Jesuit Priest “Father Melo” and Escalating Unrest in Honduras
Ismael “Melo” Moreno is an Afro-descendant Jesuit priest in northern Honduras. He is known by his nickname as Father Melo, reflecting his warm and charismatic personality. For the last 20 years he has led two social action projects of the Society of Jesus in Honduras: Radio Progreso, which was founded in the 1950s and ERIC, which was founded in 1980. ERIC translated to English is the Reflection, Research and Communication Team. It was created as a service to Catholic parishes in the area of El Progreso to help people reflect on and understand the political and economic situation in Honduras and its impacts on their lives. Radio Progreso is broadcast from El Progreso, with transmission in San Pedro Sula and also Tegucigalpa.
Both of these entities focus on issues of violence and injustice in Honduras and work in support of the country’s underserved such as indigenous and Afro-Honduran people, peasants, women and youth. They involve a large base of lay people promoting the equitable development of the country, addressing flaws in government and electoral systems, promoting civic participation and defending the environment against the onslaught of agribusiness and mining interests.
In 2015 Father Melo received the Rafto Prize, created in honor of a Norwegian human rights activist and in 2016 he was asked by students at the National University of Honduras (UNAH) to negotiate on their behalf for grievances against the administration. Father Melo worked closely with Berta Caceres, the environmental heroine who was assassinated in 2016.
Honduras has a long history of exploitation and injustice, but since the U.S. supported the coup against President Zelaya in 2009, circumstances and corruption have gotten even worse. In the north, Afro/Garifuna, indigenous people and other poor peasants continue to lose land to agribusiness, such as the palm oil plantations, luxury tourism companies devouring beachfront properties and the drug-dealing criminals.
In 2015 President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) orchestrated a violation of the constitution so that he could run for an illegal second consecutive term; and then in the November 2017 election, when Orlando was losing to the Alianza opposition candidate, the vote count was stopped and JOH was declared the winner. Both the OAS and the EU cast doubts on the validity of the election, but the U.S. approved it.
After this illegal and flawed election, there were protests in Tegucigalpa and elsewhere in the country. Over 30 people have been killed and many more injured by the National Police and Army and criminalized and jailed for trumped up charges. In December the transmission tower near Tegucigalpa for Radio Progreso was vandalized and put out of service. Father Melo and his colleagues have received numerous death threats, as have other human rights defenders around the country. His life is seriously at risk.
Both of these entities focus on issues of violence and injustice in Honduras and work in support of the country’s underserved such as indigenous and Afro-Honduran people, peasants, women and youth. They involve a large base of lay people promoting the equitable development of the country, addressing flaws in government and electoral systems, promoting civic participation and defending the environment against the onslaught of agribusiness and mining interests.
In 2015 Father Melo received the Rafto Prize, created in honor of a Norwegian human rights activist and in 2016 he was asked by students at the National University of Honduras (UNAH) to negotiate on their behalf for grievances against the administration. Father Melo worked closely with Berta Caceres, the environmental heroine who was assassinated in 2016.
Honduras has a long history of exploitation and injustice, but since the U.S. supported the coup against President Zelaya in 2009, circumstances and corruption have gotten even worse. In the north, Afro/Garifuna, indigenous people and other poor peasants continue to lose land to agribusiness, such as the palm oil plantations, luxury tourism companies devouring beachfront properties and the drug-dealing criminals.
In 2015 President Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH) orchestrated a violation of the constitution so that he could run for an illegal second consecutive term; and then in the November 2017 election, when Orlando was losing to the Alianza opposition candidate, the vote count was stopped and JOH was declared the winner. Both the OAS and the EU cast doubts on the validity of the election, but the U.S. approved it.
After this illegal and flawed election, there were protests in Tegucigalpa and elsewhere in the country. Over 30 people have been killed and many more injured by the National Police and Army and criminalized and jailed for trumped up charges. In December the transmission tower near Tegucigalpa for Radio Progreso was vandalized and put out of service. Father Melo and his colleagues have received numerous death threats, as have other human rights defenders around the country. His life is seriously at risk.