Honduras Now Podcast

Healthcare workers are on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis that continues to worsen in Honduras. This week, Honduran physicians delivered a strong message to North American and Honduran sweatshops. They are also protesting against the other pandemic exacerbating Covid-19's impacts in the country: corruption

In more ways than one, global actors are involved and invested in the tourist industry in Honduras. The land issues surrounding the industry, particularly in Afro-indigenous Garifuna territory, overlap with state measures to control and manage land in the name of environmental protection and conservation.

We hear from Dr. Chris Loperena, an assistant professor of anthropology who acted as an expert witness in the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights in the case brought forward by the Garifuna community Triunfo de la Cruz against the Honduran state.

Berta Cáceres is one of the most well-known Honduran activists. She was murdered in her home almost 5 years ago on March 2, 2016.

The legal case against David Castillo, one of the accused masterminds of Berta Cáceres’s murder keeps being postponed. To date, no other intellectual authors have been accused or arrested despite sufficient evidence outlining the involvement of powerful Honduran businessmen invested in the Agua Zarca dam, in Berta’s murder. This is “justice” in Honduras, even for cases as emblematic as the cases surrounding the murder of well known indigenous activist, Berta Cáceres.

But who is Roberto David Castillo Mejía? How is Castillo’s defense arguing his case? What is the strategy behind all the delay tactics to avoid the trial process against Castillo?

We hear from Berta Zúniga Cáceres, Berta’s second oldest daughter and the General Coordinator of the Civic Council for Popular and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras (COPINH) & Victor Fernandez, the lead lawyer representing COPINH & Berta’s family.

JUSTICE FOR BERTA CÁCERES!

For more information and in-depth examination of David Castillo & his business interests: https://soaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Violence-Corruption-Impunity-A-Profile-of-Roberto-David-Castillo.pdf

For the report from the international team of experts accompanying the case: https://gaipe.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/GAIPE-Report-English.pdf

Follow us on Instagram for more stories & updates from Honduras: @hondurasnow

Show notes will be posted at: hondurasnow.org

On July 18, 2020, Afro-indigenous Garifuna land defenders were kidnapped from their homes and disappeared. This episode goes through the series of events since their disappearance.

For decades, the Garifuna people have been threatened by the global tourist industry and African palm companies that want to take their collectively-owned ancestral lands. The Garifuna have resisted and have faced repression as a result. This episode proposes actions to demand an investigation into the recent disappearances of the Garifuna land defenders.

Many are thinking about and watching what is going on in Gaza and Israel. The parallels of North American support for a dictatorship in Honduras and the strategies of transnational resistance provide hope and inspire action from all of us to stop the bombing of Gaza and the murder of innocent people.

This episode announces an upcoming campaign as ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández's trial in New York is set to start in four months. Then Karen shares a panel presentation she participated in mid-September called Nonviolent Resistance to Overthrow Dictatorships & Occupations organized by World Beyond War as part of their #NoWar2023 conference. The presentation shares some of the ways that people can act to change global issues and abuses from their own cities and towns around the world. #FreePalestine #AnotherWorldIsPossible

For the full panel presentation, World Beyond War's #NoWarConference, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlGdq6s8HmZoqi6T1YEftxGtnaxjBKq1G

Coming soon. 'US and Canada-backed Narco-State on Trial in New York' campaign: A campaign to hold the U.S., Canada & the “international community” accountable for 12 years of support and legitimization of Honduras’ drug-trafficking President and Narco-State.

Campaign launch January 2024. Trial in New York currently scheduled for February 5, 2024. More information and to donate to support the trial campaign, go to hondurasnow.org.

IG: @HondurasNow

X/Twitter: @HondurasNow

Thanks for listening!