ALAI, América Latina en Movimiento
2009-07-24
Honduras
Observations from the Hemispheric Social Alliance delegation in Honduras
HSA Secretariat
From July 12 to 15, 2009
The people of Honduras are not alone
Tegucigalpa, July 13, 2009. Tegucigalpa. On the night of July 12, when the first members of the Hemispheric Social Alliance’s solidarity delegation - Enrique Daza from the Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA) and Victor Torres from the Trade Union Central of the Americas (TUCA) – arrived in Tegucigalpa, one could feel the tension in the air, despite the apparent calm in the capital. Thousands of slogans condemning the coup covered walls throughout the city; some accused the Catholic Cardinal of being a “golpista” (those who perpetrated and/or support the coup) and others declared, “They fear us because we do not fear them”. The independent candidates for president and vice-president, Carlos H Reyes and Berta Cáceres, who have been on the front line of resistance since the start, affirmed that they have always been confident that the Honduran people could and would resist.
On the same day, thousands of protestors held another protest in Central Park, as they have been doing throughout the country every day since the coup d’état. They have been resisting in the streets for 15 days now, showing their tremendous mobilization capacity that has succeeded in neutralizing the military forces’ actions against the marches and protests, but not the hostile attacks against the leaders of the resistance.
On the night of Saturday, July 11, Roger Iván Bados, from the Textile Industry Workers’ Union (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria Textil) and the Popular Block (Bloque Popular), and Ramón García, activist from the Unificación Democrática party were assassinated. Ramón “was forced to get off the bus by strangers” around 4 pm local time, in the Callejones sector in the state of Santa Barbara.
Some business sectors in the United States are pressuring the government not to adopt sanctions against the dictatorship. The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) joined six other U.S. trade groups in a joint letter to President Barack Obama in which they state, “As your administration addresses the political situation in Honduras, we urge you to do everything possible to maintain the close commercial ties and economic engagement between the United States and Honduras.”
Freedom of the press is becoming increasingly limited by the dictatorship. Journalist and camera operators from Telesur, as well as the Venezuelan Television (VTV) team were kidnapped by military forces and forced to leave the country through the border with Nicaragua. They were said to have been “escorted by a delegation from the Organization of American States, OAS”. It is also known that “Migration Officials, accompanied by armed and hooded police officers went through several hotels to verify the migration status of foreign journalists”. In light of this situation, correspondents from other foreign press services feel unsafe and have begun to leave the country, thereby narrowing the media circle to those that support the dictatorship and reinforces the idea that the situation is back to normal again.
The National Front of Resistance Against the Coup d’État (Frente Nacional de Resistencia contra el golpe de Estado) has sent important leaders to Washington to pressure the U.S. government to take effective economic and political measures against the dictatorship. As for President Manuel Zelaya, he is to meet with Tom Shannon, the Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America and with José Miguel Insulza, the Secretary General of the OAS again.
The United States continues to maintain its ambassador in Tegucigalpa, as well as military aid or agreements and trade flows. The U.S. Palmarola base and its 600 troops continue to function as if nothing has happened, maintaining fluid relations with the Honduran army.
This week is decisive for democracy in Honduras. Major nation-wide mobilizations are being planned for the 16th and the 17th. The population in other Central American countries is also preparing events in support and solidarity with Honduras.
In an interview with leaders and members of the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones populares e Indígenas de Honduras, COPINH (the Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras), it was concluded that the high morale among movements and the population is based on a shared conviction of the justice of the struggle. Also, the current situation has brought to light the lies and veil of deceit that Honduran oligarchy has used to dominate the population for years.
The HSA delegation reiterates its commitment and solidarity with the people of Honduras. What is at stake is not only the future of democracy in Honduras, but also the future of social and popular mobilizations in the struggle against the economic model and in the quest for alternatives for the Americas. Today, threats of a coup d’État supported by right-wing groups in Guatemala circulated. Tomorrow, the same could happen in Paraguay, or El Salvador.
