Saying Goodbye to Honduras

It was time to leave Honduras after seven months of work in the country. One of our motivating factors for spending most of the past year in Honduras was the fact that a presidential election was slated for November 2013. Liberty and Refoundation (LIBRE), a political party born out of the resistance movement to the coup in 2009, was in the lead in the polls, unprecedented in Honduras for a party giving voice to the demands of marginalized groups. The country was on the brink of electing its first woman president.

There was real hope in the international solidarity community that this could be a legitimate chance to break the stranglehold that the ten families who control 90% of the wealth in the country and both major political parties exert over the rest of Honduras. Tragically, we were wrong. Widespread fraud handed an election certified as fair and transparent by the US and European Union, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, to Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH), leading figure of the most authoritarian (some might say fascist) wing of the Honduran right.

Emboldened by international recognition of his election (at least by conservative governments in the region aligned with the US and cynically by Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua), repression since Hernandez was inaugurated in January 2014 has intensified to alarming proportions. Long-time regional human rights observers liken the current wave of murders, death threats, and staged criminal trials to the environment in the 1980’s, when over 200 progressive movement leaders were disappeared and countless more forced to flee the country. During this era, the US used Honduras as its main base of operations for the training of Contras and paramilitaries in tactics aimed at destabilizing revolutionary struggles in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.

The scale and nature of violence and acts of intimidation directed toward human rights activists since Hernandez’s inauguration is highly disturbing and really hit home for us.

In Rio Blanco, where we conducted one of our first and one of our longest workshops, our friend Maria Dominguez, tireless in her efforts to maintain a road blockade against the imposition of a dam by multinational corporations and the Honduran oligarchy, was ambushed by a group of people wielding machetes. Her son and husband also were hospitalized, one losing an ear and requiring surgery to his skull.

Carlos Mejia Orellana, the director of marketing for Radio Progreso, the Jesuit radio station that took us in as part of the family and connected us with community radio stations all over Honduras, was murdered. He and other members of Radio Progreso had protective measures in place after receiving multiple death threats due to their fearless journalism. Authorities and the commercial media chose to highlight his homosexuality in this deeply conservative county (Did we mention that the new Congress and president are trying to ban all emergency contraceptives?) in an effort to discredit him by implying that the murder was merely a domestic spat. Over a month later, the investigation is stalled and the impunity only encourages more bloodshed.

Longshoreman union leader Victor Crespo from Puerto Cortes received death threats and fled to Portland, Oregon. His family was attacked and in January, his father was killed. Solidarity walkouts have been organized in Portland, Oregon. In Nicaragua, we met other solidarity activists who were harboring a Honduran family that was forced to flee after the election.

Bajo Aguan land recuperation movement (MUCA) member Chabelo Morales was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for murder (on top of the five that he has already served), with absolutely zero evidence linking him to the crime scene beyond his picture appearing in a newspaper article about the confrontation. Despite the presence of numerous international human rights observers and several testimonies disputing the prosecution’s account of the events, appellate judges ruled against him and have upheld his sentence.

In the past month, a series of attacks on movement activists have vindicated the warnings of resistance movement members who contend that the JOH administration is a slickly-marketed, clean-cut facade that masks brutally repressive tactics aimed at consolidating power, regardless of the human rights that are trampled upon in the process. In fact, one of Hernandez’s chilling campaign slogans was “I’m going to do what I have to do to restore peace and tranquility to this country.“

On May 3, Rigoberto López Hernández, an activist belonging to a Santa Barbara environmental protection group that we met with in November, was brutally murdered. The circumstances of his murder make it undeniably clear that he was being silenced. Rigoberto was highly vocal in his opposition to the iron oxide mining of the mountain above the community. His murder remains uninvestigated.

Last week, Rafael Barahona, the LIBRE candidate for mayor of Tegucigalpa was ambushed and shot while driving. Fortunately, out of ten bullets fired, only two made it to his left arm. While it has not yet been substantiated, circumstances surrounding the shooting indicate that it was politically motivated.

One of Hernandez’s major initiatives has been the creation of the military police (PM) in Honduras to patrol the streets in an alleged effort to cut down on drug and gang violence. In practice, the military police have been involved in multiple incidents that demonstrate their role as the attack dogs of powerful interests in Honduras who hope to terrorize the resistance movement into submission. Before the election, military police conducted a drug raid on a prominent LIBRE activist’s home without any evidence to warrant the search. No contraband was found but a clear message was sent to rest of the activist community: if you speak out, there will be consequences.

Jose Guadalupe Ruelas, the director of an NGO  in Tegucigalpa that recently published a report on a spike in the murder of children in Honduras, was in a parked car near the presidential palace when two motorcycles driven by military police crashed into him. They accused him of attempting to kill members of the presidential guard, arrested him, then beat and tortured him in prison.

Most recently, LIBRE supporters mobilized at Congress  and were met by military police wielding batons and tear gas. Several Congress members were hospitalized and protesters were chased through the streets of Tegucigalpa and beaten. Other social movements in the country responded to this display of repression with a mass mobilization which ended in an encampment in the Central Park.

San Francisco de Opalaca workshop
Despite the horrifying surge of violence and terror directed at human rights defenders in Honduras over the past few months, the willingness of social movements to continue mobilizing is incredibly inspirational. Before we left the country, we were able to return to the mountains of western Honduras to conduct a last week of workshops with the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indigenas de Honduras (COPINH), with whom we had earlier collaborated.

One of these women walked 2 hours to get to and from the workshop and her daily radio show.

On very short notice, COPINH was able to organize a workshop in San Francisco de Opalaca, and we took the next bus out for the long journey to a town in the furthest reaches of the department of Intibuca. We arrived at a beautiful region of small coffee plantations mixed with banana trees and surrounded by pine forests on all sides. We were told that white-tail deer still live in the Puca Opalaca mountain range here!

San Francisco de Opalaca is a community that successfully organized with COPINH for the right to be governed by an assembly elected through direct democracy according to indigenous Lenca traditions. Over time, political parties co-opted this process and in the most recent election, fraud by Hernandez’s National Party handed control of the municipality to the previous mayor accused of mismanaging funds and favoritism in government hiring. The mayor from LIBRE and the people of San Francisco Opalaca did not sit idly by when this occurred – instead, they occupied the mayor’s office and have continued in shifts for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the past 4 months.

Underutilized government computer center converted into community radio station.

In early April 2014, a community radio station (Radio Puca Opalaca) got off the ground in the occupied computer center in the center of town. A radio technician from the US brought a small transmitter, mixer, and microphone, connected the equipment to an antenna attached to a long stick, hooked up a basic cell phone as the computer and a radio was born. We were reminded of Radio Venceremos, the mobile rebel radio station during the civil war in El Salvador that used the same antenna technique (in fact, we just visited one of the fabled trees in Perquin). The radio collective has 16 members, almost all new to community media, with a large contingent of women.  Most of the participants are under 25 years old.

