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Network Member Interview: Betty del Carmen Vásquez Rivera, Movimiento Ambientalista Santabarbarense

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Betty del Carmen Vásquez Rivera is an activist from Honduras. She founded the departmental women’s network and MAS (Movimiento Ambientalista Santabarbarense), focused on women’s rights and environmental issues. Betty shares her learning journey and what inspires her.

 

Briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your work in Honduras.

 

I am Betty del Carmen Vásquez Rivera, from the municipality of Petoa, Santa Bárbara. I am a founder of the departmental women’s network and MAS (Movimiento Ambientalista Santabarbarense), two organizations that are pillars of my activism. I am also a member of the Women’s Forum for Life, the Women’s Rights Center CDM and Mesoamericanas en Resistencia. I work as a human and environmental rights defender, and I am also a lawyer.

 

What experience or person inspired you to join the struggle for territorial and environmental justice?

 

Since I was a child I always stood out in cultural and environmental activities. I accompanied my mother to the housewives’ club and to the meetings she attended. My mother and my grandmother have deeply influenced my life with their knowledge and tastes. As a high school student, I actively participated in student movements, which awakened my Lenca roots. I am a fighter and defender of life; my feminism is rooted in the defense of territory, from women’s bodies to the Lenca commons, both cultural and environmental.

After the coup d’état in Honduras in 2009, I organized with the National Front of Popular Resistance and joined Women in Resistance. I am a fighter and do not limit myself to theory, but participate in a political discourse that aligns with my life practices. I have worked together with others in Women in Resistance for the territory Body and land. I have been involved in environmental struggles, defending land, territory against extractivism, as well as water and opposing mining. I have coordinated numerous workshops against extractivism, Climate Change and collaborated with women’s networks and defenders.

Some inspirations come from deep convictions; I love nature.

 

As a Lenca indigenous woman, I feel compelled to defend my rights and those of the territory. The feminist spirit calls for the defense of the collective rights of mother earth.

 

Has there been a turning point in your life that has marked you or had a lasting impact on your trajectory?

 

A turning point for me was finding a way to globalize women’s hopes, dreams and aspirations. We are diverse, but not dispersed, because borders do not limit, and interculturality is the richness that each of us brings to the space. I always remember this experience because I overcame geographical and language barriers.

 

 

 

This work can be challenging and difficult, what inspires and motivates you to keep going?

 

This work can be challenging and complicated, but what inspires and motivates me to keep going is the connection with other women and the community. Seeing the positive impact of our actions and the mutual support we give each other drives us to keep fighting. In addition, my love for nature and the urgent need to defend our territories are powerful forces that keep me moving forward. Hope for a better future and belief in the possibility of creating real change motivate me every day.

 


October 16, 2024 | Michael Musyoka


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