First modification: Last modification:
In Honduras, 117 environmentalists were assassinated between 2012 and 2021. Others receive death threats, such as Reynaldo Domínguez, originally from the community of Guapinol, in the northeast of the country. In 2014, the mining company Inversiones Los Pinares won a concession to exploit an open pit mine in this community, now two rivers are contaminated. The left-wing president Xiomara Castro promised to do justice. “We do not lose hope,” says the environmentalist.
Reynaldo Domínguez is originally from the community of Guapinol where theMontaña de Botadero Carlos Escaleras National Park, where two rivers converge: the Guapinol and San Pedro. In 2014, after winning a tender, the mining company Inversiones Los Pinares, owned mostly by the American EMCO, settled in the community to exploit the open-pit iron oxide mine.
In 2018, after four years of resistance, threats, and the arrest of several environmentalists, the situation worsened. Domínguez and a group of environmentalists found themselves in front of justice.
“We set up a camp that lasted 88 days to prevent the company from destroying the park. It was from that moment that there were 32 judicial requirements against us. We decided to voluntarily present ourselves to the Honduran justice, because we consider that defending the water is not crime”, he tells ‘Escala en París’.
In 2020, Amnesty International carried out a campaign in defense of Honduran water defenders, including Reynaldo Domínguez. However, the legal situation of defenders is very fragile. The Honduran business couple, Lenir Pérez and Ana Facussé, owners of the mining company, have a lot of power and ability to make justice in their country conform to their interests.
“Our legal situation depends on the willingness of the Honduran judiciary to accept that defending our property is not a crime. It is unfortunate that our judicial system is so weak, that it does not respond to the threats we have against our property and those who defend it. “,denounced the environmentalist who reiterated that the situation of the two rivers that cross Guapinol is very bad.
“Who is going to use the dirty water? Not even the animals want it,” he wonders.
In 2021, the left-wing candidate Xiomara Castro won the presidency of Honduras. In her inauguration speech, she called for the freedom of the defenders of Guapinol, and the end of open-pit mining. Reinaldo Domínguez says he trusts the management of the president.
“The campaign for the presidency was enormous and well-regarded; we put all our hope in and we are not losing hope. I think it will take steps. It takes ten months, but we are going to give it this year to take new steps,” he launches as a challenge .
The mining company ensures “implementing quality processes, assuming its environmental responsibility, developing social programs and generating jobs.”
“If the project had development, it would not have the rivers contaminated like this, and it would not also have the park, as it does, undoing it without permits, without environmental licenses. It is a risky situation,” Reynaldo Domínguez answers forcefully.
#EscalaenParis is also on Facebook.
A program coordinated by Florence Valdesdirected by Yann Bourdelas, Fabien Mugneret, Vanessa Loiseau.
