Aguán News Alert | March 2025
Photo Credits: COPINH
For Berta and Juan: Justice for Water Defenders
Tocoa, Colón, Honduras. – During the month of March, communities and popular organizations from across Honduras gathered to celebrate and reaffirm their commitment to the fight in defense of water and life. March 2nd was the 9th anniversary of the Siembra (“Sowing”) of Berta Cáceres, the Lenca land and water defender who was assassinated in 2016 for her defense of the Gualcarque River. March 14th, the International Day of Action for River, marked 6 months since the vile assassination of Juan López, environmentalist and Guapinol River defender.
In the Siembra of Berta Cáceres, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) and the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT), alongside social movements and grassroots organizations from across the country, celebrated the life and struggle of Berta Cáceres and Juan López and demanded justice for their murders. The commemoration emphasized the interconnections between Berta’s fight against the extractive Agua Zarca hydroelectric project and Juan’s struggle against the environmental destruction caused by the Pinares-ECOTEK mining megaproject.
During the siembra, Yoni Rivas from the Agrarian Platform spoke about the recent attacks against the campesino cooperatives in the Bajo Aguán, connecting their fight to that of Berta and Juan. The participants also condemned the impunity that continues to plague these cases, and the cases of countless other water defenders who have sacrificed their lives to protect the rivers of Honduras. Bertha Zuniga, the daughter of Berta Cáceres and the General Coordinator of COPINH, insisted that true justice for the vile murders of Berta and Juan “is not just prison for the material authors but the dismantling of the power structure that permitted these crimes.”
Above all, the Siembra of Berta reaffirmed that the Berta and Juan’s struggle in defense of the Gualcarque and Guapinol Rivers lives on in all the people, communities, organizations, and territories that sustain the fights against extractivism and for justice, in defense of our common home.
9 years without Berta, may it not be 10 without justice!
For Berta and Juan, justice for all water defenders!
Latest News
Suspension of hearing in Juan’s case: On March 3rd, the preliminary hearing of the three suspected material authors of Juan López’s murder, which was scheduled for March 4th, was postponed. No date has been set for the new hearing.
Primary elections: On March 9th, primary elections were held across Honduras. In the Tocoa mayoral race, the top two LIBRE candidates are people who would continue the extractive legacy of Adán Fúnez, the current mayor of Tocoa who is tied to violent acts against campesino and environmental leaders in the Aguán and is a suspected intellectual author of the murder of Juan López. Leonel George, a candidate tied to the social and environmental movement of Tocoa, received 13.6% of the vote.
Initial hearings against Pinares-ECOTEK: On March 11th, initial hearings began in the case against three executives of the Pinares-ECOTEK mining project (Víctor Bernárdez, Fernando Menaces Padilla Díaz, Douglas Alvarenga Mendoza), accused of illegal exploitation of natural resources and aggravated damage to Carlos Escaleras National Park. Guapinol Resiste denounced that the Judiciary refused to broadcast the hearing as is standard. Additionally, the Honduran Solicitor General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República in Spanish) came unprepared to prosecute the case, asking to postpone the hearing for a later date. A mobilization outside the Tegucigalpa court was held by the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocóa (CMDBCPT). The hearings continued on March 26th, where the Attorney General’s Office described how the actions of Los Pinares, Ecotek, and Tocoa Energy led to immense deforestation and the collapse of habitats and water sources in the area, often operating illegally without authorization or permits. The environmental impacts could take decades to reverse. Affected communities, led by the CMDBCPT, once again rallied outside the court. The hearings for the remaining 9 defendants have been postponed.
NO to corporate imagewashing: On March 12th, a “Forum on Human Rights and Business” was held in San Pedro Sula by the National Industrial Association (ANDI), Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP), and the Honduran Renewable Energy Association (AHER), with the support of the European Union’s “ProDerechos” program. These associations have explicitly supported corporations such as Dinant, DESA, Grupo EMCO, and countless other companies who have been implicated in the murders and displacement of land and human rights defenders. The Agrarian Platform, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras (COPINH), and the Movement of Landless Campesinos in Yoro released a statement condemning the hypocrisy of this event, saying that “it is not possible to use the language of human rights to cover up murderous companies, much less invest in them.” Members of these social organizations protested outside of the Chamber of Commerce where the event was occurring.
ANALYSIS ON GUAPINOL: The Case of Guapinol and the Sector San Pedro, ¿Why is it fundamental that the Honduran people get involved? (CESPAD, March 12th).
Solidarity from the German ambassador: Daniela Vogl, the German ambassador to Honduras, joined a long list of international representatives who have called for justice for Juan López in an interview with Diario Colon: “All of our solidarity is with Juan Lopez and his family, and with defenders of human rights and the environment… We need an end to the impunity, because impunity is the root of many evils.”
Dioceses speak out for Juan: Multiple church dioceses joined together this month to demand accountability from the authors of the murder of Juan López. The Interdiocesan Coordination of Atlántida, Colón and Olancho released a statement alongside human rights organizations to demand the Honduran government’s swift action against the criminal structure which ordered his murder, including opening a criminal process against Los Pinares-ECOTEK. The dioceses of Juticalpa, La Ceiba, and Trujillo united for an Interdiocesan March in Tocoa on March 15th. The same day, the San Isidro Parish in Tocoa held a Eucharist in honor of Juan López, where his wife, Telma Peña, and their daughters presented the blood-stained shirt Juan wore when he was murdered, a Radio Progreso shirt that reads “Mi voz sí se escucha” (My voice is heard).
“Weaving Futures Without Palm Oil”: On March 22nd, Avispa Mídia organized a talk entitled “Weaving Futures Without Palm Oil: Articulating Mesoamerican Struggles Against Palm Oil.” Social organizations from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras participated in the event, including members of the Garífuna community of Nueva Armenia and leadership from the Agrarian Platform. They emphasized the importance of land recuperation as a means to combat the extractive violence of the palm oil industry and to build dignified and autonomous lives for those who work the land.
Campesino Movement in El Progreso Faces Violence
Eviction threats against the CNTC-El Progreso: Outside of the Aguán, the campesino movement also continues to face extreme violence. On March 12th, 5 patrol cars of National Police and hooded military arrived in the “17 de junio” campesino cooperative, organized under the National Center of Field Workers (CNTC in Spanish) of El Progreso. The authorities presented an eviction notice, demanding that the cooperative leave the farm within 15 days, siding with the Agrícola Los Olivos S.A. company. According to the National Network of Defenders, the members of “17 de junio” condemned various inconsistencies with the eviction order: “the judge is not properly identified, the letterhead does not coincide with other eviction orders issued by the Judiciary and does not have an official seal." Additionally, the judge who executed the order refused to identify himself, wearing a mask that covered his face.
Historical Context
In the 1990’s, World Bank-led structural adjustment measures transformed the Bajo Aguán region of north-east Honduras from one of the nation’s primary sources of fruits, vegetables and basic grains into an African palm oil monoculture destined for export to insatiable Global North markets. Over the course of this process, thousands of campesinos were dispossessed of their farms to make way for massive palm plantations, owned by a handful of Honduran elite.
Since then, campesino cooperatives have engaged in a multi-decade struggle to recover their land, suffering violent repression by corporate and state entities as a result. The immediate post-coup period was especially brutal, taking the lives of approximately 150 small farmers by 2014. In recent years, many more have been murdered, disappeared, and criminalized. The vast majority of these crimes remain in impunity.