Assessment for Indigenous Peoples in Honduras

View Group Chronology

Risk Assessment | Analytic Summary | References

Risk Assessment

The indigenous of Honduras have several risk factors for rebellion, including persistent protest and territorial concentration. However, factors inhibiting rebellion, including the democratic nature of the Honduran regime and lack of armed conflict in neighboring areas, offset these risks. Furthermore, the indigenous of Honduras, in particular the Miskitos, have experienced a substantially improved living situation since the repatriation of Nicaraguan Miskitos in the late 1980s. Prior to the repatriation of the Nicaraguan Miskitos, Honduran Miskitos experienced severe suppression and military occupation. Since then, successive democratic governments have somewhat improved their living conditions through social programs and improved infrastructure, which in turn has created better employment opportunities. However, the improvements have not been enough to stem the poor economic and social conditions facing the indigenous in Honduras. For that reason, many indigenous grievances remain. In general, the small communities of indigenous people have little recourse to affect decisions regarding their lands, cultures, traditions and the use of their natural resources. Over the past decade, indigenous groups have become more persistent and better organized, leading to the possibility of increased conflict. While some protests occasionally degrade into violence, the record of the past few years suggests that future violence depends on the nature of the government’s response to vociferous, though otherwise peaceful, protests.

top

Analytic Summary

The indigenous people in Honduras are a racially mixed population of indigenous, African and European origin (RACE = 2). The majority of theses groups are Miskito indigenous. Their settlements are situated near the Laguna de Caratasca and the banks of the Rio Patuca in the northeastern coast of Honduras. The Paya and Sumu live in the same region as the Miskitos; some of their tribes have integrated with the Miskitos. Major Miskito, Sumu, and Paya settlements are located on the Caribbean coast from Rio Platono to Gracias a Dios. These groups have experienced the most isolation of all the indigenous groups in Honduras.

However, while the majority of indigenous in Honduras are in one region, and smaller populations are scattered throughout the central American country (GROUPCON = 2). The Lenca live in the wet and in the southwestern interior of Honduras. The Chorti live in the northeast coastal area. The Chorotega are settled in the department of Choluteca. The Mayan population lives in the western departments of Copan and Ocotepeque. The Pipil live mainly in isolated northeast coastal region in the departments of Gracias a Dios and parts of Yoro aand Olancho. The Tol (Jicaque) can be found in an isolated mountainous area of rain forests. Even though a small percentage of the indigenous groups have integrated into urban sectors of Honduras, 70 percent of the indigenous population still lives in rural areas (GC119 = 1). For example, the Miskitos have remained primarily coastal and rural, lacking an urban center in Gracias a Dios, the majority indigenous department founded in 1957.

Miskito indigenous speak their own language -a creole based on Bahwika- with contributions from West African languages as well as Spanish, English and German. In relation to the Lenca, their native language is no longer spoken, but they speak Spanish. The Chorti and Chorotega speak Spanish, while the Maya population speaks a Mayan dialect (LANG = 1).Miskitos are predominantly Protestant; and the Lenca have assimilated to Roman Catholicism. However, Chorti and Chortega groups retain traits of indigenous religion.

Honduras became an independent nation on September 15, 1821, from Spain, but before that, Miskitos enjoyed autonomy. The Mosquito Kingdom controlled the Atlantic coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras from at least the middle of the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century (1633-1894). However, in 1894 Nicaragua invaded the Miskito territory and the Miskito king, Robert Henry Clarence, fled to Jamaica, ending external recognition of the Miskito king. As a result, Miskitos were dispersed into Honduras and Nicaragua (AUTLOST = 1).

Following the 1979 Sandanista revolution in Nicaragua, the Honduran Miskitos' isolation dissipated. After the Sandanistas destroyed many Miskito villages on the Nicaraguan side of the Rio Coco, more than 10,000 Nicaraguan Miskito Indigenous fled to Honduras. These refugees were placed in UNHCR camps along the border of both countries. By February 1983, the Nicaraguan Miskito refugees had settled (through UNHCR aid) in three Honduran towns: the Rio Mocoron, the Rio Warunta, and the Rio Patuca. In 1985 the UNHCR reported 18,000 refugees in Honduras; by 1986 the number had increased by 10,500. The majority were Miskitos, with approximately 3,000 Sumu indigenous also living in the refugee communities. By June 1987, the UNHCR was routinely repatriating refugees from the Honduran Mosquitia to the Nicaraguan Mosquitia. In 1989, approximately 35,000 Miskito and Sumu refugees were repatriated to Nicaragua. By the late 1990s, this process appeared to have been completed.

In 1997, after a month of nationwide protests by indigenous organizations that included a hunger strike, the government signed a 22-point agreement with representatives of various groups that made available 9 initial land grants of about 22,000 acres each to different tribes, granted some contested land titles outright to indigenous petitioners and set aside government funds for indigenous housing. The Congress also created a commission to study indigenous land claims, which often conflict with the claims of small farmers, but the commission was largely inactive. Since 1997 the government has distributed tens of thousands of legal titles encompassing hundreds of thousands of acres of land to indigenous persons. During the year, the National Agrarian Reform Institute transferred 40,000 hectares (98,840 acres) of land to Afro-Caribbean and indigenous groups who had ancestral rights to a large share of disputed land. Honduras and Nicaragua signed an agreement on July 25, 2006, in the Honduran border town Las Manos, to protect the environment for the benefit of the indigenous peoples of the two nations (STAPOLSUP06 = 1). However, indigenous groups continue to charge that the government has failed to fulfill its commitments.

