TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA: DON’T DEPORT THE CHILD REFUGEES!

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 Honduras Solidarity Groups Demand Justice for Child Refugees from Central America

July 14, 2014: The Honduras Solidarity Network, a network of over 30 US solidarity organizations, and Department 19, a network of Hondurans living in the US and Canada, members of the FNRP/LIBRE Party, are appalled and saddened by the refugee crisis on the US border. Children fleeing military and police, drug cartel, corporate violence and extreme poverty in Central America, to reunite with family members in the United States, cannot and must not be viewed through a nativist lens as illegal aliens, but rather as the refugees that they are.

We are ashamed that the response of our political class and the Obama administration to this crisis is to call for yet more militarization of the border and quicker deportation processes with a complete lack of acknowledgement of the responsibility of the US government for creating this crisis over both the long and short term. 

The problem of the child refugees is in part blowback from US policy in the 1980s when our government trained and funded Salvadoran and Guatemalan military and police to prevent popular revolutions, and more recently when the US supported the coup against President Manuel Zelaya in Honduras.  US foreign policy, anchored in the militarized Drug War and pursued by both the Democratic and Republican administrations, has only empowered brutal and corrupt armies and police forces, particularly in Honduras and Guatemala.

US so-called free trade and structural adjustment policies have required the countries of Central America and Mexico to cut social services and credit to small farmers while wiping out local producers with a flood of low-cost, US taxpayer-subsidized products from US agribusiness. These policies have increased poverty and desperation in Central America and Mexico and created a fertile recruiting ground for drug cartels and criminal gangs.

The Obama administration bears particular responsibility for the influx of refugees from Honduras. The US turned a blind eye to the military coup of June 28, 2009 which overthrew the democratically elected government. After a brief suspension of aid, the Obama administration devoted its full diplomatic weight to return Honduras, under its coup-spawned government, to the OAS and UN despite opposition from most countries in Latin America. US Ambassador Lisa Kubiske was quick to recognize current defacto President Juan Orlando Hernandez’ election last November while credible complaints of massive fraud were still coming in. The Obama Administration has spent millions of dollars since the coup to equip and train Honduras’ murderous and corrupt military and police with the result that massacres of small farmers and political assassinations of reporters, Libre Party activists, human rights defenders, indigenous, labor, women, campesinos and LGBTI activists have skyrocketed. 

We are especially saddened and incensed that President Obama’s $3.7 billion request to Congress for emergency funds to deal with the refugee crisis contains almost $2 billion for more incarceration and removal of minors and refugees, without regard to their due process rights or the root causes of their desperate flight from their home countries. Indeed, in order to speed their deportation, he has called for suspending a 2008 law which requires minors to be transferred out of detention to centers where they can locate family members to care for them. 

We call on the Obama administration and all elected officials to stop playing politics with the lives of children, and we demand:

That the Obama administration abide by international treaties and US laws concerning the treatment and due process rights of refugees claiming asylum and of minor children; and

Stop all deportations until a comprehensive immigration reform bill, based on human rights and family reunification, not militarization of the border, is passed by Congress, and

Thoroughly revise our trade and economic, drug and military policies so that they respect the right of self-determination of the peoples of Central America and Mexico to create alternatives to displacement and migration with living wage jobs, prosperous communities and accountable and democratic governments. 

 Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN)

www.hondurassolidarity.org/

July 14, 2014

HSN member organizations organized actions and participated in Pride Week activities to commemorate 5 years of resistance and violence in Honduras.

San Francisco Bay Area

New York City

June 27, 2014 the Colectivo Honduras USA Resistencia (D19) together with International Action Center (both members of the Honduras Solidarity Network) organized a protest in front of the Honduran Consulate in New York for the 5th anniversary of the coup d’e’tat in Honduras against President Manuel Zelaya Rosales and the Honduran people. From Honduras, Nelson Arambú, a member of the Diversity Movement in Resistence from Honduras participated and presented during the activities. 

