Hondurans Fight Private Cities Run by US Companies as Gov't Sued for Outlawing "Neocolonial Project"
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2024
- In Honduras, communities are fighting back against privatization and foreign exploitation after Honduran President Xiomara Castro and Congress repealed a law that established so-called Economic Development and Employment Zones, where private companies have "functional and administrative autonomy" from the national government. Now a Delaware-based company called Próspera has launched a case to challenge the repeal of the law under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement and is seeking almost $11 billion, which amounts to nearly two-thirds of the country's entire 2022 budget. This is an example of the "extreme investor rights" of this international trade agreement directly opposing Honduran sovereignty, says Melinda St. Louis, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. We also speak with local leader Venessa Cárdenas of Crawfish Rock, the area directly impacted by the Próspera ZEDE on the island of Roatán, about the stress of losing control over their community. "We don't know when our home will be taken from us," says Cárdenas. "We, of course, have the rights to be free and previously consulted on any type of project that is being done in our community."
Transcript: www.democracyn...
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Corporations have been running the US for my entire life
Since the start practically.
Well said
The US is definitely an oligarchy and I wonder if we will ever see true democracy
Corporations as government, coming to a country near you.
Nah! Come on! Stop playing! 🫵🏻😉 You almost had me. You’re such a kidder.
Anything a corporation can do to go under the table is very much a part of their business plan. You go Honduras. Do not let these SCUM off the hook EASILY.
And they complained about Chinese police stations in the US.
2:09 😅
@@frankcrozier25927o😢
@@frankcrozier2592The Hondurans? Odd.
Honduras is the same country that recently kicked out democratic Taiwan and aligns itself with communist China now.
There’s a documentary that shows both sides of the story. Apparently, there’s a lot of Hondurans who support Prospera because the company has built infrastructure faster and more efficiently than the Honduran government due to their ability to bypass paying bribes to Honduran officials (corruption is rampant there). Joining the zone is completely voluntary. The charter of Prospera actually prohibits expropriation of land. Prospera actually built functioning schools, and their zone has more security and a lot less crime. If the corrupt Honduran government can’t provide security and jobs to their own people, then they should think about contracting out those responsibilities.
“To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”
- Henry Kissinger
Ah yes, the ruthless and barbaric war criminal!
Disgusting. I'm so sick of corporate rule.
Yes. White supremacy destroys everything
Me too
Really started with Reganomics. Deregulation and trickle-down economics is a blight on the whole world.
@@jo-annerichardson34 yup yup yup. What a bill of bill Reagan sold us.
Most of us are too, even the folks who foolishly defend capitalism. You don't hate Monday, you hate capitalism
This is the exact reason why the US is hated around the world - corporations. This is also the exact reason why americans have no patriotism left - this is how we are representeds around the world not just at home. Its time for the people to make corporations pay for the consequences.
We need to get rid of Fox News. The fact that a Billionaire from Australia is pretty much running the country is ridiculous. These far right outlets have done such a great job brainwashing their followers that they deny their very own eyes and ears.
Vote wisely
Well, to be fair, the hate has a lot more to do with military actions. The corporate stuff can be less visible. There is a reason why many travelling Americans claim to be Canadians... It's not because of MNCs.
there is nothing new about usa corporate greed. this authoritan corporate way of conquest abd control is about slavery, cheap labor, for high profits. it is by design and the military is used to defend the interest of these corporations. this is the history of Puerto Rico, Philippines, Hawaiian Islands, and many others. it is colonialism, empire building , conquest of lands stealing their wealth and natural resources leaving them poor and devestated.
The US got used to people working for less. Now they don't want to pay the Generational Americans (people who have been in the US 4+ generations) well. They want everyone to work for pennies too.
Because that's not happening, so the US is on the move. On the move to where that can happen. The US really wants to return to slavery. Lots of labor with $0 pay.
This is slowly becoming a reality in Jamaica, especially our beaches and rivers mostly the tourism industry since many foreigners own and run hotels in my country.
it is their right. and they provide jobs for locals.
The exploitation continues
@@vadimkondratiev7214 What do you mean it’s their right? Why aren’t they doing that in the US?
If black men were strong capable leaders that wouldn’t be happening BUT they aren’t so they will always be under the thumb of other groups of men
@@christophersmalling8889 Yep. It's a SATANIC PLAGUE.
I hate when someone says "People need accountability," Why do corporations exist; so one class of persons that refuses to be held accountable is protected.
Thats what China is doing with the belt and road predatory loan scam. You fail to pay the loan we have a 99 year lease on your rail system, port, mining operation, etc.
honduras invited these corporations with rules the honduras government made for 50 years now they unianmously want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
@@Sammich4839 Would be funny if Muslims come to your town and establish Sharia Law on your ass!
@@Sammich4839I am sure that colonialism is by invitation only 🥸
@@popcycleism the honduras government literally invited the private us corporations to come in 2013 did you not understand that whole part?
It's a call back to American company towns
It’s a call back to Hong Kong.
Almost every country has had company towns. America is not unique in that regard.
Governments are usually crap at development, so it always comes to companies to do so. Don't blame a company for creating a 1-industry or 1-company town, blame governments for not developing anything themselves.
Company towns. It's the U.S. 120 years ago. Predatory capitalism.
@@hoxaye. Corporations have done this for centuries. Hong Kong for example. Or Freeport in the Bahamas and Freeport in Jamaica.
