poverty, violence and environmental
justice
a testimony by juan almendares, friends
of the earth honduras
“First of all, I consider
myself as belonging to the people of
Honduras and to humankind with all the
rights that brings. They say we were
“discovered” more than 500 years ago, but
the reality is that we had already
discovered ourselves. For in the veins of
my people runs a rainbow of blood: the
indigenous peoples of Honduras, the Mayas,
Chorties, Lencas, Pech, Tawakas, Misquitos,
Nahuales, Tolupanes and Garifunas, and the
English-speakers of African descent, mixed
with the Spanish, Latin Americans, English,
German, French, Italians, Arabs, Jews,
Asians and other families from different
parts of the globe.
I was born and raised in an environment
of poverty and violence, where alcoholism
and prostitution flourished. When I was six
years old, the government ordered the
schoolteachers to make us witness the
execution of a prisoner. I still remember
the trauma of seeing how they blew out the
brains of this man who had been deprived of
his freedom. When I was eight, someone was
commissioned to assassinate my father in
order to take away a piece of his land, and
I saw him almost decapitated. As a child I
saw campesinos at the United Fruit Company
kill each other with machetes while under
the effect of alcohol, and I saw soldiers
assassinate the campesinos.
I was educated with ideas borrowed from
the North. I did part of my studies in the
United States , where I felt the racism in
my living flesh, but I also got to know the
solidarity and the generosity of those
North American people who opposed the wars
in Vietnam , Central America and Iraq . I
have learned to differentiate between the
managers of imperialism and the beautiful
solidarity and conscience of the
people.
I am a doctor and physiologist who
combines scientific with popular knowledge.
I am learning to be a healer, and how to
use medicinal plants from indigenous people
and campesinas.
I have been condemned by death squads in
my country for defending human rights and
environmental justice, for helping poor
people, and for my anti-imperialist
conscience. I am still alive thanks to the
solidarity of my compatriots in the North
American, European, Third and Fourth
Worlds.
a short history of honduras
Honduras is a multi-ethnic country, rich
in culture, biodiversity and mineral
resources. At the same time it is one of
the most impoverished countries in Latin
America due to colonialism and
post-colonial plunder. Paradoxically, it is
a nation that exports food and is still one
of the most malnourished in Latin America .
In the international sphere we are
considered a ‘banana republic' or a
‘country for sale'. For centuries we have
been occupied, evicted and exiled from the
land and from our culture. The crushing of
our languages, the repression of our
cultural expression, the denial of our
history, the imposition of religion through
the domination and humiliation of our
people, the economic occupation and
expropriation of our resources has always
been accompanied by ideology, politics and
the military.
Throughout history, Honduras has been
under economic occupation by banana, mining
and tobacco companies. Wood exports have
stolen the water, the air and the forest
from us. Banana monoculture crops have
flooded and destroyed the forest with the
pesticides and dioxins. The mining industry
occupies almost a third of the land
available for agricultural production, and
open-cut mining has created artificial
cyanide lakes in different parts of the
country. Due to the economic, political,
cultural and military occupation as well as
trade agreements with the US and other
countries, economic inequality means
poverty for more than the 80% of the
population.
resisting violence
The government's policies are based on
an authoritarian, fascist and militarist
ideology. This has led to diminished
welfare expenditures in health and
education while police and military
security expenses have increased. Parallel
to this has been a promotion of the idea
that children and young people are the
cause of violence in Honduras , and they
are assassinated daily by death squads in a
policy of social cleansing. It is estimated
that 549 minors were killed in 2002, and
370 in 2003 (House Alliance, 2003).
An estimated 2.3 million hectares of
forest were destroyed between 1994 and
2001, predominantly by wood export
companies. Agents contracted by these
multinational companies have been accused
of attacks on campesinos and native
organizations. Teodoro Martinez, leader of
the San Juan tribe, was beheaded for
defending his people's land. In the last
twelve years, more than 48 indigenous and
black leaders have been assassinated, and
the crimes remain unpunished.
I currently run the Center for the
Prevention of Torture, and the premises
have been raided, the computers damaged and
stolen, the telephones and electronic
systems interfered with, and our members
assaulted by paramilitary forces and issued
death threats.
Half a century ago, families settled the
land abandoned by a branch of the Chiquita
Banana company and set up the village of
Tacamiche with churches, schools and a
health center. In the 1990s, by order of
the banana company and in cooperation with
the government, more than 100 houses and
200 hectares of maize and beans were
destroyed by military tractors. I witnessed
the discharge of more than 200 canisters of
tear gas, which not only made us cry but
also burned children and caused three women
to miscarry. As I cared for the children's
injuries, I could see that the nightmare of
the terror generated by 500 soldiers will
last their entire lives.
The case of Honduras shows how deeply
linked the violation of human rights is
with environmental justice.
Love and solidarity can build peace,
environmental justice and human rights. Let
our fight become a love poem to humanity
and Mother Earth, and let the uniting of
different cultures become a reality.”
Juan
spoke
about water privatization
more
about Juan and foe honduras in an
interview