Este pasado viernes, 27 junio de 2014, el Colectivo Honduras USA Resistencia (D19) junto al Centro de Acción Internacional (Ambos miembros de la RED Nacional de Solidaridad con Honduras) realizamos un plantón frente al Consulado de Honduras en Nueva York, con motivo del quinto aniversario del golpe de Estado en Honduras, perpetrado contra el Presidente Manuel Zelaya Rosales y el pueblo hondureño. Tambien contaron con la participacion de Nelson Arambú del Movimiento de Diversidad en Resistencia quien esta en gira en EEUU. 

Boston 

28 de junio, a cinco años del Golpe de estado en Honduras; Como ya lo hemos venido haciendo en años anteriores, este año nuevamente vestimos de rojo la Placita del municipio de Chelsea, Massachusetts. Contamos con una presencia nutrida de miembros, simpatizantes de libre y representantes de la solidaridad que siempre han caminado con nosotros los resistentes hondureños organizado en los EEUU.

June 28th, 5 years since the coup d’e’tat in Honduras, as we have done in past years, this year we again, covered the Plaza of Chelsea, Massachusetts with red. We had the participation of members of the D19 Colectivo de Libre in Boston,sympathizers of LIBRE and representatives of solidarity groups that have always walked with us – Hondurans resisting, organized in the USA. 

Chicago

Members of the Honduras Solidarity Network ( La Voz de los de Abajo, CRLN, 8th Day Center for Justice) worked to organize a procession/protest in downtown Chicago. We were joined by Gay Liberation Network, Radios Populares, US El Salvador Sister Cities (Cinquera-Chicago), and more solidarity activists.

For an article and more photos: Click Here 

Chicago HSN groups also participated in the immigrant rights contingent in the Gay Pride parade and with Gay Liberation Network hosted Nelson Arambú of Honduras’ Diversity Movement in Resistance for a public meeting on July 2.

The statement in English follows the Spanish

FNRP-Partido Libertad y Refundación, LIBRE Departamento 19/EE.UU/Canadá  y la RED de Solidaridad con Honduras USA/Canada

COMUNICADO CONTRA LA VIOLENCIA Y LA DEFENSA A LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS EN HONDURAS

 28 de junio de 2014

Los inmigrantes hondureños/as residentes en EEUU-CANADA organizados en Colectivos del FNRP/Partido Libre  y la RED de Solidaridad con Honduras, este 28 de junio de 2014, quinto aniversario del golpe de Estado en Honduras, reafirmamos nuestro compromiso de seguir luchando de la mano de nuestros/as hermanos/as  hondureños/as por los cambios fundamentales, urgentes y necesarios que requiere la sociedad hondureña.

 Este 28 de junio también rendimos homenaje  a los mártires hombres y mujeres valientes,  que han ofrendado su vida por defender el derecho a ser un pueblo libre, soberano y socialista. Estamos aquí para decirle a la oligarquía sanguinaria, que Morazán camina con el pueblo hondureño y que el país será liberado.

 Desde el fatídico golpe de Estado del 2009, el sufrimiento del pueblo Hondureño se ha agudizado, por las permanentes violaciones a los derechos humanos, asesinatos, represión estatal, éxodo masivo de migración (incluido niños/as), robo del erario público e impunidad. Honduras encabeza la lista de los países más violentos del mundo en donde 22 ciudadanos/as hondureños/as son asesinados/as cada 24 horas.

 Miles de hondureños han abandonado el país en busca de mejores horizontes, huyendo de la violencia y las condiciones inhumanas de vida, aun arriesgándose a morir o quedar mutilados en la travesía por el tren conocido como La Bestia. Según estadísticas públicas, desde el año 2013, Honduras es el país de Centro América con mayor número de migrantes  y  tristemente también es el país con mayor número de deportados desde los Estados Unidos.

