The point here with regard to the free trade agreement is the fact that it lacks mechanisms for regulating the actions of companies, and I don't think the free trade agreement, without regulations, without standards and mechanisms, will be able to be carried out and to show that, in fact, there is a concern for not violating the rights of workers.
I think it's quite the contrary. If the free trade agreement is approved as it stands, the consequences will be terrible. I would actually like to ask that you do whatever is necessary to make sure it's possible that the people who work within the government industry factories can be consulted, rather than simply applying standards with respect to human rights when the situation is such that human rights are being violated.
There have been factories in Honduras for years, and you've seen the level of poverty in Honduras. In fact, Honduras is getting poorer and poorer because the exploitation is increasing.
It is necessary to regulate that and to ensure that human rights defenders and advocates can make a difference. When there is no standard and when there are no mechanisms, when there is no control over what companies are doing, be they mining companies or garment companies, violations will take place in a country, and people will work because they need to work. That doesn't mean, however, that this translates into prosperity and that there is some kind of guarantee of labour rights and wealth. What's guaranteed is exploitation.
On that, what we must do is ensure that each worker has a life where he or she can live in dignity. We cannot simply exploit workers and then forget them and abandon them.
A great deal has to be done in Honduras to improve things, but what is truly at play right now is the human rights situation, the human rights violations. It is part of the government's policy, and we can see that clearly because a number of laws have been adopted in the national congress. Those laws restrict rights and they in fact encourage human rights violators to continue violating human rights because of the level of impunity.
There is a historic debt in Honduras when it comes to ensuring that justice is done, and impunity makes it possible for those who violate human rights to continue to do so, because there is no judgment, there is no punishment. This situation has arisen because governments are not interested in conducting serious and independent investigations.