Radio La Voz de Zacate Grande
The Amapala Court gave orders for the arrest of Pedro Canales, Danilo Osorio, Rafael Osorio, Wilmer Rivera and Santos Benito Perez, renowned community leaders in the area, accused of the crime of usurpation of land and tax fraud, the latter, as the alleged case of crime related to the operations of community radio La Voz de Zacate Grande (97.1FM) which emits its signal in a radius of 25 km to about 10 communities in the Gulf of Fonseca.
Reports gathered by the Committee of Relatives of Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) and complaints transmitted through Radio Globo, of national coverage, reflected the anxiety that prevailed among communities by the presence of hundreds of troops from the Naval Base of Amapala, the 11th Infantry Battalion and the National Police.
It has been reported that investigation officers questioned residents about the whereabouts of the farmers who are subjects of arrest warrants, but what's worse is that they threatened to evict many families living in Puerto Grande, lands which are claimed as his own by landlord and agroindustrial Miguel Facussé, although its population has been living for over a century in the peninsula.
Another concern expressed by fishermen and farmers was if the military and police proceeded to tear down the transmission tower and equipment and if they destroyed the community radio Voz of Zacate Grande. The situation was tense and alerted the Cofadeh to urge the national authorities, the national and international community to closely monitor the situation which the Zacate Grande communities are going through because they can result from serious human rights violations.
"From La Voz de Zacate Grande we have denounced abuses by the oligarchy in the coup and the threat that businessman Miguel Facussé has made to stay with our lands," said one of the journalists who works for community radio.
According to the Constitution of the Republic and to international conventions the right to information that the communities have not be restricted, be it in the case of radios, television and print media. The prosecution is required to verify such a delicate situation as repression against the media.
On the other hand, the Public Prosecutor should check what are the instructions received by military and police who carried out this operation in the area, to foresee that there are no confrontations with civilians, a situation that may aggravate the current climate of lawlessness of the current regime .
Last time it was reported that police and military have withdrawn to Playa Virgen (Virgin Beach), a place where the summer mansions of the famous Coyolito Club are located, composed of recognized characters in the political and business life of the country, but not before threatening inhabitants that if they cut the yellow ribbon placed at the entrance of the community radio, they would face serious problems.
The Movement of Land Recovery and Titling in Zacate Grande and the Association for the Development of the Peninsula Zacate Grande (ADEPZA) announced a series of demonstrations to protest against the intentions of capturing community leaders, against the threats made by the businessman Miguel Facussé and for La Voz de Zacate Grande to be allowed to resume transmission .
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