😂😂At first they were just that : "company towns" but after a while and a lot of struggles they took over the entire government.... it's name is CORPORATOCRACY....but we're raised to call it democracy.
@@Darrylizer1 what happened in freeport Bahamas?
Disney
@@Darrylizer1up am from Freeport, grand bahama. They make opening a business much more difficult as opposed to getting youre certification from the government.
However Freeport is well manage as compared to any other settlement on the island so there’s that. At least Freeport is clean and organized.
I love the idea of private cities. Massive investment, good jobs, low crime without a bunch of undesirables.
This criminal corporate procedure has been going on gor decades and i hope more and more that the people of Hondura get the relief and justice that they need.
Oh yeah they have been doing such a good job with their nation haven't they? Are you people dreaming???
honduras invited these corporations with rules the honduras government made for 50 years now they unianmously want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
@@Sammich4839 They don't want the $11 billion. They just want to force the Honduran government to keep its promises.
they need total freedom from all the bs. No more fascism no more capitalism or anything like that.
This was going on in the mid 80’s, I remember the Fleecing of America, many Americans lost their jobs, and we’re feeling it to this day.
Corporate greed has bought islands here in Dominican Republic too
But Dominican Republic is far better than govern run Haiti
@@fidelistq but this video is about Honduras, not Haiti.
Western empires use other techniques to
seize/ steal (at least)
1) direct invasion to impose puppet gov.
2) "diplomacy"--- to force a 2nd country
to turn over an island to an empire
3) "economy/diplomacy" empire gov
uses financial + etc. economic threats
vs. initially independent govs. to turn over local economy to the empires
gov + capitalists.
@@fidelistq HAITIANS ARE BEING PUNISHED FOR FIGHTING FOR THEIR FREEDOM DURING SLAVERY; THE PEOPLE RUNNING THE WORLD HOLD GRUDGES FOR CENTURIES....
honduras invited these corporations in 2013 with rules the honduras government made to stay for 50 years now they unilaterally want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
This atrocity is a test of what they plan to do here in the states...keep an eye on this!
Already doing! What was segregation? No reconciliation or repentance after. Now GA, MS, Al, TX have communities that want their own judges and police in real-time. States use money's to build hatred and greed without accountability in real-time.
@@markaddison4642ppl don't pay attention bc they weren't the ones tested on. But ignoring their neighbors has led us all to this. They are robbing everyone right in the open. And if you aren't in the club then you don't matter.
It's already happening for years with these corporations buying out neighbourhoods in the US and Canada. Blackrock plans to do this with Ukraine as it looks good for them at face value as they hide their true motives.
Reminded of Michael Parenti, an excerpt from his piece Mystery: How Wealth Creates Poverty, which highlights the lacuna of class consciousness cultivated under the technologically mediated auspices of global US empire:
_"In their perpetual confusion, some liberal critics conclude that foreign aid and IMF and World Bank structural adjustments “do not work”; the end result is less self-sufficiency and more poverty for the recipient nations, they point out. Why then do the rich member states continue to fund the IMF and World Bank? Are their leaders just less intelligent than the critics who keep pointing out to them that their policies are having the opposite effect?_
_No, it is the critics who are stupid not the western leaders and investors who own so much of the world and enjoy such immense wealth and success. They pursue their aid and foreign loan programs because such programs do work. The question is, work for whom? Cui bono?_
_The purpose behind their investments, loans, and aid programs is not to uplift the masses in other countries. That is certainly not the business they are in. The purpose is to serve the interests of global capital accumulation, to take over the lands and local economies of Third World peoples, monopolize their markets, depress their wages, indenture their labor with enormous debts, privatize their public service sector, and prevent these nations from emerging as trade competitors by not allowing them a normal development._
_In these respects, investments, foreign loans, and structural adjustments work very well indeed._
_The real mystery is: why do some people find such an analysis to be so improbable, a “conspiratorial” imagining? Why are they skeptical that U.S. rulers knowingly and deliberately pursue such ruthless policies (suppress wages, rollback environmental protections, eliminate the public sector, cut human services) in the Third World? These rulers are pursuing much the same policies right here in our own country!_
_Isn’t it time that liberal critics stop thinking that the people who own so much of the world---and want to own it all---are “incompetent” or “misguided” or “failing to see the unintended consequences of their policies”? You are not being very smart when you think your enemies are not as smart as you. They know where their interests lie, and so should we."_
@@observantmonkey4055 Indeed, one might say this club is a sort of class, if you will, comprised of those who own/control capital with a common overlap of, say, material interests that are at the zero-sum direct expense of a much larger class of people that work, we could call them, say, the working class.
Ok yeah, pointlessly being facetious, but it's capitalism to be clear lol. By definition organizing society into these two opposing classes, hollowing out anything and everything including all social meaning/trust to be sold for profit in order to sustain the "full spectrum domination" of the global capitalist class (transnational corporate/finance capital) at quite literally all other costs (like, say, _literally_ destroying the planet).
_The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered form, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind."_ - some guy, a bit optimistic at the end we wouldn't just choose individual delusion while the planet literally burns around us...
*HOW DARE THESE COMPANIES BRING JOBS TO PEASANTS IN HONDURAS!?*
_They'd rather abandon Honduras and take the jobs here in America! C'mon, man!_ 🙄
Just a reminder that in the prospera charter, they can’t take land without the owners consent. Otherwise Propera is legally liable, according to its own charter, and you can leave whenever you want.
