A tribute to a brave anti-mining activist: Juan López, Presente!

Originally published on Inequality.org.

As hired gunmen assassinate human rights leaders to protect private interests, transnational corporations are suing Honduras for halting “mafia-style” investments made during coup-installed regimes before the current government led by Xiomara Castro.

Juan López is the latest in a long list of environmental defenders whose lives have been taken for opposing extractivism, which is often linked to the drug trade. He was murdered on Saturday September 14 as he left mass.

I met him when he came to Washington, DC to accept the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award on behalf of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa, along with a large Honduran delegation. In his acceptance speech, he bravely said that “the eye of the hurricane of global capitalism appears to be drugs, linked to agro-industrial, mining and other industries.”

The best description of Juan comes from his colleagues at this Municipal Committee:

“Juan López. A friend, a brother, an inexhaustible guide who dedicated his life to the defense of nature, justice and the well-being of the most vulnerable communities. He was modest and knowledgeable and did not try to become famous. Instead, he settled in villages, among the people, educating and empowering them with the dream that the Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escaleras Mejía National Park would be free and that the people would learn to defend themselves against extractivism and oppressive forces. Juan was a man of deep faith, in love with life, people and hope, who embraced the cause of justice with serenity and conviction and left an indelible legacy in the hearts of those who knew him.

The Honduran group received the Letelier-Moffitt Prize for its campaign to defend the Guapinol River against the wave of extractive industries funded by American, Canadian and European companies. The previous Honduran government of Juan Orlando Hernandez (later extradited and convicted in the United States for drug trafficking) responded to this resistance with repression, militarization of the region and the arrest of environmental activists. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights adopted protective measures in October 2023, but the current government of Xiomara Castro has not implemented these measures despite the dangerous situation.

Juan warned in his speech accepting the award that “in the face of this neoliberal empire, with the same spirit as Berta Cáceres (a fellow Honduran water defender killed in 2016), we say: Wake up humanity, there is no more time!”

Juan’s murder has shaken minds outside Honduras. Members of Congress, including Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Jim McGovern, Jamie Raskin and Chuy Garcia, have posted demands for justice on social media. Garcia said: “Honduran water defender Juan López was killed on Saturday as he left the church. He is the fourth activist to be killed since 2023 for opposing illegal mining projects in the Guapinol area. I wholeheartedly support an independent, international investigation into these crimes.”

Religious and non-governmental organizations with a long history of commitment to human rights in Honduras have also called on President Castro to fulfill her campaign promises to end open-pit mining in the country and strengthen measures to protect environmental activists. They also note that Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries for environmental activists, with 18 deaths in 2023, according to Global Witness. The Inter-American Commission also condemned Juan’s murder.

It is clear that these acts of violence in Tocoa, perpetuated by mining interests such as those of the Emco Holdings/Los Pinares/Ecotek Project, are not isolated incidents. They are part of the apparatus of impunity through which transnational companies operate in the region and the pseudo-judicial apparatus of free trade agreements and investments that they use to muzzle and indict countries.

Coincidentally, my colleagues Jen Moore (Institute for Policy Studies), Luciana Ghiotto (Transnational Institute), Karen Spring (Save Solidaridad con Honduras), and Aldo Orellana (Terra Justa) recently traveled to Honduras to deliver a report detailing the titled “The Corporate Attack on Honduras.”

The report details how the majority of lawsuits under the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism have been filed by transnational companies “whose investments were made irregularly during the period known as the narco-dictatorship in Honduras, after the 2009 coup. état” and “make local communities affected by investment projects invisible.”

As the report notes, “the most expensive claim against Honduras was filed in an attempt to curb the current government’s attempts to dismantle the Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDE) regulatory framework, which was introduced after the coup . The US-based consortium Próspera claims $10.775 billion, equivalent to almost three times the approved public investment plan for Honduras for 2024.”

“These findings are a wake-up call to end extreme corporate privileges in U.S. trade deals and address the harms resulting from investments plagued by irregularities and corruption under the narco-dictatorship,” Moore said in a press release. “As our report shows, it is unconscionable that the Honduran people must now pay millions just to fight corporate claims, let alone to potentially ‘compensate’ transnational corporations for their ruthless greed.”

I leave the last written words I received from Juan López on July 21 last year as a reminder of this great defender and human being and as an example for us to follow:

“The quest for justice is much stronger when the oppressor class knows that the oppressed are willing to listen and speak their words in the right place, at the right time and in the right tone. Peace is our goal, not silence. On the contrary, the struggle for peace requires uncovering all existing graves of corruption so that justice can flourish and peace can be sustainable. Let us not be afraid.”

This piece was original published in Spanish in La Jornada.