 Este 28 de junio, condenamos los asesinatos cometidos contra dirigentes y miembros del FNRP/Partido Libre y la sociedad hondureña en general y los atropellos por parte del ejército y la policía militar contra los Diputados del Congreso Nacional de Honduras el pasado 13 de mayo.

 Exhortamos a la Resistencia Nacional conformada por todos los sectores de la sociedad hondureña (sindicatos, campesinos, mujeres, juventud, estudiantes, profesionales, comunidad LGBT, grupos originarios, organizaciones defensoras de derechos humanos, grupos sociales, garífunas, partidos políticos, inmigrantes, intelectuales y medios de comunicación) a cerrar filas y luchar unidos frente al aprendiz de dictador, Juan Orlando Hernández, títere de la oligarquía asesina hondureña y los grupos de poder confabulados con la derecha internacional.  Responsabilizamos al régimen fraudulento actual (continuador del golpe de Estado) por la violencia generalizada, corrupción  e impunidad que vive el país, demandamos un alto a la violación de los derechos humanos  y exigimos justicia para las víctimas y castigo a los culpables.

 Como residentes de los Estados Unidos y Canadá, condenamos las políticas de los gobiernos que en el pasado han apoyado y en el presente continúan apoyando a la dictadura en Honduras y que, junto con las empresas de esos países imponen sus agendas antipopulares y anti-medio ambientales con la violencia y la corrupción.

Apoyamos el derecho del pueblo hondureño a luchar contra la represión y el abuso y nos solidarizamos con sus organizaciones.

¡Resistimos y Venceremos!

 ——————————————————————————

   FNRP-Libertad y  Refundación, LIBRE Party, Department 19/USA-Canada and the Honduras Solidarity Network USA-Canada

 June 28, 2014

 STATEMENT AGAINST VIOLENCE AND FOR THE DEFENSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HONDURAS

 We Honduran immigrants, residents in USA-CANADA organized in Collectives of the FNRP / LIBRE Party, and we, members of the Honduras Solidarity Network in the US and Canada on this June 28, 2014, the fifth anniversary of the military coup in Honduras, reaffirm our commitment to continue fighting, hand in hand with our brothers and sisters in Honduras who struggle for the fundamental, urgent and necessary changes in Honduran society.

 This June 28 we also pay tribute to the martyrs of the resistance, brave men and women, who have offered their lives to defend the right to be a free, sovereign and socialist county. We are here to tell the bloody oligarchy of Honduras, that Morazán walks with the Honduran people and that the country will be liberated.

Since the brutal military coup of 2009, the suffering of the Honduran people has been exacerbated by the continuing violations of human rights, killings, state repression, mass exodus of migration (including children), theft of public funds and impunity. Honduras tops the list of the most violent countries in the world where 22 Honduran citizens are murdered every 24 hours.

 Thousands of Hondurans have left the country in search of better opportunities, fleeing violence and inhumane living conditions, even at the risk of being killed or being mutilated by the train known as The Beast in the crossing. According to public statistics, since 2013, Honduras is the Central American country with the highest numbers of migrants and sadly also the country with the largest number of deportees from the United States.

 This June 28, we condemn the murders of leaders and members of FNRP / LIBRE Party, the social movements and Honduran society in general and the abuses by the army and military police against the Congressmen and Women at the National Congress of Honduras on May 13.

 We urge the National Resistance, formed by all sectors of Honduran society (unions, peasants, women, youth, students, LGBT Community, indigenous groups, Human Rights Defense organizations, Social groups, Garífuna, political parties, immigrants, intellectuals and media) to close ranks and fight together against the want-to-be dictatorship of Juan Orlando Hernández, puppet of the Honduran assassin oligarchy and international power groups conjoined with the international right.  We hold the current fraudulent regime (a continuation of the military coup) accountable for the widespread violence in the country; we demand an end to the violations of human rights, justice for the victims and punishment for the guilty.