The envy of the miserable mob is endless
Read what you just wrote. TAKE land. If someone is consenting it’s NOT a TAKE, it should be a SALE. It’s laughable that to say, it’s in THEIR charter. The Honduras community should be able to say NO and kick out the foreigners. This is ridiculous!!
@@zlayer3170💯
sure fight it and then have to deal with ISDS and get brought to ICISD. Private courts? nice try
Evil will look for any opportunity in any loophole to exploit anybody. What a souless situation.
Yep. It is a PLAGUE.
What is evil ? A government to CONSENT to ! My goodness I forgot we should have governments that force their will upon us
And people wonder why we have a bad reputation when we travel outside the United States.
Exactly.
Ya with rampant disinformation like this it shouldn’t be a surprised.
Same people in this video didn't have a problem with Disney running it's own county in America,
but if it happens in Honduras they crapped their pants and start screaming the sky is falling. 🤦
When I saw this news on Roatan Honduras it struck a familiar cord with me. In Roatan Honduras I am apart of a ministry that is doing awesome work in Crawfish Rock by meeting the people's needs and educating the children as well as adults. In Hotsparrow a community center is in its final stage of completion which will have a educational center, natural health center, apartments to house missionaries and a worship center. I felt impressed to write with this positive news in the light of this negative report.
I’m surprised, but not shocked. There’s no limit to which the greedy will sink. This is outrageous!
Honduras is the same country that recently kicked out democratic Taiwan and aligns itself with communist China now.
Yes it is
So the the country is impoverished and has no way of development.
So investors come in , pour in billions of dollars which energizes the economy and the left wing government of Honduras wants to essentially nationalize the investments and not compensate the investors? 🤔
I was outraged by all the outright lies Democracy Now! promulgates too, neil.
In that case can we talk about Big Business fascism in the US promoting ESG and financing of extreme woke agendas, BLM organizatjon, indirect assitance of Antifa via full backing of the Leftist Democrat party and Globalist Big Businesses in America avle to get away eith anythint inclueing accumulation of 11 trillion dollars just in BlackRock and Amazon able to abuse workers to where they cannot even go to the bathroom...etc
Who owns Prospera? A "corporation from the US" But WHO are the people behind it?
They're utterly opaque. But Delaware is infamous as a corporate piracy state. It's utterly deliberate that 'Prospera' is HQ'd there.
"Corporations registered in Delaware that do not do business in the state do not pay corporate income tax."
"More than 60% of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware, according to the state, including Alphabet, Amazon, CVS, and CNBC parent company Comcast. Delaware has cultivated a reputation as being business-friendly due to its tax law and unique court system specifically for corporate legal cases."
😳😳 Imagine if "Prospera" & other corporations funded and started the influx of migration from Honduras and surrounding areas? They thin out the herd, leave a couple of workers then they continue to build there cities 😳😳
And ZIONISTS are the leaders of corporations in Delaware. Zionists are to blame for the chaos worldwide.
@@9UaYXxBWow. So totally wrong.
Thats what China is doing with the belt and road predatory loan scam. You fail to pay the loan we have a 99 year lease on your rail system, port, mining operation, etc.
Thanks for advertising their company!! Looks like a very positive place to live 😎
Actually Honduras did not have a coup
It was trying to fight
Honduras can be very prosperous if given a chance
Its a shame because Honduras is right back fighting communism. I hope the world keep a democratic eye on this beautiful country. It has been taken advantage of for centuries by many governments
This happens in every country under free trade zones. Under the UN states, when contracts are signed breaking the contract results in huge penalties that you are talking about, this is agreed by all corrupt politicians. A government will then go to the BIS for a loan resulting in another extortion.
So glad you are bringing this to the public eye - the U.S. people need to see the selfish, brutal cruelty of corporations. This must stop NOW!
That takes us being honest with ourselves and each other
They won’t. A lot of them have been conditioned to think that they and their government are the good guys.
@@Petey-se1loyou got that right. I tried to have this conversation with two American friends, I couldn’t do it.
Honduras is the same country that recently kicked out democratic Taiwan and aligns itself with communist China now.
Most of us know, and have been fighting the corporate hostile take over of America, but it's a losing battle. They own all the politicians.
US corporations doing a test run in Honduras- lower corporate taxes, lower regulationa and lower protrections. The investor-state dispute settlement pushed by Americans in their trade agreement allows corporations to sue for billions in taxpayer compensation if investee countries implement public interest policies that would limit corporate profits. American politicians have already been bought by US corporates so they help corporates buy up other countries as well.
Chile /Argentina/Colombia and Nicaragua were all test tubes for this evil in the 70s and 80s .
Maybe Honduras can experience a similar boom like Texas. Companies opening Latin American Headquarters in Honduras, bringing more Tech and Financial companies to Honduras and increase job growth and overall economic growth for Honduras. This will force Honduras National Security forces to Combat Crime No Options. A Win/Win for Honduras.
Corporate interests are trying it here in America.
A corporation called Blockchain convinced NV they should get to cut a county out of rapidly growing county and run it all themselves via some vague plan involving blockchain technology.
It was thankfully stopped by the state courts.
The SCOTUS handing out ridiculous rights to corporate interests is just beginning with the Roberts Court.
@@raymondcerv1370 how naive can you get
@@raymondcerv1370 In other words: I will give you all the world if you bow down to me
So many people in these comments would rather live under governments than actually be free. So much brainwashing
Thank you Democracy Now for shining a light on this major issue on the Island of Roatan we appreciate it,
There should be an outright ban against privatization and foreign exploitation in Honduras. This is horrible for the Honduras people.
