"Yes to Autonomy; No to Patuca III"

 The conference in Ahuas revolved around the central theme of Indigenous Governance
and Territorial Autonomy. Members of MASTA are well aware of the rights guaranteed
in UNDRIP and Convention 169 to manage their own territory and to Free, Prior and
Informed Consent to any projects on their land. That’s why the repeated attempts at
damming the Patuca river without any kind of consultation is frustrating and infuriating
for many.

Donaldo Allen, president of a territorial council RAYAKA which is the most closely situated to the Patuca, spoke at the conference about the importance of protesting and and taking action against the project. He encouraged the audience to understand, “the problems of my people are also my problems.”

Two representatives of the Honduran government participated in the conference. Congressmen Dr. Maylo Wood, a Miskitu himself, declared that the Patuca III dam would not bring any benefit to the Indigenous people on whose land it will be constructed.  Nora Trina, the governor of the state of Gracias a Dios, also Miskita, emphasized that the state of Honduras is obligated to consult the community before taking any action in the concession of their land. Although the dam isn’t in the state of her jurisdiction, she compared the effects of Patuca III on the Miskitu people to a hurricane- “the side effects of the damages will also put us at risk, and we’re not prepared.” She encouraged all Miskitu people to present their discontent in front of the president of Honduras. (You can too, here on the CS website!).

Listen to Nora Trina:  Entrevista con Nora Trina by Cultural Survival 

Lorenzo Tinglas, president of FITH, an organization of another Indigenous group, the
Tawahka, was also participating in the meeting. The Tawahka people will be the most affected by the dam.  The extent of the environmental and social damage that will be done is, for the Tawahka people, too drastic to contemplate. “We know that neither the government nor the company themselves will be able to mitigate the damages that will be done to the environment,” Tinglas said. This has certainly been found true with the company’s Three Gorges Dam in China, where the government has already spent $15.5 billion dollars just to study the problems downstream from the dam.  Pessimistic about the prospects of cleaning up after the dam, Lorenzo is all the more determined to stop the construction of the dam before it starts. He proposed a three tiers of action: international pressure, legal action, and grassroots action taken by the communities.  Listen to Lorenzo speak on this topic (in Spanish), here:

   Entrevista con Lorenzo Tinglas by Cultural Survival