it was very expensive and theyhad to go without or with highly inadequate protection; nor workers compensation for treatmentfor poisoned workers. The pay is miserable and many workers are in debt with their local shops.Under these arrangements, for a tonne of fruit, 75 lempiras go to the worker, and 2,500 lempirasof profit to the landholder (Trucchi, 23/11/10).

1998 campesinos began to investigate.. members of cooperatives left landless began toinvestigate the fraudulent sales of agrarian reform lands (MUCA, 13/1/10)

2001 campesinos under MUCA (Unified Campesinos of Aguan Movement) and MCA

(Campesinos of Aguan Movement) and MCA (Aguan Campesinos Movement) began astruggle through the courts to reclaim their land. They managed to demonstrate through theirinvestigations that the sales were illegal, that the large land holders never held land titles, andwere instead granted concession for the use of the land until February 2005 according to a 2002document. (MUCA 13/1/10, Emanuelsson, 28/11/10). The legal process was constantly stalled bya justice system which has no independence.

By 2005, 80,000 hectares were cultivated with Palm trees in Honduras

February 2006 MUCA campesinos peacefully occupied a Tocoa highway, following which anagreement was made with the State General Prosecutor and Supreme Court President Moralesto resolve MUCAs demands (MUCA 13/1/10).

March 2009 MUCA presented a proposal to the President Zelaya, for Zelaya to mediate theconflict, to work towards having the land returned to its owners the campesino cooperatives. 28May 2009 MUCA began to occupy Facusses Oil Extraction Plant to pressure the state tocomply with the signed agreements and a new agreement was signed with Zelaya on 19June 2009 towards resolving the legal situation of the campesinos land. By 21 June 2009 agovernment team arrived to begin work on what was agreed, and held a meeting with MUCArepresentatives on 23 June 2009 (MUCA 13/1/10).

Process of agreement with Zelaya was broken by a military coup against Zelaya on 28June 2009. At that point campesinos also joined the struggle calling for the return of Zelaya. Theyalso occupied the central Agrarian Reform Department until they were evicted, to try to protectagreements signed with Zelaya (MUCA 13/1/10, Emanuelsson, 28/11/10).

Many farmers explained to the delegation that the land struggle has been for many years as hadthe persecution, but that during Zelayas term they felt he was supportive of farmers, they saidthat he talked with the military telling them not to kill campesinos, that he signed a commitment 15days before the coup to legalise the campesinos land ownership in 90 days

9 December 2009, given the non-compliance with the agreements,MUCA campesinos began aprocess of land recovery through occupation of various cooperatives (MUCA 13/1/10,Emanuelsson 28/11/10). These occupations were met with violent persecution (by paramilitariesand security guards) and evictions (by military and police) and settlements evicted often returned


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to occupy these lands once the military withdraw. In the process at least 16 campesinos hadbeen killed. Some individual campesinos also obtained small arms to defend themselves in thisclimate and 35 paramilitaries, police and soldiers also lost their lives (Emanuelsson 28/11/10)

March and April 2010 massive militarisation during negotiations. At least 5000 soldiersand police moved into the region and installed checkpoints, forcing campesinos to literally

negotiate with guns pointed to their heads. Several assassinations took place against farmers inland struggle during this time.

April 2010 - agreement signed. An agreement was signed between the Lobo regime andMUCA for the state to buy the land from the large landholders (although these are not legally theowners) to re-sell to campesinos, at yet to be determined prices. In order to stall theseagreements large landholders demanded excessively inflated prices. Less than 20% of theagreement had been complied with and there are no signs of progress (Trucchi, 23/11/10).Several cooperatives of MUCA opted out of the agreement and formed MARCA, an organisationof cooperatives continuing the legal struggle for their land.

MCAs struggle

Similarly, MCA (Aguan Campesinos Movement) members live where the Puerto Rican US citizenTemistocles Ramirez illegally bought 5,724 hectares of land, who was obligated to sellthese back to Honduras state INA for Agrarian Reform but where the Honduran State inthe 80s installed on these lands the Regional Military Training Centre (CREM). Using thecorruption and Law of Agricultural Modernisation, landowneres (Miguel Facusse, ReneMorales and Oscar Najera NP MP) managed to illegally appropriate these lands and beganto cultivate african palm, when families entered into an agreement with the generalOmbudsman to have these lands returned to INA, and began to organise to recover it. On15/11/10 the 5 campesinos assassinated by Facusses security guards at El Tumbadorwere MCA members. This land of El Tumbador was surveyed by INA that had defined thatit is part of where CREM was agrarian reform land the state had paid for, and they weregoing to pass onto campesinos, who would just have to pay the value of theimprovements the large landholders made to the land.

Currently, over 120,000 hectares are cultivated with palm trees in Honduras, with 70% ofpalm oil produced destined for export. A US Embassy report says Honduras has 540,000hectares suitable for cultivation of palm oil (Trucchi, 23/11/10).

