National Advisory Council to the Indigenous

Maya-Chortì of Honduras

CONIMCHH

Land preposal

Copán Ruinas, Copán

August 2004
I.- Background

In 1994 an indigenous movement began for the recovery of land, a struggle which our
ancestors had begun, with an effort to organize ourselves. It was very important
concerning this that we realized while we had begun this organization and processes
such as development they contained specific risks and tensions between indigenous
peoples and land tenants, and indigenous peoples and government. It is important to
note that the land of the people of Maya Chorti is not significantly unique within
Honduras as their subsistence and reproduction comes from tangible factors. Also the
ancestral wealth that we lost in the past we have an obligation to recover, for the
transcendence of the spiritual and survival of our culture

Our population oscillates between 34,000 and 35,000 inhabitants, distributed over 66
communities that have meeting groups in the departments of Copan and Octoepeque in
the east of Honduras. At present the 66 communities are organized; 48 in the
department of Copan and 18 in the department of Ocotepeque, and all are represented in
the national council of Maya Chorti, CONIMCHH.

At these times maintenance of this priority, the struggle for the return of our ancestral
lands, has come with the support of the friendly institutions OCDIH, PATRONATO
REGIONAL OCCIDENTE, DIAKONIA, OXFAM, APSO. Together we´re developing important
efforts on coordination for the management and mobilization of resources, strengthening
institutional relations, and organizing education, health, human rights, culture, religion,
common vision of Maya, effective political and infrastructure, as well as others.

The recovery of our ancestral lands has been a very important struggle to organize, and
has only been realized these last 6 years. The processes we have developed have come
with many risks and tensions between indigenous peoples and the landowners and
government.

It is important to note that the land of the people of Maya Chorti is not significantly
unique as its subsistence and reproduction comes from tangible factors. Also the
ancestral wealth that we lost in the past we have an obligation to recover, for the
transcendence of the spiritual and survival of our culture

While the process of reinventing our lands was a notable moment of importance, there
have been markedly slow results in obtaining land treaties and the drive for other
initiatives and linking the development to the people of Maya Chorti. This is mainly
because of the death of our leader candido Amador Recinos, assassinated on the 12th of
April 1997 for the land treaties he worked on in Copan Ruinas. With Candido a total of 6
leaders have been assassinated to this date.

This was the impetus for the population of Chorti to begin a series of actions of pressure
culminating on the 12th of May in the same year with the agreement and signing of the
government of the republic and CONIMCHH. In this agreement the government agreed to
commit 14,700 hectares of agricultural land, resolved our problems with health,
education, human rights, infrastructure, legalization of our organization, technical
assistance, and began an investigation into the assassination of Candido Amador.
 The Organs of the Organization

The social and political organization of the Maya Chorti People is structured into councils.
The communities’ scope is over the Rural Council, in each region there is a Council of
Regional Indigenous Maya Chorti, CRIMCH; and on national level a National Council of
Indigenous Maya Chorti of Honduras, CONIMCHH, carrying the most authority of the
organization.

Each one of the councils rural, regional, and national is integrated with 12 advisors with
specific responsibilities:

- Advisor senior
- Advisor junior
- Advisor Secretary
- Advisor of Land and environment
- Advisor of Women
- Advisor of Education
- Advisor of Health
- Advisor of Culture
- Advisor of Administration
- Advisor of Communication
- Advisor of the Aged
- Advisor of Finance

According to the agreement of our statute, the period of management for each Council is
2 years and the councils are reelected by the community.

The Rural Council is elected by in an assembled community, the Regional Council by a

regional congress and the National Council by a national assembly, with participation of
160 delegates and observers who also helped provided the community with indigenous
organization.

II JUSTIFICACION

The National Council of Indigenous Maya Chorti of Honduras (CONIMICHH) has

completed efforts and is securely making improvements from the point of view of social,
political, and cultural benefits to the people of Maya Chorti, the goal is sustainable
achievements with the land. This goal of the recovering of land is stretching local
relations however the joint actions that come from CONIMCHH as it implements its own
strategies come with the support of multiple organizations national and international that
we accompany

The projects of agricultural development, education, health infrastructure, and others

were executed in conjunction with large, strong communities which had insured the
communal land and, above all the land productivity. In the same way that the
communities agreed on the land we think that there are possibilities for major
agreements and the resolution of different problems that affect us.
The plan for development from our perspective is credit generating permanent solutions
to the different requirements for material, spiritual, and intellectual needs within our
population. These efforts for precise integral solutions are compatible with or social and
cultural characteristics and credit which is environmentally sustainable and economically
just; the most important credit promoting exercise is the full, transparent participation
and interaction of subjects and actors of the process.

This interpretation of development occupies a privileged position. The active

participation of the protagonist population within the process, at all stages is the goal,
taking decisions on every aspect related to the development, participation, and the
formulation of the proposals and participation in the design and implementation of these
strategies and their guides. Without this element, vital to the whole project, the proposal
is incomplete. The degree of advancement we see is evident in these communities that
have seen the benefits of land, when landownership has been cancelled and land
provided to the Indigenous communities, as we can see in the following table.

