Day 3: Meeting with the Honduran Congress

On the eve of our departure from Honduras, we finally find ourselves in an opulent wood panelled room, flanked with portraits of every Honduran president of the Congress since independence. Someone observes that they are all men, and all are light skinned and European looking, unlike most Hondurans of darker complexion. This would send shivers down the spine of the Development and Peace diversity committee.

President Roberto Micheletti has finally agreed to see the delegation after several requests from the MPs, from Caritas, and from the Canadian embassy in Costa Rica.

The MPs have come to the conclusion during the trip that the only viable way forward towards a mining law that reflects the concerns of the communities affected and the whole country in general is to press forward with a reforms bill that has been the topic of much controversy in Honduras. Despite the fact that the current bill reflects all the demands of civil society and the communities, a sector in civil society is still demanding a new law, rather than reforms, a process that would allow mining companies to continue taking advantage of the current legal vacuum for several more years. The reforms bill proposes a ban on open pit mining and the use of cyanide and mercury in mining, increased taxation, better social and environmental controls and sets out that communities must be consulted before a mining concession is approved, and can veto the project if they are opposed – the enactment of Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC).

“Some mining companies have taken advantage of the current lack of adequate law,” Arnoldo Aviles, president of the Bill Committee, told the delegation. “Some have paid no tax for the last 20 years, and have promised social projects to communities then failed to live up to their promises.

“We want a just law, that will protect human life, the environment and our water sources, and at the same time not frighten away investors. A law that we can be proud of, that will serve as a model for other Latin American countries.”

President Micheletti finally affirms to the delegation that if the Executive returns the reforms bill to the Congress, it will be fully debated before the end of the session.