Occupied Ocean Front Property (Honduras)

An Affordable Paradise: Garifunas, Lencas, and the Corruption of Office

-Mural of Garfiuna Land Activists kidnapped from their homes on July 18th 2020. (Alberth Sneider Centeno, Milton Joel Martínez Álvarez, Suami Aparicio Mejía García and Gerardo Mizael Róchez Cálix.)

As we drive into Triunfo de la Cruz in northern Honduras, a woman approaches our vehicle and requests a donation to enter. Two men stand nearby, one brandishing a bat and the other lifting and lowering the makeshift gate across the road. After we pay a few Honduran Lempira (HNL), the man lifts the gate and allows us to enter. I turn to the driver and ask if that “toll” is legal. After grinning, he says, “Yeah.” My only response was to laugh and say something about “government roads.”

We had just entered one of the Garifuna communities along the Caribbean side of Honduras. A few more of these communities exist along the growing tourist island of Roatán, but the majority of people have been living on a number of beach-front communities where people have lived since 1797.

We drive through the town and eventually stop at a strip of beach. From there we turn down a narrow road through a mosquito-infested jungle alongside a structure that has been overtaken by vegetation.

Eventually we arrive at a mural of Garifuna land activists Alberth Sneider Centeno, Milton Joel Martínez Álvarez, Suami Aparicio Mejía García, and Gerardo Mizael Róchez Cálix. In close proximity to the mural is a sign that requests that they be returned home. Unfortunately, they have not been heard from since they were taken in 2020.

I explore the area and take a few pictures before getting into the vehicle and slowly backing out the way we came in.

-An abandoned Economic Development and Employment Zones (ZEDEs) project

The Garifuna

By the end of the Second Carib War (1795 – 1797), the Black Caribs of Saint Vincent had lost their long-running battle against the British. Their defeat resulted in exile.

Prior to the French’s arrival on Saint Vincent, the Black Caribs were left alone to fight the Yellow Caribs. It was the end of the French-Indian (Seven-Year) War that brought attention to the newly claimed British territory. Shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763), surveys were commissioned to learn what wealth could be claimed from the new lands.

Sir William Young was chosen to lead a commission to divide the island into parcels to be sold. Unknown to him was the history of the peoples on the island. What is strongly believed is that the Black Caribs are the descendants of 500 Negros whose Dutch or Portuguese ship was wrecked near Saint Vincent around 1620. Swimming to shore, these Negros intermixed with the already present Carib women who were described as lighter with yellow skin. Their descendants became known as Black Caribs, but they referred to themselves as Garifuna in their Arawakan language.

According to a manuscript written by Alexander Anderson, a British man who lived on Saint Vincent in 1784, the incoming British were inconsiderate when stealing rebel lands and lack luster in converting the populace to the Christian religion. This misbehavior and political tensions due to the environment differing than what had existed under French rule were some of the factors contributing to the war.

As relations between the British and both groups of Caribs intensified, an 18-year-old French boy named Alexandre Moreau de Jonnes was sent to train the population in how to use French weapons and tactics (1795). The French Republican ideals held sway with the Black Caribs whose leader, Chief Joseph Chatoyer, was described as exceptionally intelligent and able to communicate in both English and French.

The resulting war claimed the life of Chatoyer, but the Black Caribs continued to fight without leadership until they were forced to surrender unconditionally. British planters decided they could not live with them on the island and took a staunch “us or them” stance. This resulted in the forceful removal of 5,080 Black Caribs to Roatán Island starting in 1797. Some of the populace subsequently migrated to the coast of northern Honduras.

-Modern Garifuna flag with drum added. Colors represent skin of the Garifuna (black), the food of the Garifuna (yellow), and prosperity (white).

Lenca Peoples

As part of the biggest indigenous group in Honduras, Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores knew of the precarious state of her people. Raised in the mountains of La Esperanza, her mother Austria Bertha Flores Lopez, passed on the knowledge of their people who had migrated from Pre-Columbus South America.

Related to the Mayans and Kuna (Panama), the Lenca have always struggled. Berta Cáceres took on social justice and went on to become one of the founders of, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH).

Her greatest challenge came in 2006 with the starting up of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam project, a joint venture between DESA (Desarrollos Energeticos, SA), a Honduran company, and Sinonydro, a Chinese company, with funding from the World Bank and a variety of European and Honduran investors. Immediately realizing that the dam’s construction would destroy a number of items related to the Lenca, ranging from their culture to medicinal plants and access to food and water, they protested.

Using the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and legal means, they managed to get the dam project rejected. The rejection, however, did not dissuade the project. What followed were protests and roadblocks at the dam site to halt work.

By 2013, a number of incidents escalated the situation. Tomas Garcia, a COPINH member, was murdered by Honduran Armed Forces at a protest at the entrance to the dam site. That same year, Berta was arrested for gun possession charges. More charges were added, forcing various members to go into hiding.

“They are criminalizing our right to our identity and sense of self,” she declared.

By 2015, her life and those of other activists were under constant threats. She received 33 death threats simply because she asked for the world community to help save the Lenca community.

