Honduras: Garifuna communities resist eviction and theft of land

Honduras: Garifuna communities resist eviction and theft of land

Jeff Abbott / Waging NonViolence
12th August 2015


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View of Paradise: Garifunas on Chachahuate enjoy fishing,
beach, sun, and Caribbean waters. Photo: npatterson
via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND).
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Pristine beaches, clear Caribbean waters, coral reefs, fertile land ... such is the homeland of the Garifuna people, writes Jeff Abbott. It's so lovely that outsiders are desperate to seize ever more of their territory to develop for mass tourism, oil palm plantations, illicit drug production ... and the land grabs have the full support of Honduras military government, backed to the hilt by Uncle Sam.

Along the Atlantic coast of Honduras, Afro-Caribbean Garifuna communities are being forced from their land, as proposals for the creation of mega-tourism projects and corporate-run cities, commonly referred to as 'model cities', gain momentum internationally.

Congress is set to vote on one such plan this summer. Originally proposed by Vice President Joseph Biden in January, the plan would provide the governments of Central America $1 billion - on top of previously existing aid agreements - to bring further investment into the region.

While the stated goal is to improve security and generate opportunity to combat the so-called root causes of illegal migration, Biden's plan is essentially a continuation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement and Plan Mesoamerica.

More:
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2984333/honduras_garifuna_communities_resist_eviction_and_theft_of_land.html