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Honduras: resistance is consolidating
Tegucigalpa, July 14, 2009. The Honduran Front of Resistance Against the Coup made important advances in consolidating the movement during the meeting on Monday, July 13. During the meeting, participants debated over the different perspectives for the struggle and they organized the activities for this week, which include daily mobilizations and two major protests on Thursday and Friday. There, it was announced that the union movement was rapidly preparing a general strike. The HSA delegation presented greetings and reiterated that it would continue to promote solidarity with the Honduran people. Around 80 delegates from organizations throughout the country – including union centrals, student organizations, Via Campesina and sectors from the Liberal party and the Unidad Democratica – participated. It was also announced that the teachers’ union would hold mobilizations throughout the week.
After the meeting, movements marched several kilometres until they met up with the teachers’ protest, forming one large concentration with several thousand people, which went until 3 in the afternoon.
The HSA delegation, now joined by Ben Beachy from Witness for Peace, Berfalia Barraza and Leslie Shubb from the Sinti Techan network from El Salvador and Sister Paty Rourg, met with Bertha Oliva from the Comité de Detenidos Desaparecidos de Honduras, Cofadeh, (Honduran Committee of Disappeared Detainees). Cofadeh presented alarming data on human rights violations: they have registered 660 illegal arrests, 42 people wounded, 5 seriously wounded, assassinations, persecution of journalists and the shutting down of media offices. These and other facts will be presented in a report that the organization will be launching in the next few days.
After, the delegation had a long interview with the El Tiempo newspaper in which the current situation in the country and the need to increase international solidarity was analyzed. It was also stated that the international community must adopt effective sanctions against the regime.
In the meantime, in Managua, President Zelaya gave the perpetrators of the coup an ultimatum, ordering them to leave the government and re-establish institutional order. The dictatorship, however, maintained its international campaign to promote the idea that the conflict was now over, while, at the same time, it unleashed a wave of selective repression in an attempt to weaken the social movement’s resistance. Today, in the afternoon, Zelaya arrived in Guatemala where he affirmed that he would soon return to his country and thanked the Guatemala people for their solidarity with Honduras in defending democracy.
Since yesterday, social, indigenous and campesina organizations in Guatemala have also been holding mobilizations. These actions were initially organized to oppose transnational corporations in the cement and gold industries, but the movements also decided to adhere to the continental protests in solidarity with the people of Honduras. Marches on main highways have been organized and the borders with Mexico and Honduras have been blocked.
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Mobilizations and resistance continue in Honduras
Tegucigalpa, July 15, 2009. On Tuesday, July 14, after two days of diminishing participation in marches, thousands of people occupied dozens of streets in Tegucigalpa on their way to the U.S. Embassy, where protestors gathered until 2 in the afternoon.
The HSA delegation held two important meetings: The first one was with Silvia Ayala, deputy of the Unidad Democrática (UD) party, who described in detail the events surrounding the coup. In the days leading up to the coup, the UD had held a debate on the threat of a coup; the president of the Congress had responded saying that this was unthinkable and there were only false rumours. She also explained that the opposition had not been called to the session during which the vote to remove the President took place and, in order to hide the fact that they did not have quorum, the congressmen supporting the coup asked employees of the Congress to vote while turning their backs to the cameras filming the vote. Deputy Ayala emphasized the fact that the Congress does not have the power to remove the president from office and that in general, the entire constitutional order of Honduras had been violated. She also informed the delegation that both opposition congress members and many employees from Zelaya’s Cabinet have received threats against their lives and have been subjected to raids and other acts of political persecution.
The second meeting was with representatives of the Public Prosecutor for Human Rights, who gave new testimonies on human rights violations. They reported that more than 160 M-16 bullet shells (used by the armed forces) were found in the airport and explained that there is explicit censorship of the media by the military. They also mentioned various facts that showed behaviour of the de facto regime that is typical of a dictatorship. Patricia Mejias, President of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, also affirmed that the basic guarantees for Hondurans are not being respected which is unacceptable, as the Inter-American system obliges nations to protect and guarantee fundamental rights like the right to life, among others.
In its July 14th edition, the El Tiempo newspaper reported on the HSA Delegation’s visit. Also on the afternoon of July 14, Andrés Peñaloza from the Red Mexicana de Acción frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC) joined the mission.