The primary organization which represents the interests of the Miskito indigenous to the Honduran government is the Miskito Asla Takanka (Unity of the Miskito). It represents approximately 200 Miskito villages in Gracias a Dios. The organization was founded in 1976 by a student organization known as OEGAD. Two other groups that represent all indigenous in Honduras are Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Indígenas Populares (COPINH, the Civic Council of Indigenous and Popular Organisations) and Consejo Asesor Hondureño para el Desarrollo de las Étnicas Autóctonas.

Land rights remain the most critical issue facing the indigenous of Honduras. It has been estimated that indigenous groups have claimed historic rights to nearly 35,000 acres in Western Honduras, in addition to land used by the Garifunas. The 1998 repeal of Constitutional Article 107 (which had prevented the sale of coastal lands to foreigners) generated strong protest from coastal groups (though it was seen as a more direct threat to Garifuna interests). Much of the persecution facing Honduran indigenous peoples is directly tied to their land claims and most of the threats against them have come from wealthy Hondurans and private companies, though the government appears reluctant to investigate claims too carefully. In the absence of clear land titles and unequal access to legal recourse, indigenous groups also are vulnerable to frequent usurpation of their property rights by nonindigenous farmers and cattle ranchers (INTERCON04-06 = 1). The disputes have turned deadly at times Expanded coverage of the national cadastral registry, property titling and government land registries is reducing this vulnerability. The judicial system in Honduras is being used to press politically motivated charges against indigenous leaders and prevent them from claiming land titles. The courts commonly deny legal recourse to indigenous groups and often show bias in favor of nonindigenous parties of means and influence. Conflict has also erupted between mining companies and indigenous populations. Indigenous activists complain that their communities do not benefit from the exploitation of these resources, while they suffer from the resulting environmental degradation, such as depletion of precious water resources and cyanide pollution in local streams as a result of its heap leeching techniques.

The indigenous have organized several protests over the past few years, during which security forces reacted with restrained force. In 1998, COPINH organized protests against the celebration of Conquest, "trying" Christopher Columbus for genocide and performing a mock execution. In 1999, Conquest protests degenerated into violence, after police used teargas in an attempt to disperse the crowds (PROT99 = 3). Moreover, the Zelaya's Administration is dealing with protests from Garifunas and Lencas -two of the country's seven indigenous groups- who are demanding land, roads and health care (PROT06 = 2).

Limited violence has also been associated with various squatter protests. In a number of instances, private and public security forces actively dislodged farmers and indigenous groups who claimed ownership of lands based on land reform laws or ancestral titles to property. Police have also engaged in repression against indigenous political leaders in recent years (REPNVIOL04 = 5; REPNVIOL05 = 4). In spite of the past events of violent coercion to the indigenous groups, no repression against them was reported in 2006(REPNVIOL06= 0). Protest continues at moderate levels (PROT05-06 = 3), but no rebellion has occurred in recent years (REB04-06 = 0).

top

References

Amnesty International. Various reports. 2000-2006. www.amnesty.org

Ashby, Maggie. n.d. "The Mosquitia of Honduras." CIIR Overseas Volunteers.

London.

BBC News. "Americas. Country Profiles. Timeline: Honduras." 3/5/2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1225471.stm

The Center for International Policy's Central America Program. 11/12/2004. "Honduras Country Profile." http://www.ciponline.org/central_america/hondurasfaqs.htm 3/7/2007

Central American Report. 9/2000. http://www.rtfcam.org/report/volume_20/No_4/article_11.htm, accessed 11/23/2003.

CIA World Factbook. 2007. "Honduras." https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/ho.html, accessed 3/2/2007.

Chiapas Independent Media Center.10/28/2003. "Honduras: Lenca people demand civil rights." Cultural Survival. http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/news/news/news_article.cfm?id=6030CAAF-CA23-43AA-8D7D-979F3326E8B2®ion_id=7&subregion_id=22&issue_id=7, accessed: 11/15/2003.

Dodds, David J. 2001. "The Miskito of Honduras and Nicaragua". In Susan C Stonich (ed). Endangered Peoples of Latin America: Struggles to Survive and Thrive. United States: The Greenwood Press.

Lexis-Nexis. Various news reports. 1995-2006.

Merril, Tim L. 1995. Honduras: A Country Study. Washington, DC: Library of Congress-Federal Research Division.

Political Science 416. 1998. "Honduras. Indigenous Groups in Honduras." http://www.providence.edu/polisci/students/indianismo/indigenous.html, accessed 3/8/2007.

Psacharopoulos, George and Harry Anthony Patrinos. 1994. Indigenous People and

Poverty in Latin America. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

Rural Poverty Portal.n.d. "Rural Poverty in Honduras". http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/home/tags/honduras, accessed 3/8/2007

Stocks, Anthony. 1992. "Land War." Cultural Survival Quarterly. 16:4.

U.S. Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Honduras. 2000-2006. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/

top