Crocodiles starve after US Govt freezes elite Honduras family's assets
More than 10,000 crocodiles
are starving to death on a farm in Honduras after the wealthy family
owning them had their assets frozen because of US accusations they
laundered money for drug traffickers.
AFP journalists visiting the 30-hectare (70-acre)
property called Cocodrilos Continental, in San Manuel near the city of
San Pedro Sula, also saw seven scrawny lions kept in cages.
"The
crocodiles and lions are dying of hunger, and we are too because we
haven't been paid the last two weeks," said one worker at the entrance
to the farm who asked to go by the pseudonym Jose.
"Forty animals have already died. They were taken away in boxes by trucks to be buried," he said.
The
farm is owned by the Rosenthal family, a powerful clan in Honduras with
interests spanning banking, media, property, tourism, livestock and
agriculture.
On October 7, the US Treasury Department said it was
targeting the family's 79-year-old multimillionaire patriarch, Jaime
Rosenthal, his son Yani Rosenthal, and his nephew Yankel Rosenthal "for
their money laundering and drug trafficking activities".
It imposed an asset freeze on them and barred US businesses
from dealing with them, which notably affected their Banco Continental.
The bank, headquartered in San Pedro Sula, is being liquidated on orders
of the Honduras' Banking Commission. A newspaper owned by the family
has also been shut.
Yankel Rosenthal was arrested in Miami by US authorities the day before the Treasury announcement.
The
US accusations and sanctions have rocked Honduras, which had long
perceived its wealthiest families to be untouchable. That held
especially true for the Rosenthals: Jaime Rosenthal was vice-president
of the country from 1986 to 1989; his son Yani was a minister in the
government from 2006 to 2009.
Although the crocodile farm was not
one of the seven Rosenthal businesses designated for US sanctions, it
has found itself caught up in the freeze affecting other parts of the
business empire.
An official at Honduras' state Forest Conservation Institute
(ICF), Pablo Dubon, said the executives running Cocodrilos Continental
told authorities the freezing of the Rosenthals' assets led to the
accounts used to pay the workers and buy animal feed being blocked.
Dubon
said the municipality and animal protection groups were working on an
emergency plan to temporarily care for the animals while a permanent
solution was found. One option was to have the employees work for food
while the legal status of the farm was assessed.
A week ago, the
ICF delivered 1.5 tons (3,000 pounds) of chicken meat to the farm but
workers refused to feed it to the animals until they were paid their
monthly wages of $340 each.
"The 3,000 pounds doesn't amount to
much because a crocodile eats the equivalent of half a horse in a day,"
said Jose, the worker at the gate.
"But at least something is being done," he added.
According to security
guards at Cocodrilos Continental, there are 11,000 American crocodiles
spread out over 135 pools hidden by weeds and bushes turned green by
recent rains. Some 60 newborn crocs are among them. An on-site clinic
meant to look after around 70 ailing crocodiles has ceased to function.
The
farm's website says the crocodile business was created to generate
profits by exporting meat and skin to the United States, while also
"preserving the species". It had a yearly budget of $1 million to pay
employees' wages and food for the animals.
Three
farm employees who refused to give their names told AFP they were
thinking of looking for jobs elsewhere because they haven't been paid
beyond the second week of October.
But if they did so, they warned, people living nearby would likely rush in to grab the crocodiles to eat
Source: AFP
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