Farmers in Honduras are suing a branch of the World Bank for attacks and killings that the corporation has allegedly helped fund since the early 1990s. These violent acts targeted members and supporters of the local farming community in the Bajo Aguán valley region of Honduras, as reported by Claire Provost for the Guardian in March 2017.
As the Guardian reported, according to a 132-page legal complaint filed by the plaintiffs, the farmers are seeking compensation for the role that the IMF branch known as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) played in the alleged “murder, torture, assault, battery, trespass, unjust enrichment and other acts of aggression” that resulted from the IFC’s support of the agribusiness corporation Dinant, the primary executor of the violence.
Prior to the most recent lawsuit, Provost reported that the IFC Compliance Advisor claimed its “support for Dinant failed to follow policies to protect local communities.” Despite the plan to adopt new security policies, attorneys from NGO EarthRights International who represent the farmers told Provost that the IFC continues to put “profit before people at every turn.”
The Guardian is one of few news sources to cover this corrupt manipulation of power by the World Bank. It would appear the establishment media has momentarily lost sight of their watchdog function by allowing these human rights violations to remain largely unknown by the general public. As of March 2018, there has been no corporate media coverage regarding any updates on the status of the legal proceedings taking place in a federal court in Washington, D.C., where World Bank has its headquarters.
Source: Claire Provost, “Farmers Sue World Bank Lending Arm over Alleged Violence in Honduras,” The Guardian, March 8, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/mar/08/farmers-sue-world-bank-lending-arm-ifc-over-alleged-violence-in-honduras.
Student Researchers: Cayli Armstrong, Jenna Mola, and Jesse Tucker (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
Faculty Evaluator: Allison Butler (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
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