If the ZEDEs are forced out, Honduras will lose its last, best chance to ever get the foreign investment or better government it needs to get out of extreme poverty.
Bringing jobs that pay 10% above the Honduran minimum wage is exploitation? Every word of this "report" is a total lie. The only one who can expropriate land in Honduras is the government. Próspera has bought every inch of ground from willing sellers with clear titles and has written in their charter that they will never accept expropriated land, even if the government asks them to. The government is the one trying to expropriate the land that the ZEDEs have developed, and the suit for international arbitration is an attempt to make the government honor the promises that it made to investors who risked their money to bring prosperity to a country that desperately needs better governance than they have ever had.
Please tell me more about the success of the honduran government in providing services.
@@joybranisn’t that the key statement, they can’t manage without foreign investment. Welcome to the real world if you can’t afford to maintain something you will lose it to someone who has money. Sounds like a last chance blood money transfusion truth be told.
@@Skargar Almost every road in Honduras is full of potholes, except for the one great highway the Chinese built and the road that one of the ZEDEs built before the government broke the promises that the previous government made to entice foreign investment.
The new colonialism.
This is not an evil on the corporation. They are developing communities there because of its location. Better than the government can.
Hmmm! So, the indigenous should be cool with their economic and political sovereignty is controlled by outsiders. No Western white nation would tolerate this!
OMG that is SOOOO kind of them.
It's not about being a good person it's about practicality if group A can provide service better than Group B then why would I go to group b for help?
This is madness by those corporations. Fight, keep fighting hermanos Hondureños. Estamos con ustedes.
As a Honduran decent, it is in my opinion that Honduras may have to militarize and force Prospera llc out of the country.
Sadly that won't bode well. . . Central American/ Caribbean/ South American "free trade" has been under America's industrial thumb since the 40's. They've trained and given military funds to these countries under the guise of "helping" the respective country. (Pisses me off so much)
Because of that exploitation, these fuggin bullies feel like they don't even have to offer aid or a heads-up in return now. They just MOVE IN.
Look at any of the countries in the regions I just mentioned. I have ancestors in Jamaica and bauxite mining is a huge stress for the people their. 😢
Wishing u strength n peace.
IMO, Honduran people may soon find US troops on their land if they do that.
Use the police, military take them out. Deport them.
The United States has always been in favor of dictatorships. It was literally founded on slavery. We still have millions of constitutionally enslaved people in private prisons for profit. We still have second class citizens (Indigienous Americans, Puerto Ricans, Hawaiians, immigrants). This country has overthrown democracies in favor of or dictatorships and enslavement time and time again. Banana Republic all over again... very sad
Johny Harris made a good video I think you would like on DOLE (United Fruit) and how they stole land from native people in South America (Guatamala). But America has also started wars and overthrown democracies in many other SA nations
It's moving back towards slavery... We need government regulation of these corporations on a global scale
did you see how they live, in what condition? please do, go Google ot.
You mean the government should regulate Democracy Now! ?
SLAVERY NEVER ENDED; IF YOU HAVE TO WORK AND DEPEND ON SOMEONE FOR A PAYCHECK YOU ARE A SLAVE.
honduras invited these corporations in 2013 with rules the honduras government made to stay for 50 years now they unilaterally want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
@@Sammich4839 if a corporation can override a government there can't be democracy, there is no chance for people to have rights. once people don't have rights corporations can do whatever they want, limited only by the power of one another. they will then become increasingly merciless in restoring feudalism and slavery conditions whenever it provides them profit, as they already do when they can get away with it. Only now they will be able to get away with it all the time.
Corporations don't operate ethically, they are profit driven. They don't care if they destroy people's lives to get what they want. They don't care if they destroy our entire planet. They have already seized too much power. They represent a tiny percentage of humans--the tippy top of the wealthy--and such a tiny percentage shouldn't have any right to control everything and everyone.
Also poor countries are in more difficult positions to begin with. They are usually caught between a rock and a hard place in having to make decisions in a brutal capitalist world order. They are extreme underdogs whereas these corporations are overpowered and exploitative and supported by powerful nations. The US government seems to be largely bought out by corporate powers, it's become a terrible oligarchy, and its failure to regulate its own corporations is where this problem started.
Why is this bad, isn't this raising the average living standard of the area?
Hey, quit noticing things and just accept the narrative. Nevermind that the people living in these cities are safer and happier! 🙄
Fair enough but this is just what Disney world was before Florida changed it's mind, you can't just invite companies and then pull the rug on them after they have invested large sums of money.
Honduras is the same country that recently kicked out democratic Taiwan and aligns itself with communist China now
Reminds me of the changes that took place in the Cayman Islands in the 1960s.
Reminds me of "Disney."
This is positively dystopian, with now 'Corporatocracy' coming now to eventually take over whole nations run by other countries contrary to the will of the people just to work and determine the countries direction. This is beyond shocking and sad! Peace
9-11 1973 was the first test run for these things , Its been non stop in Lat. America since .
Melinda St. Lious describes a complete and clever mischaracterization of actual facts. The zones give an actual REASON to INVEST in a country that would otherwise be passed by, by the world community.
I’ve been to the capital of Honduras, and I’ve been to Roatan. Roatan is safe and clean and prosperous
jajajj xD
Exactly! The only ones complaining about private cities are rural Marxists. These cities are great places to live for working-class Hondurans to have a clean community where their children can play without fear of being kidnapped. Given a choice, we all know where locals would rather live.
