Honduras

Members of the Asociación Nacional de Enfermeras y Enfermeros Auxiliares de Honduras (ANEEAH) took to the streets to protest the murder the day before of their colleague, nursing student Keyla Martínez, which had occurred while she was in the custody of the National Police. In response to the protests, police officers violently beat up the workers, including union member Agustín Sánchez, who was left with serious injuries to his left shoulder.

In Honduras, during the month of October 2021, union leader Darlin Oviedo, president of the garment workers' union Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Compañía Jasper (SITRAJASPER), and the union's general secretary, Selvin Peña, were constantly followed by unidentified men. Oviedo was even chased by a heavily armed motorbike driver who threatened to shoot him, but fortunately the union leader was able to weave his way through traffic and escape. The threats began when workers demonstrated to demand that the garment factory reinstate workers seeking work after COVID-19 restrictions were eased.

In Honduras, the pervasive climate of repression, physical violence and intimidation against workers and trade unionists was compounded by the government’s failure to pursue the many historic cases of murders and other violent crimes. The labour justice system remained broken, and only a handful of the hundreds of murder cases were solved, usually many years later.