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Inversiones Los Pinares: A Honduran Mine Causing Mayhem in Carlos Escaleras National Park
Abstract

In Honduras, there is a deadly water conflict between the mining company Inversiones Los Pinares and the community residents of the Bajo Aguán valley who are affected by the chemicals, residue and runoff that contaminate the watersheds (Olson, 2020). Since 2013, the residents have opposed the build of the mineral industrial complex; many of which have been threatened, assaulted, killed, detained or “disappeared” for their protest at the hands of the Honduran military, local police and private guards (Olson, 2020). Approximately 3,500 community villagers believe if they do not keep fighting for their right to clean potable water which is also their main source of water for agricultural use, they will be forced to emigrate from their homeland (Olson, 2020). Previous mine extraction projects have led to the unhealthy exposure of toxins such as cyanide, arsenic and mercury (Olson, 2020). If these toxins are found in the Guapinol River, many villagers will become sick. Other environmental and health concerns from the construction of the mine include destroying the topsoil and forestry of the region; dumping waste rock on nearby habitats; using explosives which harm wildlife and livestock; stirring up dust which may cause respiratory issues; the process of leaching which uses vast amounts of water; the process of smelting which causes severe air pollution; and lastly, cyanide exposure which kills fish, causes skin irritation and sickens livestock (Helwege, 2015, pg.77). Overall, this Wikipedia entry provides an introduction to the water conflict in Carlos Escaleras National park, a historical background of the conflict, how the mine negatively impacts the citizens and environment and recommendations for how the region can become more environmentally sustainable, value the community members and improve the biocapacity (Global Witness, 2017).

An Introduction to the Carlos Escaleras National Park Water Conflict

Carlos Escaleras National Park is named after Carlos Escaleras – a man who was assassinated in 1997 for opposing the mineral extraction complex in Honduras’s lush Bajo Aguán valley that damages many surrounding watersheds, including the Guapinol River (Pablo, 2019). To this day, a deadly water conflict plays out between the company responsible for the construction of the open-pit mine, Inversiones Los Pinares, formerly EMCO mining, “and the residents of the valley’s small villages, who depend on the rivers for much of their sustenance and livelihood” (Olson, 2020). To access the mine, one must hike past the village “El Guapinol” that many residents fear the mine will poison (Olson, 2020). Then continue along a muddy path of boulders, passing a huge barbed wire fence overlooking the excavators, trucks, rows of concrete pilings and a “gaping brown hole scraped out of the valley’s verdant floors” (Olson, 2020). Although the construction of the mine – meant to extract iron oxide – has yet to be completed (Olson, 2020), blood has already been spilled at the hands of rich and powerful elites (Global Witness, 2017).

Historical Context

Honduras is known for its long history of establishing “mining towns” where Indigenous and Black people worked as slaves (Bebbington, Fash, & Rogan, 2018). In 1990, the Bajo Aguán valley, located in Carlos Escaleras National Park, was owned by Dinant – a Honduran consumer goods corporation founded by Miguel Facussé Barjúm (Olson, 2020). Dinant managed to purchase this land from the campesinos “in order to build a massive African oil palm plantation in an environment in which campesino activists were being killed” (Olson, 2020). Between the decade 1990-2000, the campesino’s unsuccessfully tried to regain 28 farms that Dinant had taken over (Olson, 2020). Shortly, the landless campesinos resettled into abandoned buildings and encampments on their former lands which led to the beginning of the violent dispute between them and Dinant associates (Olson, 2020). From 2010 and 2014, 150 campesinos had either “disappeared”, been detained, or were killed by the Honduran military, local police, and heavily armed private security guards (Olson, 2020). During this time, over 8,000 soldiers were deployed to the valley to fight against the residents and environmental activists (Olson, 2020).

In late 2013, the co-owners of Inversiones Los Pinares, Lenir Pérez, Ana Facussé and Ana’s father, former Dinant head, Miguel Facussé Barjúm, decided to resize the protected land of Carlos Escaleras National Park for the purpose of the mine (Olson, 2020). The Government granted them permission and so began the great decline of the dozens of rivers that connect to nearby villages that “spill northward through fertile agricultural tablelands to the Caribbean Sea” (Olson, 2020). On December 16, 2013, a Honduran congressional representative, Ricardo Díaz, cut “217 hectares from the “core zone” in which construction activity is prohibited” and a month later, on January 28, 2014, the official construction of the ecologically catastrophic mine commenced (Olson, 2020).

Negative Impacts of Mining on Local Citizens In the Valle del Siria region, the San Martín mine operated from 2000-2009 and “became notorious for producing high, lasting levels of cyanide, arsenic, and mercury in surrounding communities and for the harassment of environmentalists who resisted its presence” (Olson, 2020). Because of this, many villagers in the Guapinol region believe this same occurrence will be re-enacted by Inversiones Los Pinares (Olson, 2020). Protesting in October 2018, residents of the nearby city “Tocoa” set up an encampment to block the CA-13 highway that runs directly through the village El Guapinol and into Carlos Escaleras National Park (Olson, 2020). By then these environmental protestors reported the water of the Guapinol River being filled with sediment from the hydroelectric project, making it nearly impossible to meet health standards for drinking, cleaning, or agricultural use (Olson, 2020). “The water came down looking like chocolate because of the business,” says Gabriela Sorto, whose father, Porfirio Sorto Cedillo, is one of the seven “Water Defenders” who still remain behind bars for their protests against the mine (Olson, 2020). “The water couldn’t be used for anything, not even for washing your hands, because your hands would come up entirely filled with mud. The Guapinol river is the only source we have to live in our community” (Olson, 2020).