 As residents of the United States and Canada we condemn the policies of those governments that have in the past and continue in the present to support the dictatorship in Honduras and which, along with corporations from those countries impose their anti-people and anti-environment agendas with violence and corruption. We support the right of the Honduran people to struggle against oppression and abuse and we stand in solidarity with them and with their organizations.

We resist and we shall overcome!

HSN members are organizing and participating in actions for the anniversary of the coup on June 28th in Boston, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Milwaukee, St. Louis and the San Francisco Bay Area. More info below.

New York City

Saint Louis, Missouri: The Honduras Task Force of the Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America in St. Louis will be marching in the the Pride Parade in St. Louis on Sunday, June 29th, carrying posters of our martyred compañeros y compañeras en Honduras and signs about the coup. At the IFCLA’s annual dinner  that evening, there will be a presentation about the situation in Honduras and Honduras will be represented at a local weekly peace vigil on a busy street corner in the city and speak about the anniversary and current situation.

Washington DC

Five years ago, on June 28, 2009, graduates of the School of the Americas overthrew the democratically-elected government of Honduras.

Urgent Action Request : Murder and Repression Target Lenca Communities in Resistance

On May 26th  community leader, Irene Meza was killed In San Francisco de Opalaca where election fraud in November installed a ruling party (National Party) mayor who was not accepted by the town; the indigenous council then led a takeover of the municipality. A National Party gunman opened fire on Mr. Meza and also wounded another activist. National Party thugs then attacked the car taking Mr. Meza and the other wounded man to the hospital.

The night of May 24th In Rio Blanco, where the community and its indigenous council have been blocking the construction of a hydroelectric project,community activist William Jacobo Rodríguez was murdered. There were also new incidents of threats, detentions, and beatings by the police of community members. Below is the recent communique on both incidents from the Lenca organizations, COPINH with the demands of the communities.

For more background on Rio Blanco 

For more background on San Francisco de Opalaca

CALLS OR LETTERS ARE NEEDED: The situation in both communities is very insecure and at high risk for more violence against the community members and political opposition. Please contact the US Embassy Human Rights Officer and/or the Attorney General (Fiscal General) of Honduras to express your concern and demand an end to the state sponsored violence, serious investigations of the acts of violence and murders, and an end to the political persecution of COPINH, LIBRE and the indigenous councils in the communities. 

In English:  Amanda Johnson-Miller, Human Rights & Labor Officer, U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa Honduras

• Johnson-MillerA@state.gov
• (504) 2236-9320 x473

In Spanish: Oscar Fernando Chinchilla, Fiscal General de la República.

• Fax (504) 2221-5667 
• Tel (504) 2221-5670  2221-3099

COMMUNIQUE

English translation followed by the Spanish original of COPINH’s comunique about yesterday’s repression in San Francisco Opalaca and Rio Blanco.  From Brigitte Gynther of SOA-Watch

 Murder and repression in San Francisco de Opalaca and Rio Blanco executed by the facist forces of the National Party and the National Police   

To the national and international community, COPINH denounces and condemns the murders, murder attempts, and repression perpetrated yesterday against the Lenca people, acts that are motivated by the repressive policies of the State of Honduras, led by Juan Orlando Hernandez: 

Yesterday, after the conclusion of an important Indigenous Assembly in San Francisco de Opalaca – the purpose of which was to socialize the findings of the Audit demanded by the Lenca people and carried out by the Superior Accounting Tribunal as well as to make decisions in the context of the construction of the Indigenous Government – employees of the ex-Mayor that the National Party has tried to impose appeared in a private vehicle and Mr. Hugo Sánchez,  without saying a word, took out a pistol and fired on Irene Meza and Plutarco Bonilla.  Irene Meza is the husband of the 3rd Councilwoman of the Legitimate Mayor’s Office, Ada Elizabeth Méndez,  who was in charge of reading the Audit report in the Assembly yesterday. Plutarco Bonilla is a well-known compañero in the struggle against the coup d’etat, in the resistance movement, and both are part of the LIBRE party. Additionally, both compañeros had been participating in all of this most recent struggle in San Francisco Opalaca. 