And that's the US, the seller of 'democracy' around the world. Is Honduras from Mars
Thats a lot of nerve to go into another country and privatize anything! Kick 'em out yall nation!!!!
Honduras is the same country that recently kicked out democratic Taiwan and aligns itself with communist China now.
@@maricc895 Communists have killed more people in the world sine they took over Russia in 1920 and in Red China in 1949 than all the other countries in the world, combined. And that includes Nazi Germany.
More than 50 million people were starved to death in Ukraine and in other Soviet so called Republics along with mass deportations and communist China also murdered about 50 million of its own people.
In addition communist China murder hundreds of thousands of Tibetans and many tens of thousands of Uyghurs along with many thousands of political dissenters, artists, and those who oppose communism in China.
That's what we are doing they got to go
@@rivafa1054 We support you! Do what you have to.
They want to bring industry to the country without being strangled by corrupt politicians… these could be extremely beneficial to the country but I’m sure moronic liberals will ruin it.
Every company doing this should be publicly named and shamed.
Just kick out all Us corporations from Honduras. Together with all the Us citizens.
The corporate form needs to be reformed.
Abolished.
@@kx7500def abolished
I'm only part way through this video, but my immediate thoughts are this is modern Imperialism.
It has been the case since Europeans venture out. The 2009 coup in Honduras was because Honduras president wanted to increase the minimum wage that would have affected Dole and another US company. Guatemala coup in 1957 was for the same reason and then Chile in the 1960s. Britain did something similar to China in what's know the the century of humiliation in 1915. Main point, it is to advance companies financial interest of the imposing country. It is not new only a few books have detailed information about such activities.
Don't forget about Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now known as BP).
The Brits with the machinations of the American CIA, overturned Mohammad Mossadegh's democratically elected government in 1953.
It absolutely is imperialism... which is also capitalism which is also feudalism. Same exploitative manipulative s**t.
The Virginia Company , the Massachusetts Bay Company, the Hudson Bay Company....
Get the drift?
@@chihirostargazer6573 which is all just modern colonialism
There is a lot of confusion about Próspera. The Honduran Constitution allows expropriation. Próspera law forbids it. If the government were to expropriate adjacent property, Próspera would not accept it into their jurisdiction. Every fear these people have originates with their corrupt authoritarian government, not Próspera. Economic freedom is their only hope.
This is so sad. It’s happening all over the world. Another name for the same poison. I pray the Hondurans come out on top!! 🙏
The country is a wreck and its citizens are streaming out. Maybe their govt. is the real problem
Exactly, right round the globe, they are criminals against humanity
honduras invited these corporations with rules the honduras government made for 50 years now they unianmously want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
@@Sammich4839 say something Original. The corporations don't deserve anything. The Government said no more, end of discussion. Keep the criminal exploits of big corp in the USA
@@chrish7336
Then don't sign a check your ass can't cash, genius.
Is this not what America is claiming China is doing with Chinese Police Departments here in America?
Oh the ironing..
No, the honduran government entered a contract with this and other companies which specifies that conflicts would be solved by arbitration. What US China contract/agreement are you referring to?
@@andreasstampf6690 China is running police department out of New York. I don't know of another state but definitely in new York so who is allowing a foreign country in to set up a police shop!!!???? 💥😡
@@cutesybunny3360 Nobody is, since this is illegal. But like many things illegal, it is often not that easy to stop it.
@@andreasstampf6690 Yeah, banana REPUBLIC at this point!!! 💥😒
You telling me their government can’t stop a corporate company.
These guys are pirates. This is a shakedown by corporate criminals. How are they different from the mafia?
No! This is deplorable! These things should not be allowed, especially in this secret & dark manner! We need to stand up for Honduras!
This "report" is a total lie. There was never anything secret about the ZEDEs. By law, all the details were on all the ZEDEs' websites before they launched.
Honduras is the same country that recently kicked out democratic Taiwan and aligns itself with communist China now.
And we wonder why those people come here like this
@kittoko9 and then they run the risk of getting their family's ripped apart at our border. I speak against it all I say ALL THEIR POWER IS NO MORE.
@@kittoko9 There are many other issues. The people who run Honduras government are communists who support Red China and recently cut ties with democratic Taiwan.
These types of 'free ports' are created all over the world in many countries. It's all about tax avoidance and rule breaking. This story is fascinating and I will certainly keep up to date with it.
White media has always hidden these evil in real-time.
Fascinating? Not the word I'd choose but definitely read "Under the Eagle" by Jenny Pearce....goes over the history of American industrialization in South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. 📚
Beware all trade agreements with US, you need to burrow deep into the details to find the hidden traps there that enable this. The UK government has been easing in this kind of process, not yet at this gross stage but the "freeports" idea is being introduced, including here in Scotland where it should never have been given any space whatever... the thin end of a very big wedge. I wish the people of Honduras success in what will be a hard battle... these corporations are closely linked to people in government..
Honduras is the same country that recently kicked out democratic Taiwan and aligns itself with communist China now.
@@adhanetkidanethat’s precisely the reason. There was even one in Montego-Bay, Jamaica, with the same name, Freeport.
Private cities have to compete and make the best infrastructure and services. Government cities continue even if they are bad, because they are a monopoly.
If there is no accountability in our government, why should we expect the same from corporate America? Come on people. This is a no brainer.
