Last update:
2015-01-12

Garifuna resistance in Vallecito against land grabbing for palm oil plantations and drug trade, Honduras


Description:

The indigenous Garifuna communities living on the northeastern coasts of Honduras are threatened by eviction, displacement, intimidation and criminal violence due to the high rates of expansion of oil palm plantations. Violence is scaling up in the region as numerous gangs associated to organized crime serve the economic interests of palm oil businessmen and drug smugglers. Vallecito has recently turned into a main target for palm oil and drug trade interests, directly affecting the Garifuna communities living there, that are now struggling for their land and the survival of their people.

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Basic Data
Name of conflict:Garifuna resistance in Vallecito against land grabbing for palm oil plantations and drug trade, Honduras
Country:Honduras
State or province:Colón
Location of conflict:Limón
Accuracy of locationHIGH (Local level)
Source of Conflict
Type of conflict. 1st level:Biomass and Land Conflicts (Forests, Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Management)
Type of conflict. 2nd level:Plantation conflicts (incl. Pulp
Land acquisition conflicts
Specific commodities:Palm oil
Project Details and Actors
Project details

Project area:980
Level of Investment for the conflictive project100,000,000
Type of populationRural
Affected Population:hundreds
Start of the conflict:1997
Company names or state enterprises:Dinant Corporation from Honduras
Relevant government actors:Instituto Nacional Agrario INA
International and Finance InstitutionsCorporación Interamericana para el Financiamiento de la Infraestructura (CIFI)
Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE)
Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board (CDM Executive Board)
Corporación financiera Internacional (CFI)
Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available:Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña, OFRANEH
Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares y Indigenas de Honduras, COPINH
Agricultural Missions, Inc (AMI)
Conflict & Mobilization
IntensityHIGH (widespread, mass mobilization, violence, arrests, etc...)
Reaction stageIn REACTION to the implementation (during construction or operation)
Groups mobilizing:Indigenous groups or traditional communities
International ejos
Local ejos
Social movements
Forms of mobilization:Development of a network/collective action
Involvement of national and international NGOs
Land occupation
Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism
Media based activism/alternative media
Street protest/marches
Boycotts of companies-products
Impacts
Environmental ImpactsVisible: Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Food insecurity (crop damage), Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover
Potential: Global warming, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Groundwater pollution or depletion, Reduced ecological / hydrological connectivity
Health ImpactsVisible: Violence related health impacts (homicides, rape, etc..), Deaths
Socio-economical ImpactsVisible: Increase in Corruption/Co-optation of different actors, Displacement, Increase in violence and crime, Lack of work security, labour absenteeism, firings, unemployment, Loss of livelihood, Militarization and increased police presence, Violations of human rights, Land dispossession, Other socio-economic impacts
Potential: Loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures
Outcome
Project StatusIn operation
Conflict outcome / response:Corruption
Criminalization of activists
Land demarcation
Repression
Strengthening of participation
Violent targeting of activists
Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?:No
Briefly explain:Landgrabbing already happened and still happens among the Garifuna communities for allowing palm oil plantations to expand.
Sources & Materials
References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries

Indigenous people's long struggle to defend their rights in the Americas
[click to view]

Deadly Conflict Over Honduran Palm Oil Plantations Spotlights CEO
[click to view]

IFC Response to CAO Audit of Investment in Corporación Dinant
[click to view]

On Those Misguided World Bank Loans
[click to view]

Cocaine: the new face of deforestation in Central America
[click to view]

Pueblo garífuna sigue en resistencia en Vallecito, Colón
[click to view]

OFRANEH
[click to view]

El Instituto Nacional Agrario y el saqueo del territorio garífuna
[click to view]

Cocaine from South America to the United States
[click to view]

OFRANEH | La defensa del territorio de Vallecito, Colon
[click to view]

Expanding palm oil empires in the name of ‘green energy’ and 'sustainable development'
[click to view]

Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network

Honduras Estado fallido: Vallecito territorio ancestral garifuna
[click to view]

Garinagu Falla - Vallecito, Tierra, fuego y tambores
[click to view]

Encuentro de Solidaridad por la reivindicación de los Derechos Territoriales del Pueblo Garifuna
[click to view]

Meta information
Contributor:Sara Pinzani, A Sud / CDCA, [email protected]
Last update18/08/2019
Conflict ID:1555
Comments
Legal notice / Aviso legal
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