The brutality with which this crime was perpetrated is so extreme that when Irene Meza, shot with bullets in the stomach and chest, was being driven to the hospital in La Esperanza by his wife and a driver, they were attacked again by a heavily armed group of men at the height of the ascent of the Zarco River, causing the vehicle to crash.  The armed men then proceeded to the site of the crash, shooting 6 more shots at Irene.  In this crime, the two people with him were also injured.  

With regards to Plutarco Bonilla, we inform that a bullet hit his hand and he is out of danger.  

On the other hand, in Río Blanco, between Saturday May 24th and Sunday May 25th, while he was returning to his home around midnight, William Jacobo Rodríguez, a struggler in defense of the Gualcarque River against the imposition of the Agua Zarca Hydoelectric Dam, was murdered.  It is worth mentioning that even though somebody already confessed to this crime, the Police forces that are stationed at the DESA installation in Rio Blanco as part of a special operation against the Lenca People, proceeded to break into homes and arbitrarily capture two COPINH members, Lindolfo Benítez and Salvador Sánchez,  and as if that were not enough, they then physically and emotionally tortured both of them, threatened to kill minors that were in their houses, and also threatened and verbally attacked Francisco Javier Sánchez, President of the Indigenous Council of Rio Blanco and Coordinator of Land and Territories for COPINH.  

For all of this, COPINH demands:

-Effective investigation and immediate application of justice for the murders of William Rodríguez and Irene Meza as well as the attempts against Plutarco Bonilla, Ada Méndez and Pedro Rodríguez.

-Although Lindolfo Benítez and Salvador Sánchez, in the early hours of today were taken back to Rio Blanco and freed, we demand an investigation and punishment of the repressive forces responsable for their torture and abitrarity, for which COPINH has repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of this police force that only has brought threats and repression to the communities that constantly reject it.  

-An end to the political repression and criminalization against the Lenca people and COPINH, against the social and political strugglers.  

COPINH holds responsible the State of Honduras, President Juan Orlando Hernández, the powerful groups, corporations, as well as the army and police, for all the polices of terror and criminalization against our People and organization. 

We declare that all the actions of Indigenous people rising up and defending territory and the common goods of nature, against large predatory capital, for the construction of self-determination, for ILO Convention 169 and Indigenous government continue strong; this will be part of the big Assembly for Territory and Communities that will start tomorrow, May 27 and the 5-department Regional Mobilization in La Esperanza, Intibucá on Thursday, May 29 at 10.00am, all of our actions guided with hope for our ancestral history of rebellion and dignity. 

In Intibucá, May 26, 2014.

COPINH

¡In the face of more repression, more struggle and organization!

¡We are sons and daughters of Lempira!

Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras COPINH: Bo. Las Delicias, Intibucá, Intibucá;  Blog: copinhonduras.blogspot.com; Tel. (504) 2783-0817; http://copinh.org; FB: Copinh Intibucá; Twitter: @copinhhonduras

Witness for Peace Southwest has published the following action alert and updates for the Honduras Solidarity Network  http://wfpsw.org. There are three sections. 

Military Police inside Honduran Congress

1. Honduran LIBRE congress members brutalized and teargassed by military police inside congressional building. 
2. Honduran Social Movements en route to march on the Capital 
3. Congressional Dear Colleague Letter on Honduras now with 67 signers. Has your Rep. Signed?

LIBRE Congresswomen pushed and hit by police

“The Order From the National Congress Was to Repress All Action by the Opposition.”  

Justice! Justice! Justice!…Stop Stop the Femicides!