Our 3-day workshop was hectic and non-stop, with some participants staying until 1 am two nights in a row. There were seven teams sharing three very old computers (restored to usefulness after hours and hours of formatting and virus cleaning by the tireless, newly-appointed computer coordinator), a laptop and another computer that was lent to the radio by a local Catholic nun for use in editing and live radio programming.

The community center was booked so we took the workshop outside to practice interviewing.

Despite most participants having little to no computer experience, their level of commitment was extraordinary. The long hours didn’t faze them even though some walked two hours in order to get to the radio for their daily program.

The occupation of the mayor’s office has been constant for the past 4 months.

When it was time to debut the programs on the radio, 100 people had gathered at the occupation of the mayor’s office. A boombox was set up and tuned to the station. Each group was interviewed by members from other groups, then all would run to the occupation a block away so that they could listen to their first radio program with everyone else. A conjunto (traditional string instrument folk group) played revolutionary corridos and the LIBRE mayor provided coffee to everyone present. After all programs had been presented and the Medios del Pueblo facilitators interviewed on the air, we had an emotional sendoff from the participants, with each person sharing a heartfelt message, ending with the unity clap and a chant of “El Pueblo Unido, Jamas Sera Vencido” (“The People United, Will Never be Defeated”).

Albertina, veteran Radio Progreso local correspondent, interviews the two newest community radio hosts.

Equipment Donation and COPINH Video Workshop
COPINH doesn’t have a camcorder despite continual harassment of both the Executive Committee and members by the Honduran government. Their diverse struggles range from opposition to illegal dams and mines on indigenous land, to preservation of Lenca culture and tradition, to land recuperations.

There was even a vintage One Laptop Per Child that we brought to San Antonio, Honduras, 6 years ago. We loaded it with conscious music and radio programs and it will replace a cell phone as a radio computer.

We formulated a plan with COPINH to donate the camcorder (and several other pieces of electronic equipment that included an audio recorder, microphones and laptop) in order to initiate a tool library for use by their network of community radio stations. Radios could “check out” the equipment until they were able to get a replacement. The equipment can be used for a variety of educational and radio programming purposes as well as serving as a way to document during emergencies (which, sadly, occur often). We knew that COPINH could get the materials to people in remote communities who truly need it, including some places where we had conducted workshops over the past nine months.

The internet cafe in La Esperanza tht saved the day with their generator and excellent mochas.

A 3-day workshop at the COPINH office was held to teach members of the community radio stations (Radio La Voz Lenca of San Francisco Lempira and Radio Guarajambala of La Esperanza) how to use the camcorder, edit video, and upload it to the internet. Participants would then be ready to pass on the skills to members of their radio stations and to people in other communities. In the video, they answered the question: How does the community radio station serve as a tool to overcome obstacles to autonomy? We defined autonomy and the participants really enjoyed finding images and video that corresponded with their recorded narratives. We collectively worked long hours (over 3 days) due to power outages but were saved by the nearby internet cafe that had a generator. Final products are below – enjoy!

Nuevo documental de TeleSur sobre la lucha de COPINH de defender los recursos naturales y los bienes comunes

Escuelita Zapatista Reportback

The two members of Medios del Pueblo were able to attend the Escuelita Zapatista in January in Chiapas, Mexico, and finally got around to compiling our video reportback. We got to see autonomy in action in its many forms (radical education, health, agriculture, decision-making) and met some amazing and inspiring compañeros from indigenous communities and from all over the world. We hope you enjoy it!

Los dos miembros de Medios del Pueblo tenían la gran oportunidad de poder asistir a la Escuelita Zapatista en enero en Chiapas, México, y por fin hemos terminado nuestro reporte de vídeo. Vimos la autonomía en acción y puesto en practica en todas sus formas (educación, salud, agricultura y toma de decisiones colectivas) y conocimos a compañeros increíbles y inspiradores de comunidades indígenas y de todo el mundo. ¡Esperamos que lo disfruten!

Cangrejal Tours and Radio Progreso Reportback / Reportaje sobre Cangrejal Tours y Radio Progreso

Haga clic para la version en espanol

Cangrejal Tours Workshop

“You guys, I am so lucky. I just saw FIVE different species of fish” exclaimed snorkel-clad Adolfo Lopez as he emerged from the Cangrejal River. Adolfo Lopez was the first member of Cangrejal Tours that Kyle and I met. He was experimenting with a new potential activity for the youth tour guide cooperative – river snorkeling. After speaking to him (one of the most chatty guides) for about 10 minutes, you’ll probably know a lot more about the species endemic to the Cangrejal area, whether or not it’ll rain in the next hour and the recent toucan activity in the trees shading the soccer field.

Again, we found ourselves in the beautiful Cuenca of the Rio Cangrejal. This time we worked with a group of eight youth that graduated from Guaruma and formed a cooperative called Cangrejal Tours. The tour guide cooperative’s eight members range in age from 19-25 years old. These young men (all of the guides are men) attended photography and environmental conservation classes from before entering double-digit ages until recently when they graduated. Guaruma is an organization that offers computer, English, photography and environmental conservation after-school classes. It is a very unique organization in that is run by youth for youth, does a really incredible job of providing a space to be (hang out, use the internet, study, play basketball) and successfully facilitates students in developing a lasting environmental consciousness. The Cangrejal Tours crew is a testament to the importance of having access to a community space and an interactive, socially conscious education.

In an effort to really make the tour cooperative a viable source of income for all 8 members, they decided to create a website and asked us if we would help them out. Their motivation for creating the cooperative is multi-faceted. They want to be part of educating youth about conservation as well as being a tour alternative. They are community-based and mostly collectively run. They do not have a boss and make decisions as a group.  The oldest guide, Javier, told us that he wants to be able to stay in his community and not be part of the exodus of youth leaving their rural or semi-rural hometowns to work in the city (La Ceiba, El Progreso, San Pedro Sula or Tegucigalpa) or immigrate to work in other countries. He, along with the other 7 members, created this conservation-based employment option.

Working hard on editing video and the website in the Cangrejal Tours office

We came down on a Monday and for the next 5 days from 8 am to at least 6 pm, we were all together either huddled in the Cangrejal Tours office editing video, in the Guaruma kitchen editing the website or out on the trails shooting videos and photos for the website. They used our equipment (and some of Guaruma’s cameras) to shoot all of the video/photos, edited all of the video, wrote the text and put the website together themselves. Kyle showed them how to update the website and I helped out with editing the text and translating the site but the rest was them. Here is the site: cangrejaltours.com.  They are very excited about the site and have already started updating. We ended our time there with the guides at the river at 6 in the morning. They were trying out snorkel gear in the river to prep for a new tour activity that they might be offering soon…

Camilo, Guaruma coordinator, testing out the new equipment.

Before we left we were able to donate some technology to the Guaruma organization. They now have a Nook tablet with a wireless keyboard. The tablet can be used to expand their internet cafe (really affordable internet connection for the community) or use for editing photos and video. Thank you to everyone who donated to Medios del Pueblo.

