Preposed Land Reforms By The People Of The Maya Chorti Of Honduras - 2004, Translation

National Advisory Council to the Indigenous Maya-Chortì of Honduras CONIMCHH Land preposal

Copán Ruinas, Copán

August 2004

I.- Background In 1994 an indigenous movement began for the recovery of land, a struggle which our ancestors had begun, with an effort to organize ourselves. It was very important concerning this that we realized while we had begun this organization and processes such as development they contained specific risks and tensions between indigenous peoples and land tenants, and indigenous peoples and government. It is important to note that the land of the people of Maya Chorti is not significantly unique within Honduras as their subsistence and reproduction comes from tangible factors. Also the ancestral wealth that we lost in the past we have an obligation to recover, for the transcendence of the spiritual and survival of our culture Our population oscillates between 34,000 and 35,000 inhabitants, distributed over 66 communities that have meeting groups in the departments of Copan and Octoepeque in the east of Honduras. At present the 66 communities are organized; 48 in the department of Copan and 18 in the department of Ocotepeque, and all are represented in the national council of Maya Chorti, CONIMCHH. At these times maintenance of this priority, the struggle for the return of our ancestral lands, has come with the support of the friendly institutions OCDIH, PATRONATO REGIONAL OCCIDENTE, DIAKONIA, OXFAM, APSO. Together we´re developing important efforts on coordination for the management and mobilization of resources, strengthening institutional relations, and organizing education, health, human rights, culture, religion, common vision of Maya, effective political and infrastructure, as well as others. The recovery of our ancestral lands has been a very important struggle to organize, and has only been realized these last 6 years. The processes we have developed have come with many risks and tensions between indigenous peoples and the landowners and government. It is important to note that the land of the people of Maya Chorti is not significantly unique as its subsistence and reproduction comes from tangible factors. Also the ancestral wealth that we lost in the past we have an obligation to recover, for the transcendence of the spiritual and survival of our culture While the process of reinventing our lands was a notable moment of importance, there have been markedly slow results in obtaining land treaties and the drive for other initiatives and linking the development to the people of Maya Chorti. This is mainly because of the death of our leader candido Amador Recinos, assassinated on the 12th of April 1997 for the land treaties he worked on in Copan Ruinas. With Candido a total of 6 leaders have been assassinated to this date. This was the impetus for the population of Chorti to begin a series of actions of pressure culminating on the 12th of May in the same year with the agreement and signing of the government of the republic and CONIMCHH. In this agreement the government agreed to commit 14,700 hectares of agricultural land, resolved our problems with health, education, human rights, infrastructure, legalization of our organization, technical assistance, and began an investigation into the assassination of Candido Amador.

The Organs of the Organization The social and political organization of the Maya Chorti People is structured into councils. The communities’ scope is over the Rural Council, in each region there is a Council of Regional Indigenous Maya Chorti, CRIMCH; and on national level a National Council of Indigenous Maya Chorti of Honduras, CONIMCHH, carrying the most authority of the organization. Each one of the councils rural, regional, and national is integrated with 12 advisors with specific responsibilities: -

Advisor Advisor Advisor Advisor Advisor Advisor Advisor Advisor Advisor Advisor Advisor Advisor

senior junior Secretary of Land and environment of Women of Education of Health of Culture of Administration of Communication of the Aged of Finance

According to the agreement of our statute, the period of management for each Council is 2 years and the councils are reelected by the community. The Rural Council is elected by in an assembled community, the Regional Council by a regional congress and the National Council by a national assembly, with participation of 160 delegates and observers who also helped provided the community with indigenous organization.

II

JUSTIFICACION

The National Council of Indigenous Maya Chorti of Honduras (CONIMICHH) has completed efforts and is securely making improvements from the point of view of social, political, and cultural benefits to the people of Maya Chorti, the goal is sustainable achievements with the land. This goal of the recovering of land is stretching local relations however the joint actions that come from CONIMCHH as it implements its own strategies come with the support of multiple organizations national and international that we accompany The projects of agricultural development, education, health infrastructure, and others were executed in conjunction with large, strong communities which had insured the communal land and, above all the land productivity. In the same way that the communities agreed on the land we think that there are possibilities for major agreements and the resolution of different problems that affect us.

The plan for development from our perspective is credit generating permanent solutions to the different requirements for material, spiritual, and intellectual needs within our population. These efforts for precise integral solutions are compatible with or social and cultural characteristics and credit which is environmentally sustainable and economically just; the most important credit promoting exercise is the full, transparent participation and interaction of subjects and actors of the process. This interpretation of development occupies a privileged position. The active participation of the protagonist population within the process, at all stages is the goal, taking decisions on every aspect related to the development, participation, and the formulation of the proposals and participation in the design and implementation of these strategies and their guides. Without this element, vital to the whole project, the proposal is incomplete. The degree of advancement we see is evident in these communities that have seen the benefits of land, when landownership has been cancelled and land provided to the Indigenous communities, as we can see in the following table. At this sensitive time the government can test out measures with the agreement of the Indigenous Communities that have the opportunity to improve the conditions of life through projects, productivity and social factors and that help to complete our objectives, or to be a bridge of cooperation or mediating self management. When you know without land there is no tomorrow you know it is necessary to repeat your rights and achieve what you were promised.

