RELIGION BULLETIN-HONDURAS: Papal Nuncio says Indigenous Demands Must be Met

By Thelma Mejía Reprint | | Print |

Thelma Mejia

TEGUCIGALPA, Oct 25 1998 (IPS) - Vatican representative in Honduras, Luigi Conti, called on the government here to resolve demands for land, health and education services and justice voiced by indigenous people as soon as possible.

A group of Lenca people set up camp outside the Vatican embassy in Tegucigalpa, as part of a campaign to call attention to their plight and force the government to deal with their claims.

Conti said these protests complicate the Honduran social outlook, calling on the authorities to deal with “the ethnic question, to avoid outbreaks of violence which do nothing to encourage democracy.”

“This does not mean I have come in on the side of the indigenous petitions, but I think the problems should not be put off,” he explained.

The Papal Nuncio said he would attend the four indigenous people on hunger strike outside the Vatican embassy, for “humanitarian and fraternal reasons, as the holy scriptures demand.”

He added that he had exhorted the Lenca “to keep the channels of dialogue open and to remain calm to avoid causing violence. I also asked them to suspend the hunger strike, but the truth is the government should resolve this situation right now.”

The Lenca and members of other ethnic groups ended a week of protests Tuesday, with four of them on hunger strike in support of their campaign.

Three hundred indigenous people, members of the Western Committee of Indigenous People (COPIN) initiated a series of actions on October 12 to pressure the government into fulfilling agreements signed three years ago under the Carlos Reina administration.

Theseagreements included the trial of those responsible for the mudrs of indigenous leaders and solutions to the land, health and education problems facing the native peoples.

Honduras has seven ethnic groups with a total of some 500,000 members. Three years ago the indigenous people started peaceful marches to the capital to present their demands, but to date these have only been partially met, despite the commitments signed.

COPIN leader, Salvador Zuniga, said the current president Carlos Flores endorsed the commitments signed by Reina.

Flores “appointed a commission which has played around with us and we are tired of this time-wasting strategy. We will not leave here until we have palpable, concrete commitments,” said Zuniga.

Around 1,000 Lenca and Chorti from the west of the country blocked the highway to the Ruins of Copan – the country’s main Mayan tourist attraction.

These demonstrators are demanding land for the Chorti – direct descendents of the Maya – and a percentage of the taxes collected from tourism in the Copan municipality to fund their organisations.

Interior minister, Delmer Urbizo, confirmed the government would not negotiate under pressure, calling on the indigenous people to lift the road-block.

Urbizo designated a commission to resolve the land problem, and to grant the Chorti at least 500 hectares.

“The government is agreeable to dialogue and we are going to fulfil what we can within the commitments, but we will not permit road blocks nor protests which obstruct development and investment, because their instigators will be removed with no second thoughts,” warned the minister.

The indigenous people’s campaigns come at a time when education in Hondurs in also in turmoil, with teacher’s on hunger strike outside the government headquarters to stop a wage-freeze going into effect.

What the government will do is not clear. It has told the teachers there is simply no money to meet their pay claims, but negotiations are still underway with the indigenous people.