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Published: Friday, 10 February 2017 11:08
* Teresa Alvarado: Transparencia Activa
The inhabitants of Cinquera also asked the city council to call a popular vote so that the citizens of the town can decide through a vote if they are in favor of, or against, mining operations.
Inhabitants of the municipality of Cinquera, in the Department of Cabañas, called on the Representatives of the Legislative Assembly to take up the discussion of the bill that bans metal mining in the country.
In 2009 civil society organizations and communities presented a bill to the Legislative Assembly against mining, but up until now there have been no advances in the discussion.
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Published: Tuesday, 03 January 2017 10:24
Alfredo Carias : Contrapunto
Arcatao, San José las Flores, San Isidro Labrador and Nueva Trinidad in Chalatenango have already carried out referenda on mining.
Citizens of the municipality of Cinquera in the department of Cabañas were asked to participate in a public referendum, to be held in the next months, to give their opinion in favor or against metal mining within their territory.
Cinquera is located in a mountain region with a rich biological diversity and a history of organized resistance that developed during the armed conflict in the 80s. Strong reasons for communities, local government and environmental organizations to promote democratic initiatives, such as binding referenda, that lead to the creation of municipal ordinances to protect the environment and preserve their natural resources.
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Published: Saturday, 17 September 2016 13:46
Gloria Orellana – CoLatino.
Berta Caceres' murder did not fall on "deaf ears", peasant and indigenous organizations from Honduras and El Salvador have decided, under a banner of solidarity, to unite to fight against mining, monoculture and the protection of water and ecosystems.
Abel Lara, coordinator of the October 12 - Popular Resistance Movement of El Salvador, said that the meeting of different peasant and indigenous movements from Honduras and El Salvador was to assess the reality and experiences that both nations face in relation to "megaprojects" that generate forced migration of populations, pollution and theft of natural resources.
"The struggle of Berta and the people of Honduras was hopeful, but she was killed cruelly and we know that the US is indirectly involved, as they have been intensifying their interventions in the region," he said.
The "binational meeting" of social organizations, environmentalists and indigenous peoples took place in the mountains of Arcatao, Chalatenango, where they sought consensus to unify their struggles against Mega Projects in Central America.
Lara said that the decision to unite both social agendas will allow for the construction of communication and mobilization tools for organizations to defend through direct action any rural and indigenous communities that may be threatened.
"Big megaprojects will enter our region under the Alliance for Prosperity of the Northern Triangle are of concern, we know their strategy is to seize the unique remaining natural resources, such as water and mining projects that utilize thousands of cubic meters per day, and is also the forced migration of peoples ", he argued.
By joining forces and sharing demands, Lara said, we can build an identity and as such develop the capacity to dialogue and negotiate with government authorities and transnational corporations who often introduce their projects without consulting with the people.
"The Neoliberal economic model applied in the region has abandoned our people and specifically the rural sector and indigenous peoples. Why?, the neoliberal development model only brings exploitation of natural resources, but does provide sustainble development for the people, so women and men have raised in resistance and to propose our own vision of development and life, which is definitely linked to respect for nature," he said.
Tomas Gomez Membreño, who is the acting Coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) after the murder of Berta Caceres, expressed that we have the challenge to integrate social struggles and spread them throughout Central America.
"By speaking of a common struggle in Central America, we take a major step, because we see the same patterns of criminalization of social movements and popular struggles; and the dispossession of indigenous lands, and concessions and privatizations that are pushed through, multinational and local companies, "he said.
