Shortly after the 2009 right-wing coup, the pirates in charge of the new Honduran government immediately set about selling off parts of the country in order to enrich themselves. One of their ideas was (ZEDE) Zone for Employment and Economic Development.

where private investors have outsized power to shape labor laws, judicial systems, and local governance.

“In the ZEDEs, the Honduran labor code will not apply and neither would Honduran international agreements with the International Labor Organization. Labor conflicts would be resolved inside the ZEDEs’ structures, not in Honduran courts. They are a state within another state.”
- Carlos H. Reyes

Próspera is made up almost entirely of english-speaking foreigners – often cryptocurrency enthusiasts and libertarians - and threatens to displace locals.

The “community resolution” document refers to the Próspera Zede as a “real estate and community development project”, but does not go into further detail. “They deceived us big time,” said Connor.

Further enflaming the situation, Própsera posted on its website drawings of three stages of expansion that appeared to include the center of Crawfish Rock within its jurisdiction, stoking fears that investors could invoke a legal clause that would allow for the expropriation of the land the community has lived on for generations.

Próspera cares little about its neighbors. In 2019 Crawfish Rock lost access to running water. Próspera saw an opportunity. It connected the village to its water tank and then proposed much higher pricing. Once it heard the villagers were attempting to restore their old water system it then turned off the taps.

Cárdenas said she wouldn’t mind seeing Próspera turn into a more typical tourist area or site of economic development: “My advice would be: Go pay your tax like everybody else; go and get your permits like everybody else; and [abide by] Honduran law and regulation like everybody else.”

Last year Xiomara Castro won the presidency in such a huge landslide that even the immensely corrupt Hernández government couldn't rig it. Castro ran on the promise of repealing the ZEDE law. It was the first promise that Castro kept. Próspera responded by telling the Honduran government that it could face damages of more than $1.3 billion dollars if it tried to renege on these agreements.

Just before the repeal, Próspera announced a new round of investments totaling $60m and the adoption of the cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal tender. In the weeks and months since, the company has continued to operate as if nothing has changed, moving ahead with construction projects and clinging to their plan to build a libertarian oasis of sorts.

 
They could feel confident threatening the Honduran government because both the State Department and several U.S. Senators have issued statements against Honduran sovereignty.
The law creating the ZEDEs was called the RED law. It was declared unconstitutional in 2012 by the Supreme Court, on the grounds that it violated the constitutional principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and governance.

The judges who voted against this law were removed from their posts by Hernández. The Hernández-led congress rewrote and re-passed the newly-named ZEDE law, and in early 2014, the new Supreme Court approved it.