May 14th- Dignity and Sovereignty March

Honduras Dear Colleague letter now with 67 signers! Has your Rep. Signed?

Click HERE to Thank Your Rep or Ask your Rep to sign the Shakowsky Honduras Letter.

Violent attack against LIBRE

On May 13th military police under orders from the President of the Honduran National Congress attacked LIBRE Party members of Congress inside the congressional chambers with tear gas and batons sending several to the hospital, then the special tactical group of National Police (COBRAS) attacked the multitude of protesters from the National Front of Peoples Resistance and other social justice organizations who were outside the congress building. The LIBRE congress members were peacefully protesting inside Congress about the lack of basic parlimentary rights allowed to the opposition in Congress.

TV Globo Video of Attack by Hernandez Government on LIBRE

National Mobilization for Dignity and Sovereignty and Freedom for Chabelo Morales

More than 300 people from social justice, resistance, campesino and indigenous groups started the mobilization that will arrive in  Tegucigalpa May 15th for protests on May 16th.

Communique:  National Mobilization of the Territories 

May 14 and 15 join the grand national mobilization of the Territories “For Dignity and Sovereignty” 

We are mobilizing to demand the immediate liberty of our political prisoner compañero, José Isabel Morales, “Chabelo”, whose complete right to prove his innocence has been violated, unjustly condemned to 17.5 years in prison, because of the power of political interests, in complete violation of his rights as a citizen and of the Constitution of the Republic. 

We are mobilizing to demand the derogation of the Law of Agricultural Modernization and for the approval of the Decree of the Law for “Integral Agrarian Reform with Gender Equity for Food and Development Sovereignty”

We are mobilizing to demand the derogation of the mining law and the exit of the Hydroelectric and Mining Projects from the Territories

We are mobilizing to demand the derogation of the Law that puts into effect the Special Development and Employment Zones (ZEDE) or what is called Charter Cities, and we demand the resolution of the suit challenging its constitutionality in the Supreme Court of Justice by representatives of organizations from the Social and popular movement. 

We are mobilizing to demand the investigation of the femicides at the national level by the State and the punishment of those who, protected by the impunity that prevails in the Justice system, continue to commit barbaric acts. 

More than three months after the takeover of City Hall in San Francisco de Opalaca, COPINH demands that the State of Honduras respect the process of the Indigenous Lenca Government of San Francisco de Opalaca, respect the Indigenous and legitimate Mayorship, for its ancestral and historic authority, unrestricted respect for its self-determination, territories and natural goods. We demand the official removal of the Imposed Mayor.

 The Mobilization will begin on Wednesday, May 14th in the morning, leaving from the community of Zambrano.  Arrival in Tegucigalpa is planned for Thursday the 15th and we call for participation from the Popular Resistance; FNRP Collectives; Base Organizations of the Social and popular urban movement,  artists, writers, feminists, Youth, Leftist Political Organizations; LGBT Organizations and all the organizations that are in the struggle against the oppressor system and the continuation of the Coup d’E’tat of 2009, organizations in struggle against neoliberal policies, imperialism and the patriarchy.

It is important to count on the solidarity of the citizenry in general, to bring water, basic grains (beans, rice, etc.) fuit, vegetables, mattresses, blankets and medicines for during the march and especially for the indefinite vigil that we will maintain beginning May 15 in the plaza below the National Congress. 

  “Listen People and Join in the Struggle!”

Liberty for Jose Isabel Morales Chabelo Now!

For an Integral Agraria Reform: Raise the Banners of Struggle!

Mining and Hydroelectric Projects: Out of Honduras!

Sovereignty YES! ZEDE or Charter Cities NO!

Justice! Justice! Justice!…Stop Stop the Femicides!