Donation of Equipment to Radio Progreso’s Network of Popular, Alternative and Community Radio Stations

Before saying our final goodbyes and thank yous to Radio Progreso, a Jesuit initiative based in El Progreso, Yoro, that is the oldest progressive radio in Honduras and is highly-respected, we were able to contribute some equipment to start building a technology library. This library would be available for all of the radios in the network to check-out and use. The technology can also be used during workshops led by Radio Progreso to provide hands-on practice with the equipment. The equipment that we (and you all) donated were: one Olympus

Equipment provided by our generous donors makes its way into the very capable hands of Radio Progreso.

VN-702PC digital audio recorder, three laptop mics, one large USB mic, and one omnidirectional condenser microphone.

Thank you to everybody who donated – you allowed for many, many community radio stations to have access to equipment that supports them in voicing their reality, struggles, successes within their community and beyond (also thank you internet).

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Capacitacion con Cangrejal Tours

“Chicos, tengo mucha suerte” exclamo Adolfo Lopez al salir del Rio Cangrejal vistiendo una mascara de snorkeling.

Adolfo López fue el primer miembro de Cangrejal Tours que Kyle y yo nos conocimos. Adolfo estaba experimentando con una nueva actividad que podrian ofrecer la cooperativa de guías jóvenes – hacer snorkel en el río Cangrejal. Después de hablar con él por unos 10 minutos, usted probablemente terminaría sabiendo mucho más acerca de las especies endémicas de la zona de Cangrejal, si lloverá en la próxima hora y la actividad reciente de los tucánes en los árboles que dan sombra al campo de fútbol.

Una vez más, nos encontramos en la hermosa Cuenca del Río Cangrejal . Esta vez trabajando con un grupo de jóvenes que se graduaron de la organización Guaruma , ocho muchachos, de entre 9 a 25 anos, que formaron una cooperativa de turismo comunitario llamada Cangrejal Tours. Estos muchachos (de todos los guías son hombres ) han asistido a las clases de fotografía y conservación del medio ambiente desde antes de entrar en las edades de dos dígitos hasta recientemente cuando se graduaron . Guaruma es una organización enfocada en el desarollo de una verdaders conciencia ambiental en l@s jovenes a traves de clases de computación, Inglés , la fotografía y la conservación del medio ambiente. Estas clases se ofrecen después del horario escolar. La organización Guaruma es única ya que está dirigido por jóvenes para jóvenes , proporciona un espacio para estar (pasar el rato, usar el Internet , estudiar, jugar al baloncesto ) y con éxito facilita a los estudiantes en el desarrollo de una verdadera conciencia ambiental. Los guías de Cangrejal Tours son testimonio de lo importante que es tener acceso a un espacio comunitario y a educación interactiva enfocada en desarrollar una conciencia social.

En esfuerzo para hacer de la cooperativa una solida fuente de ingresos para todos los 8 miembros, ellos decidieron crear un sitio web y nos invitaron para enseñarles los pasos. La motivación para la creación de la cooperativa tiene múltiples facetas: formar parte de la educación de los jóvenes sobre la conservación del medioambiente, además de darse a conocer como una alternativa turística. Ellos estan localizados la comunidad y en su mayoría se dirigen de manera colectiva. Ellos no tienen un jefe y toman decisiones en grupo. El guía mayor, Javier, nos dijo que él desea permanecer en su comunidad y no ser parte del éxodo de los jóvenes que dejan sus lugares de origen rural o semi-rural para trabajar en la ciudad (La Ceiba, El Progreso, San Pedro Sula o Tegucigalpa) o emigrar para trabajar en otros países. Javier, junto con los otros 7 miembros, crearon esta opción de empleo basado en la conservación del medioambiente.

Trabajando y esfuerzandose en la edicion de video y del sitio web en la oficina de Cangrejal Tours

Llegamos un lunes y para los próximos 5 días desde las 8 a.m hasta, por lo menos, 18:00, estábamos tod@s junt@s, acurrucados en la oficina de Cangrejal Tours editando vídeo  , en la cocina de Guaruma editando el sitio web o en los senderos   tomando fotos para el sitio web. Utilizaron nuestro equipo (y algunas de las cámaras de Guaruma) para tomar todos los vídeos / fotos y editarlos , escribieron el texto y, realmente, construyeron el sitio web ellos mismos. Kyle les mostró la forma de actualizar la página web y Adriana les ayudo en redactar los textos y en traducir el sitio al ingles, pero el resto lo hicieron ellos. Aquí está el cangrejaltours.com sitio. Ellos están muy entusiasmados con el sitio y ya han comenzado a actualizarlo. Terminamos nuestro tiempo allí con los guías en el río a las 6 de la mañana. Ellos estaban probando equipo de buceo en el río para preparar una nueva actividad. Siempre innovando en harmonia con la naturaleza y la comunidad.

Antes de salir, logramos donar algun equipo a la organización Guaruma. Donamos un tablet Nook con un teclado inalambrico. Se podrá utilizar para expandir su café de internet (ofrecen internet a la comunidad a un costo muy cómodo) o para editar audio, fotos o/y vídeos. Gracias a tod@s que donaron a Medios del Pueblo.

Donación de Equipo a la Red de Radios Populares, Alternativas y Comunitarias de Radio Progreso

Antes de despedirnos y dar nuestras profundas agradecimientos a Radio Progreso, una iniciativa Jesuita basado en El Progreso, Yoro, que es la radio progresista más vieja y respetada del pais, pudimos contribuir algún equipo que servirá como la base de una biblioteca de herramientas tecnológicas. El uso de esta biblioteca estara disponible para el uso de todas las emisoras de radio que son parte de la red. La tecnología podrá ser usada por las radios (para realizar entrevistas) o por l@s integrantes de las capacitaciones impartidas por las coordinadoras de la Red de Radios de Radio Progreso. Estas capacitaciones tocan muchos temas: desde de la locución hasta como realizar entrevistas y este equipo podrá brindar la oportunidad de tener experiencia de primer mano con el equipo y su uso. El equipo que donamos (nosotr@s y ustedes): un Olympus VN-702PC grabadora de audio digital, tres micrófonos de computadora portátil, un micrófono grande de USB, y un condensador de micrófono omnidirecional.

Muchas gracias a tod@s quienes donaron, ustedes hicieron posible que muchas, muchas emisoras comunitarias tengan acceso a equipo que les ayuda y facilita en expresarse y difundir sus luchas, logros y realidades a sus comunidades y mas allá (también le agradecemos al internet).

Reportback on Guaruma and Cangrejal Tours workshop in Atlantida, Honduras

Rapids in the beautiful Rio Cangrejal on the north coast of Honduras.

The Rio Cangrejal rushes past smooth boulders and shiny pebbles, under bridges and around corners while toucans snack in the trees that shade the soccer field. Little kids refine their aim by hitting cans with their slingshots while the mare’s club (three very pregnant mares) grazes on the overgrown grass in the small cemetery next to the field. Ceiba trees shade, wind rustles leaves and dries sweat and people head to and from on foot, in cars, on horses and in pailas (truckbeds). This is the place that the organizations Guaruma and Cangrejal Tours call home.

