The Liar Who Preys On The Community That Prays

Solidarity Trip to Honduras – D&P with CCCM

Where were we today?  Down to the coast to a beautiful island called Zacate Grande. Have you ever heard of it? It is a disputed area, nestled in the southwest corner of Honduras bordering Nicaragua and El Salvador.  This region is home for about 800 families and within it, we visited Puerto Grande, one of the 10 villages on the island.  It was hot and humid, about 36 C.  The humidity sure added to the heat.   

This community is being forced off their land by a rich businessman, Miguel Facussé who is illegally claiming, in the grand scheme of things, that it is his land. These people have lived there for over 100 years.  He wants to develop it for tourism, condos and or just create hardship for a group of poor campesinos long enough to make him millions, or whatever —  more than he will ever need.  The stories are tragic as these campesinos hold onto whatever meagre existence they have managed to eke out as farmers and fisherfolk. 

We met with the youth activists, the leaders of the community, the lay church leaders (Delegates of the Word) and other men and women who are involved in the movement to resist the threat of expropriation.

We learned all about the work of their new movement – Movimiento de Recuperación y Titulación de Tierras de Zacate Grande (Movement for the Certification and Reclamation of Land in Zacate Grande). To hear a 17 year old young man share with us…

“We are arrested if found planting our maize or using the beach to launch our boats to go fishing.”

“It is the only thing we have and without our land and the ocean, we have nothing to eat. We fear that more of our fathers will be arrested.  We simply do not have the money to pay.”   

If arrested, the law demands these poor campesinos to pay a fine and fulfill probationary measures, in order to avoid imprisonment, but with no money they end up in jail. 

Thanks to Caritas Choluteca, our Development and Peace partner, who was our host these past two days, the people of Zacate Grande region have developed democratic and organizing skills to further commit themselves, have built a radio station, and created all sorts of social groups/committees to organize their efforts not only around this threatening social issue but also to deal more effectively with the affairs of the community and the region.  

Their greatest tools of defense are themselves, the community, and their radio station (run by the youth!) which allows them to reach out to each other and beyond Zacate Grande.  And, there is so much more to these people who resist being victims to this injustice that has come upon them since 1992.  
 
The mosaic is jarring: it is a home of the mangroves, a place of the pelicans, and now a land where a liar preys on innocent tillers of sparse soil of relentless rock and on fishers of protected ocean bays, who struggle to simply feed their children and each other. 

As we stood in a large circle and prayed before our meeting, an arching acaia tree casted a cool spotted shade over us.  I realized that like this tree, with the God of Justice in their hearts, they are not going to fall easily.  The massive root structure penetrated the parched soil to drink from the deep wells under our feet.   Yet, the greed of another will never have power over those who seek what is rightfully theirs. 

It was heart-wrenching to hear these people being attacked by such powers of a corrupt law, government and police colluding with a business baron who knows no boundaries. La lucha continua.

- Fr. David Shulist, S.J. Carleton University Roman Catholic Community (CURCC)