At this sensitive time the government can test out measures with the agreement of the
Indigenous Communities that have the opportunity to improve the conditions of life
through projects, productivity and social factors and that help to complete our objectives,
or to be a bridge of cooperation or mediating self management. When you know without
land there is no tomorrow you know it is necessary to repeat your rights and achieve
what you were promised.
 Land priorities in order of payment

Nº COMMUNITY PROPRIOTER MZ.

1 Buena Vista José Villanueva 100 Mz.

2 Achiotes, Agua Caliente Copán Mauricio Arias 228 Mz

3 Porvenir I, Porvenir II, Agua Caliente Santa Ernesto Castejón 250 Mz

Rosita
4 Monte los Negros, Chilar Héctor Cueva 88 Mz

5 San Isidro José Roberto Rosa 64 Mz

6 Corralitos Rafael Gonzáles 30 Mz

7 Zapote Copán Deysi Orbelina Cueva 80 Mz

8 Aldea Nueva Estanzuela Manuel Cueva 58 Mz

9 La Laguna Copán Francisco Cueva 107 Mz

10 Boca del Monte Cesar Cueva 260 Mz

11 Laguna el Paraíso Julio Santos Marín 60 Mz

12 Chonco Guadalupe Guerra 60 Mz

13 Carrizalón Perfecto Guerra 18 Mz

14 Miramar Cabañas Reinaldo Guerra 200 Mz

15 Chonco Manuel de Jesús Guerra 100 Mz

16 Hacienda San Juan Donaldo Interiano 160 Mz.

17 La Pintada Rosa de Jesús Axume 25 Mz.

18 San Rafael Ayax Antonio Cruz 60 Mz.

19 Carrizalón Jorge Guerra 42 Mz.

20 Azacualpa Ocotepeque José Maria Villela 160 Mz.

21 Plan del Périco Cabañas Irma Idalia Guerra 150 Mz.

22 San Francisco Cones Serafín Tahúra 60 Mz.

23 Flores Paraíso Juan Antonio Monroy 30 Mz.

24 Monte los Negros Argelia Cruz 15 Mz.

25 Corralitos Berta Hernández 6 Mz.

26 Boca del Monte Hector Arnulfo Cueva 110 Mz.

27 Monte los Negros Francisco Portillo 60 Mz.

28 Carrizalito II Juan Morales 1 ½ Mz.

Total 2,582.50 Mz

Our Preposal:

In this document and for the wish of the Indigenous People of the Maya Chorti of
Honduras, we express and reiterate the causes and protections in the agreement No.
169 and the article No. 346 of the Constitution of the republic; The solicited Mr. President
of the Republic Manuel Zelaya Rosales has put forward the following demands of the
people Chorti.

1) Our expectations are focused on the urgent implementation of the writings in the
Government of Honduras and CONIMCHH, of the 13th of May 1997.

2) The agreement completed in conjunction with the themes and our just sentiment
on the basis of initial and continuing process of sustainable development in the
areas of farming development, health, education, infrastructure, human rights,
and basic justice

We place emphasis on the necessity of carrying out, in a much shorter period of

time, an agreement on the term “LANDS” for considering with strategies most
focused on conditions of Hunger, poverty, and social exclusion of these victims.

We recognize the effort and the government projects that have been carried out
for the resolution of our problem, however it is important to say that these efforts
are insufficient for everything, this is demonstrated with clarity by the problems of
political will power for carrying out signed obligations. This situation after 3 years
has begun to generate distrust and enormous frustration within our population.

In this atmosphere, we are preoccupied with the manner of slowness with which
the change has been effected and with which the process of carrying out these
changes has been implemented, irrespective of the Agreement No. 169 of the OIT
on Indigenous peoples and Tribes, of which the government of Honduras is a
subscriber

We appeal to Mr. President of the republic, and to his disposition of collective

effort with the people of Honduras, to reduce poverty and resolve the differences
necessary to drag indigenous people up from over 500 years of poverty. We are
totally convinced that our problem has a place in your agenda and during your
management governmental projects and spending will result in a grand impact on
the quality of life for the majority of our community associates. With these
comments we would like to present, as manner of example, a valuation of our
processes of struggle and our concerns; we hope that this stimulates your interest
 in knowing more profoundly our ideas, strengths and weaknesses, and also marks
the necessary identifications from our perspective.

The previous expression of our proposal follows:

3) Order the relevant authorities to make the payment for the effective land
prioritized in the negotiations that have been the central message of our
organization. Because foreigners are buying land that was owned to our
people, we consider our organization is owed on the basis of Lps
40,000.00 forty thousand per manzana x 2,582.50 that is 103,300,000.00
(one hundred and three million three hundred thousand exactly). The
same lands are to have an evaluation of the measures and pending titles in the
expropriation directive No. 8 of the Agricultural reform, of the departments of
Copan and Ocotepepeque.

It is necessary to mention that in the article No. 14 numeral 2 of the convention

169 where it mentions: The governments must take measures that are necessary
to determine the land which the peoples of interest occupied traditionally and
guarantee the protection and effective rights allowed by their position.

Article 346 Of the “constitution of the Republic” reads it is the duty of the state
to create measures for the protection and rights and interests of indigenous
communities existing in the country, especially the lands and forests their
ancestors owned.