By Jon Perez, Catholic Saskatoon News

As part of the non-profit Catholic organization Development and Peace-Caritas Canada (DPCC), Michael LeBlanc wants the people of Saskatchewan to be aware of the fight by human rights activists in Honduras to protect their land.

LeBlanc, the Saskatchewan and Keewatin-Le Pas regional animator for DPCC, recently facilitated a workshop about DPCC’s Stand for the Land Fall Campaign, held Oct. 21 at the Holy Spirit Parish Hall in Saskatoon. An Annual General Meeting for the diocesan DPCC committee was also conducted after the workshop.

“We work on fundraising for partners,” LeBlanc said. “We also educate Canadians to change the unjust systems that lead to poverty and loss of life abroad.”

The 2023 fall campaign is the latest such awareness and advocacy effort. “As an organization, we try to simplify things to the essential actions for our ‘parish representatives’ [and] the volunteers who take the campaign to hopefully every Catholic parish in Canada.”

The “Stand for the Land” fall campaign statement is directed at protecting the Montaña de Botaderos – Carlos Escaleras National Park from an illegal iron oxide mine. This mine threatens the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers on which the local people depend for their livelihoods in  the Guapinol region of Honduras.

DPCC recently invited Honduran human rights investigator Elvin Hernández to Canada as a “solidarity visitor,” to speak at a number of in-person and online information events about the situation in Honduras. Hernandez’s organization, ERIC-SJ, is a partner of Development and Peace and works with the Honduran environmental defenders trying to protect their homes and lively hoods along the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers…

Activists peacefully contesting the legality of the Inversiones Los Pinares iron mine and fighting to protect the environment in the region became victims of smear campaigns, have been criminalized, and even arbitrarily detained. Three of them were murdered in 2023.

The DPCC 2023 Fall Campaign advocacy letter calls on the government of Honduras to strengthen protection for human rights and environmental defenders; to investigate and prosecute those involved in the assassination of the three such defenders who died in 2023 and provide reparations to their families, and the families of “the Guapinol Eight”  (8 local activists who were unjustly detained for over 2 years); to restore the protected areas of Carlos Escaleras National Park; and to cancel all mining projects that hold irregularly issued licenses.

Signatures collected by DPCC this fall will eventually be presented to the Honduran government through Honduras’ ambassador to Canada, Beatriz Valle.

LeBlanc encourages people to bring the message not just to parishes but the wider community as well – families, workplaces, schools, retirement homes, etc. – and invite them to sign the fall campaign statement. Anyone can sign their name, city and province regardless of age, status, religion, citizenship, etc.

Local parish representatives bring copies of the letter to their congregations, often giving a short talk and encouraging those in attendance to sign the document at the end of Mass. The letter is also available for signing electronically online on the Development and Peace-Caritas Canada website: LINK.

LeBlanc said the local parish in Guapinol, Honduras has supported the local fight for their rivers, and there are indications the Catholic church in Honduras will address the issue directly and nationally.

Hernández, who works for the Jesuit-run Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación (Reflection, Research, and Communication team), explained the Jesuits’ role in their campaign during last month’s DPCC webinar.

“There’s been a long history of presence of the Jesuits in Tocoa. Since the agrarian reforms, they have fought in this area since the 70s. They’ve helped train leaders in the fight for the environment,” said Hernandez. “The [Catholic] church has been very present, accompanying the committee, and from this parish, we’ve established a bridge to which the diocese participates more directly… The church has had an important role, with more bishops aware of the issues around mining operations.”

About Development and Peace – Caritas Canada

DPCC was founded in 1967 by the Catholic bishops of Canada as the Canadian Catholic Organization of Development and Peace, and is a member of Vatican-based Caritas Internationalis, serving as the Canadian Catholic Church’s non-profit aid, relief, and development organization.

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Reporter Jonathan Perez is a parishioner at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon.