The Garifuna, descendents of indigenous Caribbean islanders and African slaves, have lived for over 200 years along the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize, and on the Hondurasí Bay Islands. In Honduras their numbers are estimated anywhere from under 100,000 to over 200,000.
The Garifuna have maintained a strong cultural identity, retaining many traditional and religious practices. Most Garifuna speak their own language in addition to Spanish, and Garifuna music, dance and artwork are known throughout the Caribbean. In 2001 UNESCO declared that the Garifuna language, dance and music were one of nineteen Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, due to their “outstanding value, roots in cultural tradition, affirmation of cultural identity, source of inspiration and intercultural exchange, contemporary cultural and social role, excellence in the application of skills, unique testimony of living cultural tradition, and risk of disappearing.”
In addition, the Garifuna’s traditional ways of making a living — subsistence agriculture and fishing — are also at risk of disappearing. Their ability to farm has been persistently whittled away, as ranchers and other landowners use a variety of illegal tactics to help themselves to traditional Garifuna forest, agricultural area and reserve lands. On the coast, powerful businessmen, aided by the government, have taken over Garifuna lands for the construction of beach resorts
Although the Honduran government has signed an international agreement affirming that indigenous groups such as the Garifuna have a right to their traditional land, abuses abound. Advocates for Garifuna land and civil rights have been subject to harassment, injury, imprisonment, ìdisappearancesî and death.
Perhaps the most recent threat to the Garifuna and their land has been the Proyecto de Administración de Tierras de Honduras, or “PATH.” This project was approved in 2004 by the World Bank, and the Government of Honduras claims PATH will expand access to formal land titling, surveying, registration, and conflict resolution mechanisms. However, there has been no assurance that Garifuna land titles, some of which have been accepted since the 1900s, will be recognized. PATH also does not properly address the many conflicts that have sprung up due to the illegal attempts of industrialists, politicians, businessmen, and the military to acquire large portions of land that belongs to the Garifuna.
Greengrants has funded several groups working on behalf of the Garifuna. In 2003 Greengrants supported the work of Comité de Emergencia Garífuna de Honduras, which produced a video to build support for halting construction of a private coastal road being built illegally on communal Garifuna lands. Another 2003 grant went to the National Garifuna Council to fund formal negotiations with the government of Belize on the communal land rights of the Garifuna peoples. More recently, Greengrants has funded the Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña, OFRANEH, which has been at the center of the Garifuna’s struggle since its founding in 1977. OFRANEH works with some 48 communities on Honduras’ north coast to promote the Garifunaís political and land rights, and it has succeeded in obtaining land titled for many of them.
One of OFRANEH’s current projects is to strengthen Garifuna claims to their traditional lands by conducting community mapping of their marine and coastal resources. Such maps are important tools in delineating the areas to which the Garifuna are entitled, and in monitoring efforts to take those lands away.
On another issue, OFRANEH is supporting Garifuna skindivers and artesinal fishermen in negotiating for their economic and human rights. For divers, this includes ensuring safe working conditions — such as a limit on the number of dives per day — certification of diving equipment and provision of an appropriate number of hyperbaric chambers. OFRANEH estimates that more than 400 divers have died and 700 have received serious injuries because of unsafe working conditions.
For artisanal fishing communities, a chief concern is the depletion of fish stocks — particularly those in the onshore waters accessible by traditional dugout canoes — by trawlers and other commercial fishing operations. Other main concerns include pollution and coastal development that adversely affect coastal fisheries.
Other ongoing OFRANEH programs supported by Global Greengrants include:
- Arranging for legal assistance for Garifuna communities dealing with legal tribunals
- Informing Garifuna communities about the problems of coral “bleaching” and global warming
- Providing fishing communities with information on their rights under Honduran law and international conventions
- Exchanging information with Miskito Indians of the region on common fishing concern
- Promoting ìprotected area’ status for the wetlands of Laguna de Cacao and Papaloteca.
In addition to campaigning for Garifuna rights, OFRANEH has also been at the center of Garifuna sacrifices. Since the approval of PATH, there have been incidents of Garifuna individuals being arrested and sentenced to jail for defending land that has belonged in their families for years. In March of 2005, state authorities illegally entered the home of Miriam Miranda, an OFRANEH activist, claiming they were searching for weapons. Miranda, who has been recognized nationally and internationally for her defense of the indigenous rights, was not involved in any of the alleged activities. A more serious incident occurred on May 30, 2005, when the General Coordinator of OFRANEH, Gregoria Flores, was shot by an unknown individual and wounded in the arm. She was on her way to collect testimony of human rights violations to present to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. These incidents are unpleasant echoes of 1997, when unknown assailants murdered OFRANEH leader Jesus Alvarez Rochez.
With the passage of PATH, OFRANEH is concerned that the refusal to recognize community land titles is merely the beginning of more foreign ownership of these lands, which will lead to the continued destruction of Garifuna life and values. For this reason, OFRANEH continues to fight PATH and other actions that threaten the ancestral collective rights of the Garifuna. The battle may be a long one, but OFRANEH has shown in its 27 years of existence that it has the commitment and the support to see it through.