The decision by Dutch development bank, FMO, and Finnish finance company, Finnfund, to “seek to exit” the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project has been welcomed by Friends of the Europe Europe.
In an announcement today, FMO said it took the decision after a court in Honduras pressed charges against four individuals in connection with the murder of the indigenous rights and environmental activist Berta Cáceres. One of the suspects is the acting manager for social and environmental matters for the Honduran company DESA, the developer of the Agua Zarca project.
FMO and FinnFund have said they will organise a mission to Honduras, to take place as soon as possible and comprised of independent experts, to develop a strategy for exiting the project.
Berta was murdered on March 2, 2016, after leading the COPINH (Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras) struggle against the hydroelectric AguaZarca project along the Gualcarque River. The conflict around the AguaZarca project has resulted in many human rights violations and killings.
Anne van Schaik, from Friends of the Earth Europe, said:
“It has taken too long for FMO and FinnFund to take this decision, as COPINH and the Lenca people have been calling on both financial institutions for years to withdraw from the project. However, today’s decision shows that FMO and Finnfund are at least showing they are aware of the problems with the AguaZarca project.’
Over the last few years COPINH has repeatedly contacted FMO, insisting that they should not fund the Agua Zarca project, as the project sponsor had not obtained the required free, prior, informed consent of the indigenous Lenca people, and because land titles had not been properly obtained.
On March 16, 2016, following the news that Nelson Garcia, another member of COPINH, had been assassinated (despite the international spotlight being on Honduras following Berta’s murder), both FMO and Finnfund (and subsequently CABEI, the third financier) announced that they would temporarily suspend all disbursements towards the Agua Zarca project.
The decision to exit the project brings an end to the involvement of the two European financiers. Friends of the Earth Europe is calling on the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) to follow suit and formally announce their exit from the project. None of these financiers should continue to support projects like these hydroelectric projects which are affecting communities and their land.
Friends of the Earth Europe is demanding that the Dutch government and other EU member states introduce binding regulation for financial institutions in order to avoid more human rights violations associated with financiers of mega projects. The group has also reiterated its call for an independent investigation to take place into the circumstances of Berta’s death, conducted by IACHR.
Gustavo Castro Soto, director of Friends of the Earth Mexico (Otros Mundos), who was injured in the same attack where Berta was murdered, said:
“Finnfund and FMO are partly responsible for the violence and the murder of Berta Cáceres. Financing the project Agua Zarca helped prompt continued threats to and repression of COPINH. They provided funding without consulting the Lenca indigenous peoples, violating their human rights. They have to end their involvement in the project Agua Zarca, of course. But they also should ensure they do not make the same mistake again with other projects.”
