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, which is exactly what has happened.

In Honduras, communities are fighting back against privatization and foreign exploitation after Honduran President Xiomara Castro and Congress repealed a law that established so-called Economic Development and Employment Zones, where private companies have “functional and administrative autonomy” from the national government. Now a Delaware-based company called Próspera has launched a case to challenge the repeal of the law under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement and is seeking almost $11 billion, which amounts to nearly two-thirds of the country’s entire 2022 budget.