Guaruma is an educational organization run by hondureños in order to offer an education más alla de  (in addition to) what they get in school. They provide full and half scholarships for students in the area (communities of Las Mangas and El Pital) to attend public school and provide after-school classes on photography, English, computer skills and environmental conservation. They work with local youth, providing classes and school support (there is a library and a computer lab onsite as well as a live-in volunteer/teacher who does everything he can to make the space available for the community) until the student graduates. As a result of this kind of wrap-around support, many young people come out not just with a quality education but with a desire to support and teach the next generation.  One such group of youth created their own tourism cooperative called Cangrejal Tours. We had the opportunity to work with these two organizations for this semi-accelerated week-long workshop.

We took the surveys/interviews to the fields! Traemos las encuestas a las fincas!

This round we did something that makes a ridiculous amount of sense and that we will now do in the future: teach the teachers.  We held two classes a day with the future facilitators in the morning and the younger students (age 10-17) in the afternoon. Guaruma actually drove to the neighboring community to pick up and drop off youth everyday so that they could attend the workshop. The future facilitators were a mix of recently graduated Guaruma students and members of Cangrejal Tours. We would plan out the afternoon session with the facilitators and assign responsibilities for each individual (Kyle and myself included). The facilitators ended up teaching most of the sessions while we supported and filled in gaps, if there were any. They were in charge of presenting content, classroom management, assessing understanding and pacing the lessons. It went incredibly well!

Coordinadores facilitando la capacitación. Recently trained coordinators running the workshop!

The last day was a whirlwind of last minute audio and video editing before families and curious community members came out to watch the young ones present their topics and programs. The night ended with an award ceremony where each student received a certificate and was recognized publicly. These workshops were so successful. They were successful because of a dedicated group of individuals that transported kids every day, spent ALL day at Guaruma to prepare and teach lessons, and were truly organized.

Marlon, uno de nuestros coordinadores, compartiendo su nuevo conocimiento con los jovenes de Guaruma. Marlon, one of our coordinators, sharing his new knowledge with the Guaruma students.

Students presenting their work and personal growth to family, friends and community members at the Noche de Medios Comunitarios (Community Media Night).

Marcos receiving his certificate of successful completion of the workshop.

Coordinators and students celebrate after working hard to put on the community presentation event.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/87376750 w=500&h=375]

Mas información sobre la defensa del Rio Cangrejal contra la represa hidroelectrica
Socialización de los efectos del proyecto hidroelectrico en la cuenca del Rio Cangrejal, La Ceiba, Atlantida Publicado en No al Saqueo

El periodista comercial y los medios libres

Reposted from Proyecto Ambulante. From a great zine we picked up from Veredas Autonomas at the Escuelita Zapatista:

El periodista comercial busca primicias, las de los medios libres buscan que la información sea compartida oportunamente por la mayor cantidad de medios libres de tal forma que llegue a la mayor cantidad de gente posible.

El periodista comercial se dá de codazos con otros durante las entrevistas, se sabe técnicas para pisar, desplazar y sacar el aire, los de los medios libres colaboran, incluso cuando no se conocen, y se saben técnicas de coordinación, colaboración, consenso y de cómo sumar a otros y otras que quieren sacar la información, para empezar los de las nuevas generaciones.

El periodista comercial considera que debe ser tratado con privilegios, la mediolibrista considera que es un privilegio compartir con otros y otras que luchan, que más gente debe poder sumarse a la lucha y que la comunicación debe dirigirse ante todo a los no convencidos.

El periodista comercial busca premios y distinciones, el mediolibrista sabe que el premio es colectivo, y es poder ver en ésta organización, en aquella mirada, en esas palabras y en aquella comunidad que el mundo nuevo ya está, y que por ese mundo nuevo vale la pena luchar.

El periodista comercial circula la versión de quien paga los contratos publicitarios de su medio, la mediolibrista difunde la versión de quienes son agredidos por quien paga el contrato publicitario de los medios comerciales y que ya se decidieron a resistir y a construir otro mundo.

El periodista comercial difunde información por un pago, el mediolibrista difunde la información por convicción, por que considera que es un deber dar los pasos para que el mundo cambie.

El periodista comercial hace trampas para obtener las respuestas que quiere, la mediolibrista es una facilitadora de que se difunda la versión de la gente.

El periodista comercial se disfraza de corbata y traje, el mediolibrista es un chavo banda, una campesina, un indígena, una punk, y los hay darketas y emos.

El periodista comercial se forma en las universidades, la mediolibrista se forma en los procesos de lucha, en los colectivos y las organizaciones populares, y cuando bien le va en los talleres de medios libres y en las escuelitas de comunicación popular, que ya por ahí andan.

El periodista comercial cree en el copyright, los mediolibristas en el cópialo y rólalo, en el corre-la-voz y en el copyplis.

El periodista comercial jamás comparte un contacto o una fuente, las mediolibristas se comparten toda la agenda.

El periodista comercial no comparte su material, los mediolibristas se comparten hasta los crudos y sus archivos históricos completos.

El periodista comercial jamás cuenta cómo resolvió técnicamente tal trabajo, las mediolibristas no sólo se lo cuentan, sino que dan talleres (gratuitos), incluso cuando no se los piden, pero sobre todo cuando la gente organizada se los pide, pensando que toda la gente debe poder tomar los medios de comunicación y tomar la palabra, no sólo algunos cuantos privilegiados egresados de las universidades que expropian las voces de las colectividades.

El periodista comercial no siente empatía con la gente que entrevista, los mediolibristas sienten solidaridad, ánimo de lucha y ansias de justicia y se les vá la vida en ello: construyendo desde su campo de acción la solidaridad, la lucha y la justicia.

El periodista comercial llega comúnmente a cubrir una lucha cuando ya hay heridos, detenidos, muertos y desaparecidos, reportando para la nota roja. Las de los medios libres por el contrario estuvieron desde el principio, cuando apenas se gestaba esta o aquella lucha ó resistencia, y se quedan hasta que todos y todas quedan libres, aparecen, salen de los hospitales y aún mientras se sigue demandando justicia por los muertos, y no reportan la nota roja de izquierda, sino sobre los avances y retrocesos de la construcción del mundo nuevo. Las de los medios libres de por sí no son algo aparte o afuera de las luchas, nacen desde adentro de las luchas y forman parte de los procesos de lucha.

El periodista comercial se escandaliza cuando la gente bloquea una calle, se toma una plaza o una oficina de gobierno, cuando la gente “afectando a terceros”, se opone al despojo de sus tierras ó casas, a tal megaproyecto o a la denegación de derechos, los mediolibristas celebran el bloqueo, la toma de la plaza o la oficina y saben que los de arriba ya no lo van a tener tan fácil ni llegarán muy lejos.

