Honduras Now Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Many are thinking about and watching what is going on in Gaza and Israel. The parallels of North American support for a dictatorship in Honduras and the strategies of transnational resistance provide hope and inspire action from all of us to stop the bombing of Gaza and the murder of innocent people.

This episode announces an upcoming campaign as ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández's trial in New York is set to start in four months. Then Karen shares a panel presentation she participated in mid-September called Nonviolent Resistance to Overthrow Dictatorships & Occupations organized by World Beyond War as part of their #NoWar2023 conference. The presentation shares some of the ways that people can act to change global issues and abuses from their own cities and towns around the world. #FreePalestine #AnotherWorldIsPossible

For the full panel presentation, World Beyond War's #NoWarConference, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlGdq6s8HmZoqi6T1YEftxGtnaxjBKq1G

Coming soon. 'US and Canada-backed Narco-State on Trial in New York' campaign: A campaign to hold the U.S., Canada & the “international community” accountable for 12 years of support and legitimization of Honduras’ drug-trafficking President and Narco-State.

Campaign launch January 2024. Trial in New York currently scheduled for February 5, 2024. More information and to donate to support the trial campaign, go to hondurasnow.org.

IG: @HondurasNow

X/Twitter: @HondurasNow

Thanks for listening!

In the last few weeks, Honduras has hit the international press, and not for good reasons. Host Karen Spring discusses violence, trauma, and Honduran culture and challenges with Faridd Sierra, a Honduran that grew up in the U.S. but has since moved back to live in Honduras. Since returning, Faridd has been closely following the human rights, political, and social situation in Honduras and tweets regularly at @AllThingsHonduras

The resources mentioned by Faridd in this episode:

• The Long Honduran Night: Resistance, Terror, and the United States in the Aftermath of the Coup by Dana Frank
• Ottawa and Empire: Canada and the military coup in Honduras by Tyler Shipley
• Cipotes, by Ramón Amaya Amador
• Prisión Verde, by Ramón Amaya Amador (the last two may be difficult to find in the U.S. and Canada).
• Song: La Huelga, by Mario de Mezapa (or any song by him)

Follow us at:

Twitter: @HondurasNow

Instagram: HondurasNow

For show notes, monthly news summaries, and to read the U.S. Intervention Monitor, go to hondurasnow.org. Thank you to our listeners and donors.

U.S. banana companies have a long history in Honduras. Their historical involvement in providing education has shaped some of the ways in which the Honduran education system developed, particularly along the north coast.

Today, we speak with Kate Kedley, a professor and activist about her long relationship with Honduras, including her interesting insights into a range of issues including english education, employment, globalization, the banana campos, and adoption

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Thanks for listening. Please check us out on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (@HondurasNow) for day-to-day Honduran news, videos, and pictures that complement our episodes.

On January 27, President Xiomara Castro was inaugurated in the presence of thousands of Honduras and several international invitees in the national stadium in Tegucigalpa. It was an exciting celebration that marks the start of a new era for Honduras, despite the existence of a Congressional crisis that could have put President Xiomara's progressive agenda in jeopardy.

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Follow us on Instagram & Twitter for stories, posts and news that complement the episodes: @HondurasNow

Thank you to our donors for keeping this podcast going!

On November 28, almost 70% of Hondurans eligible to vote went to the polls and elected Xiomara Castro as their next President. The victory represents a slam dunk win for the LIBRE party but also for the Honduran people, who voted in masses to end the 12-year U.S.-backed narco-dictatorship.

Host Karen Spring interviews Honduran women in the social movement and human rights organizations about their responses to Xiomara's victory. She gives an overview of election celebrations, the results of the Congressional level, and outlines some of the difficulties facing the new government that takes power on January 27, 2022.

Check out our show notes: hondurasnow.org

Find us on IG, Twitter, and Facebook.

Thank you to the donors of this podcast. Happy holidays to everyone!

On November 28, 2021, Hondurans will go to the polls to vote in the 2021 general elections. What route will the country take?

Host Karen Spring gives an overview of the basics about the election and then plays an interview with Honduran sociologist Eugenio Sosa.

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Fb: @HondurasNow

Shownote: hondurasnow.org

Thank you for your generous donations to this podcast.

As the COP26 is meeting in Glasgow, UK, Honduran communities maintain their resistance against "clean" energy projects proposed in their communities. These types of projects are often financed in the name of mitigating climate change but create social conflict and environmental destruction in the communities where they are proposed. The Jilamito dam project in Arizona, Atlántida is an example of one of these projects. We learn about this project and put it and others in the context of the global efforts to allegedly combat climate change.

Show notes: hondurasnow.org

Instagram: @HondurasNow

Twitter: @HondurasNow

Facebook: Honduras Now

On September 17, political prisoners Edwin Espinal and Raúl Alvarez were acquitted! Host Karen Spring shares her experiences of working to free Edwin and Raúl while thanking each and every person who helped them along the way. This small victory shows the power of national and international solidarity.

Check out Honduras Now on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hondurasnow/

Twitter: @hondurasnow

Facebook: Honduras Now

Show notes and past episodes at: hondurasnow.org

On Monday, September 13, 2021, political prisoners Edwin Espinal & Raúl Alvarez will stand trial on trumped up charges stemming from the 2017 electoral crisis. Both were released from pre-trial detention in August 2019 but are not fully in the clear. The trial next week will determine whether they will be sent back to prison for 15 to 30 years.

Listen to a summary of the case and hear an interview with Edwin Espinal, the day after he was released from a maximum-security prison in 2019. Edwin describes the conditions inside the prison including how the relatively new maximum-security prisons in Honduras are similar to the US prison model.

To take action in support of Edwin and Raul, go to:

1. bit.ly/edwinyraul - send a message to your Congressional rep
2. bit,ly/edwinyraul2 - send a letter to the Honduran authorities

For more information and updates on the case:

Twitter: @EdwinLibertad

Facebook: Free Edwin Espinal Libertad

Find the podcast's social media and the show notes:

Twitter: @HondurasNow

Facebook: Honduras Now

Instagram: Honduras Now

Show notes: https://www.hondurasnow.org

Thank you so much to all the individuals that have donated to the podcast. You keep us going. Thanks for listening!

On July 5, a Sentencing court in Tegucigalpa convicted Roberto David Castillo Mejía for the murder of indigenous activist and environmentalist, Berta Cáceres. Castillo is a US-trained military intelligence officer and the former President of the dam company, DESA, that tried to build the Agua Zarca dam on the Gualcarque river. Berta Cáceres, along with COPINH and the communities of Rio Blanco, opposed the project and led a national and international campaign to stop it.

This episode highlights the key points from the trial including the ways in which the criminal structure surrounding the Agua Zarca project was exposed in court. Testimony, Whatsapp chat messages, phone calls, and telephone antenna information were used to build the case against Castillo, and also revealed the involvement of DESA's executives and investors in plotting the murder as well.

#JusticiaParaBerta #FaltaLosAtalas

For a complete, day-to-day summary of the trial in English, see: aquiabajo.com/blog

For the episode's show notes: hondurasnow.org

Follow us on Instagram: @HondurasNow