Members of the Honduras Solidarity Network brought her to various cities such as Washington, D.C. to speak to Congress as well as Ottawa, Canada, and various European destinations.

In April 2015, Berta Cáceres won the Goldman Environmental Prize, which is awarded to “ordinary people who take extraordinary actions to protect our planet.” Unfortunately, the spotlight on her work and other efforts was not enough to keep her from harm. On March 2, 2016, two gunmen entered her home and shot her multiple times along with her friend Gustavo Castro Soto who was later framed for the assassination by the Honduran government under Juan Orlando Hernandez.

It was later discovered that her name was among others on a military hit list. Various individuals were arrested, some of them with military ties, but hard evidence was elusive. In May 2016, Felix Molina posted that he had hard evidence about who orchestrated the murder. His legs were shot multiple times that same day which prompted him to flee the country.

Ocean-Front Property (Interview)

Note: Names were omitted to protect the identity of the person being interviewed.

Thibert: “How is their (Garifuna) land being taken?”

“Politicians can modify the law. Once they are in power, they are interested in the land. They use the military or whatever they have in power to scare the Garifunas. Or they put traps in the law. They say they will buy the land, but in the end, they don’t give any money.”

Thibert: “Where are the nonprofits for the Garifuna? Groups like COPINH (Lenca)? Where are the current leaders? What are they doing? Where were they when a Hilton was going to be built?”

“You mean in…yes, that was in the Western side of Tela (Northern Honduras). That is another story with basically the same modus operandi. Once in power, they modify the law. Now that Zede project is abandoned.”

Thibert: “What happened?”

“Pandemic. In Triunfo in one of the most developed villages, they took advantage. The roads are paved, and they have water. People think the Zede projects are from the 1970s but they are really from the 2000s. There are still families that have not been paid what they were promised for their land.”

Thibert: “Is there no one who can help review contracts with them and advise them?”

“They are organized (OFRANEH: Honduran Black Fraternal Organization). The Garifuna have people in Congress.”

Thibert: “Representatives?”

“Yes, but not many. Now there is a national trial about the Catholic church in San Juan. The community used to begin there. Now it is far from there. The Garifuna were here before the State of Honduras.”

Thibert: “Are a number of Garifuna impoverished?”

“Yes, you can say that. Most young people rather go to the U.S. and work. That’s the economic part of the Garifuna villages. They live off what is sent from the U.S. (remittances). The men go there and the women stay here. That is why it is a matriarchal society. They show some of their rituals and culture to outsiders, tourists, but a lot of rituals they keep inside. You have to gain their confidence to see more.”

Thibert: “Have you gained their trust?”

“Yes, I can say so because my family is a friend of a community leader. That is one way; another is to marry.”

We drive around the area as I’m told of the different types of foods that Garifuna make. Toward the end of one road, we come to a house.

This house belongs to a businessman named (withheld). A banker from (withheld). It’s a big house. It has its own water plant.

Thibert: “How is he able to have a house here?”

“Money”

Thibert: “Where they (Garfiuna) happy about that?”

“Naaaa.”

Thibert: “I see he has tall walls that no one else has.”

“With the help of the government, if they were interested in your land, they would buy it from you with the price they are saying. So, the Garifuna were against this project.”

(Name withheld) points to a sign along the road which says in Spanish:

“Triunfo de la Cruz says no to the sale of land and yes to the rescue of our ancestral territory.

This is called Marbella. In the 1990s, it was a big urbanization project, but it only got to 50%. I do not know if they used the investment money or stole it but the project was abandoned.”

Explanation: Marbella, Laguna Negra, and Playa Escondida are three tourism projects planned for Garifuna communal lands. In 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) determined that the land belonged to the Garifuna. According to the ruling, the Honduran government must consult and honor the decision of the community in question. Regardless, the community was not consulted, which led to protests. In response, Garifuna were murdered and a number of threats were made against community leaders. Subsequently, those leaders: Alberth Sneider Centeno, Milton Joel Martínez Álvarez, Suami Aparicio Mejía García, and Gerardo Mizael Róchez Cálix were kidnapped on July 18, 2020 by men wearing Police Investigation Directorate (DPI) uniforms. Local police were called, but arrived over an hour later. The station house is only a 10-minute drive away.

Thibert: “Beautiful area. I can see people flocking here.

Thibert: Let’s talk about what was built under the previous president (Juan Orlando Hernandez). People (foreigners) can buy zones that are determined as foreign land .”

“People are not happy about that. This was passed through Congress but it started in a zone in Roatán.”

Explanation: Reference to 1992 Law for the Modernization and Development of the Agricultural Sector (LMA) for the “promotion of foreign and domestic investment in agriculture by accelerating land titling and enabling land cooperative members to break up their holdings into small plots to be sold as private lands.” This was a later addendum by Congressional Decree 90-90 which allowed for foreign purchases of coastal lands for the purpose of tourism. In 2017, the Tourism Incentives Law gave benefits to tourism initiatives in the form of tax exemptions for various categories of tourism-based work. Another project is called Economic Development and Employment Zones (ZEDEs). Started around 2009, this allows for the construction of “starter cities” in areas deemed suitable for economic growth. This has allowed for resources to be pulled from various areas as well as money laundering.