Cuando hay una verbena popular convocada por la gente de lucha, con baile y música, el periodista comercial se queda en la redacción, en su casa viendo el fut, o se vá de colado a la fiesta de un político, las de los medios libres no sólo van a la verbena, sino que bailan hasta que se acaba, a veces hasta ayudan a recoger el equipo, para luego irse y subir la nota.

El periodista comercial cree que los monstruos de las corporaciones con sus gigantescos rascacielos y sus trailers llenos de equipos no pueden ser derrotados, los de los medios libres de a tiro por viaje derrotan los cercos informativos que gobiernos y corporaciones les ponen enfrente. Las de los medios libres pasan con su grabadora vieja junto a un gigantesco trailer de la televisora del momento y se ríen, sabiendo que con esa grabadora vieja y con mucha comunicación de base será derrotado el cerco informativo erigido por esa televisora. Y saben que la tarea es construir medios libres autogestionarios de abajo: radios libres y comunitarias, teles comunitarias, periódicos y revistas independientes, páginas web, periódicos murales, mantas y murales, radiobocinas, marchas informativas, asambleas informativas, teatro popular, gráfica de lucha, volantes y folletos, etc.

El periodista comercial escribe con aburrimiento mientras intenta que se acabe la jornada burocrática de hoy, las de los medios libres escriben con pasión, ríen, se enojan, conversan accidentadamente, incluyen algunas líneas poéticas en medio de una redacción muy creativa, para rematar llamando a la acción. El trabajo de los medios libres no cesa, es diario.

Las de los medios libres sueñan con el mundo nuevo cuyas raíces, tallos y ramas ya se van viendo por la lucha de muchas generaciones anteriores y de las generaciones presentes, el periodista comercial sueña una pesadilla donde despierta y el mundo viejo no está más.

Nota al pié: No dejamos de notar que hay periodistas comerciales, que trabajando adentro de las corporaciones de la comunicación se les despertó la consciencia, y van colando la información de la construcción de otra cosa: de la solidaridad, la lucha y la justicia, que luego no duran mucho ahí y los corren, pero el texto era para referirse en general a la diferencia entre el periodista comercial y las y los de los medios libres, no para las excepciones, les saludamos ahí donde estén ellos y ellas a quienes se les despertó la consciencia, luchando cada día a contracorriente de la formación que les dio ésta o aquella universidad.

Reportback on workshops with community radios in Trujillo, Colon, Honduras

Decapitated Christopher Columbus welcomes visitors to Trujillo.

We arrived in Trujillo, Colon, Honduras at night in the pouring rain. A taxi climbed up a a small river that was previously a road and dropped us off at a house at the top of a little cobblestone hill. Thanks to a very generous person who lent us her apartment for the duration of the workshop (thanks Wendy!), we were able to stay for 3 weeks…and 3 weeks was not enough. There is a lot to say about Trujillo, both positive and negative, but the larger conclusion to which every problem and triumph was related was: migration.  Yes, it is logical to conclude that a community whose members migrate in order to make a living for themselves and their families and who tend to be young (17-30 range) will be more unstable than one that does not. Seeing this reality is a little different, though, than just knowing it to be true. In the face of constant migration and the challenges that it brings for sustainable organizing efforts, the Garifuna community radio station Radio Waruguma is working to find solutions. Hopefully, our workshop was a positive part of that process.

We were there for a while, so we had a bit of time to explore…

Exploration #1: Trujillo Prison

As we were wandering around the cute, colonial town center, we started to hear drums and followed the sound. After making several inquiries with people on the street, the music turned out to be coming from the prison. We asked the guards if we could go in and they let us (at this point, we thought we were special, but we learned about 2 minutes later that it was visiting day and anybody could enter).  On entering through the gate with a guy who was not a guard (to this day, his official role remains unclear), we saw what we had only previously heard about…a little city. The photo below is of the common cooking/living area. There are multiple camping stoves and sacks of veggies along with pool tables and a pulperia (little store) where inmates can buy little snacks. The prison was PACKED. We made it past this common area to the drumming. The weekends are the only days that people are allowed to dance and sing and drum, so it was happening all day. An inmate decided to give us a tour…and we followed him. He took us to the shared sleeping quarters and back to the common area to explain that the little orange box in the corner of the photo below is actually a private room that can be rented out.  There is more to the story, but if you want more details, you’ll have to contact us!

Common area at the town prison.

Exploration #2: Indio Barbaro

Starting December 1st and lasting throughout the holiday season, the exciting and anxiety-inducing game of Indio Barbaro is a constant presence in the Garifuna neighborhoods of Trujillo. We were coming back from the beach looking for food when we saw a herd of children running and screaming. What was happening? Indio Barbaro had begun. This game is one where anyone on the street is playing (whether they want to or not). Young men put masks on (some are traditional and some are like the Scream mask below), skirts (some grass some not) and cover themselves in a black, oily substance. They have an entourage of little boys pointing out which people to approach and one carries a little, plastic jug full of the black oil so that the Indio Barbaro can freshen up his paint. You give him money or he smears you with paint. They announce their presence with whistles. Toward the middle of December, one of us started getting clammy hands when the whistle blew…It’s especially entertaining to watch older people publicly sass the Indio Barbaro and entourage for including them in the game.

This “indio barbaro” wanted 5 lempiras (25 US cents) or he was going to smear us with the black oil he was covered in.

Guadalupe Carney

Guadalupe Carney is a land recuperation that lies near the highway about 25 minutes from the outskirts of Trujillo, in the Aguan valley. A former military base that was used by the CIA to train Contra paramilitaries who attempted to destabilize the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, it is now home to campesino families from all over Honduras whose land was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The campesino movements fought to gain the legal land titles from the Honduran government and today the agricultural land is organized into cooperatives. Recently, though, the land recuperation has been under siege by the Honduran oligarchy (principally Miguel Facusse), backed by private security groups and US-trained Honduran police and military, who seek to expand highly-profitable African palm plantations (the dates are pressed and the oil is used for biofuel and to make margarine among other products).

Guadalupe Carney is probably the only city in Honduras that has three community radio stations. We worked primarily with Radio Lider while a couple of the youth members from Radio Orquidea also participated in the 2-day workshop. Programs include a short dramatization of the community issue and an interview with a local “expert” (see below).

Media maker from the education group interviewed on Radio Lider in Guadalupe Carney.

Overcoming many obstacles, the Radio Waruguma group in Trujillo group produced 4 different radio programs (see below) and one group was able to debut their program on another local radio station Estereo Islas. The man with the headphones is Marvin Bobadilla, a radio, TV and print journalist that invited the participants to present on his daily radio news program. The man with the closely-cropped hair is the director of Radio Waruguma and the young woman with the mic joined the workshop during the last week. She came when she was sick, made coffee for everyone twice, put men in their place when they weren’t working AND always arrived on time or early. Thank you Fany (our hero). They were interviewed on the air and filmed for a TV spot that aired later in the day.

