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International Pressure 


The Patuca River Dam Construction Project is primarily an endeavor by the Honduran government to gain international recognition and legitimacy. Unlike the case with most dam construction projects, international opinion and pressure have the potential to play a key role in the damming of the Patuca. 


Show Support at Your Campus


Join our national network of student activists and start a letter writing campaign at your college or university, give a presentation, or raise funds to help indigenous groups advocate for their rights. See the Contact Us section to get involved


Send a Letter


Show that you, as an international citizen, stand against the damming of the Patuca River. Letter form has been adapted from Cultural Survival.  


Letters may be sent directly to the Honduran government, or sent to a domestic address for collection. International postage is 98 cents from the United States. Domestic collection letters will be forwarded to nine key parties. 

Domestic Address  

Austin Federa
711 E Boltd Way
SPC 109
Appleton, WI, 54911

Honduran Address

Sr. Porfirio Lobo Sosa Presidente de la República de Honduras Edif. José Cecilio del Valle Boulevard Juan Pablo II Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Dams on Patuca River Violate Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Dear Mr. President, I commend your country for endorsing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the International Labor Organization’s Convention 169, which recognize Indigenous Peoples’ right to free, prior, and informed consent for projects that would affect them.  

I commend your country on its conservation policies, being home to a United Nations World Heritage Site, the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve.

The Patuca III dam project is a test of Honduras’ commitment to Indigenous Peoples’ rights. To comply with the UN Declaration and ILO 169, your administration must not approve construction of dams on the Patuca unless or until you obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of the Tawahka, Pech, Miskito, and Garifuna peoples. For more than a decade, these Indigenous peoples have steadfastly opposed dam construction on the Patuca River, and they continue to do so.  

I am deeply concerned that damming the Patuca River will exacerbate the impacts of global warming, threaten food security and the cultural survival of the Tawahka people, disrupt transportation and commerce for all the peoples of the Moskitia, alter a vital river ecosystem, and put at risk the invaluable biological diversity of Patuca National Park, the Tawahka Asangni Biosphere Reserve, and the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve. Because of the Patuca III dam project, in early 2011 the United Nations added the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve to its list of World Heritage sites in danger.   

I urge you to suspend development of dams on the Patuca until and unless independent studies determine conclusively that the project will not harm the environment nor threaten the well being and cultural continuity of the Indigenous Peoples of the Moskitia.

Sincerely,