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By Naomi Bernaldez, Campaigner on Amnesty International\u2019s Central America team<\/p>\n Naomi took part in the Write for Rights campaign for Juan L\u00f3pez and created a collage using fragments from more than 15,000 letters sent from around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n In this article, she reflects on what it meant to carry a sample of that solidarity to Honduras and to meet Juan\u2019s family and fellow activists.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n Juan L\u00f3pez was a Honduran father, husband, human rights defender and environmental activist. Since 2015, together with other members of the community of Tocoa, he had defended the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers, the forests and Carlos Escaleras Mej\u00eda National Park against mining and energy projects that threatened the ecosystem and water quality.<\/p>\n Juan and his colleagues founded the Tocoa Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods to peacefully challenge the legality of these projects. As a result of their activism, members of the Committee have faced threats, harassment, criminalization and attacks.<\/p>\n On 14 September 2024, Juan was killed as he was leaving a church in Tocoa. His death left an irreparable void for his family and community\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n That is why Juan\u2019s story was selected for Write for Rights, Amnesty International\u2019s global campaign that mobilizes millions of people every year to stand in solidarity with those who have suffered human rights violations.<\/p>\n The campaign for Juan generated 332,381 actions worldwide.<\/p>\n In June, I travelled with several colleagues to Tegucigalpa to deliver a message that had already travelled thousands of kilometres before we did. In our suitcases, we carried just a fraction of those actions. It was something immense: a selection from more than 15,000 letters of solidarity written for Juan\u2019s family, his colleagues from the Committee and the Justice for the Peoples Law Firm, which represents them legally.<\/p>\n For months, I had watched these letters arrive, one after another, and had witnessed the care, hope and commitment contained in every word. Even so, it was not until I held a selection of those messages on the way to Honduras that I fully grasped what they really meant.<\/p>\n I thought about the thousands of people who had taken a few minutes out of their lives to write a message or draw something for someone they had never met. In a world that so often seems marked by indifference, those letters were proof that empathy can still cross borders.<\/p>\n As the campaign progressed, I felt the need to find a way to represent all the solidarity arriving from different parts of the world. That is how a collage made from fragments of the letters came about. As I created it, I discovered something deeply moving. Although every letter was unique, they all shared the same intention: to stand alongside Juan\u2019s family and colleagues, to express admiration for his legacy, and in many cases simply to let them know that people in different corners of the world were with them.<\/p>\n The collage became far more than a visual piece; it became a representation of the strength of collective solidarity and a bridge connecting thousands of people.<\/p>\n Although every letter was unique, they all shared the same intention: to stand alongside Juan\u2019s family and colleagues, to express admiration for his legacy, and in many cases simply to let them know that people in different corners of the world were with them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n However, the true meaning of the letters and the collage only came to life when we met in Honduras with the people they were intended for. It was then that I understood that what we were carrying was more than paper and ink: these were thousands of voices joining their struggle, honouring Juan\u2019s history of resistance and reminding them that, even from thousands of kilometres away, there are people who believe in justice and stand alongside them.<\/p>\n The handover was deeply emotional. It was not possible to physically carry all 15,000 letters in a single trip, but we could share a small part of the immense movement of solidarity that had grown around their cause. \u00a0<\/p>\n The day continued at the Legal Office for Indigenous Peoples, where we installed a mural in tribute to the struggle that Juan L\u00f3pez represented. We then held a brief gathering with members of the Committee.<\/p>\n It was a simple moment, but a deeply meaningful one. No grand speeches were needed. The memory, commitment and determination of those who have sustained this struggle for years could be felt in every conversation, every embrace and every look.<\/p>\n I remember looking at the newly installed mural, the letters, the collage and the people gathered around them. At that moment, I understood something that we sometimes risk forgetting in our day-to-day work: campaigns do not end when an action is sent.<\/p>\n Behind every letter is a person who chose to dedicate their time, attention and hope to someone else. And when those messages reach their destination, solidarity stops being an abstract idea and becomes something tangible.<\/p>\n By the end of the day, I felt that we had travelled there to give something, but that we were returning having received far more. We came away with a lesson in perseverance, community and humanity. We learned that something as simple as writing a letter can become a source of strength for people facing enormous challenges.<\/p>\n The more than 15,000 letters received, the collage created from their words and the mural installed in Honduras are different expressions of the same truth: solidarity has the power to cross borders, languages and distances. And when thousands of people decide to act together, no struggle has to be fought alone.<\/p>\n Justice for Juan has still not been achieved, and more people are needed to raise their voices to demand an immediate, independent and impartial investigation into his killing, and for everyone responsible to be brought to justice in fair trials.<\/p>\n kabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Naomi Bernaldez, Campaigner on Amnesty International\u2019s Central America team Naomi took part in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDefending water cost him his life<\/h2>\n
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A message that travelled thousands of kilometres<\/h2>\n
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I INVITE YOU TO ADD YOUR SUPPORT.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n