[Peace-discuss] Lenca Radio Project info from Bill Taylor

[carol inskeep]

Here's the information we requested from Bill Taylor at Sunday's AWARE meeting regarding the independent radio project for which he's seeking funding...

"William B. Taylor" <btaylor at prairienet.org> wrote:Here are three files: A description of the Lenca
Radio Project (more specific than the "Public I" article),
A description of the current situation for the Indigenous
Hondurans by Carlos, and a introduction/discussion paper by 
Carlos (in Spanish).

Muchas Gracias, Bill
===============================================================
PRIMARY COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT
LENCA RADIO PROJECT 


HOW PCP OPERATES

The Primary Communications Project, based in Monticello, IL, is a
non-profit organization which constructs prefabricated radio
broadcast facilities for community organizations in the developing
world. To do this, we seek donations of equipment from radio
stations, manufacturers, and individuals in the U.S. which we
refurbish and reconfigure for the new station. The completed
station is transported to the community, assembled, and tested. 
Local people are trained to operate, maintain and repair it.
A request for a station originates in the community, which is
reponsible for licensing, programming, maintenance, and paying
operating costs.


HISTORY OF THE LENCA RADIO PROJECT

In the wake of Hurricane Mitch, CONPAH (Confederaci"n de Pueblos
Aut"ctonos de Honduras), which represents the eight Honduran
indigenous and Afro-Honduran groups, contacted the Primary
Communications Project with a request to upgrade Radio Faluma
Bimetu, a very small Garifuna radio station near Tela, and to
provide new stations to serve the other groups that CONPAH
represents. In 2001, Funding was sought and received from The
Funding Exchange to do an equipment donation campaign, rebuild
Radio Faluma Bimetu, and to plan a new station for the Lenca
people who live over a large, mountainous region of southwestern
and southern Honduras and adjacent areas of El Salvador. The
equipment campaign was very successful, bringing in enough to
supply Faluma Bimetu, as well as nearly everthing needed to
construct two regional stations and two local stations. In the
Spring of 2002 we accompanied the Pastors for Peace caravan to
Honduras, rebuilt Faluma Bimetu, and met with COPINH, the Lenca
organization which would be responsible for the new station. 


THE CURRENT SITUATION

Funding, which had appeared to be assured, disappeared as the
Funding Exchange reoriented its priorities in light of Sept. 11. 
At this point the Primary Communications Project went dormant for
lack of funds. But, the situation for the indigenous people in
Honduras is growing more and more desperate daily, with the
threat of loss of their land, cultural identity, language, and
increasingly, their very lives. In January, 2004, Carlos Euceda, 
a Lenca and representative of CONPAH, came to Champaign-Urbana to
bring news of the situation in Honduras and to make a plea to
restart the Lenca Radio project as soon as possible. 



WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

>From the 2001 equipment campaign, the Primary Communications
Project has nearly everything needed to construct a 1,000 watt AM
station, with a main on-air studio, a production studio for
recording, among other things, programs for teaching and
preserving the almost-lost Lenca language, and equipment for field
recording. Equipment is being refurbished as funds become
available. We are seeking funding to speed up this process, to
prefabricate the station, and ultimately, to transport it to La
Esperanza, Intibuc , where it will be installed in the COPINH
building. Here is a breakdown of the proposed budget for the
project:

Preparation of equipment $ 4,000
Additional equipment and spare parts 2,000
Transportation to Honduras and setup 2,000 

TOTAL $ 8,000


We're hoping to work thoughout the spring and summmer to get
the station ready to install, and to bring it down by truck by the
end of the year. In addition to funding, we need volunteers to
do translation of technical materials and to rebuild equipment.


CONTACT US


Primary Communications Project
442 E. 1300 North Rd.
Monticello, IL 61856 U.S.A.

(217) 762-9561

btaylor at prairienet.org
=============================================================
SOME PROBLEMS OF THE INDIGENOUS AND BLACK PEOPLES OF HONDURAS
by Carlos Euceda

Seven indigenous peoples live together in Honduras. They are Lencas, Maya
Chortis, Tolupans, Peches, Miskitos, Tawahkas, Nahoas, and two peoples of
African origin, the Garifunas and blacks who speak English. The 
indigenous
and blacks live in fifteen of the eighteen departments of Honduras. Six 
of
these peoples speak and write their own mother languages and three are in
the process of regaining them. For centuries the indigenous and blacks 
have
been regulated and marginalized in spite of the constitution of the 
republic
which protects their individual and collective rights. Their history in 
only
mentioned in educational texts as a glorious past.