This is so sad to hear.I wish rich people would leave people alone.and find other ways to get their money.This company needs to get out.period
This *is* how rich people get their money!
WE GIVE THESE SO CALL RICH PEOPLE POWER. WE NEED TO GET UP &STAND UP FOR OUR RIGHTS BUT I LIVE IN A LAND OF DUMBED DOWN DOCILE FOLKS,.
98% of the residents of the ZEDE Ciudad Morazán on the mainland are working-class Hondurans. If the company gets out, those people will have to go back to living in squalid conditions where it isn't safe for their children to play outside unsupervised.
@@joybran At least it's theirs.
@@belladonnatook8851 If people want to live in squalor and poverty and danger, more power to them. What I object to is that they chose a better life, and people like you want to send them back to the misery they escaped.
I’m not shocked but outraged nonetheless
Honduras is the same country that recently kicked out democratic Taiwan and aligns itself with communist China now.
honduras invited these corporations in 2013 with rules the honduras government made to stay for 50 years now they unilaterally want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
Its NOT 'corporate', per se, its Libertarian capitalism- offering BITCOIN options, and creating jobs and potentially raising quality of life in the area.
I don"t see what this issue is. Prospera did not steal the land, they bought it. They are also developing this land providing jobs to some very poor people. What is the issue? The original bitcoin buyers own this city and want a safe clean place for their families. This program does not tell the whole truth.
Sounds less like a government, and more like a fiefdom.
honduras invited these corporations in 2013 with rules the honduras government made to stay for 50 years now they unilaterally want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
Democracy itself, has been & continues to be, under-siege, globally… such an inspiring report of meaningful pushback against such powers! TY for some good news, these days
We have compounds in America where the landowner has a bunch of buildings with immigrants living in them and the locked gate in front keeps it for these from coming in we need to stop this in America too
The Transatlantic Trade talks between EU and United States ( TTIP) fell over because the Americans were pushing for investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) which would expand the ability of corporations to sue governments in international tribunals, demanding billions in taxpayer compensation if investee counties' implemented public interest policies that would limit corporate profits.American politicians don't hide that they have been bought by lobbyist donations.
As long as there has been White Supremacy…there was never a democracy. Just anti Black privileged White people doing what ever they want and making every one else play by some laws they never follow
WS made it an illusion in real-time. Democracy is only in movies.
The United States has always been in favor of dictatorships. It was literally founded on slavery. We still have millions of constitutionally enslaved people in private prisons for profit. We still have second class citizens (Indigienous Americans, Puerto Ricans, Hawaiians, immigrants). This country has overthrown democracies in favor of or dictatorships and enslavement time and time again. Banana Republic all over again... very sad
I dare say these special zones weren't invented to give workers extra rights and benefits !
This has been allowed in the US (Specifically Disney in Florida). In the case of Disney, they were good stewards. Countries need to be very careful before they cede all this power to corporations, whether foreign or domestic. And corporations are taking a very big gamble, that they will be able to keep such power... as countries, can ALWAYS change their own laws.
But don't you have to take into consideration that Disney bought 20,000 of swamp--not an existing city.
@@csm92459 My specific point tho, was that the governments can always "take back" what they give, by changing the laws. (As we see now with Disney)
honduras invited these corporations in 2013 with rules the honduras government made to stay for 50 years now they unilaterally want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
@@csm92459 The ZEDEs bought uninhabited land also. This "report" is a total lie.
@@csm92459 Propersa quite literally purchased an uninhabited jungle and built a city. Also unlike disney they encouraged competition and enabled locals the choice not only to join but to leave as well.
They literally came in built housing and business infrastructure and allowed others to buy it from them. If you buy a house in Prospera and you want to leave Prospera. You don't have to move out of your house. You house leaves Prospera and goes back under the government authority.
The entire idea behind Prospera is that the Honduran government are so disgustingly corrupt that people would rather live and work in land controlled by a corporation then deal with the government.
Also unlike Disney they had mechanisms in place to give locals voting power in Prospera as the community increased.
What arbitration? Run them out of your country. Don't even go to a corrupt arbitration hearing.
And then be massacred by U.S. troops invading in a week .
They leave, no jobs. These people don't have the ability to run an operation of this size. Why are Hondurans leaving the country? They are uneducated.
Arbitration is glorified company kangaroo court.
honduras invited these corporations with rules the honduras government made for 50 years now they unianmously want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
@@Sammich4839situations change corporations have changed over the last 50yrs i don't imagine the govt in Honduras knew it would get to this point
AMLO spoke out against what we have already know for many, many years
They are doing what the colonies did. The United States is a company on sovereign land
Pass a law that to ban these foreign corporations, deemed as non entities and affect the security and sovereignty of the nation. All directors and personnel of these personnel shall be arrested and charged for treason
Go Brother Hondurans ... defend yourself from the tyrants!!
This began during the Eisenhower admin. It included Guatemala as well. Chiquita bananas.
Xiomara Castro must expel those invaders from the country she represents. And the whole population of Honduras must support her president, like Salvadoreans are doing in their country El Salvador. That's enough to disrespect the Sovereignty of the Free Countries.
Prospera is great. Huge opportunity as laboratory for innovation.
I live right above prospera and they are doing well for the island. Mostly South Americans running the place. Only one American that I'm aware of.
My boss came back from a Bitcoin conference last year all excited about the private cities that crypto bros wanted to set up in...i don't remember if it was Honduras or a neighboring country... And i was stunned into silence. I had not known until then that i worked for someone who not only wanted to be my boss but also my landlord and my mayor... Terrifying.
