Gunmen Kill 20 at Honduran Palm Oil Farm

Gunmen killed 20 people on May 21 during a massacre at a palm oil farm in Rigores, located in the Bajo Aguán valley of Honduras. The attack occurred during the deadliest month in the region since 2018, marking a severe escalation in a 30-year land conflict involving campesinos, agribusiness corporations, and drug-trafficking networks. Shortly after the Rigores massacre, a campesino leader was killed in the town of Santa Rosa de Aguán.

Nasry Tito Asfura, the President of Honduras, has passed laws that human rights organizations claim criminalize land defenders. These measures include a penal code reform that allows the state to designate certain groups as terrorist organizations and a law that prioritizes agribusinesses in land rights disputes. Critics argue these policies facilitate state repression of civic dissent.

The Honduran Commission for Human Rights reports that over 200 people have died in the Bajo Aguán conflict, and an estimated 90% of abuses remain uninvestigated. The palm oil company Dinant, which received funding from the International Finance Corporation, remains central to allegations of human rights abuses and land disputes in the valley.