Dinant statement on Paso Aguán

1 September, 2017

On Monday, August 28th, 2017, during the early hours of the morning following an illegal invasion of our Paso Aguán Plantation, the bodies were found of two company security guards - SANTOS MISAEL GUZMAN BAUTISTA and JUAN JOSE SALAZAR VILLEDA. Both had been tied up and executed by gun shots to their backs. It is important to note that neither guards, as with all Dinant security staff at the plantation, had been carrying firearms, as part of the company’s Human Rights and Security policy since 2013. Dinant expresses its deepest condolences to the families of our coworkers; we offer our prayers and will support them as much as possible in such hard times. We are cooperating fully with the authorities to ensure that those who committed these atrocious crimes are brought to justice. We hope that those criminal groups that hide under the pretense of being genuine peasants cease to carry out criminal acts against the Honduran population. This brings to 21 the number of Dinant staff who have been murdered in the area since 2010. We publicly call on the criminals and the organizations they claim to represent to cease using violence to carry out actions that have only brought mourning and economic damage to our country. We ask that all stakeholders in the region publicly condemn the actions carried out by these criminal groups and fully cooperate with the Unit of Violent Deaths in Bajo Aguán (UMBIVA) and the police investigation to bring to justice those responsible for such abominable acts. About Corporación Dinant Dinant is a family-owned consumer products manufacturer founded in Honduras in 1960. Its products are sold across Central America and the Dominican Republic, and exported to global markets. The companyemploys 7,200 people worldwide, supports a further 22,000 livelihoods, generates millions of US dollars in exports for Honduras, and contributes significantly to the economies of all countries in which it operates. Dinant rigorously benchmarks its operations against stringent international standards regarding economic, environmental and social impacts. Dinant has sold 3,962.5 hectares of land containing plantations at below-market prices back to peasant organizations in an effort to provide land to those that want it.

Dinant statement on Paso Aguán

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