Reportaje Fotográfico:
Tomas García presente, ahora y siempre
Tomas García presente, ahora y siempre
Fotos y Textos: Activante de SOAW en Honduras
El
domingo, 14 de Julio, militares del Primer Batallón de Ingenieros
llegaron a la toma del pueblo Indígena Lenca de Rio Blanco, donde el
pueblo tiene mas que 100 días de bloquear el acceso de empresas que
quieren construir una represa hidroeléctrica en el Rio Gualcarque. Un
día después uno de los militares del Batallón de Ingenieros
asesinará uno de los líderes de la toma.
Según
uno de los soldados, hubo 34 militares ubicados en las instalaciones de
la represa. Antes de la llegada de las empresas hidroeléctricas y la
resistencia del pueblo al proyecto, no hubo soldados ni policías en la
zona.
Militares
del Primer Batallón de Ingenieros sirven en esencia como guardias de
seguridad para DESA y SINOHYDRO, empresas que están ilegalmente
construyendo la represa Agua Zarca en territorio Indígena. A pesar de
las amenazas de muerte que enfrenten lideres de la comunidad por
resistir el proyecto, los militares no les protegen. En vez, los
militares viven, comen, y duermen en las instalaciones de las empresas y
amenazan a miembros de la
comunidad que luchan por sus derechos. En la foto, militares y
policías custodian a las instalaciones de DESA y SINOHYDRO durante una
protesta del pueblo Lenca.
En la mañana
del 15 de Julio, 200-300 miembros del pueblo Lenca caminaron a las
instalaciones de DESA y SINOHYDRO para una vez mas demandar la salida de
las empresas de su territorio. Las instalaciones y represa están
siendo construidos en territorio Lenca en contra la voluntad de los que
viven en la zona, quienes dependen de la tierra y rio para sobrevivir,
en una clara violación del Convenio 169. Tomas García, miembro del
Consejo Indígena y padre de siete hijos, fue uno de los primeros en
llegar a las instalaciones para la protesta. Apenas había llegado
cuando un militar le disparó de cerca varias
veces, matándole inmediatamente.
El soldado que asesinó a Tomas García también disparó a Allan Garcia, hijo de Tomas y un joven de 17 años. Allan fue herido por las balas del ejercito en el brazo, espalda, y tórax y tenia que pasar varios días en el hospital.
Dos
otros también fueron heridos por las balas del militar, incluso este
hombre quien
fue atrás de Tomas García. El escapó la muerte o lesiones serias por
solo uno centímetros cuando una bala le pasó rozando a su cuello.
El
miércoles, 17 de Julio, miembros de la comunidad se reunieron alrededor
del cuerpo de Tomas García en la humilde iglesia Católica de La
Tejera. Fue un momento solemne mientras que lamentaron el asesinato de
su compañero,
un muerto que no tenia que pasar. Ofrecieron oraciones para Tomas, su
familia, los que están en contra de ellos, y pidieron al Señor la fuerza para seguir en la lucha.
Después, cientos de personas reunieron en la toma, donde Tomas había pasado tanto tiempo durante los últimos 106 días de su vida. Miembros de la comunidad llevaron el cuerpo de Tomas a descansar bajo el árbol del Roble
al centro del grupo.
La comunidad reunió alrededor del ataúd para un
servicio de recordar a Tomas y su vida, una vida de lucha. En honor de
su compromiso de defender su tierra colectiva y el derecho del pueblo
Lenca a sobrevivir y determinar su propio destino, se comprometieron
ante el espíritu de Tomas a la lucha por la vida, la lucha en contra del
proyecto Agua Zarca que pretende privatizar su rio por 30 años y
destruir las cosechas de que dependen para sobrevivir.
Los
hijos de Tomas sufrieron dolor por la muerte de su papa, quien fue
asesinado luchando para que ellos tuvieran un futuro en la tierra de sus
antepasados, un futuro con tierra donde vivir y trabajar y agua para
tomar y cultivar.
Después
del servicio, miembros de la comunidad llevaron a Tomas al cementerio,
en camino al Rio Gualcarque donde las empresas pretenden construir el
Proyecto Agua Zarca.
"Le llevaron a Tomas a descansar en medio del bosque y la Madre
Naturaleza que luchó para defender."
Naturaleza que luchó para defender."
Cientos
de personas caminaron al cementerio para el entierro, en medio del
bosque y ricos recursos naturales que han cuidado por cientos de años.
Después
del entierro, su hermano menor sembró una cruz y una planta de la esposa de Tomas al lado de la tumba.
