The ‘three gifts’ that Xiomara Castro’s government owes Honduran women
On January 27, as President Xiomara Castro’s government marked one year in office, feminist activists counted 365 femicides over that same period – one for every day of 2022. Indeed, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, femicides and violent deaths of women in Honduras increased 51% in 2022. Reporting on the government’s achievements, Vice President Doris Gutiérrez said there were “three gifts” Castro must yet deliver to the women of Honduras: the Law Against Violence towards Women, the Safe Houses Law and reforms to the Penal Code.
Shucri Kafie loses honorary consul title following investigation report
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) announced that after their special «Shadow Diplomats», an investigation in which Contracorriente participated in collaboration with the Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación Periodística (CLIP), multiple governments announced the termination or revision of their honorary consul titles. The government of Jordan announced the ending of the position, which was served by Honduran businessman Shucri Kafie, which was in the role as Honorary Consul of Jordan in Honduras since 1984.
«States of exception, in general, are difficult to sustain»: Uzra Zeya, Under Secretary of State
In an exclusive interview for Contracorriente (CC), Undersecretary Uzra Zeya (UZ) spoke about her government’s support to Honduras on issues of education, security, migration and human rights and about the conditions of the United States to support the installation of an International Commission against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (CICIH) to strengthen the anti-corruption efforts in the country.
No Transparency, No Consultation: Drilling for Oil in La Mosquitia
An oil concession held by BG International Limited (BG Group) in Honduras’ Miskito Keys (Cayos Miskitos), home to the indigenous Garífuna community, is under question by that community. Garífuna leader Miriam Miranda says BGI Group’s exploration and exploitation project began, and continues, without carrying out a free and informed prior consultation with the Garífuna – an obligation under the law which requires such consultation with any region’s indigenous people.
Featured Investigation
Honduras’ Guapinol mining project, condemned by the government but defended by top government officials
President Xiomara Castro has officially denounced the Guapinol mine and Palmerola airport projects. They are going ahead regardless, with no interruption to the power and influence of businessman Lenir Pérez, who owns the concessions for both projects. Pérez has already been accused of benefiting from his relations with former president Juan Orlando Hernández to obtain irregular contracts and abuse human rights. Now, Contracorriente has found that Pérez could maintain privileged access to the new government through lawyer Pamela Blanco Luque, partner, and wife of Tomás Vaquero, Secretary of Government, Justice, and Decentralization.
The Kafies: A story of Honduran Elites, Honorary Consuls, and their dubious international ties
Translated on November 21 •
Honorary consuls are limited-function, voluntary diplomatic actors whose role proceeds for an undetermined period of time. In Honduras today there are 62 honorary consuls, most being Honduran businessmen.This is the story of eight members of the Kafie family who hold honorary consul positions, even as some of them have been implicated in cases of corruption or human rights violations.
Chamelecón: Neglected people rebuild
Approximately 350 families from the sector of Chamelecón are seeking refuge underneath a bridge; shelters are not an option. The families hope to avoid both flooding and the violence of the gangs who control their community.
Hunger caused by the pandemic drives more people onto the streets
Photography by Martín Cálix and Deiby Yánes Translation: John Turnure Extreme poverty has always forced people to beg. This has been the story for years,
We Found Miriam
Miriam is a woman who fled from Honduras with her two year old son. The statement she gave in front of a United States immigration court describing her experience being separated from her son went viral after a video was published that showed a group of actors and other celebrities reading it aloud. Miriam is invisible, but hundreds of thousands heard her in the voices of these people that have everything, who have our attention every day.
President-elect Xiomara Castro’s inauguration means new hope for Honduras
I just wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice urging them to immediately indict and extradite former President Hernandez to be tried on drug-trafficking charges. Hernandez was identified as a co-conspirator in his brother’s case here in the United States, and the DOJ said that President Hernandez “played a leadership role in a violent, state-sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy.” Now we must seek justice for all the people – Americans, Hondurans, and others – who were harmed because of his administration.
The US’s “Engel List” polishes the rough edges of the Northern Triangle
What rational person would be against increasing prosperity, fighting corruption, strengthening democratic governance, improving citizen security, or promoting inclusive development and economic growth? All to prevent more people from Central America’s Northern Triangle from migrating to the United States? Well, no one.
Extraditions from Honduras through a camera lens
On Tuesday, January 31, at the Soto Cano air base, Arnaldo Urbina Soto, the former mayor of Yoro municipality, was handed over to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for extradition to the United States.
Despite the risks, LGBTQIA+ community says it will participate in Honduran civic events
As she was leaving the September 15 Independence Day parade, Dulce Pamela Bizarro, a trans woman and member of the LGBTQIA+ contingent, said, “We are so happy to have participated in the parade, even though at first people insulted us and threw things at us. But we are here because we have rights.”
The children who harvest your coffee
The best, export-quality Honduran coffee is grown at 1,600 meters above sea level, say the local coffee growers in the mountains of Corquín, one of Copán department’s most important coffee-growing areas.
The migrant caravan of 2021: thousands flee from the Honduran crisis
Approximately 7000 Honduran citizens are travelling through Guatemalan territory in the first migrant caravan of 2021. This exodus, possibly the largest since 2018, comes despite the pandemic and the widespread police and military deployment in Honduras and Guatemala.
Diverse Voices
Documenting daily life
Covid-19 and hurricanes don’t affect us all equally
Female empowerment – is it real?
Gustavo Moreno Will Live More Than a Hundred Years
By: Jennifer Avila Honduras and its eternal tragedy. Today all of us who live in this country lost Gustavo Moreno, a human being with an
Art & Culture
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