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Stand with the People of Honduras |
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 SOA Watch is extremely concerned about the situation in Honduras, where SOA graduates overthrew the democratically elected government on June 28, 2009. An agreement that was brokered last week between representatives of President Zelaya and the coup regime was supposed to "return the holder of executive power to its pre-June 28 state" but it turns out it was just another stalling tactic by the coup regime. Read a statement from Honduran President Manuel Zelaya below.
SOA Watch supports the three key demands that the National Front of Resistance Against the Coup in Honduras has put forward:
the return to constitutional order with the reinstatement of the legitimate president, Manuel Zelaya Rosales
respect for the sovereign right of the Honduran people to establish a National Constituent Assembly for the purpose of refounding their nation
punishment for those who have violated human rights.
Join us in calling the White House and leave a message for President Obama and Dan Restrepo (202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414) and the State Department and leave a message for Secretary Clinton and Tom Shannon (202-647-4000) to not recognize the military coup regime, headed by Roberto Micheletti and SOA graduate General Romeo Vasquez, or the coup regimes elections that are scheduled for November 29. President Zelaya must be reinstated!
Statement by Honduran President Manuel Zelaya:
PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC
From the Desk of the President
Tegucigalpa November 6, 2009
Translation by Patricia Adams, The Quixote Center.
Original Spanish version below.
DELCARATION
Our weapon are ideas, our struggle is peaceful
Agreement Failed because of Micheletti's Failure to Comply.
In the face of the mockery that Mr. Micheletti has made of the Honduran People and the International Community: boycotting the Tegucigalpa/San Jose Agreement; letting the deadline for the creation of the Government of Unity pass without convening the National Congress, as is within his power and responsibility to do per the written agreement; the lack of a will to fulfill the Agreement in both letter and spirit is clear; ignoring the Plan Arias proposal, as well as the OAS and the UN resolutions; we declare that the Agreement has been a failure, because of the failure of the de facto regime to comply with the commitment to organize and install a government of unity and national reconciliation by this date; a government which should by law be presided over by the President elected by the People, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales.
- We are not willing to give up the rights of the people by legitimating this Coup d'Etat.
- We do not accept the militarization of society nor that the President of Honduras be named by the elite of the Armed Forces.
- Democracy is the highest good of society and is the only path for confronting the problems of the third poorest economy in Latin America, and therefore we are not willing to be cheated nor that our Democracy be robbed from us.
- The permanent violations of Human Rights, the cancellation of public freedoms, the confiscation of communication media, as well as the status of the President elected by the people who is surrounded by the military inside the Brazilian Embassy and the political witch hunting, is all proof of the preparation of an enormous Political-Electoral fraud on November 29th.
- We announce that we will completely ignore this electoral process and the results of the aforementioned evils, elections under a dictatorship are a fraud for the people.
- We invite the Ministers of the OAS to make immediate pronouncements about the actions of the government legitimately elected by the people of Honduras, and to continue to condemn and ignore this de facto regime.
- On behalf of the people, we thank the International Community, the OAS, Secretary Insulza, the ex-President of Chile Mr Ricardo Lagos Escobar, and the US Labor Secretary Mrs Hilda Solís.
PRESIDENCIA DE LA REPUBLICA
Del Escritorio de Señor Presidente
Tegucigalpa 6 de noviembre del 2009
PRONUNCIAMIENTO
Nuestra armas son las ideas, nuestra lucha es pacifica
Fracasa Acuerdo por Incumplimiento de Micheletti.
Ante la burla que el Señor Micheletti ha inferido al pueblo Hondureño y a la Comunidad Internacional, Boicoteando el Acuerdo Tegucigalpa/San José y dejar que se vencieran los plazos para la Organización del Gobierno de Unidad al no convocar al Congreso Nacional de acuerdo a sus facultades y compromisos suscritos, evidentemente se manifiesta la falta de voluntad para cumplir la letra y el espíritu del Acuerdo, desconociendo la propuesta del Plan Arias, la resoluciones de Organización de Estados Americanos de Naciones Unidas, declaramos fracasado el Acuerdo por el incumplimiento del régimen de facto del compromiso de que a esta fecha debía de estar organizado e instalado el gobierno de unidad y de Reconciliación nacional; El que por ley debe de ser presidido por el Presidente Electo por el Pueblo José Manuel Zelaya Rosales.