Participants presented programs during the news hour of Marvin Bobadilla on Estero Islas in Trujillo.

Programs created by participants from Radio Lider and Radio Orquidea in Guadalupe Carney, Aguan

Radio Waruguma programs

More information on the fight to defend land rights in Trujillo, Honduras and the Bajo Aguan
Snowbirds Gone Wild! Canadian retirees and locals clash in Honduras by Dawn Paley, This.org
Honduras’ Banana Coast: Ripe for Development? by Kaelyn Forde, The Real News Network
North Coast Housing Developments and Cruise Ship Tourism: Safe for Foreigners? by Wendy Griffin, Honduras Weekly
Honduras: Mega-Tourism and Garifuna Communities Collide by Jack Eidt, Wilder Utopia
Tierra Fertil (the documentary formerly-known as Resistencia), trailer for Jesse Freeston’s upcoming film
Human Rights Violations Attributed to Military Forces in the Bajo Aguan Valley in Honduras by Rights Action

Mas información
Comunidad Garifuna de Trujillo Demanda al Rey Porno Canadiense por Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH)
El Banana Coast y la expulsión de los garífunas de la bahía de Trujillo video hecho por OFRANEH

Manifestación de la UNAH para exigir el reconteo de votos, 26 de noviembre, 2013

English below
El aire en la Universidad Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH) estuvo acre con gas lacrimógena hoy después de un enfrentamiento entre estudiantes universitarios y antimotines. Estudiantes se juntaron hoy en el campus de Tegucigalpa alrededor de las 12 p.m para exigir un reconteo de votos para las elecciones que se llevaron a cabo este domingo, 25 de noviembre. La manifestación se convirtió en una situación violenta cuando los antimotines y su vehículo (equipada con una manguera de alta poder y aparatos para lanzar latas de gas lacrimógeno) comenzaron a lanzar gas hacia la multitud. El vehículo avanzaba hacia los manifestantes para lanzarles un torrente fuerte de agua y luego se retiraba varias veces. L@s manifestantes se defendieron en la única manera en que podían: tirar piedras y pedazos de cemento hacia los antimotines. Hubo un momento en donde los manifestantes lograron hacer que los antimotines se retiraran momentáneamente. La policía detuvo 12 personas y hasta este momento no se sabe a donde l@s llevaron. Fueron heridos 26 personas y dos fueron hospitalizados.

Los alegados resultados de la elección nombran a Juan Orlando Hernandez, candidato presidencial para el Partido Nacional, como presidente de la República de Honduras. Mientras que Daniel Ortega de Nicaragua y Laura Chincilla Miranda de Costa Rica felicitan públicamente a Juan Orlando Hernandez por ganarse la presidencia, muchos Hondurenos en el pais estan dudando seriamente la validez del proceso electoral y rechazando a los resultados. Delegaciones de observadores internacionales de las elecciones (6 específicamente) también han expresado preocupación intensa tanto para la validez de los resultados como para la seguridad de individuos y organizaciones que estan denunciando el fraude en el proceso electoral.
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/80446248 w=720&h=480]

Más información
Unos cinco detenidos durante represión contra protestas estudiantiles en Honduras TeleSur
#Tegucigalpa: Estudiantes protestan contra fraude electoral Revolución 3.0

The air around the Universidad Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), Tegucigalpa is acrid with tear gas after a confrontation today between university students and riot police. Students gathered at the entrance to the campus around 12 pm to demand a recount of the votes cast in the presidential election that took place this past Sunday, November 24. The protest turned violent when riot police and their vehicle (complete with tear gas launchers and power hoses) began to fire at the crowd. The vehicle sporadically charged in the direction of the protest and retreated several times. Each advance also yielded a spray from power hoses and, in between advances, would fire 3-4 canisters of tear gas at a time. Protestors began defending themselves by throwing rocks and chunks of concrete in the direction of the riot police. At one point, the protesters successfully drove back the force of approximately 25 riot police for a short period of time. 26 students were injured in the protest, two hospitalized and 12 were detained by police. Their whereabouts are currently unknown.

The Supreme Electional Tribunal named Juan Orlando Hernandez, presidential candidate from the the National Party (Partido Nacional), as president-elect of the Republic of Honduras before most of the votes had been counted. While the presidents of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Daniel Ortega and Laura Chincilla Miranda respectively, have already publicly extended their congratulations to Juan Orlando Hernandez for winning the presidency, many within Honduras are seriously questioning the legitimacy of the electoral process and are rejecting the results. Hondurans as well as delegations of international election observers have also expressed their extreme concern about both the validity of the election as well as the safety of individuals and organizations speaking out against the election fraud.

More information
Violent Repression in Post-Election Honduras Rebel Reporting

Rio Blanco workshop reportback

Outside the church where we conducted the workshops.

Rio Blanco, Intibuca is a small, Lenca community in the western highlands of Honduras. Since the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, the indigenous population has been subjugated by a series of oppressors who have exploited their labor and the natural resources of their ancestral lands. This process has continued in the present-day with an attempt by transnational and domestic corporations, Chinese SINOHYDRO and Honduran Desarrollos Energeticos, S.A. (DESA), to build a dam on the Gualcarque River, the source of water for agriculture in the region. The dam, whose jobs and profits exclude the local population, is part of a wave of megaprojects in Honduras, funded by international organizations like the World Bank, planned and executed clandestinely through illegitimate land acquisitions and without consulting indigenous populations.

After construction of the dam and facilities began, community members immediately began to resist the illegal intrusion in their territory and solicited the help of the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indigenas de Honduras (COPINH), an organization based in Intibuca that has been resisting attempts to build mines and dams in indigenous communities since 1994, among other projects. A barricade and encampment were installed on the access road to the dam construction site on April 1, 2013, and continue until this day in the shade of a massive oak tree (El Roble). The Honduran government is actively supporting the dam construction and has even installed “Operación Libertad”, a permanent presence of military and national police in the region. In the struggle, two community members were killed and others injured and threatened. Three COPINH leaders face trumped up charges related to the community protests and are prohibited from entering the area. (link) International solidarity is strong and organizations like the Cadena de Derecho Humanos Honduras (CADEHO) have maintained a human rights observation and accompaniment presence, producing videos and reports about the situation.

View from La Tejera, Rio Blanco, out toward La Vega, the valley that contains the Rio Gualcarque and the crops that sustain the community.

We were able to get to know the Rio Blanco community members through a visit to El Roble with COPINH and they were very enthusiastic about the possibility of hosting a two-week Medios del Pueblo workshop. After arriving with all our bags on a bus coming back from a social movements gathering, it set in that this community was going to be a lot different from previous hosts. Far off the beaten path, families eat primarily what they grow, including the chicken and pigs that they consume a few times a year. Vegetables are rare and phone access spotty. We are very grateful that the family of Francisco, the president of the local indigenous council, took us in, cooked all of our meals and found us a place to stay. They made fresh tortillas every day by grinding the dry corn they grew on their small plot an hour’s walk away. Beans from this same farm were the base of every meal and fresh plantain tajadas were our snacks.

