We Condemn the Massacre of Rural People in Honduras

On May 21, 2026, heavily armed men massacred 20 rural workers in the community of Rigores in the Lower Aguán region in the Colón Department of Honduras. Those massacred were preparing to work on palm oil plantations tied to companies like Dinant and Grupo Jaremar. While the government blames gangs, local human rights defenders and peasant unions reject this and stress that the massacre is a direct result of violent land grabbing orchestrated by powerful global agribusiness interests.

Local farmer groups accuse transnational corporations of sponsoring armed paramilitaries to carry out violent land seizures. These armed groups terrorize residents to prevent them from reclaiming their disputed territories. Social movements across Honduras and around the world strongly condemn the brutal attack, pointing out that rural communities live in a constant state of vulnerability. More than 180 people have already died in the context of the agrarian conflict in this specific region. This is part of a broader trend, where environmental and Indigenous rights defenders are among the world’s most targeted human rights advocates, and Honduras is among the deadliest countries for them.

Grassroots International expresses our deep solidarity with rural peoples in Honduras following this most recent massacre. We are concerned for the rights of all Hondurans in a current context of heightening violence. Peasants, Indigenous Peoples, Garífuna communities, women, LGBTQIA+ people, and workers have suffered from violence and, unfortunately, will continue to suffer from violence so long as impunity reigns.

Below we share a statement from the global peasant movement La Via Campesina.

La Vía Campesina Honduras denounces the massacre of peasants in the community of Colón

May 22, 2026

In response to the massacre that occurred on May 21st in the community of Rigores, Colón department, La Vía Campesina Honduras strongly condemns this brutal act that has shaken the entire country and demonstrates the vulnerability and lack of security in which our peasant communities live.

The lives of young people, children of members of the peasant enterprises of the Rigores Peasant Movement, were taken. To date, 17 men and 3 women have been cowardly murdered. The violence cannot continue. The impunity in this country cannot continue.

We demand the following from the Honduran State:

• A thorough, independent, and impartial investigation of the events, with public results and accountability to society.
• The immediate capture and trial of those materially and intellectually responsible for the massacre.
• Security guarantees for the families of the victims and for the entire community of Rigores.
• Effective institutional presence in territories affected by agrarian conflicts, not just when bodies are already on the ground.
• Halt the advancement of legislation that criminalizes the defense of peasant and Indigenous territory.
• Public recognition of the link between land concentration in the hands of agribusiness and the violence suffered by Honduran rural communities.

The struggle for land is legitimate. Defending life is not a crime. As long as agribusiness continues to be valued more than the peasantry, we will remain standing, organized.

Justice for the victims of Rigores!

The land belongs to those who work it!

The peasant struggle does not stop!