- Que no estamos dispuestos a perder los derechos del pueblo legitimando este Golpe de Estado.
- No aceptamos que se militarice la sociedad y que el Presidente de Honduras sea nombrado en las Cúpulas de las Fuerzas Armadas.
- La Democracia es un bien supremo de la sociedad y es el único camino para enfrentar los problemas de la tercera economía mas pobre de Latinoamérica por lo que no estamos dispuestos a permitir que nos roben con este tipo de trampas nuestra Democracia.
- Las violaciones permanentes de los Derechos Humanos, la cancelación de las libertades públicas, y la confiscación de medios de comunicación al igual que la situación del Presidente electo por el pueblo rodeado por militares en la sede Diplomática del Brasil y la persecución Política es la prueba evidente de la preparación de un gran fraude Político-Electoral para el 29 de noviembre.
- Anunciamos nuestro total desconocimiento a este proceso electoral y a los resultados por los vicios antes mencionados, elecciones bajo dictadura son un fraude para el pueblo.
- Invitar de manera inmediata a los Cancilleres de la OEA a que se pronuncien sobre lo que acontece en el gobierno legítimamente electo por el pueblo Hondureño y continué la condena y el desconocimiento a este régimen de facto.
- Agradecemos al pueblo el apoyo brindado por la Comunidad Internacional, a la Organización de Estados Americano, secretario insulsa al ex Presidente de Chile Señor Ricardo Lagos Escobar, a la Ministra de Trabajo del Gobierno de Estados Unidos Señora Hilda Solís.
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De Facto Regime in Honduras Prepares for repression in the lead up to the illegitimate election |
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The Committee of Detained and Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH) expresses its concern to the national and international community regarding the deterioration of the human rights situation in Honduras which is deepening each day.
A new wave of violence includes death threats, political persecution, illegal detentions, tortures and the militarization of sectors of principal cities. Of particular concern is the incursion of vehicles without license plates, darkened windows, driven by heavily armed agents with hooded faces into neighborhoods identified as allied with the Resistance against the coup and self declared as “free of political propaganda.” These actions follow the creation of lists profiling leaders of the resistance movement by order of the military and police.
The overall environment that has been created is one of repression and uncertainty. This was reinforced by a statement issued on November 16, 2009 by the Sub-Secretary of the Service Networks of the Ministry of Public Health that orders the preparation of a CONTINGENCY PLAN for provision of health services for 24 hours per day from November 19th thru December 4th, 2009. According to statement No. 1055-09-SSRDS, the plan must include: Anticipated Suspension of Activity without putting the health of patients at risk, Re-scheduling of Surgeries during these dates and supply of medicine and equipment necessary for the plan.
These measures appear to be related to the conduction of the illegal electoral process on November 29, which is proceeding in an irregular manner and reflects the militarization and para-militarization of the country. The military reserves have been mobilized to support the 16,000 members of the armed forces and 14,000 police already mobilized in the distribution of ballot boxes.
In departments in the western part of the country, army reserves distributed fliers to intimidate the population in resistance, characterizing members of the resistance as irrational delinquents and discrediting marches and protests as inhumane and uncivilized behavior. This activity parallels the “anti-communist” campaigns of the 1980’s.
The military control advances and consolidates as Michelleti announces a “strategic departure” from the country between November 25th and December 2, 2009. The security forces equip themselves with new repressive tools. An armored vehicle has been added to the Secretary of Security for dispersing protests. The anti-riot units are equipped with video cameras and high pressure water cannon and a mechanism that marks anyone who comes in contact with the water for 48 hours. The armed forces have begun conducting selective checks along major roads in the country and departments in the Atlantic zone of the country have experienced military over flights.
