Political shifts across Latin America are giving way to an aggressive crackdown on social movements, PeaceLink reported.
Following electoral processes that shifted power dynamics across the continent, organizations aligned with right-wing networks are targeting popular resistance groups. PeaceLink noted that these crackdowns rely on police forces, large landowners, armed corporate guards, and drug trafficking syndicates.
The situation remains particularly acute in Honduras and Colombia. In Tegucigalpa, demonstrations against the government of Nasry Asfura have continued for over a month.
Asfura was declared the winner of the November 30, 2025, presidential election despite thousands of contested voting records and pressure from the Trump administration. Protesters have taken to the streets over the rising cost of living and regressive economic policies.
In response, the Honduran government enacted the Ley Especial para el Combate a Asociaciones Terroristas in late September. Popular organizations quickly dubbed this measure the anti-terrorist law.
The legislation broadens penal definitions to encompass social protest, land defense, and independent journalism. While officials frame the law as a counter-narcotics measure mirroring Washington’s policies toward groups like Mara Salvatrucha, critics point to its elastic interpretation.
PeaceLink reported that the legal overhaul functions primarily to punish lawful social movements opposing the administration. This mirrors enforcement strategies seen in El Salvador.
Honduran environmental movements have faced decades of targeted persecution, amplified since the 2009 coup against Manuel Zelaya. March 3 marked the tenth anniversary of the assassination of indigenous activist Berta Cáceres, who was killed for opposing the construction of the Río Gualcarque dam.
Garífuna communities currently face similar displacement pressures while practicing peaceful territorial resistance. Under the newly expanded legal definitions, these ancestral defense efforts risk being categorized as acts of terror.
Freedom of expression faces parallel threats as critical thought encounters potential prosecution under counter-terrorism statutes. PeaceLink stated that the state uses anti-gang rhetoric as a Trojan horse to establish absolute control over civil society.
A similar dynamic unfolds in Colombia under President Edmundo De La Espriella, who secured a narrow victory in the June 21 runoff following contested vote recounts and U.S. intervention. The Colombian administration links rural coca cultivators directly to guerrilla groups and organized crime.
This association serves to justify chemical fumigation campaigns inside peasant reserves known as reservas campesinas. Militarizing these regions expands state surveillance over popular organizations without dismantling underground economies.
Neither administration has addressed structural grievances tied to mining extractivism, agribusiness, or indigenous land rights. PeaceLink emphasized that both governments prioritize repressive security measures to maintain foreign alliances while ignoring local demands.
