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UNSECO Seeks Investigation of Erick Martínez Murder

Mr. Martínez Ávila, 32, was a spokesman for Kukulcán, an organization that defends lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. According to Reporters Without Borders, his body was found on May 7, two days after he had been reported missing. He is said to have been strangled.

UNESCO
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today called for an investigation into the killing of Erick Martínez Ávila, a Honduran journalist and gay rights activist. “I condemn the murder of Erick Martínez Ávila,” UNESCO’s Director-General, Irina Bokova, said in a news release. “I am deeply concerned about this second journalist killed in Honduras in a month and call on the authorities to bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime against the basic human right of freedom of expression.”

Hampshire Group Reports Higher Sales and Profit in First Quarter

Business Wire
Hampshire Group Ltd. of New York, New York, today announced its results for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and filed its quarterly report. "Having made considerable strides in repositioning our business in 2011, we continued to gain traction in our new business model during the first quarter," said Heath L. Golden, President and CEO of Hampshire Group. "By expanding our business beyond traditional sweaters, we have positioned the Company as a growth-oriented, vertically integrated and diversified sportswear company, thereby enhancing and deepening our retail relationships and meaningfully decreasing our seasonality, as evidenced by a significant increase in net sales for the quarter. We recently effectuated additional cost reductions, which will help to accelerate our progress toward improved financial results in 2012. While the full impact of these efforts combined with our revenue growth opportunities may not be reflected in our overall 2012 results, we are confident in our strategy and look forward to reaping the benefits that will come from leveraging our design capabilities and customer relationships across our growing platforms."

AEC Acquires Telas Elasticas of Honduras

AEC
AEC Narrow Fabrics of Asheboro, North Carolina, announced the acquisition of controlling interest in Telas Elasticas SARL (Tesa) located in Honduras -- its fifth manufacturing plant. The Tesa acquisition expands AEC’s product line and development capabilities, positioning it as the most capable, full-range narrow fabrics producer in North and Central America. AEC’s President, Bob Lawson said, “This is a significant strategic step for AEC; we are now a full range supplier of narrow elastics and rigid fabrics. In Honduras, the Tesa plant will manufacture jacquards and intimate apparel elastics. AEC’s plant in El Salvador will focus on knitted production. Our capacity will grow by more than 30 percent. We have increased our ability to support our customers as they increase their production in Central and North America and move more programs back from Asia.”

FBI Arrests 28 Members of Honduran Drug Ring in Virginia

According to a criminal complaint affidavit, since between 2006 and May 2012, a contingent of Honduran immigrants living in and around Fairfax County has coordinated with sources of supply in Honduras to pay couriers to fly cocaine from Honduras to the United States on a regular basis.

FBI
Twenty-eight individuals have been arrested for their alleged roles in a cocaine trafficking ring based in Northern Virginia that uses couriers to regularly import large amounts of cocaine from Honduras hidden in shoes and decorative wooden frames. Members of the trafficking ring have allegedly wired more than US$1 million from the United States back to cocaine suppliers in Honduras. Neil H. MacBride, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the charges became public.

Minerco Negotiating Sale of Wind and Hydro-Electric Projects in Honduras

PRNewswire
Minerco Resources, Inc. of Katy, Texas, today announced it is in negotiations for the sale of its Sayab Wind Project and Iscan Hydro-Electric Project in Honduras. The company intends to divest of these assets and focus its resources on the Chiligatoro Hydro-Electric Project and in traditional energy, such as oil and gas, production and development within the United States. The properties currently being evaluating have an estimated 30 percent annual return with initial capital expenditures of between US$50,000 and US$100,000. "We are very excited about the potential of selling our rights to the Sayab and Iscan projects which would allow us to focus on our Chiligatoro project and investment opportunities in the traditional energy markets," said V. Scott Vanis, Minerco's President and CEO. Minerco Resources shares rose sharply in Thursday’s trading session. The stock ended the day 8.42 percent higher at US$0.0103 on above average volume of 9.22 million. (5/11/12)

Honduras and Costa Rica Propose Protections for Hammerheads

Fish News EU
The governments of Honduras and Costa Rica have today proposed protections for scalloped hammerhead sharks under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). According to the Pew Environment Group, who have praised the initiative, CITES is widely considered one of the best-enforced international conservation agreements. “It’s time for strong international protection for endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks,” said Maximiliano Bello, senior adviser to the Global Shark Conservation Campaign of the Pew Environment Group. “Other governments should join Honduras and Costa Rica in supporting a sustainable future for these sharks.”

Deputy Secretary Burns and President Lobo Discuss Bilateral Cooperation

By Mark C. Toner
US Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns met yesterday with Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, reaffirming the United States’ continued commitment to security and prosperity in Honduras. Deputy Secretary Burns and President Lobo discussed key areas of bilateral cooperation, including citizen security, human rights, strengthening the rule of law, and economic development. This meeting built upon bilateral discussions held earlier in the day with Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S. Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs William R. Brownfield, USAID Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean Mark Feierstein, and President Lobo.

US Backs Honduras Drug War With Forward Bases

While the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan diverted military assets away from Latin America, this trend may be reversed, as more personnel and equipment become available for anti-drug operations in the region.

By Christopher Looft
In a May 5 article titled "Lessons of Iraq Help US Fight a Drug War in Honduras", the New York Times reports on military bases the US's Southern Command (Southcom) has established in remote parts of Honduras to support anti-drug operations, in an example of the US military's increased commitment to the region. The three remote forward operating bases serve as launchpads for joint operations by the US military, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and Honduran anti-drug authorities, the Timesreports. The bases are located in rural areas close to drug handover points, and each house 55 people at a time in two-week rotations.

UPS Expands Freight Service into Honduras and Nicaragua

Honduras has developed from a largely agricultural export economy to a producer of industrial goods over the past decade...

Post&Parcel/UPS
UPS has expanded its express freight service into the growing economies of Honduras and Nicaragua. The US company said the two central American countries were emerging countries with the United States as their top trading partner. The expansion of the UPS Express Freight service offers a day-definite guarantee with its door-to-door offering, which includes customs clearance. The new service will connect customers in Nicaragua and Honduras to major trading cities in 27 different countries, including in Asia and Europe. Scott Aubuchon, UPS’s director of international air freight, said trade between the US and the two Central American countries had grown at a “remarkable rate” in recent years.

Delegation Demands Goldcorp Clean Up Mine Sites

We’ve seen people get sick and riverbeds dry up. A Honduran government health study carried out in 2007 was suppressed until 2011 in which we learned that many people tested have heavy metal poisoning. We want the company to address this.
-Reina Gamero

By Jen Moore
On April 26, a Colorado-based mine and environmental engineer, two Honduran teachers, and a Maya indigenous community leader made the long trip to Timmins, Ontario to participate in Goldcorp’s Annual General Meeting. Accompanied by several United States and Canadian member organizations of the Coalition Against Unjust Mining in Guatemala, they called upon the company to take responsibility for the cleanup at current mine sites, and alerted shareholders to outstanding public health issues, environmental degradation and conflict. “Today Timmins is celebrating 100 years as a mining town. Goldcorp’s San Martín mine in the Siria Valley in Honduras didn't even operate for ten years, and now we have problems that could last us for more than one hundred,” said Honduran high school teacher Reina Gamero to Timmins press.