Ex Coup General Vásquez Velásquez's cousin evicts violently settlers of village Cedeño

MONDAY, 05 ABRIL DE 2010 22:31 MARVIN PALACIOS

Following the instructions of a cousin of former Armed Forces chief of Honduras, Romeo Vasquez Velasquez, some 60 policemen armed with rifles and  several civilians  carrying chainsaws  destroyed more than a dozen huts, which are the means of subsistence of about 200 villagers of Cedeño, in the municipality of  Marcovia , Choluteca, as reported by the affected.

This petition was filed to  the Committee of Relatives of Detained and Disappeared in Honduras, COFADEH, by the people themselves, who came from the south of the country on Monday, April 05.

The action was carried out through an illegal eviction order according to the analysis of the Area of Access to Justice of the Committee of Relatives of Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), where  the fishers arrived.

COFADEH argues that the court which issued the eviction order, failed to meet the five working days required for the fishermen to vacate the premises where they had  built their huts for the sale of fish and seafood, but instead, during the  same day that  the  judicial representatives appeared (Thursday, 25 March), they ordered the eviction and destruction of the huts.

"No one was injured, although most of us were women, because the fishermen were in Tegucigalpa asking for support for what had happened with Nicaragua. We didn't act, because they had like 60 soldiers and 30 civilians paid by Marina Herrera with chainsaws, axes and machetes to destroy our huts. When they did that, we implored the judge: Judge .. look we're on the beach, the beach is for  the fishermen, " narrated Marylen Sohey Amaya.

The police operation took plays days before Easter celebration and severely affected the economy of hundreds of fishermen and women who survive by selling fish and seafood. Of 21 built huts, 13 huts were destroyed with axes and chain saws.

 18 women were left without jobs

With great sadness Sandra  Lilian Reyes narrated that about 18 women who used to sell food at Easter time,  lost the opportunity to have a temporary job which meant about 2 thousand 500 lempiras as payment for the week.

"After the eviction, eight policemen were left  at his home (Benjamin Velasquez). All week the house was guarded. 

How is it possible that the fishermen, who are being killed in Nicaragua, cannot be assigned a State boat to take care of them and in Honduran waters they are killing them", said Reyes.

"This was a criminal act they did with us, so this is why we are asking for  help, because we saw  the authorities  in Choluteca  rendered all assistance to them and not to us," said the complainant.

Kenia Cardona, COFADEH human rights prosecutor, questioned  the police authorities who carried out the eviction, which allowed civilians armed with guns and chainsaws to  demolish the buildings.

The affected women reported that Benjamin Velasquez and Marina Herrera promoted the violent eviction before the courts in Choluteca, without allowing them an adequate defense and deliberately  ignoring  the permit fishermen and women have through the municipality of Marcovia.

The complainants argued that Benjamin Velasquez assured them that he is a cousin of former Chief  of the Armed Forces, Romeo Vasquez Velasquez, and as such, had friends in the police and political influence.

Apparently Marina Herrera and Benjamín Velasquez  acquired a piece of land in November last year and argue that they own it  freehold and is registered in the Land Registry.

However,  the boundaries of such land does not match the sector in which  the twenty businesses selling fish and shellfish  are located, which  have worked for over 10 years along the beach and are the property of the inhabitants of Cedeño .

Sohey Marylen Amaya complained about the attitude assumed by the president of the Federation of Fishermen of Honduras (Fenapescah) Felix Paz (brother-in-law of Benjamin Velasquez), who did not warn them of the eviction.

"He knew very well that they would come to  evict us from  our land and to demolish our huts, because during the same day they were doing it, I spoke with him and he was not present to defend us, which means that he too was a participant of what happened that day, "said Amaya.

For her part, Mrs. Sandra Lilian Reyes said "they never ever sent us an eviction order. What's more, that day, we asked the judge for it, and he said  'here I have it ' but he  never gave it to us."

COFADEH believes that the procedure used by the court to pursue the eviction in  Choluteca is deeply flawed by errors of procedure and even abuse of authority, because it  didn't allow the right to defense of the affected .

Also, the court ignored the fact that the beaches are national and that the land occupied by fishermen of Cedeno have been used for over 10 years.

This eviction  evidences the serious problem faced by thousands of poor families in the country, whose properties are at the expense of greedy landowners and malicious politicians, who use their influence to affect communitie, which like  in the case of Cedeno, live from fishing in the Gulf of Fonseca.
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