Called by: Regional Agrarian Platform of the Aguan )MOCRA, MARCA, MUCA, MCA, EARigores, EA Vallecito, EAGregorio Chavez, EA Salado Lis Lis);Team for Reflection, Investigation and Communication (ERIC); Intermunicipal Association and Social Force of Honduras (AIDEVISH);Organizations of the Platform for the Social and Popular Movement; National Center for Rural Workers (CNTC), Northern Region;Coordinator of Popular Organizations of the Aguan (COPA);Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras ;(COPINH)Fraternal BLack Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH);Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice (MADJ);National Network of Human Rights Defenders; Ecumenical Institute for Community Services (INEHSCO); Community Commercialization Network (Red COMAL);National Front of Popular Resistance (FNRP); Honduran Chapter – Grouping of Social Movement to ALBA, ALBAMOVIMIENTOS

More information coming soon along with actions you can take to support the Honduran movements.

The social movement in Honduras is mobilizing starting May 14th when campesino, indigenous, environmentalist, feminist and more will make a two-day walk from Zambrano, Francisco Morazan to Tegucigalpa where the resistance movement in the capital will join in protests at the Presidential offices (Casa Presidential), the Supreme Court and the National Congress.

• The mobilization has 6 demands: Freedom for campesino political prisoner, Isabel “Chabelo” Morales Lopez
• Congressional approval of the Law for the Integral Agrarian Transformation proposed by the campesino movement and derogation of the current “Law of Agricultural Modernization”Derogation of the Mining Law
• Derogation of the Charter Cities Law (Special Zones for Economic Development-ZEDES)
• Cessation of the hydroelectric projects in the indigenous territories
• Investigation and clarification by the government of the femmicides in Honduras.

This mobilization comes a little more than 100 days since Juan Orlando Hernandez from the National Party took power after elections widely condemned as fraudulent. During this first hundred days,  Honduras has seen an escalation of both militarization and violence and a continuation of impunity and a lack of investigation of the murders of members of the press, environmentalists, and opposition activists including LGBT, campesinos and LIBRE party members. Furthermore the deaths of more than 600 women in 2013 alone continue to be unresolved and largely uninvestigated. The Honduran government has, however, been able to mount prosecutions and harassment against indigenous leaders like Berta Caceres of COPINH and most recently the detention, beating and threatened prosecution on invented charges of Jose Guadalupe Ruelas, director of Casa Alianza which just issued a report critical of Hernandez and children’s rights and well-being. It has also been able to ignore blatant violations of procedure and law to keep a member of the Campesino Movement of the Aguan, Chabelo Morales, imprisoned unjustly. Even the simplest requirements of parlimentary democracy have been violated as members of the resistance party, LIBRE, who won congressional office have been denied offices, paychecks and the right to speak in congressional proceedings.

Despite this grim situation, the US government continues to praise Hernandez and to provide training, money and support for the National Police and Honduran military. Just this week US Ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske stated in an interview in El Heraldo on May 11th comparing the new government with previous governments, “The difference in enthusiasm and energy that the government of Juan Orlando Hernandez brings, and it is a positive energy, because he has the idea of government of action to get results…..”

Well, there is no question that Hernandez is after results, and those results are obviously fulfillment of the neoliberal dream at the expense of the Honduran people.

vcervantes – also published today in Honduras Resists

Upon his return to Toronto, I had the opportunity to catch up with Raul Burbano, Program Director ofCommon Frontiers. Common Frontiers is a multi-sectoral working group based in Toronto that organizes research, educational campaigns, and political action on issues related to hemispheric economic, social, and climate justice. Raul reported from Honduras during the election and was gracious enough to take the time to talk about his experiences and provide some analysis of the current electoral crisis.

Kevin Edmonds: When you were on the ground in the days before the election, what was the general attitude of the public? Were they hopeful or did they see this coming?