Are you sure that's what he wanted? What did he say actually say to you?
Thats what China is doing with the belt and road predatory loan scam. You fail to pay the loan we have a 99 year lease on your rail system, port, mining operation, etc.
And then you would work for, rent a place to live from, be governed by and also regularly surveilled by the same organization. These company towns are basically run like a commune, where the company, government and landlord are basically owned by one entity. What a perfect convergence of capitalism and communism.
@@MrHarumakiSensei these bitcoin people are prone to libertarian ideology which means they worship wealth and property. their only morality is property. if you dont own property, you're as good as a slave to them b/c you must obey whoever is the owner of the property. bitcoin only makes this worse taking away any chance of accountability and transparency in the financial system. no wonder it's used by black market human traffickers
I have a vague recollection of the first "enterprise zones" in Mexico. These were for the benefit of big, corporate "labor shoplifters". They were established because of NAFTA (which never should have been passed).
american business got ronnie raygun to bully the canucks into it first. yes, it never should have happened.
They are calle maquiladoras or
" free trade" zones.
honduras invited these corporations in 2013 with rules the honduras government made to stay for 50 years now they unilaterally want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
Yes. NAFTA was supposed to be the solution to illegal border crossings from mexico. What a sick joke.
Family together strong 💪 los buenos somos mas 💪las playas son del pueblo el pueblo puertorriqueños estamos pasando por similares circunstancias 🇭🇳🇵🇷 family together strong 💪 no more marginalized society las tierras son del pueblo 💪🙏✌️✌️✌️✌️✌️✌️🥲
I don’t see anything wrong with corporations setting up private zones. We all know how inept governments of developing countries are and in order for corporations to flourish they need to control much of what is done. This war against corporations need to stop.
Private companies can provide "government services" much better than governments if they are only given the freedom to do so. The ZEDEs are proof (or will be proof) if they aren't destroyed by these kinds of lies.
imagine this happening in the US? This directly contradicts the idea of sovereignty. This is the type of destruction that we’re talking about when we talk about America destroying these countries & forcing them to migrate.
What do you mean "imagine" it happening in the United States? It already has been happening for a long time. Corporations buy entire neighborhoods and force residents out by raising the rent to prices they can't pay.
@@chihirostargazer6573 And cop city
@chihirostargazer6573 right this guys never heard of company towns I take it lol
Er, Disney anyone??
the gentrificartion in HONDURAS just started like a poor neighborhood in the USA
The US Congress is trying to pass a bill that would corporations the right to Vote! They're people, after all (amiright Supreme Court?). Just so's you know, that means they can apply this model to the home front.
Yup. It's too late, they have too much control. The US is an illusion anyway. The Federal Reserve is owned by wealthy Europeans. Both parties have gutted the US by sending most corporations to poor countries around the world and are printing $$$ so fast the dollar is worthless. Somehow 25 companies that process food in the US mysteriously burnt to the ground that's why there are empty selves in US stores. Bill Gates owns most of the farmland in the US. At this point the vultures are in a feeding draining what is left to sell or steal. Global world, you will have nothing and be happy is the new motto.
The indigenous Honduran is completely extinct. This is a squabble between different types of colonisers.
The American public has to boycott all products coming from this prospra company
Critical support for the people of Honduras against US imperialism
It stands to reason that this ZEDE is unlawful _prima facie_ in that it nullifies basic constitutional rights of the inhabitants without their express consent. (At least this is certainly true under Mexico's constitution.) If so, any treaty for international trade that would attempt such a thing has no validity in law and its board of arbitrators has no authority.
Every inhabitant of every ZEDE has to sign a contract to live there, so they all give express consent. The ZEDE cannot expropriate land.
The point is that the honduran government entered this binding contracts and also agreed that the arbitration board is going to used to settle conflicts. Do you say that the Mexican government would not be able to enter such an agreement?
If Honduras betrays this agreement they will make themselves a investment black hole.
honduras invited these corporations in 2013 with rules the honduras government made to stay for 50 years now they unilaterally want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
@@Sammich4839 They don't want the $11 billion. They want to force the Honduran government to keep its word.
The Honduras is such a beautiful place, but it is so poor and so corrupt. Seems like they would be interested in trying something new. Capitalism has brought the majority of the world out of poverty, but the Honduran people have shut it down here.
This happens in the US and has been. Why don't my fellow Americans see that? Corporations here run the government and social discourse.
I admire these women for their knowledge, courage, and activism. If there is another side to the story, let it be told.
I'd be curious to see what the murder rate is in these cities vs the rest of the country.
@@rexmann1984 The ZEDE Ciudad Morazán is an oasis of safety in Choloma, one of the murder capitals of the world. It is so safe the children play in the street day and night, which is unheard of in the rest of the country. BTW, 98% of the population is Honduran, not "rich foreigners."
The root of most troubles in Honduras is the corruption in the government, is too much.
I`m from Honduras and I know for sure.
What’s that got to do with this issue other than there was probably corruption to allow disgraceful terms favourable to corporations?
Corporations are not going to want to do business in Honduras unless they have assurances they grubby politicians won’t try to steal everything.
The*
Yes, Apparently they are the ones to sign off on such BS!!!