COFADEH communicates its concern to all Human Rights institutions and the international community regarding the safety of social activists who struggle for the reestablishment of democratic order.
COFADEH asks the international community to be on alert regarding the human rights situation in Honduras and to demand that the Honduran state guarantee the right to life and integrity of the Honduran population and foreigners living in the country.
COFADEH, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. November 21, 2009 |
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Elections in Honduras: Whitewashing the Path to a Past of Horrors |
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I came to Honduras to participate as a human rights observer of the electoral climate in a delegation organized by the Quixote Center. Several delegations converged, connecting some 30 U.S. citizens with dozens more from Canada, Europe and Latin America. In the days prior to the elections we scattered to different cities, towns and villages, meeting with fishermen, farmers, maquila workers, labor leaders, teachers and lawyers, as well as those who were jailed for carrying spray paint, hospitalized for being shot in the head by the military, and detained for reporting on the repression. It was, most likely, a bit off the 5-star, air-conditioned path of most of the mainstream journalists who are filling your morning papers with the wonders of today´s elections.
But by the evening of the day of the elections, what we had witnessed in previous days pushed those of us from the U.S. directly to the doors of our embassy in Tegucigalpa. We realized that this place, not the polling stations, was where this horrific destiny of Honduras, and perhaps all of Latin America, was being determined. And so the U.S. citizens among us took our statements and signs and determination there.
We were, indeed, greeted by many: dozens of guards with cameras, some 30 journalists, Honduran police with guns and also cameras, as well as a low flying helicopter that at least made us feel important. While the journalists let us read our entire statement of why these elections should be not be recognized by our government because of the egregious repression, the embassy guards wouldn´t even let us leave our slip of paper. That, in spite of the fact that the embassy´s human rights officer, Nate Macklin, told our delegation leader to make sure to let him know if there were any human rights abuses.
Any? In each of the many corners of the country visited by the 70-plus international observers, we witnessed the fear, repression, intimidation, bribery and outright brutality of the government security forces (note: we were there to observe the electoral climate, not electoral observers, since we consider the elections to be illegal. Likewise, the UN, OAS, and Carter Center and other bedrock electoral groups boycotted "the event" as many Hondurans called the day.)
As elections were in full swing in the morning, our delegate and nurse practitioner, Silvia Metzler visited Angel Salgado and Maria Elena Hernandez who were languishing in the intensive care unit of the Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa . Both had been shot in the head at one of the many military checkpoints, no questions asked. Doctors give Angel a zero possibility of survival and he leaves behind a 6 year old son. Maria Elena has a better chance of recovery, but it will be a long road. She was selling snacks on the side of the road to support her teenage children when caught by military bullet.
Tom Loudon was on the streets of San Pedro Sula when police tanks and water trucks and tear gas canisters attacked a peaceful march of the resistance movement. It took him a long time to find other members of his delegation who had scattered in the frenzy, but they were luckier than two observers from the Latin America Council of Churches who were detained or a Reuters photographer who was injured in the massive display of repression. Dozens of cells phones captured the police beating anyone they could catch with their billy clubs.
The first person I thought of as I awoke on election day was Wlmer Rivero, a fisherman in a small town with the big name of Puerto Grande. I kept thinking of the fear in his eyes as he relayed how the police have been visiting his house and asking for him, ever since he trekked 6 days on foot to greet a returning President Zelaya. Each local mayor has been asked to put together a list of resistance leaders, and his name was one of 22 from his town. We suggested to Wilmer that he not sleep at home during the electoral days. He called the next day to thank us for our advise. The police had ransacked his home, and that of many of his neighbors, the night before elections, threatening his life. But, he wondered, what will he do now.
