By Rev. Deborah Lee, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Tonight, I depart for Honduras to participate in a delegation coordinated by the SHARE Foundation. It is difficult to step away from the daily
realities that we are responding to together, especially knowing that several of our community leaders are detained. But I will carry you all with me as I take this opportunity to honor the legacy of Berta Cáceres and Juan López, who, even in their death, inspire us with their vision to face the crises confronting us here in this part of the Americas.
Our delegation will attend the 10th Anniversary memorial of Berta Cáceres, the Honduran environmental and indigenous leader who was brutally murdered in 2016 for her efforts to fight for the integrity and thriving of Lenca indigenous territory against the destructive practices of governments and transnational corporations. In 2015, she received the Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco in recognition of her courageous efforts to defend and protect the Honduran rivers, forests, and lands from devastation.
Ten years ago, I had the privilege to attend her unforgettable public memorial service and witnessed the fierceness of organizations determined to continue her legacy, so that people can stay at home and not be forced to migrate.
Over this last decade, we, as an organization and many of you, learned from and accompanied Honduran new arrivals to the United States who have been part of a forced exodus years after the 2009 coup. Together, we desired to learn more about the root causes of migration, and IM4HI co-led three pilgrimages on the Root Causes of Migration in Honduras and Central America- in 2015, 2016, and 2019.
A total of 160 faith leaders traveled with us during those pilgrimages to Honduras as part of this campaign to learn and talk about the root causes of migration. We painfully learned that many of the root causes pointed back to us, and our work with new arrivals from Honduras and Central America took on an understanding of co-responsibility for the actions of US foreign policy and US corporations.
See our 2019 report on Root Causes.
One of our faith guides and teachers on these pilgrimages, Juan López, came to the US in 2019 and spoke with many congregations. He reminded us that Honduras has been violated by a relentless PATTERN of US violence: He said, “Who supported the coup d’état in 2009? …Who provides weapons, equipment, money, and military advice to the Juan Orlando Hernandez regime? Where do the bombs that the police and military launch over the town come from? The violence of the unjust order is cruel; every day, girls and boys die, women, young people, and men in hospitals, in the fields, in all corners of the country, and before those crimes and acts of violence, the embassy is silent….We are not a violent people, we are not an inferior people, as the United States is not superior; there cannot be first, second, or third-class peoples. All people are equal in rights, that is why we demand relations of respect and equality.”
In September of 2024, Juan López was assassinated while coming out of church for using his prophetic voice to defend the rights of nature and the community of Guapinol since 2014.
While I am in Honduras this time, I am eager to visit with those who have been deported back to Honduras after living for decades as our neighbors here in the United States. Some of them had been plaintiffs and organizers of hunger strikes inside immigration detention here in California.
And of course, I look forward to seeing our hosts and teachers Fr. Ismael ‘Melo’ Moreno, SJ, and the wonderful staff of Radio Progreso. Fr. Melo and the staff are incredible as they continue to be a critically essential cultural and political voice and force for the people.
This is a pivotal time in Central and Latin America, with U.S. election intervention, neocolonialism, and the forced return of thousands of people affecting the region.
If you’d like to learn more about Berta and Juan, watch these videos:
Berta – Mother of All Rivers (Full)
Juan Lopez – La voz de la 1 montana (only in Spanish at this time)
I will carry your greetings and your solidarity, and look forward to sharing with you. I’ll be posting stories on Instagram @im4humanintegrity and you can follow the week’s events through Radio Progreso’s reporting on Facebook.
Peace,
Rev. Deborah Lee
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
