Upcoming Colloquium Focuses on Political Corruption in Honduras

The Global Issues Colloquium will feature Martín Fernández, national coordinator of the Movement for Dignity and Justice, presenting ”The Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras: Justice for Berta and Beyond,” at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Student Union Building Georgian Room C.

Abstract: The presentation focuses on how the 2009 military coup in Honduras cemented the Central American nation as a hotbed of human rights abuses, the new frontier in the U.S.-led War on Drugs and an all-out plunder of national territory and resources. Those who resist are targeted and killed with a level of impunity unheard of in the 21st century in Latin America; the March assassination of beloved Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres is an example of state crime and impunity amongst many. The heart of the crisis is the U.S. policies of militarization, the legitimization of a brutal Honduran State and the promotion of crony capitalism. For the Honduran people, the results are violent and devastating, but their inspiring resistance continues.

The Movement for Dignity and Justice seeks to expose and combat state violence and corruption, while organizing communities around the principles of self-determination, ecological sustainability and collective resistance.

The Global Issues Colloquium was first developed more than a dozen years ago as an informal attempt to broaden conversations about current issues affecting the world. More recently, it has found a niche within the structure of the International Studies Program. Charged with “sustaining and enhancing an atmosphere in which global thinking becomes habitual,” the colloquiums aim to help the broader community understand the “strengths, beauties and core humanity of other cultures.” The series is presented for educational or civic purposes and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Truman State University. For more information, visit globalissues.truman.edu or contact Marc Becker.