Elvia Alvarado

Elvia Alvarado (born 1938) is a Honduran human rights activist who has been involved in several peasant organizations. She became a social activist through the Catholic Church, and organized women movements in Honduran cities to distribute food to malnourished children. She has done extensive work in land recovery, and has been arrested and tortured by police and security forces. Currently she is the head of the International Relations of the Union of Rural Workers.

Alvarado's story is told in the best-selling book translated and edited by Medea Benjamin, Don't Be Afraid Gringo: A Honduran Woman Speaks from the Heart: The Story of Elvia Alvarado , as well as in the PBS documentary Elvia and the Fight for Land and Liberty.

Life

Childhood Elvia Alvarado was born to her father, a campesino, and her mother, a baker and animal farmer, on January 25, 1938. Elvia grew up in an abusive household, with her mother faced domestic violence. During Ronald Reagan’s presidential era, they sent military forces to Nicaragua. A military plane crashed during the border between Nicaragua and Honduras and killed 52 Hondurans.