Why Tortuguita’s Murder is only The Tip of The Iceberg

For 200 years, the cemetery in Azacualpa, Honduras was the resting site of generations of Chorti people, descendants of the Indigenous Mayans. But in January 2022, in the middle of the night, the Canadian-based mining company Aura Minerals destroyed the sacred burial site to get at the gold beneath it. In the morning, the people woke up to find the bodies of their loved ones gone — to where, they still have no idea.   The community of Azacualpa is unified under the Committee for People Affected by MINOSA, the subsidiary of Aura Minerals that has operated the San Andrés mine in Azacualpa since 2009 and sold extracted gold abroad to companies that include Asahi Refining and Auramet International, both of which have refineries in the United States. …The people of Azacualpa have not only used the law but also their bodies to resist the mine. In 2014, the community blockaded the entrance of the mine after learning of the company’s plans to expand into the cemetery, a violation of a 2012 agreement made with municipal authorities and representatives to relocate the mine. A few weeks later, military and police retaliated with beatings, tear gas and arrests. In 2015, the community tried again, prompting more arrests…“In our community there are more than 200 areas where we could get water, but they have disappeared because of the contaminants like cyanide that the company uses, which get discharged into the rivers,” Rodríguez said.