Honduras: the White River, dyed with indigenous blood

Gualcarque river in Honduras, sacred for the indigenous community.

Honduran
environmental and indigenous rights defender Berta Cáceres, who was known
internationally for opposing a major hydroelectric project, has been shot dead
at her home. The murder of Cáceres has sent shockwaves throughout the world and once again highlights the dangers facing
environmental campaigners in Latin America.

According to
UK-based NGO Global Witness, which worked with Caceres, the director of the Civic Council of
Popular and Indigenous People of Honduras (COPINH in the Spanish acronym), was gunned down as she slept
in the eastern city of Esperanza on the evening of March 2.

Cáceres became
well-known internationally for protesting against the impacts of the proposed
Agua Zarca dam project on the country’s indigenous communities. Her campaigning
landed her the 2015 Goldman
Environment Prize. On receiving
the award, Cáceres spoke of constant sexual harassment and surviving numerous
kidnap attempts and threats on her life.

“They follow me.
They threaten to kill me, including kidnapping me.  They threaten my
family. This is what we face,” Cáceres said. Since 2013, three of her COPINH
colleagues have been killed for opposing Agua Zarca.

Global Witness
said intimidation towards Cáceres had increased significantly in recent months
after work had resumed on the Agua Zarca project. Operations ground to a halt
last year as a result of the peaceful protests she organised.

Cáceres’ death
highlights the systematic persecution and vulnerability of indigenous and
environmental rights defenders in Honduras, Global Witness said in a press
release. The organization urged the Honduran government to urgently begin
investigations into her murder.

Agua Zarca

The Agua Zarca
hydroelectric project is situated on the Gualcarque River, which passes through
indigenous Lenca territory in north-western Honduras and which is considered sacred by its
people. As such, Agua Zarca continues to be a source of conflict between local
people, national and multinational business, and paramilitary interests.

The project is
managed by Honduran company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A de C.V (or DESA) and will reorient the flow of the Gualcarque, a
tributary of the Ulúa River, reconnecting it some 3 kilometres downstream. The
project, which will generate 21.3 MW, was originally set to be constructed by
Chinese contractor Sinohydro
before it pulled out of the deal in 2013 due to operational interruptions.

Aureliano
Molina, a member of COPINH and close colleague of Cáceres, told Diálogo Chino the use of the
river to generate energy is “illegal and illegitimate” since privatising it
violates both the Constitution of the Republic and the rights of indigenous
people. The process of free, prior and informed consultation has not
progressed,” Molina told Diálogo Chino via telephone from the United
States.

Molina adds that
while rights were not protected, the climate of fear among leaders and
activists intensified. “The community is terrified,” Molina said, and claims
that the army has tried to displace the communities affected by the Agua Zarca
project a total of eight times. Molina characterised the army’s behaviour as
“arrogant, hostile, racist and oppressive”.

The General Water Law

During the 2009
political crisis which followed the ousting of former Honduran president Manuel
Zelaya, the National Congress approved the General Water Law, which granted new concessions for water resources, such as Decree 233
which repealed all previous decrees prohibiting hydroelectric projects in
protected areas. Licences for the construction of 300 hydroelectric
projects have now been approved. Some 17 projects were approved in indigenous
Lenca territory.

In 2012, DESA
received US$24.4 million loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration. DESA then contracted Sinohydro – which was accused by local communities of encroaching on their lands without prior
consultation. Growing tensions and the expulsion of more than 80 Chinese
engineers led Sinohydro to terminate the contract a year later.

At present there
is little clarity on the future of the construction of Agua Zarca. DESA’s
official website reporteds that actual progress of the works is around 15
percent complete.

In a public
statement, DESA indicates that it “aims to take advantage of hydroelectric
resources in Honduras, generating clean and renewable energy through the construction
of hydroelectric plants and related works”.

The company
maintains that “it has always been concerned about environmental protection
and, therefore, all operating and maintenance practices follow strict
regulations in harmony with nature”.

Impunity

According to
a Global Witness report, Honduras is the most dangerous country in the world for environmental
activists. Between 2002 and 2014, there were 111 murders in Honduras.
There were 12 deaths in 2014 alone.

“In both
Honduras and the rest of the world, there are environmentalists who are shot
dead in broad daylight, kidnapped, threatened or tried for terrorism because of
their opposition to what is known as ‘development’”, said Billy Kyte, a
campaigner at Global Witness.

According to
Kyte, the “true perpetrators of these crimes” include a powerful web of
business and government interests which “enjoy total impunity”.

At the time of
her death, an unanswered charge of illegal possession of a fire arm was held
against Cáceres. Another action, brought by DESA against her, Molina and
another colleague for alleged “coercion, usurpation and continuous damage” is
still pending.

In May 2014,
Lenca leader Jacobo Rodríguez, also a defender of the Gualcarque River, was
killed and in October, COPINH and Rio Blanco (White River) community member
Maycol Ariel Rodríguez García was murdered. The crimes remain unpunished,
Global Witness claims.

Molina is
concerned that reviving the Agua Zarca project will continue to generate
conflict. “The concession is still valid and may be activated at any time.
There is a risk that the project may continue, but the communities will not let
it pass,” he declared.

But despite
Cáceres’ murder, Molina says he will not back down.

“We have taken
the responsibility for advancing the struggle in the emancipation of indigenous
people. We are committed to return to Honduras to strengthen our fight.
 It is a moral, ethical and worthwhile commitment to honour what our
ancestors left us,” he said.

This article was published by the first time by Dialogo Chino.