Non-violent Honduran protestors blocking a mining access road near their village of Guapinol over the last couple of months predicted that their encampment would not last.
But they were unprepared for the severity of the national government’s threatened response.
According to a court order, the 18 environmental protestors are to be arrested and hauled before a special court that exists to deal with crimes such as drug trafficking, organ harvesting and terrorism.
Also, their encampment is to be destroyed so that mining operations can continue.
The protestors charge that the mine was never legal to begin with, as it was publicly announced that the Honduran government had originally given the concession to the defunct Cachiros narcotrafficking group, widely recognized as the foremost drug cartel of the early 2010s.
Nevertheless, the current owners somehow acquired a mining project that had been approved with lax or non-existent environmental standards enforced.
The court order has been in place since September 13, but no action has yet been taken against the encampment.
Source: Radio Progresso (Honduras, advocacy group)