“The Garifuna population is growing, and they need the land for their families, so they burn then build, but they try to maintain a balance of nature. This is opposite of the other peoples. Right now, the biggest threat is the African Palm plantation (palms planted on seized Garifuna lands).”

Thibert: “What are the rumors regarding what happened or how it happened? (missing Garifuna leaders)?”

“Here everything is about organized crime but also politics.”

Thibert: “There is a lot of crime in this area?”

“Drug trafficking.”

Thibert: “Why is this part of the route from Colombia to the United States?”

“Uh huh. The business is still alive because they (Americans) keep buying it (narcotics).”

Thibert: “Are people selling drugs to survive?”

“Trafficking mostly.”

Thibert: “Why is the United States so interested and invested in what is happening here?”

“Because it is a platform for Central America. From Honduras, you can access El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, especially with Russia and China.”

We stop at another mural of the Garifuna activists who were taken in 2020 .

Thibert: “Is this still a climate of if you ask the wrong question you can disappear? Does this still happen to activists?”

“Yes, something like that.”

Thibert: “Is there a fear?”

“That is why I was telling you about confidence. If you ask them, they will just change the topic.”

-A sign stating that the neighborhood of Tornabe is free of Economic Development and Employment Zones (ZEDEs)

The Office of the Presidente

In early 2022, Former President Orlando Hernández was extradited to the United States under multiple counts of drug and weapons charges related to the illegal importation of drugs over the previous two decades.

According to the charges, Hernández “abused his position as the President of Honduras to operate the country as a narco-state in order to enrich himself and corruptly gain and maintain power; corrupted the legitimate institutions of Honduras, including parts of the Honduran National Police, military, and National Congress; and, while publicly purporting to be an ally of the United States, contributed with his co-conspirators to Honduras becoming one of the largest trans-shipment points in the world for United States-bound cocaine.”

According to local sources, this was already known prior to June 2016 (three months after Berta Cáceres’ murder) when H.R. 1299 was passed by the 115th United States Congress. Also known as Berta Law, it prohibits funds being made available to Honduras for the police or military (including equipment and training), and directs the Department of the Treasury to instruct U.S. representatives at multilateral development banks to vote against any loans for the police or military of Honduras, until the Department of States certifies that the government of Honduras has done the following:

• Prosecuted members of the military and police for human rights violations and ensured that such violations have ceased;.

• Established the rule of law and guaranteed a judicial system capable of bringing to justice members of the police and military who have committed human rights abuses;.

• Established that it protects the rights of trade unionists, journalists, human rights defenders, government critics, and civil society activists to operate without interference;.

• Withdrew the military from domestic policing.

• Brought to trial and obtained verdicts against those who ordered and carried out the attack on Felix Molina and the killings of Berta Cáceres, Joel Palacios Lino, Elvis Amando Garcia, and over 100 small farmer activists in the Aguan Valley.

Berta’s Law followed the arrest of other high-ranking politicians over the previous years, including Yankel Rosenthal Coello, former Minister of Investment under Hernandez, arrested in Miami (MIA) in 2015, as well as other members of his political family, all under charges of money laundering from suspected drug money. In 2021, the Pandora Papers revealed that former Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa (2010– 2014) also accepted drug money for favors and kept offshore companies in Panama. His wife, Rosa Elena Bonilla, also faces corruption charges as do their children who also held political offices.

-Former two term Honduran President Orlando Hernández arrested February 2022

Conclusion

In mid-2021, Roberto David Castillo of the Agua Zarca hydro-electric dam project in conjunction with Chinese-owned Sinohydro was found guilty of hiring the men who killed Berta Cáceres. Seven other men from the construction firm Desa were already indicted on charges in 2018.

With all these arrests and corruption being uncovered, it would appear that Presidente Xiomara Castro has indeed turned a corner with the country, but upon a closer look, many things have not changed.

Activists such as Arnol Javier Alemán who was released in February 2022 after spending 29 months in jail for protesting the continued polluting of the Guapinol River by mining company Inversiones Los Pinares (former Hondurans EMCO Mining Company) was arrested in August of 2023 and detained under the excuse of a charge appearing in the National Police’s system.

A number of individuals from the old Presidency are still in office and many areas within Honduras are seemingly out of reach from government supervision allowing for maras (gangs) and corrupt individuals to create opportunities to take occupied indigenous lands or continue in the drug trade.

Until a clean sweep of the government can be done, including establishing federal control to outlying regions, all they can do is pray: “Help us so we don’t accept cursed money from criminal organizations that bribe and coerce authorities with the blood of our people,” Commander Fernando Munoz of the military force and Operation “Fe y Esperanza” (translated as Operation Faith and Hope).

Fin

-Banner of missing Garifuna leaders. Sign says “We demand compliance with the sentence for the return of our territory and ancestral heritage.”

-2013 Protests against the Agua Zarca Hyrdoelectric Dam

-Funeral of Berta Cáceres in La Esperanza, Honduras. March 3, 2016

-Garifuna Occupied Ocean Front Property