OFRANEH & Garifuna people continue struggle for land & territory against voracious global tourism industry

Written By Grahame Russell

As U.S.-imposed regime rolls out red carpet for more global-business-as-usual

There are at least four binding decisions of the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (summarized below) in favor of the ancestral rights of the Garifuna people to their lands and territories along Honduras’ north Caribbean coast.

These rulings apply also directly to any international land owners, investors and business operators who –somehow!!– have taken control, over the past decades, of extensive Garifuna lands.

For decades now, and ramping up during the 2009-2022 narco-regime headed by then President Juan Orlando Hernandez, the U.S. and Canadian dominated tourism-industry acquired questionably, to put it politely, and sometimes corruptly and violently, ever more Garifuna lands, despite the courageous land defense work and struggles of the Garifuna people and OFRANEH (Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras), and despite what international law and Honduran law clearly set out.

This onslaught of global investors and tourism interests will likely increase again, after the U.S. ‘regime change’ trashing of Honduras’ general elections in November 2025, and pardoning of the former narco-President Juan Orlando Hernandez who had been in jail for life in the U.S. for operating a drug smuggling cartel from the President’s office.

Coming as no surprise to anyone, the U.S.-imposed government of President Asfura is again rolling out the red carpet for global businesses, banks and investors. As predicted, life for the Garifuna people, and the majority poor population of Honduras, is bound to get worse.

U.S. stomps on Honduran elections and pardons former drug-trafficking President of Honduras,
by Grahame Russell, Rights Action, December 3, 2025

Supporting OFRANEH’s courageous land defense work
Since 1998, Rights Action has provided grassroots funding to OFRANEH and educated as best we can in the U.S. and Canada about the work and struggle of the Garifuna people for their lands, rights and culture.

Four rulings in defense of territorial and collective rights of Garifuna communities 
The Criterio.hn (@criteriohn) news outlet recently published a summary of four rulings against the Honduran State for violating the territorial and collective rights of Garifuna communities rights of the Garifuna people between 2015 and 2026. These rulings apply directly to any and all global land owners, investors and business operators who have taken control, over the past decades, of Garifuna lands.

1. Territory occupied by third parties
Punta Piedra, Colón
In 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights condemned Honduras for violating the collective property rights of the Garifuna community of Punta Piedra. The court concluded that the State failed to guarantee the proper legal titling of the territory, which allowed third parties to occupy the land and led to conflicts, threats, and the death of a member of the community.

2. Tourism and land dispossession
Triunfo de la Cruz, Atlántida
That same year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found the State responsible for violating the right to collective property and prior consultation of the Garifuna community of Triunfo de la Cruz. The case involved territorial conflicts linked to tourism projects, urban expansion, and protected areas, as well as threats and harassment against community leaders.

3. Amenazas y violencia contra líderes
San Juan, Atlántida
In 2023, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights once again condemned Honduras for failing to protect the ancestral territory of the Garifuna community of San Juan. The ruling also addressed threats against community leaders and the death of two community members in an incident involving police officers.

4. Prior consultation and protected areas
Cayos Cochinos, Bay Islands
In 2026, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found the State responsible for violating the rights to:
• prior consultation
• collective property
• cultural integrity
• food for the Garifuna community
The case relates to restrictions imposed within the archipelago's protected area.

What lies behind these conflicts?
Tourism and real estate development - Triunfo de la Cruz and San Juan
Land restrictions in the name of conservation - Cayos Cochinos
Land occupation by third parties - Punta Piedra
In several cases, these conflicts have led to threats, violence, and even murder.

For more information:
Marcia Perdomo, https://criterio.hn/

Tourism and ethnocide
With the risk of over-simplification, the greatest current threat to the Garifuna people – their way of life, lands, culture, and existence as a unique, Indigenous people - is the global tourism industry writ large (gated communities, cruise ship docking areas, five-star exclusive resorts, timeshare condos, etc.) trying to operate all along the north Caribbean coast of Honduras, wresting control of Garifuna lands step by step, sketchy or outright corrupted property sale by property sale.

Recent posts

Work of OFRANEH & Garifuna people
https://mailchi.mp/rightsaction/ofraneh-garifuna-people-against-ethnocidal-violence-land-theft

In Rights Action’s OFRANEH-Garifuna land & rights defense archive, find posts going back some 20 years. 

OFRANEH
@ofraneh / garifuna@ofraneh.org / www.ofraneh.org / http://www.ofraneh.wordpress.com

Honduras Solidarity Network
www.hondurassolidarity.org
Karen Spring: spring.kj@gmail.com
 

Grahame Russell
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