The process of organization of the indigenous peoples started at the end 
of
the 70's when the first indigenous Miskito and Garifuna organization was
created. During the whole period until the founding of the Confederation 
of
Aboriginal Peoples of Honduras (CONPAH) in the beginning of 1988, our 
people
were invisible. With CONPAH began the process of recognition of the
indigenous peoples' entitlement to international rights and the assertion 
of
their rights in matters of education, territory, health, and 
infrastructure, etc. 
At the beginning of 1992, CONPAH began a movement consisting of marches 
and
pilgrimages to the capital of the republic, which signified the visibility 
of the
indigenous and black peoples as active participants between the society 
and
the reclaiming and titling of territories, the implementation of a program 
of
bilingual and intercultural education, the development of productive 
projects
based in food security and the right to determine the crops they plant, 
the
signing and ratification of Convention 169 of the International 
Organization of
Workers (OIT), etc. These pilgrimages and marches continue to this day. 
Actually, CONPAH is facilitating the mobilization of local resistance in 
the
Tolupan tribes of Monta$a de la Flor, in the Lenca communities of Monta$a
Verde, in the Garifuna communities of the Atlantic coast, and in the 
Miskito
communities in the Ri" Pl tano.

The repression, intimidation, and selective assassination of leaders has 
been
the response of the economic and political sectors of power. Upon seeing 
the
gains of our movement, they displayed their stinginess and racist actions. 
As
of today, 53 indigenous and black leaders have been assassinated in the
defense of their natural resources and territory. None of these cases has
been brought to justice, leaving all the perpetrators with complete 
impunity.

In these days, the indigenous peoples are suffering new and novel means of
militarization, para-militarization, and counterinsurgency, which are more
extensive since the end of the cold war, and the signing of peace treaties
with the movements of insurgency of the region. These surprising military
displays are explained when it is observed that the zones in which they 
are
located are the same as those inhabited by the indigenous people which are
also rich in natural resources. The repression and collective 
intimidation
which our people suffer clearly correspond to the implementation of each 
one
of the megaprojects financed by the International Development Bank and the
World Bank and applied by the government of Honduras such as the Plan
Puebla Panam (PPP), the Meso-American Biological Corridor, and the Free
Trade Area of the Americas (ALCA). These appropriate our water, forests,
lands and biodiversity and respond to the geopolitics of the United States 
and
transnational businesses which protect their commercial interests. In the
process they are militarizing our communities.

(translated by Bill Taylor 2/04)
=======================================================================
Re: resumen de la ponencia (El Centro de
Estudias Latinamericanas y Caribes de la Universidad
de Illinois, Marzo de 2004) por Carlos Euceda

La lucha de los Pueblos Indigenas y Negros de Honduras
se enmarcan dentro de la lucha global por la
autodeterminacion y el reconocimiento de los derechos
ancestrales de nuestros pueblos

Para los pueblos indigenas la madre tierra es el
centro de nuestras vidas, sin un equilibrio con la
naturaleza, los estilos de vidas que practicamos
serian imposible, de tal manera que existe una
entranable conexion entre nuestra subsistencia como
culturas diferenciadas y la conservacion del medio
ambiente.

En las ultimas decadas hemos venido sufriendo un
proceso de apropiacion de nuesros territorios y
recursos naturales, por parte de de la elite dominante
del pais, esto se ha convertido en una sistematizacion
del colonialismo interno, los abundantes recursos
naturales y estrategicos ha llevado una oleda de
frentes de colonizacion manipulados por
terratenientes, ganaderos y aserraderos ligados a las
estructuras de poder.

