Agroindustrial Law

The National Congress approved expanding a law that shields agroindustrial lands and investments to also cover energy and tourism projects, while adding a clause affirming the law's compatibility with indigenous peoples' right to free, prior consultation on communal lands.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that Honduras's newly approved agroindustrial law could harm indigenous and rural communities' land and territorial rights and deepen social conflict, urging Congress to align it with international standards.

Congress approved a law prioritizing agroindustrial activity as a national interest, expediting evictions and broadening criminal penalties for land occupations and blockades, drawing warnings from Cespad, a democracy-studies center, that it criminalizes peasant land-defense organizing.