Land priorities in order of payment

Nº

COMMUNITY

PROPRIOTER

MZ.

1

Buena Vista

José Villanueva

100 Mz.

2

Achiotes, Agua Caliente Copán

Mauricio Arias

228 Mz

3

Ernesto Castejón

250 Mz

4

Porvenir I, Porvenir II, Agua Caliente Santa Rosita Monte los Negros, Chilar

Héctor Cueva

88 Mz

5

San Isidro

José Roberto Rosa

64 Mz

6

Corralitos

Rafael Gonzáles

30 Mz

7

Zapote Copán

Deysi Orbelina Cueva

80 Mz

8

Aldea Nueva Estanzuela

Manuel Cueva

58 Mz

9

La Laguna Copán

Francisco Cueva

107 Mz

10

Boca del Monte

Cesar Cueva

260 Mz

11

Laguna el Paraíso

Julio Santos Marín

60 Mz

12

Chonco

Guadalupe Guerra

60 Mz

13

Carrizalón

Perfecto Guerra

18 Mz

14

Miramar Cabañas

Reinaldo Guerra

200 Mz

15

Chonco

Manuel de Jesús Guerra

100 Mz

16

Hacienda San Juan

Donaldo Interiano

160 Mz.

17

La Pintada

Rosa de Jesús Axume

25 Mz.

18

San Rafael

Ayax Antonio Cruz

60 Mz.

19

Carrizalón

Jorge Guerra

42 Mz.

20

Azacualpa Ocotepeque

José Maria Villela

160 Mz.

21

Plan del Périco Cabañas

Irma Idalia Guerra

150 Mz.

22

San Francisco Cones

Serafín Tahúra

60 Mz.

23

Flores Paraíso

Juan Antonio Monroy

30 Mz.

24

Monte los Negros

Argelia Cruz

15 Mz.

25

Corralitos

Berta Hernández

6 Mz.

26

Boca del Monte

Hector Arnulfo Cueva

110 Mz.

27

Monte los Negros

Francisco Portillo

60 Mz.

28

Carrizalito II

Juan Morales

1 ½ Mz.

Total

2,582.50 Mz

Our Preposal: In this document and for the wish of the Indigenous People of the Maya Chorti of Honduras, we express and reiterate the causes and protections in the agreement No. 169 and the article No. 346 of the Constitution of the republic; The solicited Mr. President of the Republic Manuel Zelaya Rosales has put forward the following demands of the people Chorti. 1) Our expectations are focused on the urgent implementation of the writings in the Government of Honduras and CONIMCHH, of the 13th of May 1997. 2) The agreement completed in conjunction with the themes and our just sentiment on the basis of initial and continuing process of sustainable development in the areas of farming development, health, education, infrastructure, human rights, and basic justice We place emphasis on the necessity of carrying out, in a much shorter period of time, an agreement on the term “LANDS” for considering with strategies most focused on conditions of Hunger, poverty, and social exclusion of these victims. We recognize the effort and the government projects that have been carried out for the resolution of our problem, however it is important to say that these efforts are insufficient for everything, this is demonstrated with clarity by the problems of political will power for carrying out signed obligations. This situation after 3 years has begun to generate distrust and enormous frustration within our population. In this atmosphere, we are preoccupied with the manner of slowness with which the change has been effected and with which the process of carrying out these changes has been implemented, irrespective of the Agreement No. 169 of the OIT on Indigenous peoples and Tribes, of which the government of Honduras is a subscriber We appeal to Mr. President of the republic, and to his disposition of collective effort with the people of Honduras, to reduce poverty and resolve the differences necessary to drag indigenous people up from over 500 years of poverty. We are totally convinced that our problem has a place in your agenda and during your management governmental projects and spending will result in a grand impact on the quality of life for the majority of our community associates. With these comments we would like to present, as manner of example, a valuation of our processes of struggle and our concerns; we hope that this stimulates your interest

in knowing more profoundly our ideas, strengths and weaknesses, and also marks the necessary identifications from our perspective. The previous expression of our proposal follows: 3) Order the relevant authorities to make the payment for the effective land prioritized in the negotiations that have been the central message of our organization. Because foreigners are buying land that was owned to our people, we consider our organization is owed on the basis of Lps 40,000.00 forty thousand per manzana x 2,582.50 that is 103,300,000.00 (one hundred and three million three hundred thousand exactly). The same lands are to have an evaluation of the measures and pending titles in the expropriation directive No. 8 of the Agricultural reform, of the departments of Copan and Ocotepepeque. It is necessary to mention that in the article No. 14 numeral 2 of the convention 169 where it mentions: The governments must take measures that are necessary to determine the land which the peoples of interest occupied traditionally and guarantee the protection and effective rights allowed by their position. Article 346 Of the “constitution of the Republic” reads it is the duty of the state to create measures for the protection and rights and interests of indigenous communities existing in the country, especially the lands and forests their ancestors owned.