President Castro’s decision to denounce the US-Honduras extradition treaty is not a response to “US intervention through its embassy,” but a way of protecting political allies with ties to organized crime, says Fátima Mena, lawyer and congressional member of the Salvador de Honduras Party.
In March 2024, one year after establishing diplomatic relations, China and Honduras signed an economic cooperation agreement whereby the latter would receive a $280 million donation to improve the infrastructure and equipment of education centers around the country. The first disbursement was announced at the signing of the contract, but Honduran authorities say they don’t have access to the funds yet, and the Foreign Ministry’s transparency portal doesn’t provide additional information on the agreement – which was signed after the National Assembly passed a bill allowing negotiations, agreements and treaties ratified by the Honduran State to be conducted secretively.
Journalist Francisco Ramírez was murdered in Danlí, department of El Paraíso, on December 21, 2023. He received protection measures from the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists after a murder attempt in May of the same year. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported 145 cases of aggression and the killing of two journalists in 2023, and human rights activists are demanding policy changes to the protection mechanism.
A carbon offset project in Honduras’ La Moskitia has set off alarms among a faction of Indigenous Miskito authorities, who claim that there was no prior consultation. This project, which has been promoted by the Spanish non-governmental organization Ayuda en Acción and designed by the Swiss company South Pole sparked concern at Verra, the U.S.-based certifying standards body that rejected its approval due to the absence of a consultation with local communities and doubts about the validity of data presented in its documents. This case underscores that while President Xiomara Castro promised to protect environmentally valuable areas by allowing Honduras to enter global carbon markets, some of these projects have been put in motion without consulting Indigenous peoples, who should be the main beneficiaries.
Despite recognition from international organizations of Honduras’ efforts to protect La Moskitia, a remote jungle region in the easternmost department of Gracias a Dios, the Miskito, Tawahka, Pech and Garífuna people are still vulnerable to deforestation, violence and forced displacements. A commission responsible for ensuring land is returned to these Indigenous groups has made little progress since its creation in 2019, while an illegal highway threatens the region, which should be protected by the State.
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.
In Honduras, climate change affects 90% of the population on a daily basis, underscoring the need for real solutions from the authorities. Journalists for the Planet (PxP) and the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) are joining forces to provide journalists in the region with tools to cover stories on ecosystem restoration and climate change.
Translated on October 12, 2022 | Last month, three young people died and 31 were hospitalized during a training session for aspiring auxiliary officers at the National Police Academy (Academia Nacional de Policía -ANAPO). For now, a definitive version of what happened is not known, nor have the autopsies of the deceased been made available. Relatives of those affected and experts are sure that the training involved excessive force.
On August 9, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña – OFRANEH) held a demonstration at the Justice Ministry, petitioning the state of Honduras regarding the lack of investigation into the forced disappearance of four indigenous Garífuna people. There hasn’t been any progress on the investigations despite exhortations from the Inter-American System. At the demonstration, OFRANEH also denounced racist and denigrating treatment by state officials.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicts that food insecurity could worsen in Honduras over the next few months. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has pushed up the cost of fertilizer and fuel, and small Honduran farmers are getting desperate and lack assistance from public agricultural programs. Meanwhile, Hondurans are paying more for an increasingly expensive basic food basket.
Shortly after his extradition to the United States on a DEA plane, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York released its indictment of the former president of Honduras. The indictment alleges that, in addition to drug trafficking and firearms possession, the former president received bribes from Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Gúzman, committed fraud in the 2013 and 2017 elections, and enlisted the support of other former presidents to facilitate drug trafficking in Honduras. A U.S. Justice Department judge remanded the former president in custody pending his hearing on May 10.
The communities in the Dry Corridor of southern Honduras mostly work in the “Coyolito Club” industries: shrimp, sugar cane and melon farming. Companies in these three industries are often the only source of work, but have been accused of human and labor rights violations. They may also be contributing to the environmental deterioration of a region abandoned by its government. All of these factors are driving migrants to flee their homeland.
As the country gets ready to vote in a few days, pre-election political violence in Honduras is surging compared to the 2017 general elections. Social organizations argue this harms the whole population, not just the candidates for political office.
Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDE) are proliferating in Honduras. Just three months before the November general elections, three political parties are proclaiming their opposition to the ZEDEs, but their plans to abolish them depend on winning the presidency and control of the National Congress.
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