For centuries, water has been viewed as an unlimited resource, yet the increase of industrialization places new shortages for watersheds (Stapp, 2000). According to the journal “The Extractive Industries and Society”, environmental issues emerge at every step of the mineral extraction process (Helwege, 2015). These include: clearing the land which destroys the topsoil and forestry; dumping waste rock on nearby habitats; using explosives which harm wildlife and livestock; stirred up dust may cause respiratory issues; the leaching process uses vast amounts of water; cyanide exposure causes health risks and kills fish, causes skin irritation and sickens livestock; and the process of smelting causes severe air pollution (Helwege, 2015, pg.77). Evidence proves that these long-term exposures will drastically alter the water quality in Carlos Escaleras National Park and connecting rivers and harm those living in this environment (Helwege, 2015).

Main Recommendations for Environmental Sustainability

Examining Figure. 5 from the Global Witness report in 2017, highlights five meaningful suggestions for Honduran policy makers to implement proper protection measures for environmental activists, to include villagers in the decision-making process and to minimize the expansion of industrial projects (Global Witness, 2017). There must be a shift in the way community voices and rights are valued and environmental sustainability must be at the forefront of ecological development (Helwege, 2015). Recent articles have reported that Honduras’s ecological footprint has decreased, yet its biocapacity has also decreased considerably (Blair, Ortiz, Argueta, & Romero, 2019). Currently, the mining sector has substantial negative impacts on the environment, habitats, watersheds and to the communities who use the now contaminated water for drinking, cleaning and agricultural use. Ane Helwege poses a great question: “Can governments ensure that mining is done sustainably – i.e., safely and fairly – and if so, what stands in the way of progress?” (Helwege, 2015, pg.74).

Main Recommendations 	The Honduran government must prioritise the protection of land and environmental defenders, properly resource the new protection system and implement emergency measures. 	The Honduran government, police and judiciary must bring the perpetrators of crimes against these activists to justice, and end the corruption behind abusive business projects. 	The Honduran government must work with civil society to strengthen and implement laws that guarantee the consent of indigenous communities before projects are given the green light. 	The US must review its aid and investment policy to Honduras in order to ensure activists are better protected, crimes against them are prosecuted and communities are consulted before business projects go ahead. 	Foreign investors and International Financial Institutions should stop any planned investments in the industries causing the violence – mining, dams, logging, tourism and large-scale agricultural projects. (Global Witness, 2017, pg.7) Figure. 5

Conclusion

Despite the unrestrained acts of violence environmental activists and residents endure, they continue to pressure to halt the operation of the mine (Olson, 2020). One of the residents from the Guapinol community exclaimed, “We fight so we don’t have to emigrate from our country. If we cease to fight against the mining company, there are 3,500 people who would have to leave the community” (Olson, 2020). Finally, in November 2019, a cabildo abierto meeting was held in Tocoa and the municipal government “signed an act to be brought to Congress that would order Pinares and any other mining corporations to leave the area” (Olson, 2020). However, the Inversiones Los Pinares mine continues to be built at all hours of the day and the Honduras military still patrols through the villages carrying M-16’s in order to instill fear into the communities adjacent the mine (Olson, 2020). Seemingly, outside research sources, environmentalists, community members terribly affected by the runoff and municipality officials, have been unsuccessful in changing the direction of the mine. It is a shame that the industrialization of Honduras is deemed more valuable than the lives of families whose health is put at risk. An increase in the biocapacity does not stand a chance when officials value personal greed and power over human rights and environmental sustainability.

References Bebbington, A., Fash, B., & Rogan, J. (2018). Socio-environmental Conflict, Political Settlements, and Mining Governance: A Cross-Border Comparison, El Salvador and Honduras. Latin American Perspectives, 1-23. Blair, M. A., Ortiz, P., Argueta, M., & Romero, L. (2019). Water Quality in Honduras. Water Quality in the Americas: Risks and Opportunities, 385-405. Global Witness. (2017). Honduras: The Deadliest Place to Defend the Planet. Helwege, A. (2015). Challenges with resolving mining conflicts in Latin America. The Extractive Industries and Society, 73-84. Olson, J. (2020, March 24). Honduras's Deadly Water Wars. Retrieved from The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/honduras-mine-conflict/ Pablo. (2019, February 28). Urgent Action: 12 human rights defenders facing years in jail in Honduras. Retrieved from School of the Americas Watch: https://soaw.org/urgent-action/ Stapp, W. B. (2000). Watershed Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 183-197.