Guilty! Otoniel Flores Mira - part of the criminal structure behind the Pinares/Ecotek megaproject - convicted in a high-risk court

The former employee of the Tocoa Municipal “Environmental Unit” admits that he committed the crime of 'usurping functions' to benefit Pinares/Ecotek and is sentenced by a Court of National Jurisdiction in Matters of Organized Crime, Environment and Corruption.

Ecotek/Pinares has been accused of aggravated damages against the Carlos Escaleras National Park.

For immediate release | April 9, 2025 | Tocoa, Colon

Español aquí: ¡Culpable! Otoniel Flores Mira – parte de estructura criminal que impone megaproyecto Pinares/Ecotek - condenado ante corte de alto riesgo

Fully aware of the crimes of which he was accused, Otoniel Flores Mira has admitted his criminal responsibility for the crime of usurpation of public functions to the detriment of public faith. On April 8, the court confirmed the sentence of one year and six months in writing.

Otoniel Flores Mira unconditionally admitted to having illegally extended permits authorizing the companies Ecotek/Pinares to cut down trees as part of their mining project. This is just one of the criminal actions undertaken by the criminal structure operating in the area to forcibly and illegally implement the Pinares/Ecotek megaproject. Since since its arrival in Tocoa in 2013, documents show that the company has resorted to corruption and illegal actions to push forward their megaproject, while ensuring the criminalization of the defenders who have legitimately raised their voices to denounce the company's illegalities and environmental crimes.

In a recent hearing against three company executives as part of the same indictment, an ATIC investigator affirmed that Pinares/Ecotek had carried out illegal mining, causing aggravated damage to the Carlos Escaleras National Park through arbitrary actions and influence peddling. In total, thirteen people, including the company's director, Lenir Pérez, have been criminally charged.

It should be noted that Otoniel Flores Mira's brother, Filemón Flores Mira, is also accused of usurping functions in the same accusation; meanwhile, Filemón's wife, the current Municipal Secretary of Tocoa, Norma Agripina García, is also accused of falsifying public documents for issuing an adulterated municipal certificate relating to an open townhall meeting in 2016, a document that the company used before the Secretary of the Environment to obtain environmental permits.

These cases, together with many others now in progress, demonstrate the criminal intent behind the actions of municipal employees in the service of and in collusion with Pinares/Ecotek.

Given that Otoniel Floras Mira has admitted all responsibility, we condemn the fact that Judge Francisco Josue Alvarez Ruiz has not ordered reparation for the damage caused. As such, an appeal will be lodged so that full and restorative justice is done, as forests and rivers that give life to thousands of people in the area have been damaged.

As a consequence of the impunity derived from the lack of investigation and sanction by the State of the criminal acts perpetrated by the criminal structure as a whole, the defenders and beneficiaries of precautionary measures MC 137-2023 have been the target of stigmatization, threats and assassinations, such as that of Juan López. We demand an exhaustive and impartial investigation into all these crimes and the punishment of all the perpetrators and masterminds.

We demand justice for Juan! Justice for Carlos Escaleras National Park!

 Update April 9, 2025 at 2pm.