Happy Nice Mall

Romer initially collaborated with the Honduran government, but they parted ways after disagreements over how to implement his idea. (Romer did not respond to a request for comment.)

Breaking ground in 2020, Próspera plans to impose ultra-low taxes, provide outsourcing services typically managed by the public sector, set up an “arbitration center” instead of a courthouse, and charge an annual fee (physical or e-) for citizenship. residency) involves signing a “social contract” that the company hopes will deter misconduct.

When I visited the site in February, a head office was one of several completed buildings. There was no dedicated Próspera police force, but at the front desk was Bulldog Security International, a private security company that considered the local police force of hotels on the island to be inadequate. A pair of two-story buildings housed office workers. The rest was largely a construction site, but a residential tower block remains.

The depiction of the future Próspera shows the circles that appear to be inspired by the shells of the island’s native seashells—pearl coral, cream, and soft curves in glass. A strip of white sand separates the apartment block from the gentle embrace of the Caribbean Sea.

The businesses most likely to be drawn here are those looking to escape regulation in their home countries – Trey Goff, Prospera’s chief of staff, highlights medical innovations, health tourism, and just about every aspect of the cryptocurrency industry.

“There is an automatic degree of overlap with the crypto industry and what we do,” he says. “Because they see themselves at the forefront of financial innovation, and we want to make that possible.”

MICHAEL BYERS

Some people working in the tech and crypto space are already established in the jurisdiction through the e-residence program. Businesses can freely transact in the cryptocurrency of their choice, and five have been approved for government-level use.

Próspera’s advisors include Oliver Porter, founder of Sandy Springs, Georgia. Próspera says Silicon Valley venture capitalists and private investors have invested $50 million in the project so far, and another $100 million fundraising round is underway.

The amount raised so far includes money from billionaire Peter Thiel, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and investors Roger Ver and Balaji Srinivasan through Pronomos Capital. Pronomos Capital told Bloomberg He said that in 2018 he discussed establishing semi-autonomous cities in countries such as Ghana, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Nigeria and Panama.

Broken links

If you continue on the road to Próspera, you will soon come across a village of about 100 people called Crawfish Rock. In a patchy woodland area along the coast are a series of wooden houses painted in pale crayons and set on stilts. Chickens scratch the grass sprouting under palm trees. Far from the dazzling white of Próspera’s air-conditioned boardroom.

At Crawfish Rock, I was greeted by the village Patronato, or community board chairman, Luisa Connor. He belongs to the Garifuna community, descendants of slaves brought to the island by the British colonists in the late 1700s. We discuss the backlash against Próspera, which has turned from a community-led effort to a national rejection of the ZEDEs, as her little girl plays nearby, sitting on the plastic chairs in her garden. Connor paints a picture of deception on behalf of Próspera, and says he portrays himself as a regular tourist development when he asks the community to sign a consent document, promising that the first jobs on the site will be offered to villagers.

But the villagers soon discovered that the project would be something quite different, and relations quickly frayed. Connor said that Erick Brimen, CEO of Próspera, offered to buy Crawfish Rock outright; refused on behalf of the village. But residents began to worry that Próspera would seize their land to make way for the expanding city-state.

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A long history of land grab bloody History in Honduras. Successive governments have empowered corporations to snatch land from the peasants; in a field alone has led to more than 150 murders and disappearances since 2008.

Próspera manager Daniel Frazee said the company’s contract prevents it from expropriating the land and plans to expand in non-settled directions. However, Connor said that after Brimen turned down his offer, he told her that the Honduran government could confiscate it. When asked about Connor’s comments, Próspera denied any attempt to buy Crawfish Rock and said that his charter and statutes prevented him from buying expropriated land from the Honduran government.

The islanders I spoke to raised a fundamental objection to the transfer of Honduran territory to corporate control. They do not respect any government, any rule, any law; just a dream,” said Rosa Daniela, a community activist who participated in the campaign against Próspera.

Finally, Connor blocked Brimen’s number. He says the village no longer has a dialogue with Próspera. Goff puts it differently: “From the beginning, we were very focused on building strong community relationships with that community.”

The political climate has changed since Próspera started. The new Honduran president, Xiomara Castro, ran on a platform promising to shut them down, questioning Próspera’s longevity, amid the growing backlash against ZEDEs based on concerns expressed at Crawfish Rock.

“We are just an experiment”

The Salvadoran economist José Luis Magaña has yet to break ground on Bitcoin City, but the Conchagua Volcano is already home to several settlements, raising the specter of displacement – ​​especially given that only a fifth of the area’s farmers own the land they’re working on.

The government says the project aims to provide jobs to the poor neighboring town of La Unión, but Magaña says socioeconomic disparities between the town and El Salvador’s major cities make gentrification a more likely outcome.

Unlike Prospera, Bitcoin City has the support of the current government. But the influx of foreign investors and the displacement of locals may eventually fuel a similar reaction. Three days after Bitcoin City was announced, El Salvador passed a new law that would allow the government to expropriate land for public use.

The exact location of Bitcoin City remains unclear to prevent speculators from increasing land prices. But real estate companies, wealthy Salvadoran businessmen and crypto companies from Europe have offered to buy the land on which El Espíritu de la Montaña sits from Diaz for three to five times the price he paid.

Diaz is adamant that he won’t sell: “This is a life project for me.” He supports Bukele and believes Bitcoin City will spur economic growth in the region, but states that people he knows in La Unión are concerned about being forced to relocate.

Back in Honduras, researcher José Luis Palma Herrera sees the ZEDEs and projects like them as a modern twist on the region’s painful institutional colonial history. “The promise to end poverty and improve lives has been used to get citizens to accept these regions of corruption and exploitation,” he says. “However, most of the profits from the enclaves go out of the country, [with] there is no real development in the areas where they are located.”

Besides Próspera, there are three other ZEDEs in Honduras. Less radical private city projects continue in Malawi and United States. Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin gets involved in talks On establishing a crypto-backed special economic zone with the government of Zambia.

“We’re trying to help create an entirely new type of industry… the industry of building cities,” Goff says. He says he would like to one day see several hundred developments around the world – “bright spots of prosperity working together to create a brighter future for humanity”.

Not everyone is sold in dreams. In Roatán, Rosa Daniela worries about the impact this will have on her community and others like her. “These adventurous men come to us in the name of freedom,” she says. “They want to start with us; we are just an experiment. If they achieve success here, they will move to your country and to other countries of the world.

Laurie Clarke is a UK-based freelance technology journalist..