Meanwhile, upon his arrival in Guatemala, President Zelaya affirmed again that he would return to Honduras and cited Article 3 of the Constitution of Honduras, calling on Honduran women and men to create an insurrection that will allow him to return to the country. In response to his ultimatum to Micheletti, the U.S. State Department spokesman, Ian Kelly, asked President Zelaya to wait a little longer, to give time for the mediation process to work and to avoid setting artificial deadlines. The Vice-President of Guatemala, Rafael Espada, received Zelaya with the honours of an official State visit. Also, at least ten thousand people from Guatemalan social movements congregated to greet President Zelaya.
The Summit of Non-Aligned countries joined the worldwide condemnation of the coup in Honduras and confirmed in the final declaration that it would call for the re-establishment of constitutional order in the country.
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Social Movements in Honduras: “They fear us because we do not fear them”
Tegucigalpa, July 16, 2009. At 9 am on Wednesday, once again, the march left the Universidad Pedagógica occupied by student associations, this time heading for the Parliament. Half way there, it stopped to hold a press conference, using loudspeakers for the international press in attendance. Enrique Daza spoke in the name of the Hemispheric Social Alliance. Leaders of the Front of Resistance announced their plan of action, denounced human rights violations, called for the fight to continue and publicized Communiqué no. 12 in which “it communicated to the rest of the population”:
1. We thank the people of the world for their support and solidarity, especially for the presence of the Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA), which is a meeting space for social movements of the Americas and is here in Honduras to witness and communicate abroad information on the situation created by the coup d’État.
2. We denounce the use of the mass media, in the hands of the oligarchy, in attempts to show that the situation in the country is normal and peaceful, while leaders of popular movements are being assassinated and persecuted.
3. We communicate to you that a delegation of the National Front against the Coup D’État that is in the United States will inform senators and other authorities of the U.S. government of the human rights violations being committed here and the negation of democracy and the state of law.
4. We denounce the fascist dictatorial path outlined by the current regime that uses the armed forces and ignores basic spaces of participation and communication.
5. We express our recognition for the Honduran people that have continued to resist, fighting to re-establish institutional order and demanding the restitution of the elected President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales and the establishment of a National Constituent Assembly that promotes a society with participatory democracy.
6. We continue to call the rest of the population to join our actions so we may succeed in overthrowing the usurpers of the State.
When the press conference ended, news arrived that the women who had occupied the Institute of the Woman (Instituto de la Mujer) to stop a minister in favour of the coup from taking office had been violently removed from the site. The manifestation marched towards the Institute and surrounded the building, yelling slogans in support of the women in resistance and against the “golpista” minister. When the march attempted to continue towards the parliament, confrontations arose with public forces. Protesters dispersed peacefully and went to the parliament, where there were more speeches and reproaches were made to parliamentarians entering the building.
Afterwards, approximately 60 leaders of the Front met and continued to analyse the idea of holding a general strike. The decision to hold blockades and mobilizations on Thursday and Friday, and a mobilization on Saturday was ratified.
The delegation from the Front of Resistance in Washington concluded that the U.S. has not officially declared that there has been a coup d’État and have not removed their ambassador from Honduras, arguing that this allows them to dialogue with all sides of the conflict. The U.S. claims that a part of the population supports the coup and the other rejects it and therefore, the U.S. government is asking for concessions from both sides. This position only serves to uphold the delaying game.
Behind the game in Washington is Lany Davis, who has been lobbying for Micheletti, with the approval of Hillary Clinton. Mr. Davis is the politician who has been closest to Hillary throughout her life, as her counsellor, close friend, colleague from law school, lawyer and “confidant”. Mr. Davis also worked for Bill Clinton in the White House and defended him tooth and nail during the Monica Lewinsky case.
Micheletti said he is willing to resign if Zelaya does not return to Honduras. There is concern among social organizations with zones that have been completely militarized with operations aiming to prevent an eventual return of Zelaya. That night, the government re-established a curfew for Thursday between 12 PM y 5 AM.
Hemispheric Social Alliance, Secretariat
http://alainet.org/active/31941&lang=es
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