There exists a creature that confounds the mind at first…and second glance. When I tiptoed into the bathroom following the beam of light from my tiny flashlight I prepared to accomplish my mission when a the sudden movement caught my eye. As I turned my flashlight to get a good look I screamed loudly in my head and maybe in another dimension I’m still screaming, but at that moment, in that bathroom, I learned how to deal with terror in total silence (so as not to wake up the 3 sleeping people in the house). This spider like creature was the size of cookie, had 4 long spindly legs, 2 whip-like antennae coming out of its quarter-sized body and, to top it all off two scorpion claws near its mouth. It walks sideways like a crab and, wait for it, its also hops. The beast can launch itself into the air. Making sure not to turn my back to the creature, I walked slowly to my tent, zipped the flap and hoped that Spider beast didn’t also have secret thumbs for breaking into the tent. The next morning I woke up and, emboldened by the light of day, I walked into the bathroom to find…nothing. Spider beast was gone.

Water + dirt = mud
The house where we were staying (home of Spider beast) was at the top of a steep hill. This hill is a wide dirt road the connects the lower and upper parts of town. This dirt road allows for people to move about, a place for animals to relieve themselves, and for bushels of corn and sacks of coffee to make their way into kitchens. We had to go down and up this hill at least once a day in order to get to the church where we held the workshop. It was good exercise and at one point on the descent, gave a really beautiful view of hills and vegas below. Besides the incline, this hill was also a challenge because the dirt road wasn’t always dirt though, sometimes it was mud. This wasn’t normal mud, the kind that dirties the bottom of your pants or that makes you stomp on someone’s porch before going into the house. This is angry, tricksy mud. It wants to take off your shoe, break your sandal and make you slip and fall. There was a trail of broken chancletas that had been tossed to the side of the road while their owner continued up the hill barefoot. Kyle slipped and fell multiple times and one of the participants told us that once he had slipped and just kept rolling downhill until a fence stopped his tumble.

Just when you think that the mud is a bitter being, it changes it’s mind. Sometimes, the mud makes it so that everyone huddles together and hangs out in the church to wait out the rain. The little kids end up doing traditional dances to the kindergarten teacher’s CD and everyone else just talks and jokes around. Sometimes, as you’re walking up hill you grab the person next to you, no matter who they are, to help you get your balance. Sometimes, you forget your flashlight or don’t have one and a nice person from a house on the way up will notice and accompany you all the way uphill with their power beam so that you don’t have to walk in the dark. My personal favorite was sliding downhill with a group of other people; each person trying to figure out the best way to slide down hill without falling. Talk about instant solidarity.

In order to do the audio and video editing, we needed computers from the local school. Unfortunately, DESA, the company building the dam, had cut the cables that provide electricity to the school in a botched road improvement operation. They never fixed the situation and the school’s complaints fall on deaf ears. The participants in the workshop, however, were unfazed and we moved the laptops and their heavy desks (teachers in favor of the dam construction claimed that they didn’t have the combination) every day to the church and even to the other school down the road. Despite all the obstacles (as a group, we designated a child-care coordinator in response to the declining participation of women), all radio programs were completed the night before our big community presentation in the church.

Moving the laptops with Orlando, one of the local coordinators.

The last night of the workshop was actually a last day. We met in the morning at 9, gathered in a soon-to-be-pulperia, passed out the cameras to each group and they set out to capture images that reflected the topics of their radio programs. One group set out to find images of Lenca culture, another group headed in the direction of the river to record images of the river for their program about the DESA/Sinohydro dam and the last group headed up the hill to get a panorama shot of the town for their report on recent police aggression and human rights violations. We met back at the church to quickly edit their videos (using images from the documentary El Roble created by CADEHO). People started trickling into the church at 4:45 p.m while some groups were still frantically editing and the 3 giant tables that the laptops were chained to were still at the front of the church. Hurrying every which way participants started setting up audio equipment (speakers, mic etc…), arranging the church benches, cleaning up, and just generally wandering around looking for things to do. Our screen was (and is, it’s a traveling screen) a giant white sheet with a rope strung through the top. In order to hang it, we had to tie socks to the loose ends of the rope to be able to throw it over the beam and tie it around a post. We had 4 people putting up the screen while our emcee began writing out her line-up and her welcome to the audience.

Community screening of videos produced by media team.

Finally, we were ready and all of the people who had been standing outside began slowly filling in the seats instead of curiously peeking in. Our emcee opened and introduced each group. All of the members introduced themselves and their topics. The Patronato and one of the local members of COPINH supported by provided 2 giant buckets of coffee (buckets, I kid you not) and bags of bread to share with everyone who came out to watch. The participants are planning on continuing to play their audio programs for the community. They took advantage of the arrival of an international delegation on Saturday to start conducting interviews for their next round of programs and have designated several coordinators of areas such as recruitment, dissemination, and equipment. Their programs have been broadcast on 2 radio stations and another one will broadcast today. The hope is that they will have their own community radio station soon with the assistance of Honduran organizations and international solidarity.

For the elections on Sunday, we’ll be international observers with COMUN in El Progreso, where the upstart LIBRE party that came out of the resistance movement after the coup has a shot at unseating the current mayor who has links to the country’s oligarchy. If everything goes smoothly after the election (which is no guarantee, as Xiomara Castro, the wife of deposed former president Mel Zelaya and LIBRE presidential candidate, has already denounced signs of fraud in the national election tribunal), we’ll be off to a workshop with Radio Waruguma and nearby community radio stations in Trujillo.

Programs created by the Voz del Gualcarque media team

Agua, tierra y vida: la lucha de l@s Lenca en Río Blanco, Intibucá

Esta es el programa más actual que hicieron los compañeros de Radio Guarajambala (La Voz Lenca/COPINH) en La Esperanza, Intibuca. /// This is our latest program, created by some young members of Radio Guarajambala (La Voz Lenca/COPINH) in La Esperanza, Intibuca.

Land is freedom: Garifuna reclaim communal space in San Juan, Tela, Honduras

September 18, 2013 – Members of the Icery Garabaly (Nuevos Aires or New Breezes) land reclamation vote at the weekly assembly facilitated by youth leaders. They are deciding how to finance the purchase of pipes for potable water and sewage.

Palm trees, lush green vegetation and deliciously warm seawater characterize the Caribbean coast of Honduras. In years past, tourists have frequented the beach town of Tela and its surrounding communities to take in the sun, gentle waves and laid-back vibe. The land struggles of the Garifuna people whose ancestral lands line the shore, however, are conveniently obscured from the visitor’s sight.

The Garifuna are distinct in the Americas, born of a melding of two cultures, African and Native American, when would-be slaves who escaped a sinking ship landed on the island of St. Vincent and integrated themselves in the culture of the locals, creating a new language and people in the process. For over 100 years, this mestizo community was able to resist efforts to subjugate by the European colonizing powers until the British finally defeated the Garifuna and expelled those who survived to Trujillo, Honduras, in 1797. From there, the Garifuna have spread to lands along the coasts of Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua. (A more extensive history can be found in this excellent article by Ramor Ryan).

