In the past year, over 40 peasants in the Lower Aguan region of Honduras have died because they are refusing to give up their land to giant plantations growing African palm oil to produce agrofuel. Peasants have been intimidated, injured, and even killed by private security forces employed by the plantations. The situation has further deteriorated with the arrival of 600-1,000 military troops, who received aid and training from the U.S. military. In June Food First staff member, Tanya Kerssen, participated in a negotiation on behalf of a group of these peasants at the point of a gun.

Sunday's action -- and indeed the Truth Tour -- wrapped up with a brief exchange between Lucas Benitez and a Trader Joe's store manager. At first, the manager made clear that he felt the protest was inconvenient. Lucas said he understood, but assured him there were greater inconveniences at stake, like doing one of the hardest, most dangerous, most vital jobs in the country and never making enough to provide a decent life for your family.

You might think that by now, with threats of antibiotic resistant infections in hospitals on the rise nationwide, that our Congressional leaders would do the right thing and pass this sensible bill. The agribusiness and pharmaceuticals lobbies are strong. Only if a majority of citizens tell our leaders we want a change will this bill, which has been introduced in Congress for the past four years, finally be passed. Someone you care about may die if we don't act to end this practice which places more value on profits than human lives.

Yesterday around 11am Mountain Time, 2 campesinos in the Aguan were
detained without charge from the community of Rigores, which has been
increasingly under attack by large landowners in the region since the
2009 coup. At 7pm, Rigores was attacked with firearms by police
forces, and 2 more campesinos were forcibly disappeared. The Alliance
for Global Justice received news that a violent eviction is to take
place at 6am tomorrow Friday, and will be on site to observe and
accompany the campesinos of Rigores. While one of the detainees has

The Obama Administration is hoping to move the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement forward as soon as this July. If you believe that human rights should NOT be sacrificed on the altar of free trade, we need your help to make sure the free trade agreement does not pass!

Please join Witness for Peace and our allies at an urgent demonstration in Washington, D.C. on July 11th.

Where: Lafayette Park (right in front of the White House)
When: 12 pm (noon) on Monday, July 11