Su
familia se junto alrededor de la tumba, sin palabras para expresar su
angustia y dolor en perder su padre, esposo, hermano, y amigo a manos
del ejercito hondureño durante una protesta en defensa de su comunidad.
El
nombre de Tomas fue escrito en el cemento de su tumba, donde el seguirá
dando fuerza a la comunidad en su lucha por la vida, en contra las
corporaciones que han invadido sus tierras, quieren privatizar su rio,
destruir sus cosechas, y quienes han llevado violencia y muerte a su
comunidad. Su espíritu seguirá guiándoles en la lucha para vivir con
dignidad y defender la tierra y los ríos en que dependen y
cuidan para sobrevivir.
Tomas García presente, ahora y siempre.
************
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The Murder of Tomas Garcia by the Honduran Military
Tomas
Garcia was a father of seven who would have turned 50 this December. He
was a husband, father, brother, and community leader, serving as an
auxiliar and on his community’s Indigenous Council. On Monday, July 15, his life was brutally taken away by the Honduran military
when a soldier shot and killed him at close range in broad daylight in
front of 200-300 people. He did not have a gun, he did not hurt
anyone. His crime? Opposing the construction of a hydroelectric dam being illegally constructed in his Indigenous Lenca community's territory against their will. Why Tomas? He was one of the first to arrive, leading the delegation that had come to deliver a message to the companies constructing the dam at their installations in Rio Blanco. A soldier fired at him not once, not twice, at least three times from only 6 or so feet away, according to eyewitnesses.
Take
action: Call for an end to US military aid to Honduras -- especially
that no US aid go to the military unit that killed Tomas -- and on the
Honduran authorities to respect the rights of the Indigenous Lenca
people of Rio Blanco.
Tomas had gone to the day's activities with his 17-year old son who was also shot several times (in photo at right) receiving serious injuries in his back, chest, and arm, requiring hospitalization. Two others were also injured by the army's bullets. According to eyewitnesses, a member of the SOA-graduate commanded First Battalion of Engineers who had been firing into the air as the Lenca people were approaching lowered his M-16 and fired multiple shots directly at Tomas. As one woman from the community explained, “We didn’t even have a conversation with them, they didn’t say anything to us. They didn’t even wait for us to say why we there, they didn’t wait for us to say what we had to say. We saw Tomas fall, he fell from shots, including to his head.”
The murder of Tomas Garcia by the Honduran armed forces is only the latest escalation in a systemic campaign of repression against the Rio Blanco Indigenous Lenca people to try to force them into accepting a hydroelectric dam being illegally constructed in their territory. Since April 1, the communities in the area, organized in the Indigenous Lenca organization COPINH, have been blocking the access road to the dam site. The access road, like the dam, is in their ancestral territory, surrounded by their fields of corn, beans, bananas, yucca, and lush forests that they have carefully stewarded for hundreds of years. From the start, personnel of the companies building the dam threatened COPINH leaders. Community members, including children, received death threats from employees of the company and armed men appeared at the site of the roadblock and lurked around in the dark of night. Read more about the Rio Blanco community's struggle here.
When
the death threats didn't stop the community's resistence, soldiers from
the First Battalion of Engineers, commanded by SOA graduate Col. Milton
Amaya,
were deployed to the area. The soldiers serve the dam companies, eating
and sleeping at company headquarters and even driving company machinery
to try to get it past the roadblock. Soldiers have repeatedly
intimidated those who oppose the dam: they have harassed them, told them
they were criminals, came into their yards, held an M-16 up to one of
them, threatened women and children, and fired shots when community
leaders walked by. Furthermore, the First Battalion of Engineers is part
of an intense criminalization campaign
against COPINH, seemingly fabricating charges against the General
Coordinator of COPINH to try to put her in prison. Following the murder
of Tomas, SOA grad Col. Milton Amaya falsely accused COPINH and the
Lenca people of being violent in the Honduran press to try to justify
the murder and continued
militarization.
Despite a long list of human rights abuses by the Honduran military, the US continues sending millions and millions in military aid in Honduras. Some of this aid probably found its way to the unit that used one of its M-16s to murder Tomas and terrorize the Lenca people for standing up for their rights. It is no accident that the military enforces the turning over of Honduras’ natural resources to corporations; this is part of the extreme neoliberal agenda. US aid includes training, whether at the School of the Americas or by the US military on Honduran soil. SOA graduate Milton Amaya, Commander of the First Battalion of Engineers, seems to have learned well the lesson of using military might to protect corporate interests. Second Lt. Gonzalez, who was in charge of the soldiers stationed in Rio Blanco when Tomas was murdered, reported he was trained in Special Operations by US military instructors. After Tomas' death, SOA graduate General Rene Osorio Canales, the Commander of the Honduran Armed Forces, publicly justified the military’s murder of Tomas Garcia. Despite the military's murder of Tomas and their brazen justification of it, US aid continues to flow.
