Civil society movements in Honduras gave their greatest show of force in three years on Mar. 6 by paralyzing the country for delays in approving two laws for regulating mining and forest industries. Led by the Roman Catholic bishop of the western department of Copán, Luis Alfonso Santos, the demonstrators blocked highway traffic for more than three hours.

“The blockade was peaceful, but this is a warning. If the government fails to comply with the commitments it signed eight months ago, we are going to step up our actions,” Renán Valdez, of the Civic Alliance for Democracy, told Tierramérica.

In an attempt to placate the members of the Alliance and of the National Coordination of Popular Resistance — who organized the protest — President Manuel Zelaya had promised to in 2006 to enact the two laws, bogged down for more than six years.