Honduran Afro-Indigenous Garífuna Demand Return of Kidnapped Land Defenders

At least 212 land and environmental defenders were murdered last year — the highest number since the group Global Witness began gathering data eight years ago. Some 40% of those killed were Indigenous peoples.

Democracy Now! gets an update from Honduras, where the Afro-Indigenous Garífuna community continues to demand the safe return of five Garífuna land defenders who were kidnapped by heavily armed men who were reportedly wearing police uniforms and forced them into three unmarked vehicles at gunpoint.

This was the latest attack against the Garífuna community as they defend their territory from destructive projects fueled by foreign investors and the Honduran government.

“We are in danger daily — all the leaders of the Garífuna community, all the defendants of the land in Honduras,” says Carla Garcia, international relations coordinator at the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras.

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