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September
5, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 15Oakland,
CA
Honduran priest struggles for economic justice
If there is anyone who has dedicated a great part of
his life to protecting the environment, it is Father Jose Andres Tamayo
Cortez, who is Salvadoran by birth but heads of one of the most significant
struggles for justice and the environment in Honduras.
The 47-year-old priest is winner of the Goldman environmental prize for
Central and South America, which is known as the Nobel of ecology. He
visited the Bay Area at the end of June to speak about the economic, environmental
and public health impact of the free trade agreement between the United
States and Central America known as CAFTA.
The pact was then being considered by Congress and has since been approved.
During his visit, the priest voiced his opposition to the agreement.
Father Tamayo directs the Environmental Movement of Olancho, a coalition
of farmers, community leaders and religious workers who are defending
their land against the uncontrolled cutting of forests for commercial
purposes. He said that congressional approval of CAFTA would be devastating
to the countries of Central America.
“The free trade agreement would require privatization of basic services,
such as potable water, health and telecommunications; it would create
more exploitative factories, or maquilas, with low salaries, which would
drive more people into poverty. And this is not to mention the exploitation
of our natural resources, which the foreign companies are already doing
and which is contaminating our environments,” he said.
On May 28, 2003, the U.S. signed a free trade agreement with five Central
American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
On May 5, 2004, the Dominican Republic joined the treaty, which became
known as DR-CAFTA. It then needed congressional approval as a final step.
Under CAFTA, 80 percent of consumer and industrial exports and more than
half of the agricultural exports from the United States to Central America
will now immediately enter free of tariffs.
For the United States, the countries in DR-CAFTA represent the second
largest export market in Latin America after Mexico.
But for Father Tamayo, these policies threaten the livelihoods of rural
families and favor large corporations, since the price of raw materials
remains low with cheap imports.
“In rural areas of Honduras only 3.8 percent of the population is
educated. They don’t know that they are being cheated with the free
trade agreement. Another problem is corruption: Honduras ranks 117 among
the 134 most corrupt countries. Laws are fragile and there is no one to
apply them. There, it is not a government of people but of money,”
said Father Tamayo.
In contrast, those who support CAFTA hope it will become the basis for
laws that support intraregional commerce as well as social, political
and economic development.
Gelio Ramos, a San Francisco businessman who exports non-perishable foods
such as sweet bread and soft drinks, from Central America to the United
States will be one of the beneficiaries under the free trade agreement.
“It would help me because then I wouldn’t have to pay such
high tariffs to bring in products,” he said before the pact was
approved.
Central American governments have also shown their support for CAFTA and
have indicated that it could even help reduce the flow of migrants between
the region and the U.S.
While the project was under consideration by the U.S. Congress, Father
Tamayo traveled there after his visit to the Bay Area in order to ask
legislators in Washington not to approve CAFTA.
Battles like these, often in defense of the environment, have meant that
some landlords have placed a price on his head. Nevertheless, the priest
said that he will continue to defend the least fortunate. “I am
alive, and I don’t know how long I can last. The people love me
and God loves me and both want me to keep working.”
According to the priest, seven people who fought to protect natural resources
have been killed in the area where he works, and he doesn’t know
if he will be the next “but as long as I live I will continue my
struggle for justice in Honduras.”
And as Father Tamayo said when he was awarded the Goldman environmental
prize, “Natural resources are the right of humankind; therefore,
to destroy God’s creation is to try to kill a person; the last recourse
we have is to defend life with our own life.”
Father Jose Andres Tamayo Cortez