I also thought of Merly Eguigure who I had visited 2 days earlier in a cold and crumbling jail cell, reeking of human waste. She had been captured for having a can of spray paint in her car. Though she was released shortly before elections, she will face trial and probably prison for defacing government property. Merly claims that the spray paint was to be used in an activity to raise awareness of violence towards women. Perhaps authorities worried that the paint was destined to add a new message to the city walls. Every square inch of blank wall space in the city is covered with powerful graffiti against the coup. In spite of government to whitewash over it, the blank spaces are filled in again within hours.
So, now I wonder what the Honduran people will do to overcome the massive whitewash that just took place in their country. Not of walls, but of coups.  The military coup led by SOA graduates Generals Vasquez Velasquez and Prince Suazo first had a quick bath of whitewash by placing a "civilian¨" leader as the figurative head of government: President of Congress and business mogul Roberto Micheletti. The whitewash used at the moment was mixed ahead of time, and quite abundant. It was the excuse that Zelaya was preparing a vote to call for his re-election and had to be removed quickly. (Never mind that the consultative vote actually had nothing to do with a re-election. It was a consultative vote to ask Honduras whether they wanted to vote on convening a Constitutional Assembly). I call this first whitewash the "transformation from military coup to civilian coup".
And now, the second bath of whitewash was even more challenging, especially since the first whitewash proved to be kind of thin and exposed the words from below. Thus, it didn´t really convince many. As a matter of fact, it didn´t convince anyone except the United States government (or woops, maybe they actually helped to stir the first batch), Now, the challenge of November 29th whitewash was to transform the civilian coup into a shining electoral display of freedom, fairness and grand participation so that all the world would say, "wow, that Honduran coup is gone. Now Honduras has a real and wonderful democracy, End of story".
Except that it´s probably the beginning of a story. One that we thought had been left to rest in Latin America years and years ago. One of fear and repression and deaths and disappearances. We know the litany all too well, and we remember the names of its thousands of victims each November. This year we had to add too many new names from Honduras. And, if our government chooses to recognize these elections, this massive whitewash, I fear that many more names will be read from the stage in front of Ft. Benning next year. And perhaps not just from Honduras.
So, when I said that I wonder what Hondurans will do in the face of this whitewash what I really wonder is what I will do, what we will do U.S. citizens. Because, this whitewash will only have the formula to whiten and brighten this military dictatorship if our government chooses to accept the results, as they have indicated that they will likely do.
Today the headlines in most of the U.S. media reiterate the official Honduran statistics that 60% of Hondurans went to the polls yesterday. Our delegates visited dozens of polling stations, finding them almost empty, in most places counting more electoral monitors and caretakers than voters. The resistance movement puts abstention at 65-70%. Which statistic do we prefer to believe?
I have lived in Latin America since 1977. I was called to stay in this land when I saw how young and idealistic youth such as myself at the time, were being taken from their homes, never returned. Somehow, I felt called to continue the steps they would never take. And so I stayed 32 years. I have witnessed hope rising from the South in the past 10 years, in ways I never dreamed. I have seen efforts of building dignity and sovereignty rise high, inspire millions, and make a difference.
And so, maybe this explains the anger that rose from within me yesterday, in front of the embassy. That anger surprised even me. I am ashamed of our government. Ashamed that we are in great part to blame for pushing this country back 30 years into dark and deadly times. And I worry that Honduras is just the beginning.
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BOLIVIA SOCIAL MOVEMENT DEMOCRACY
SEPTEMBER 12-22, 2008
As Evo Morales begins his third year as president of
Bolivia and his MAS (Movement Towards Socialism) political party and followers
clamor for change from the neo-liberal, Western economic model to a pluri-cultural,
indigenous focused regime. The social movements which brought Morales to power
are also taking on renewed significance themselves.
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Read more...
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The immediate goals of the SOA Watch Latin America Project are to connect the grassroots movements of the U.S. and Latin America, organize and facilitate SOA Watch delegations, and to contribute information and logistical support to other human rights groups in the region.
Whereas,