The dozens of thousands of campesino families continue to struggle for an integral agrarianreform towards a dignified life and salary, while they continue to face bullets, persecution,violence and death (Trucchi 23/11/10)

Let us work

Please help us so there is no more of this (persecution) so we can work Lidia Ramos.

We want the land to workhow can one man (MF) have so much land? Sebastian

We are looking for the future of these people said MARCA representative.

We started with nothing and began to grow food and the African Palm Gilberto Oliva.

We have no arms, only work tools, as if we can afford arms anyway..


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Consuelo Castillo of Lempira said they have no arms there, just machetes and another tool calledmalayo.

We have only machetes San Isidro leader.

It is the military and security guards with the arms

Consuelo Castillo (Lempira) said the farmers cannot move around, that there are always guardsand soldiers who are armed and insult people and come looking for arms. They installcheckpoints and ask for documents and look for ways to repress people.They are alwaysthreatening people by pointing their loaded guns at them.

Giovanni (La Confianza) said security guards and forces are always posted on the highways andpointing their guns including at women. He said INA was militarised to stop the agrarian reformprojects.

Fausto Reyes (La Confianza) said people are treated like animals.

From the Maran~ones, la Confianza, Paso Aguan and Panama settlements, people said theyknew of Colombian paramilitaries.

We will keep claiming our land even if they keep killing us

Lidia Ramos We cant put up with this anymore. We will not be silenced. Even if they kill us.Lidia recounted with sorrow the killing of the local journalist Nahum Palacios this year whofearlessly reported on the plight and struggle of campesinos in Aguan and was riddled with over30 bullets.

Consuelo Castillo (Lempira settlement) said 80% of people in Colon are in the Resistance withFNRP, to transform Honduras to a better country.

Terrible living conditions

You saw the stick houses. The water gets in and its uncomfortable. Community members alsotold of their experiences of children being excluded from school and health services. People toldof stories like, many children for one school, and many do not go. Communities need places forschools. One man asked for my glasses because he couldnt see far away. He said the Cubandoctors come in their brigade but there is so much demand it is only a part of the need that theycan help with.

Violations of womens rights by the security forces

Gina of Centre for Womens Rights Honduras said the farmers live in a climate of terror andwomen live in fear in leaving or not leaving for work, are victims of sexual, physical andpsychological violence by the forces that they underreport. They also dont have access topre/post natal services. The communities in struggle need security guarantees.

Farmers demands:

- Demilitarisation

- Let us work on our land


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- Let our families and children work to have a future

- Let us live in dignity

- End plunder and exploitation

Under this coup regime, it is clear who the public institutions answer to the army, police,congress, DPP, etc execute what happens, and they answer to interests of few elite peopleincluding Palm Plantation Agro-industrial businessman Miguel Facusse. This is includingaccording to the well respected Father Fausto Milla. Coup governments particularly are not forthe masses.

It is really impressive how many people said they will continue the struggle and know theirlives are on the line. Entire communities of thousands of families struggling for land and for abetter Honduras are subject to this impossible to accept campaign of control and domination bydeath and terror.

BUT THIS IS NOT THE IMAGE THEY WANT PORTRAYED, BECAUSE THE REGIME WANTSMONEY AND NEEDS TO APPEAR LEGITIMATE. In fact, World Bank, Inter-American

Development Bank, IMF, and WWF are all complicit in having given funds and whitewashing tothe regime, and to the company Dinant of Miguel Facusse, who contracted his army of securityguards that carried out the El Tumbador massacre. We can put the pressure on our diplomaticrepresentatives MPs, Foreign ministers, embassies, UN, World Bank, etc etc.. we can break thesilence, etc, so many different things..

References:

De nuevo corre la sangre en el Bajo Aguan, G. Trucchi, 23/11/10,http://www.albasud.org/noticia/135/de-nuevo-corre-la-sangre-en-el-bajo-aguan

Honduras: El Aguan, escenario de guerra con intereses que trascienden fronteras, Frented

Nacional de Resistencia Popular en Colon, reported by Dick Emanuelsson, on 28/11/10,http://colarebo.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/honduras-el-aguan-escenario-de-guerra-con-intereses-que-trascienden-fronteras/

Recuento de los hechos y la recuperacion de las Tierras de la Reforma Agraria en HondurasMovimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguan, 13/1/10
http://www.albasud.org/noticia/135/de-nuevo-corre-la-sangre-en-el-bajo-aguanhttp://colarebo.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/honduras-el-aguan-escenario-de-guerra-con-intereses-que-trascienden-fronteras/http://colarebo.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/honduras-el-aguan-escenario-de-guerra-con-intereses-que-trascienden-fronteras/http://www.albasud.org/noticia/135/de-nuevo-corre-la-sangre-en-el-bajo-aguanhttp://colarebo.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/honduras-el-aguan-escenario-de-guerra-con-intereses-que-trascienden-fronteras/http://colarebo.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/honduras-el-aguan-escenario-de-guerra-con-intereses-que-trascienden-fronteras/

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