Garifuna woman Medeline David charged by CARIVIDA Resort Released
/Yesterday after a hearing in the Trujillo court house, the judge released Medeline David Fernandez but with restrictions- she is required to regularly sign before a judge to ensure she doesn't leave the area or go to far; and she's not allowed to leave the country or go near the land reclamation efforts in her community.
The recent criminalization of Medeline is so telling of the strength of the Honduran judicial system when it wants to criminalize and punish the poor that threat powerful economic interests. OFRANEH is pointing out that it took 3 years for the judges in Trujillo to restrict Canadian developer Randy jorgensen's freedom despite having capture orders against him for various years. Randy (who actually is stealing and in illegal possession of Garifuna land) was never apprehended. Medeline is being accused of the same thing that Randy is (but she's a poor Garifuna woman defending her community's lands) and it took the state 8 days to violently capture her under the request of Canadians. She was held over night whereas Randy has never seen the inside of a jail cell.
OFRANEH and the communities of Trujillo Bay outside of the courtroom in Trujillo awaiting the results of Medeline David Fernandez's hearing. Picture by OFRANEH
The Garifuna communities in Trujillo Bay including Guadalupe, Santa Fe, Cristales and Castilla continue recuperating land that has been taken from them by the Honduran government and Canadian/American tourism and energy developers. There will be a strong need for solidarity with these communities as the government and private companies unveil their plans to privatize the port, build an oil refinery, various tourist resorts, and an airport within or part of a model city. To date, all these projects are proposed inside the six ancestral titles that belong to the Garifuna in the Trujillo Bay Area.
Finally, thanks to everyone that made calls and sent emails to express their concern about Medeline and others with charges.