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Campesinos claim soldiers and police favor the landowners

[Translation of an Agence France Presse article as published in Diario Tiempo of San Pedro Sula for May 13, 2013. See original here an related articles here, here and here.]

A campesino leader was assassinated by armed men in the troubled valley of Aguán, 600 kilometers northeast of the Honduran capital, bringing to 99 the number killed in the region, the scene of a conflict between farmers and landowners, a leader of the agrarian movement reported on Sunday.

“Three heavily armed men assassinated José Omar Pérez, 37, president of the Los Laureles operation, in the La Concepción settlement, which belongs to the Movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguán (MUCA), around 9:30pm Saturday night,” the spokesman for the organization, Vitalino Álvarez, told AFP.

The attack occurred 100 meters from Pérez’s home as he and his wife were returning from his mother-in-law’s house in the city of Tocoa.

“The assassination of comrade Pérez makes 99 campesinos killed by the deadly bullets of the landowners’ security guards and the paramilitary groups who operate in the region,” stated a MUCA communiqué.

The conflict began in the Aguán in January, 2010, a month after more than 5,000 campesinos occupied 7,000 hectares of land claimed by the landowners.

The campesinos hold that these lands have belonged to them since they were granted to them as part of an agrarian reform in the 1980s.

In 1992, a law allowed the parcels of land to be sold and some leaders of the farmers, behind the backs of their base, sold them to the landowners at low cost.

In August, the government ordered a military deployment, reinforced by the police, to carry out a “general disarmament” but deaths continue and the campesinos hold that the soldiers and the police are backing the landowners.

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((Revistazo photo))

[Translation of an article from Revistazo of Tegucigalpa for April 20. See original here  and related articles here, here and here.]

Tegucigalpa – The Ministry of the Interior has announced the issuing of warrants for police, military and civilians involved in human rights violations and the assassinations of more than 50 people in the Bajo Aguán region. The campesino leadership considers it necessary to punish those responsible but has no confidence in any actions the prosecutor may take.

Although he did not disclose the names of those involved, Special Prosecutor for Human Rights Germán Enamorado told the press that the prosecutor’s office has succeeded in gathering the evidence needed to initiate prosecutions, which in the case of public employees will involve charges for abuse of authority, dereliction of duty, personal injury and attempted homicide. (more…)

[Translation of an article from Revistazo of Tegucigalpa for August 16. See original here and related articles here, here and here.]

By Germán Reyes

Honduras is experiencing its worst crime wave in history and although crime is spread through every region of the country, Security Minister Óscar Álvarez has announced the launch of a new joint operation by the military and the police in the Aguán region, an area characterized by struggle between campesinos and landowners.

More than 150 campesinos and security guards have died in armed confrontations in the Aguán area. The government, incapable of complying with signed commitments, has announced a militarization through Operation Xatruch II.

The security minister reports the deployment of 600 additional men, to be added to the contingent that has been stationed in the region for several months. (more…)

Thirty-six killed so far during Lobo administration

[Translation of an article from Revistazo.com of Tegucigalpa for May 26. See original here and related articles here, here and here.]

By Germán Reyes

In a press conference held in Tegucigalpa, leaders of campesino organizations of the Aguán Valley charge that as a result of systematic violence and the repression of human rights, 36 campesinos have been assassinated in the area so far during the present administration.

They declare that despite the fact that the administration of Porfirio Lobo Sosa has spent almost two years seeking reintegration into the Organization of American States, in the past two months alone six more campesinos have lost their lives through violence and they expressed fear of a resurgence of repression once international organizations cease observing the country. (more…)

[Translations of two articles, the first from Revistazo.com of Tegucigalpa for November 15, the second from Diario Tiempo of San Pedro Sula for November 16. See original articles here and here. Businessman and landowner Miguel Facussé Barjum, one of the wealthiest men in Honduras, is owner of Grupo Dinant, which produces biodiesel fuel from palm and jatropha oils, among other enterprises. He and other members of his family are widely thought to have been instrumental in the coup d’état that ousted Manuel Zelaya from the presidency on June 28, 2009. César Ham of the leftist Unidad Democrática party is currently director of the Instituto Nacional Agrario, the National Agrarian Institute, in the administration of de facto president Porfirio Lobo Sosa. A supporter of Zelaya and of the drive for a Constituent Assembly, Ham was widely criticized by other leftists for accepting a position in the Lobo administration, which apparently offered it to him in an attempt to co-opt the resistance.]

Four campesinos killed in confrontation with Facussé security guards

by Germán Reyes

The deaths of four campesinos and the injuries and disappearances of several others have been reported as the result of a confrontation between security guards working for landowner Miguel Facussé and members of the Movimiento Campesino de Aguán (MCA – Aguán Campesino Movement). The event took place in the community of El Tumbador, in the jurisdiction of Trujillo, Colón. (more…)