Honduras y los paises centroamericanos conforman el
area mesoamericana de la region, en esta franja de
tierra se encuentra el 7% de la biodiversidad del
planeta, solo superable por la amazonia de
sudamericana, de igual manera este territorio es
habitado desde tiempos ancestrales por mas de 30
pueblos indigenas y negros que dependen para su
subistencia cultural y biologica de los recursos
naturales y de los cuales son los principales
guardianes. Es por tal motivo que las instituciones
financieras como el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
y El Banco Mundial que junto con el Estado nacional
bienen implementando los proyectos Plan Puebla Panama
y el Corredor Biologico Mesoamericano. El Plan Puebla
Panama comprende proyectos de inversion en
carreteras, puertos maritimos, tendidos electronicos y
de comuncacion, plantas termo-electricas e
hidroelectrica, oleoductos y gasoductos, ferrocariles,
aeropuertos, canales secos y de agua, corredores
industriales-maquilidores etc. Estos proyectos ya se
estan desarrollando en nuestros territorios como ser
la construccion de las represas hidroelectricas del
Tigre y el Chaparal donde mas de 60, 000 habitantes
del pueblo Lenca serian desalojados y sustierras
inundadas, la exploracion y explotacion petrolera que
se esta llevando en el territorio miskito el cual es
habitado por el pueblo miskito, tawahka, Pech y
Garifuna y lo cual provocaria la contaminacion y
destruccion del centro de biodiversidad mas importante
del pais como ser la Biosfera del Rio Platano y la
convercion de nuestras culturas, la construccion de la
autopista que unira el Puerto de Cortes con los
principales centros de mineria y petroleo y que
expropiara las tierras y territorios del pueblo
garifuna, la explotacion de los bosques tradicionales
que viene sufriendo el pueblo Tolupan para implementar
en sus territorios los monocultivos maderables para la
industria del papel, la privatizaciones de las cuencas
hidrograficas por medio de la ley del congreso
nacional de municipalizacion del Agua, donde las
cuencas hidrograficas pasan a manos de gobiernos
municipales y a empresas privadas, en cambio el
Corredor Biologico Mesoamericano que operaria en la
misma region se presenta como un proyecto de
"conservacion y uso sustentable" del medio ambiente y
de los ecosistemas, en si pareceria un proyecto
inofensivo pero en Honduras y en toda la region este
proyecto opera bajo la vision de conserbacion sin
gente, creando areas protegidas y parques nacionales
en los territorios indigenas, los cuales una ves
declarados dejan excluidas a las comunidades indigenas
de sus derechos y beneficios, lo cual no es mas que la
privatizacion de los recursos biotecios para la
explotacion y saqueo de las empresas biotecnologica
y que va en contra de los derechos ancestrales y de
propiedad sobre los recursos naturales principalmente
biodiversidad.

Ante este panorama gris para nuestras culturas,
existe una respuesta de un movimiento indigena que
inrrumpe en el escenraio nacional, como un nuevo actor
que habla con su propia vos y que ha venido por dos
decadas reinvidicando sus derechos a la
territorialidad de nuestros pueblos, al reconocimiento
de nuestras culturas a exigir una educacion bilingue e
intercultural, al repeto de nuestros derechos a los
recursos naturales, las diversas formas de lucha que
hemos y estamos implementando van desde la marcha
masiva a la capital, tomas de carretera, huelgas de
hambre, plantones en las diferentes instituciones del
estado, esta lucha esta acompaqada por niqos, hombres,
mujeres, ancianos y ancianas, lamentablemnete nuestras
luchas sufren lo mismo que de otras luchas, de que
existe un cerco de desinformacion y una mediatizacion
de los medios de comunicacion que estan ligados y
comprometidos con el poder politico, igualmente la
actual faceta de la supuesta democracia que solo es
representativa que se vive en el pais, deja un gran
vacio de ingobernabilidad, pues los esquemas
prevalecientes son defensores de la impunidad a favor
de mafias de poder que llegan a niveles de descredito
desconocidos.

Es asi que a traves de esta resistencia mas de 53
lideres indigenas y negros han sido asesinados por la
defensa de los derechos individuales y colectivos, una
escalada de militarizacion de los recursos naturales,
ejercicios militares, patrullaje y sobrevuelo de
equipos militares, existe toda una persecucion,
amenaza de muerte y encarsalamiento de lideres
indigenas, todo este terrror colectivo en nuestras
comunidades tiene como fin apagar y enterrar la
resistencia por la sobrevivencia el respeto de
nuestros territorios y recursos naturales.




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