San Juan Durugübuti, Tela – The government and oligarchy of Honduras would love to get their hands on the Garifuna communal lands. The people of San Juan are organized, though, and resisting any attempt to strip them of their rights as indigenous people.

Corporations and organizations ranging from wealthy individuals to the Honduran government have asserted claims to land held legally and historically by the Garifuna in order to create a lucrative, hotel-strewn coast that would aspire to be Honduras’ version of Mexico’s Cancun resorts, accessible only to wealthy tourists. The fabricated (better described as predatory) claims to Garifuna land by the government and enterprising individuals have been brutally enforced by government officials, hired vigilantes with assault rifles, and the Honduran military. These claims are backed by legal documents of dubious origin which are legitimized by the corrupt national legal system.

The casualties of these coordinated attacks include individuals whose land was obtained through illegitimate methods, like those in the tiny Garifuna community of Miami, Honduras. They were led to believe that they were getting titles to their homes situated on choice plots between the Caribbean and Laguna Los Micos when, in actuality, they were granted titles to uninhabitable parcels of sand in a distant location. In addition to forced removal and threats of injury and imprisonment, activists involved in efforts to protect and conserve communal lands and wild spaces have been murdered, like Jeannette Kawas in 1995 and Oscar Bregal and Jesus Alvarez in 1997. The logic of capitalism dictates that the combination of an insatiable hunger for prime real estate by developers and the reigning impunity in Honduras will produce a growing number of casualties.

San Juan de Tela (Durugübuti in the Garifuna language) is one of the communities that has resisted efforts by outsiders to violate their inherent rights to the land and continues to confront attacks today. The aldea (village) of San Juan is a 15-minute bus ride away from Tela’s city center. Geographically, it’s a stone’s throw from the tourist hub, however it’s miles away from the paved roads and comparatively well-equipped schools that Tela enjoys.

Removing a tree stump and roots so that the ground can be leveled for streets between individual plots at the reclamation.

A large section of land overgrown with weeds sat on the periphery of San Juan for many years. It is described as a site that was home to poisonous snakes as well as a notorious hiding place for men looking to assault and rape women who passed through. Early this summer, a group of youth that included long-time friends Erlan, Josue and Luis came up with a plan to reclaim and transform the land for personal and community use. The very day after they devised the plan, they put it into action by gathering a diverse group of community members who were interested in reclaiming the area. The group collectively decided on: clearing the land, dividing it into equal parcels, distributing the parcels to each participant and reserving a significant portion for community use. For three weeks, the group went about the grueling task of clearing out what years of neglect had created. The result was the creation of over 100 plots in the 9 manzanas (about 15 acres) of land. The new neighborhood was dubbed Icery Garabaly (Nuevos Aires or New Breezes in Garifuna). Once the land was cleared, the participants in the project decided that weekly community assemblies would be necessary in order for information to be distributed, plans to be discussed and decisions to be made. These meetings will continue to take place until the land recuperation is complete and secure.

Three days after the area was cleared, Erlan relates that a car pulled up and a man claiming to be a representative of the rightful owner informed those present that this land was not in fact available (even though it had gone unused for more than 20 years). Of course, before leaving, he made sure to imply that there would be…consequences for those who did not stop working the area. Later, a document was presented that purportedly demonstrated that the legal owner is a powerful individual from Honduras’ interior, result of a transaction by a community member who passed away long ago. After doing some investigation, Josue discovered that the land is legally Garifuna patrimonial land (land that belongs collectively to the Garifuna community). As with all Garifuna patrimonial land, plots cannot be sold without the consent of the governing council of Garifuna known as the Patronato. The Patronato did not consent to the sale therefore this person is laying false claim to the land. Community members report sighting unmarked vehicles and police cars passing through Icery Garabaly occasionally. Sometimes they drive by slowly with the windows down and sometimes they get out and take photos; regardless, these random drive-bys are clearly an intimidation tactic. Instead of bending to the tactics, community members laugh and continue working the land. The question that they all have now is: when will threats and intimidation ratchet up to a full-scale attack or ultimatum?

These plots of recuperated land will one day house a new generation of San Juan families.

Motivations range and overlap but certain themes repeat. In San Juan, there is a glaring lack of parcels of land available for young families. Of the original 1765 hectares of land (about 7 square miles) validated by the National Agrarian Institute in 1984, only 53 hectares (only .2 square miles, a few blocks) are currently recognized by the Honduran government as communal land. Some youth continue to live in childhood homes that house parents and siblings. Every participant in the land reclamation is now the owner of a parcel of land.  Parcels can only be inherited. If a landholder wants to sell the land, the entire community must approve the transaction. This measure has been crafted in an effort to prevent the divide-and-conquer strategy that both corporations and the government have successfully employed to remove Garifuna from their land in areas like Miami.

Radio Durugu Buty is a community radio station in San Juan that is currently off-air because their equipment was stolen. The Icery Garabaly land recuperation plans to build a two-story community center that will be the new home of the radio station.

A second layer of motivation lies in the use of the land for much needed public space. There is already a functional futbol (soccer) field. Plans are in the works for a basketball court and a two-story community center that would house Durugu Buty, the community radio station. Previously, there was a break-in at Radio Durugu Buty and the equipment was robbed, forcing the station off the air indefinitely. Josue, a local teacher, member of the reclamation and the radio station, stated that the new location will be a safer space for the community radio station as it will be in a more populated area.

This reclamation is much more than a yard clean-up or demonstration of unity – it is an expression of autonomy and direct action. The community is doing everything in its power to meet collective needs; needs that have been systematically ignored by the state with the exception of the week before elections when months-old potholes that bottom out cars are suddenly filled in. They have transformed an area that was synonymous with fear (especially for women and children) into one that is synonymous with power, struggle and self-sufficiency.

Vista del Mar restaurant run by women’s cooperative in San Juan, Tela

Women’s cooperative restaurant and cabañas
If you go to San Juan, Tela, there are cabañas and the Vista del Mar restaurant on the beach run by a women’s cooperative (in stark contrast to other properties in the area owned by foreigners and corporations). They were started with the help of the CARITAS Catholic charity. To stay at the cabañas, call Benita Diego at (504) 3271-4652 or Esmeralda Arzú at (504) 3378-2723 or email Oscar at oscarcolonn@yahoo.com

Part of mural from the National Indigenous Assembly held in San Juan in 2011

Resources

The Last Rebels of the Caribbean: Garifuna Fighting Their Lives in Honduras by Ramor Ryan, Upside Down World, March 27, 2008

Garifuna Resistance against Mega-Tourism in Tela Bay by James Rodriguez, MiMundo.org, July 31, 2008

Community Under Threat, Amnesty International

Rosenthal Quiere Quedarse Con Todo Nuevo San Juan, CADRI