José Ángel Flores Granados
José Ángel Flores Granados is a Lenca human rights defender from the Intipucá territory in El Salvador. He has 20 years of experience defending human rights, with his work focused on defending indigenous, land and labour rights. He currently holds the position of Coordinator at the Sindicato de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores de la Filial de Oriente (Eastern Branch Workers Union), an organisation member of the Movimiento Indígena para la Integración de las Luchas de los Pueblos Ancestrales de El Salvador (Indigenous Movement for the Integration of the Struggles of the Ancestral People of El Salvador). This movement advocates for land rights, access to natural resources, especially water, and for the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights.
The Lenca defender is also Secretary for the Environment for the Trade Union Federation, Unión Nacional para Defensa de la Clase Trabajadora (National Union for the Defence of the Working Class). This union promotes labour rights and has played an important role by publicly condemning the abuses and impacts of extractive industries and projects in El Salvador.
The human rights defender community is regularly subjected to campaigns of defamation - they are labeled as 'traitors of the nation', 'terrorists' and 'subversive'. This tactic employed by the authorities is designed to discredit and undermine the work of human rights defenders by isolating and marginalising them, making them a vulnerable target for abuse. Community leaders and environmental activists who are opposed to large-scale mining projects face death threats and violence.
