1 Background
2 Update: Sept. 5, 2000
3 Update: Sept. 14, 2000
4 Action/Contact info

Update: September 14, 2000

Picking up from my September 5th message, … approximately 200 largely Lenca protesters gathered in Tegucigalpa in front of the Attorney General's office and a group of close to 1000 Maya-Chortis mobilized in front of the gates to the famous Mayan ruins at Copan. Along the northern coast, groups of Garifuna people added their voices and the sounds of their drums to the indigenous struggle.

Their principal demands are:

1. that the Honduran government treat indigenous people in accordance with the international Covenant 169 of the International Labor Organization;
2. that the special indigenous prosecutor Gilberto Sanchez Chandias be restored to his post;
3. that indigenous people injured by police in October 1999 be indemnified;
4. that the controversial El Tigre dam, rumoured to be financed by the World Bank and Interamerican Development Bank, not be built;
5. that the government investigate and prosecute those responsible for killing indigenous leaders; and
6. the government comply with the many accords it has signed with indigenous people.

Unfortunately, in Tegucigalpa and in Copan the government responded in its now customary way. First, the new Security Minister unconstitutionally detained over 300 indigenous protesters in route to Tegucigalpa. He would not let them enter the city, neither by bus, nor by foot, even though they had done no wrong. The day following this illegal action, the Honduran Supreme Court appointed an investigative judge to gather evidence and to interview those detained, as a first step in ruling that the Minister's actions were unconstitutional. There has been no formal ruling yet.

Fortunately, due almost entirely to the strength and flexibility of the indigenous people, an agreement was reached in Tegucigalpa on some of the issues:

1. attorney Chandias was reinstated and then voluntarily resigned in order to become the special prosecutor for the region of Intibuca, Lempira and La Paz;
2. the government for the first time recognized Covenant 169 as the highest law in Honduras concerning indigenous people;
3. the government promised that the ex-prosecutor, Eduardo Villanueva, who has venomously attacked indigenous people for years and ignored their claims, will no longer be involved in indigenous issues;
4. the government will comply with the agreements previously signed with indigenous people; among others.

But meanwhile, as word of the Tegucigalpa agreement circulated in the press and throughout the country, 400 elite Cobra soldiers, and armed individuals financed by cattlemen and business people, attacked the 1000 Maya Chorti gathered in front of the ruins at Copan. The ruins have been the site of earlier protests, first for their historical significance and second because the ruins bring in thousands of tourists and their dollars to the Honduran government.

Indigenous people know what every Honduran knows, without a demonstration, without a strike or a sit-in, the Honduran government will pay no attention to the needs of its people.

In this case, the Honduran government paid attention. It sent the soldiers to attack and dislodge the protesters. Dozens of people were struck by batons, trampled in the attack or hurt by tear gas. Injured Maya Chortis were sent scrambling for protection, throughout the Mayan ruins. Over 20 indigenous leaders were arrested, and most are still being held. The police following the attack conducted a door-to-door search for indigenous activists.

A friend, who was working that night in the hospital, saw that some five Honduran soldiers received treatment in the emergency room. Despicably but predictably, very few indigenous people were treated at the hospital.

Indigenous people, even those injured, were corralled behind police lines or fences and could not make their way to the hospital for treatment. As a result, very few indigenous people were treated at the hospital, though initial reports indicate that over 100 were injured. I've also heard reports that some local doctors refused to offer treatment to protesters, out of fear of the police, though I can't confirm this myself.

Oddly, the soldier's attack, much like the attack against indigenous people in 1997, and the October 12th attack of 1999, happened several hours after an agreement between the government and indigenous people had been reached. One of the reasons that the Maya Chorti demonstration lasted a day longer than the Lenca demonstration, is that the Maya Chorti were re-re-re-negotiating their land rights with the government.

You may remember that when I accompanied the indigenous people in front of the Presidential Palace in 1997, the government had signed an agreement pledging to honor the ancient Treaty of San Andres and promising to return 4900 acres of land to the Maya Chorti. I and several other people were appointed to a committee to formally "guarantee" the agreement. To date only about 1,800 acres have been returned to the Maya Chorti.

Just five hours before they were attacked by the soldiers, Chorti leaders held a meeting with the President of the Honduran Congress, who signed a decree authorizing the purchase of additional lands for the Maya Chorti. The following day the final details were to be negotiated and the agreement was to be signed.

At 5 p.m., one hour before they were attacked, the Maya Chorti opened the gates to the park.

That is all that I relate at this time. It is once again up to the government to abide by its promises, though I have to say I'm not feeling optimistic.

Peace for all,
Michael

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1 Background
2 Update: Sept. 5, 2000
3 Update: Sept. 14, 2000
4 Action/Contact info