@@nk-gp1ml honduras invited these corporations in 2013 with rules the honduras government made to stay for 50 years now they unilaterally want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
It’s about time this get international help because the national authority don’t want to help the people of Roatan the goal is to take all our property in any way the can
They went down there and "Disney-ed" Honduras! Outrageous
ANYONE working for any government who prioritizes money and power over the protection of human rights of those less fortunate are ALL going to hell! Pure criminality!
It's pointless screaming about "hell" to people who don't believe in it.
@@belladonnatook8851 Not believing in it will just make it worse for them!
Once I heard the sales pitch for what this place is I was expecting to find Peter Thiels fingerprints on it & yep Thiel & Andreesaan involved. It sounded like a Libertarian fever dream from the start.
Ya, like Hong Kong or Singapore. You know two of the richest most prosperous cities in the world??
@@benjaminr8961 Malaysia is trying to copy Singapore and it's doing well too.
Modern economic theory continues to fail and people still haven't clued in.
Peter Thiel is as far from a Libertarian as it's possible to be. That term is his deoderant for being a lynchpin of the deep security state and technocracy. He created Palantir, then went from there to being a money front for DARPA and CIA to this day. What Thiel et al are doing is schitting where they eat, then preparing to run off to their hideaways.
For those wondering, the idea behind ZEDEs was to create Hong Kongs in Honduras.
And they were on the way to doing that before the new corrupt government broke all the promises of the previous government.
When every Honduran currently residing in the U.S. both legally and illegally is returned to Honduras, then I will care about this. Otherwise, the Hondurans need to shut up.
Honduras is the same country that recently kicked out democratic Taiwan and aligns itself with communist China now.
This is going to lead to even more trafficking and environmental destruction. Ive never heard of this. Im glad you are covering this.
Deutsche Bank sued Sri Lanka in 2009 under one of these Investment dispute settlement regimes buried into trade agreements by the US to favor their corporate lobby donors. The decision was in favour Deutsche Bank in Oct 2012. Sri Lanka was ordered to pay US$60 million in compensation (plus interest and US$8 million in legal costs) to one of the biggest banks in the world for a dubious hedge fund deal arranged by DB.
sick
Trumps favorite bank...it figures.
The US had nothing to do with passing the ZEDE law, and the government has no interest in the ZEDEs except to use them for political points.
Its German- home of Nazism. What do you expect?
@@kaceykelly7222He is half German...
stunning that such things exist, yet "homeowner's" associations are similar in many respects and also need to be abolished if America is serious about freedom
Thank you Amy. Thank you Public Citizen.
Hondureño here, I'm shamed to say I stayed at this place last week and found out after the fact that they just bought out The Pristine Bay resort (shown on there adds online) where we stayed. I'm told there strategy is to continue to expand and build while this trial happens with the idea of being to big to be stopped by the time of a ruling, neocolonialism in real time. It's time to reachout to Senator Warren.
When you were on Roatan, did you ask any of the residents, especially residents of Crawfish Rock, what they thought about Próspera? Everyone I talked to was thrilled at the opportunities they now have. Democracy Today found one resident who lied about everything that happened there.
@joybran folks in the main land were thrilled with maquilas(sweatshops) coming to the country also. This is not development intended to benefit the locals, it's a place for North American/European white collar/boomers to take over and be served by the locals. Ask the Garifuna villages in the main land about there experiences with ancestral land theft by corrupt business interests.
@@tegusentertainment8021 The Honduran government supposedly gave land to the Garifuna many years ago but never protected their property rights. Corrupt politicians also made deals with companies long ago that may have harmed Hondurans. I don't know all the history. I do know for a fact that the ZEDEs made no deals with the government that passed the ZEDE law. It was a Honduran initiative designed to attract foreign investment to bring jobs and economic development. I have seen how Próspera is offering educational opportunities to young Hondurans. Próspera uses the ZEDE law to innovate in tech, finance, and legal structures, which appeals to foreign investors. But the second ZEDE, Ciudad Morazán, was explicitly designed to offer working-class Hondurans jobs and a higher standard of living. They both hire 90% Hondurans and pay 10% above the minimum wage. Ask any Honduran who lives in Ciudad Morazán what they think of the ZEDEs.
@@tegusentertainment8021I’m so glad that people are actually waking up to the truth of it all. Do not be afraid to speak out! You are very much right. The sweatshops are not meant to benefit the locals. But to exploit them. What’s funny is you will usually find Americans online demonizing the sweatshops in China, while their country is making their own. I believe this will happen soon to my country as well. The hotels are majority of the time “all inclusive” they do not have to interact with locals.. locals regularly get shooed away. It’s terrible. And the way they treat locals wanting to stay at these places? if I speak… then they complain that locals do not give them business.
@@tegusentertainment8021I’m from Honduras also and this is the first I’ve heard of this. It definitely needs to be given a bigger platform in and outside of Honduras.
This kind of thing should be illegal just because they are not crossing the Honduran borders with guns and weapons and violently overthrowing the Government, they should not be able to do it through Courts and Lawyers.
honduras invited these corporations with rules the honduras government made for 50 years now they unianmously want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
honduras invited these corporations in 2013 with rules the honduras government made to stay for 50 years now they unilaterally want to repeal them. i hope these corporations get that 11 billion from the govenrment
Ah yes how dare people follow the rule of law!
A capitalist intention is to take an advantage of taking a cheap labor who doesnt know their rights.
The island of Roatan is the only safe place for tourists to go. The rest of the country is a warzone. Corporations aren't perfect but it seems they did a better job than the Honduran government.
That’s mighty white of Delaware