Don Pedro, an environmentalist veteran, continues to defend Honduras’ western lands despite growing threats
Pedro Pinto, 67, has spent over half his life defending the environment in the western region of Ocotepeque, Honduras. In November 2022, two of his vehicles were burned by an unknown party, he suspects that they were enemies of his work as an environmental defender. In Honduras, protecting the environment is a deadly risk; between 2002 and 2014, 111 environmentalists were killed in the country.
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.
Deaths of environmental activists re-open wounds in Aguan Valley
On 7 January 2023, passengers on a bus traveling between Guapinol and Concepción witnessed a shocking scene: two men lay dead beside a motorcycle while the engine ran. Upon recognizing the deceased, those onboard sent the news back home. The two men, Alí Domínguez (35) and Jairo Bonilla (28), were both water protectors from the community of Guapinol.
Featured Investigation
Honduras: a waiting room in a fleeing nation
In 2022, around 190,000 people entered Honduras irregularly, the majority of them from Cuba and Venezuela; more people than in the past 12 years. Honduras, a country in exodus, where more than 15,000 people emigrated in caravans, has now become a stopover to the north. At 4,000 kilometers from the U.S. border, in impoverished border towns, migrant inflation, police corruption, and trafficking networks sprout. The new exodus travels the old migration route.
‘Fake environmentalist’: a smear campaign against Honduras’ Guapinol defenders
A day after two well-known environmentalists from Guapinol were murdered, a Twitter smear campaign dating back to 2021 intensified once again. The campaign accuses members of an environmentalist group that opposes a mine development of being ‘fake environmentalists’ and taking part in the murders of 10 people in the thick of the conflict.
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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