Defenders of land and territory, resistance against extractivism and visions towards a post-extractivist egalitarian future

Two hundred years have passed since “independence” — or, rather, since the events that put an end to three centuries of Spanish colonialism and which were the basis of present-day neocolonialism. The official celebrations highlighted “the historical milestone of Independence” and celebrated, in the words of the Central American Integration System [SICA], that “Central America was born with a common history that should be used to promote it in a region of opportunities”. But what has happened to the opportunities that supposedly opened up two centuries ago, when these countries broke with colonial rule?