Click here to send an e-mail to US officials urging them to end all US aid to the Honduran military and especially ensure no aid goes to the First Battalion of Engineers, which continues to operate in Rio Blanco.
Click here to view a photo essay about Tomas Garcia and the Lenca people's struggle in Rio Blanco
Read the full article about Tomas Garcia and the struggle for Rio Blanco
The Murder of Tomas Garcia by the Honduran Military
anyone. His crime? Opposing the construction of a hydroelectric dam being illegally constructed in his Indigenous Lenca community's territory against their will. Why Tomas? He was one of the first to arrive, leading the delegation that had come to deliver a message to the companies constructing the dam at their installations in Rio Blanco. A soldier fired at him not once, not twice, at least three times from only 6 or so feet away, according to eyewitnesses.
Tomas had gone to the day's activities with his 17-year old son who was also shot several times (in photo at right) receiving serious injuries in his back, chest, and arm, requiring hospitalization. Two others were also injured by the army's bullets. According to eyewitnesses, a member of the SOA-graduate commanded First Battalion of Engineers who had been firing into the air as the Lenca people were approaching lowered his M-16 and fired multiple shots directly at Tomas. As one woman from the community explained, “We didn’t even have a conversation with them, they didn’t say anything to us. They didn’t even wait for us to say why we there, they didn’t wait for us to say what we had to say. We saw Tomas fall, he fell from shots, including to his head.”
The murder of Tomas Garcia by the Honduran armed forces is only the latest escalation in a systemic campaign of repression against the Rio Blanco Indigenous Lenca people to try to force them into accepting a hydroelectric dam being illegally constructed in their territory. Since April 1, the communities in the area, organized in the Indigenous Lenca organization COPINH, have been blocking the access road to the dam site. The access road, like the dam, is in their ancestral territory, surrounded by their fields of corn, beans, bananas, yucca, and lush forests that they have carefully stewarded for hundreds of years. From the start, personnel of the companies building the dam threatened COPINH leaders. Community members, including children, received death threats from employees of the company and armed men appeared at the site of the roadblock and lurked around in the dark of night. Read more about the Rio Blanco community's struggle here.
Despite a long list of human rights abuses by the Honduran military, the US continues sending millions and millions in military aid in Honduras. Some of this aid probably found its way to the unit that used one of its M-16s to murder Tomas and terrorize the Lenca people for standing up for their rights. It is no accident that the military enforces the turning over of Honduras’ natural resources to corporations; this is part of the extreme neoliberal agenda. US aid includes training, whether at the School of the Americas or by the US military on Honduran soil. SOA graduate Milton Amaya, Commander of the First Battalion of Engineers, seems to have learned well the lesson of using military might to protect corporate interests. Second Lt. Gonzalez, who was in charge of the soldiers stationed in Rio Blanco when Tomas was murdered, reported he was trained in Special Operations by US military instructors. After Tomas' death, SOA graduate General Rene Osorio Canales, the Commander of the Honduran Armed Forces, publicly justified the military’s murder of Tomas Garcia. Despite the military's murder of Tomas and their brazen justification of it, US aid continues to flow.
Click here to send an e-mail to US officials urging them to end all US aid to the Honduran military and especially ensure no aid goes to the First Battalion of Engineers, which continues to operate in Rio Blanco.
Click here to view a photo essay about Tomas Garcia and the Lenca people's struggle in Rio Blanco
Read the full article about Tomas Garcia and the struggle for Rio Blanco
November 22-24, 2013 at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia
Mobilize your community for the November Vigil
Year after year, Honduras continues sending more and more soldiers to be trained at the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC) in Fort Benning, Georgia.
As the ongoing repression by Honduran military forces against
the Honduran people show, it is more important than ever to close the
SOA/ WHINSEC and demand a change in US foreign policy. Click here for more information about the organizing for the November Vigil at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia!
If you would like to invite SOA Watch Honduras activante Brigitte Gynther to visit and to speak to your community in the lead up to the November Vigil, please contact her at brigitte@soaw.org!
If you would like to invite SOA Watch Honduras activante Brigitte Gynther to visit and to speak to your community in the lead up to the November Vigil, please contact her at brigitte@soaw.org!
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