MEDIA DEVELOPMENT
Murder and i ntimidation: threats against e nvironmental a ctivists Nowhere is the commitment to e nvironmental protection as dangerous as in Latin A merica. In a new report, the investigative data journalism project Tierra de Resistentes draws a shocking conclusion. by Stefanie Binder, DW Akademie
“Which Honduran media has enough resources of its own to research nearly 700 cases of threats against environmental activists? None of them do!” said Jennifer Avila Reyes, co-founder of the independent cross-media research platform, Contracorriente. After Brazil, Honduras is the most dangerous country in Latin America for environmentalists. Conditions there are also
extremely difficult for conducting independent journalism. Transnational cooperation with the Tierra de Resistentes project has enabled Contracorriente to conduct extensive research and reports on the Tolupan people in Yoro, an indigenous community facing serious threats for resisting attempts to destroy its lands.
If it weren’t for the project, said Avila Reyes, authorities would refuse to give Contracorriente information about the cases, adding that those affected are also afraid to talk. “But because we’re part of a major project that involves several media and that has an international reach, this has opened doors,” she said. Tierra de Resistentes aims to raise public awareness about the commitment of numerous Latin American environmental activists who have faced threats or have been murdered. The living database is also a source for other media workers and for scientists and political analysts. In addition to data visualization, the project also tells the stories of the people behind the numbers using video, audio, and text formats. Initial figures were published in spring 2019. Since then, Consejo de Redacción has updated the database and the accompanying website and has added cases and countries. The head of the organisation, Camilo Amaya, has already witnessed the first successes. “The pressure of public opinion through reporting has led the government in Colombia to start recognizing that there is a system behind the murders, expulsions and violence against activists,” said Amaya.
The project has published 29 reports and an unprecedented database with 2,367 attacks against environmental leaders in the last 11 years in Latin America
38 Weltzeit 2 | 2020
©©Tierra de Resistentes
Almost 2,400 cases of violence Tierra de Resistentes’ latest figures are shocking. Over the last 11 years, there have been 2,367 documented cases of violence against environmental activists in Latin America. The database includes ten countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, and Honduras. Six are among the world’s ten most dangerous countries for environmental activists. A team of 50 journalists, photographers and camera operators conducted the research in government institutions, press archives, civil society organizations and in the communities affected.
