Culture and Coexistence into the Great Unknown
The tiny forgotten Pacific port town of Amapala, among volcanic island sands and stifling heat, is proposed as the site of a radical libertarian experiment: an autonomous free trade city, a haven for multi-national corporations. And the locals are not celebrating.
International environmental and human rights campaigners condemn the 4th Latin American Palm Oil Conference to be held by the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Honduras on 6th-8th August. The site of deadly conflicts over land rights with alarming impacts to ecosystems and communities, sustainably produced palm oil in this Central American country is impossible. The World Wildlife Fund among other sponsors, are charged with greenwashing and condoning human rights abuses.
Free marketeers and Libertarians advocate for the world’s first Charter City, with authoritarian governance, facilitated by a military coup, coordinated using political sway with business partners, using public funds from the IDB for infrastructure plans, and built on land “purchased” from indigenous communities, small farmers and the state of Honduras.
Three US law professor “specialists in comparative constitutional law,” deny the reality of the Honduran coup and the anti-democratic oppression on the ground in Honduras, advocating imaginary limits on military and executive power.
Nobody has been punished for carrying out the 2009 coup d’etat in Honduras and repression continues against peaceful resistance movements and journalists, but the return of deposed President Mel Zelaya is reason to celebrate for a moment.
Paraguay’s President Lugo hadn’t delivered on promises to farmers who brought him to power, while transgenic soy farms expanded, and then he was overthrown in a coup.
The police insurrection turned failed coup d’état against Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa illustrates the many shades of gray between national sovereignty, ethnic and regional autonomy, multinational corporate development interests, and international political movements.