On December 20, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project tweeted: “We were recently in the department of Yoro, accompanying the CNTC Progreso. From the CNTC they share that the banks of the rivers affected by the passage of hurricanes #Eta and #Iota last year have not yet been properly fixed.”
The National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) is a small-scale farming and trade union organization that fights for the distribution of land.
PBI-Honduras also notes on Facebook: “Lilian Borjas: ‘The river is life and the banks are the protection of the families that live nearby.’”
PBI-Honduras has previously commented in their article titled The deforestation behind hurricane devastation: “The massive amounts of rainfall brought to the country by Hurricanes Eta and Iota caused the Chamelecón and Ulúa Rivers to burst their banks.”
That article quotes Miriam Miranda, the leader of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), who says: “How will these rivers ever stop flooding when in the highlands, where the water sources are, there are not only people but also megaprojects that are destroying our forests?”
PBI-Honduras adds: “According to the CNTC testimonies, some of the demonstrations from a few months ago, carried out in order to demand the reconstruction of the edges, were strongly suppressed.”
La Prensa has reported that the police violently a protest on June 18 of this year calling for the reconstruction of the Chamelecón River. That article further notes that police fired tear gas at residents who feel “abandoned” by the state seven months after Eta and Iota hit.
By late July, La Tribuna reported that Honduran officials were meeting with a Brazilian construction conglomerate to define a strategic plan aimed at dredging the Chamelecón, Ulúa, and Tinto rivers within the framework of the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Sula Valley after the damage caused by the Eta and Iota storms.
PBI-Honduras has been accompanying the CNTC since May 2018.
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