Raul Burbano: We were on the ground from the 17-27^th in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Choloma, El Triunfo de la Cruz, Arizona, and Valle de Siria. The mood was contradictory because in general people had high expectations for change, but at the same time expressed a lack of confidence in the process and in fair and transparent elections. As the elections drew closer, this became more apparent with people like cab drivers, vendors, and LIBRE activists sharing their personal stories about the irregularities within the voter registry. Stories of voters showing to be dead on the registry list and dead people registered to vote, names associated with pictures of other people, all disqualifying them from voting…this was the first sign that many pointed to as fraud.

The Canadian delegation was the first to report and denounce the elections. What were some of the irregularities that caused your group to make this decision?

RB: Our delegation was part of the larger group, the Honduran Solidarity Network (HSN), and together we were the largest delegation of observers (190) spread across the country in 10 districts.

The atmosphere of fear and violence leading up to the elections must also be taken into account when considering fair elections. There were numerous reports of pre-election intimidation, violence, and murder of opposition candidates with as many as 18 from the LIBRE party murdered just 6 months prior to the elections. Two days prior to the elections masked men with guns, presumed to be military police, surrounded the LIBRE party headquarters in Tegucigalpa. Members of our delegation were present and observed the fear and anger of LIBRE sympathizers. The day before the elections Maria Amparo Pineda, LIBRE party’s Cantarranas polling station president, and other member, Julio Ramón Araujo Maradiaga, were assassinated after leaving a polling station training.

Speaking to our own experience on the ground, the scare tactics started from when we arrived in Honduras. There was a strong atmosphere of intimidation on the part of the government toward independent observers. After our pre-election press conference, armed immigration officials raided the hotels where our northern delegation was staying, asking for their passports and documentation, threatening to expel observers. This was a clear attempt to intimidate our group.

At numerous voting centers there was no “custodio”—the person in charge of the voting center. This means that in some cases the military police had to take responsibility for all the material. In the municipality of Ojojona, rather than being able to speak to a “custodio,” we were greeted by a TSE official who identified himself as being in charge of the voting centre, despite the fact that was only a “vocale”—a support person at a voting table. He spoke to us in English, describing himself as a U.S. citizen and former navy seal with considerable land holdings in the area. He made no effort to hide his disdain for the LIBRE party, stating, “we don’t want those commies here.” He expressed his and everyone’s “strong support” for the ruling National party.

We visited areas where there was no electricity or an internet connection to transmit the results. In many cases the technical person in charge was not aware of the correct protocol to follow, and in some cases they asked us what they should do. In one voting center in the municipality of Santa Ana, military police demanded our personal information even though we were clearly identified as accredited observers. At one voting station in the barrio of La Joya in Tegucigalpa, I was pulled out in the middle of observing the vote count by TSE and military police and asked to leave. So I had to ask myself: if they can do this with international observers, what can they do with local observers and electoral participants?

Not to mention that we received numerous reports of vote buying and the refusal of access to opposition members at various voting centers across the country.

So when we compared our experience with the rest of our delegation who had also observed and documented serious and undeniable fraud in all 10 districts in which they observed, we came to the conclusion that our experience was not an exception, but rather the standard. We felt this opened up the elections to serious issues of fraud.

There’s a significant movement that argues for the need to strengthen the resistance movement with a focus on social and political struggle through mass mobilization from below—local struggles in communities andbarrios that build an inclusive and participatory process that focuses on transformative solutions as opposed to reforms. Many of these groups are already involved in struggles for territory, indigenous culture, anti-patriarchy, etc—groups like the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), Garifina communities, and women’s organizations.

In retrospect one can say the biggest losers in these elections are the social movements. This is because much of the energy has gone into the electoral process and into building the LIBRE party at the expense of strengthening the social movements. The results can be seen in the weak response on the streets by the LIBRE party and the movements that support them. It took a week for people to take to the streets to protest the fraud, and it was not as significant a turn-out as we saw in the past against the coup.

KE: While your delegation released its denunciation of the election results, Canada has remained silent—with its silence working as acceptance. Can you discuss some of the reasons why Canada is so supportive of the national party?