National Congress
Mining exploration and exploitation in the Siria Valley (municipalities of San Ignacio, Cedros and El Porvenir), began in 1995 and intensified after Hurricane Mitch (1998). The General Mining Law was approved on November 30, 1998, one month after Hurricane Mitch. It was published in the official “la Gaceta” on February 6, 1999 and came into force in 2000.
At 4am on December 12, 2012, the Honduran congress removed four out of the five judges that comprise the Constitutional Court of the Honduran Supreme Court. Honduran legal experts call this a technical coup, a violation by the National Congress of the constitutional order, explaining that the Congress has no legal capacity to summarily dismiss judges.
An Article by Sandra Cuffe and Karen Spring ( human rights activists working with Rights Action) regarding Canadian and Chilean involvement in mining & security reform in Honduras.
The violence and repression continue unabated in Honduras since the June 2009 military coup that ousted the democratically elected government. This time, the violence was committed by the D.E.A. (Drug Enforcement Agency) of the U.S. government.
A statement from Honduran organizations rejecting the new mining law proposed by Honduras' illegitimate Congress, and a statement from Development and Peace
Even as Honduras is now known as the 'murder capital' of the world, even as Honduras is known as one of the 'journalist-killing capitals' of the world, and even as it has become a 'LGBT repression and killing capital' as well, the Congress in Honduras (the same Congress that rubber-stamped the illegal and violent 2009 military coup) is aiming to pass a new Mining Law. The global (mainly Canadian) mining industry is waiting to rush in.
This past December 10th, the British magazine The Economist published an article that makes a reference to a memorandum of understanding between the government of Honduras and two United States firms regarding the construction of Model Cities (Charter Cities) in Honduran territory, without notifying the Honduran people up to now of the planned transactions.
RA thanks and honors the amazing Honduran pro-democracy movement, for the return of President Mel Zelaya, ousted by a US and Canadian backed military coup in June 2009
