Solidarity Collective | Latin America Analysis

Election Blog Series – Honduras: Why U.S. Policy Needs a Re-Set

-by Witness for Peace Honduras/Nicaragua Team Why U.S. Policy in Honduras Needs a Re-Set Although neither candidate mentioned Honduras in the last presidential debate on foreign policy, Mitt Romney has cited the Obama administration’s reaction to the coup in Honduras as an example marking Barack Obama’s failure in Latin American policy. He is not alone in criticizing the Obama administration’s response to the 2009 coup in Honduras. For reasons starkly different than Romney’s,

Leading Honduran Human Rights Group Rallies Against U.S. Bases

The following is a release from the Comite de Familias de Detenidos y Desaparecidos de Honduras. All credit for translation attributed to the Friendship Office of the Americas. The first executive order issued by Porfirio Lobo in January 2010 after assuming the presidency following the coup d’état was the authorization of another Gringo military base in Caratasca and an extension in the small island of Guanaja. The bases – sea, land, and air – join with Palmerola, in the hea

Honduras: Two Years After Military Coup, U.S.-Backed Repression Continues

By Riahl O’Malley International Team Witness for Peace Two years ago today, Manuel Zelaya, then the democratically-elected president of Honduras, was forcibly ousted by the Honduran National Guard. The Obama Administration initially denounced the illegal coup as a threat to democracy in the region. Three months later Porifio Lobo was voted president in elections many considered illegitimate. Lobo demonstrated himself to be a friend to the business elite, many of whom had pl

Zelaya is back – but the human rights crisis in Honduras continues

The Organization of American States has readmitted Honduras to the association, two years after the military coup that led to widely disputed elections and deteriorating human rights conditions. The vote came just three days after deposed president Mel Zelaya’s return to the country, a deal brokered primarily by the presidents of Venezuela and Colombia. It also comes in the midst of an escalating human rights crisis. As the crisis has deepened, U.S. aid to security forces ha

Honduran Teacher Killed During Military Repression of Peaceful Protest

By Christine Goffredo International Team – Nicaragua Witness for Peace Yesterday in Honduras’ capital city of Tegucigalpa, members of teachers’ unions, parents The shocking news raises questions about the role of United States funding to the Honduran military. Through the U.S.-funded Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), $13 million has already been promised to the Honduran military with the intention of combating narcotrafficking and gang-related violence.

Open and Shut: a Case of Hypocrisy and the Honduran Coup

By Brooke Denmark, Witness for Peace International Team Leaked State Department cables recently shed light on what was going on behind the scenes when Washington pretended to deliberate over whether or not what happened on June 28, 2009 was in fact an illegal military coup. The classified report filed by the U.S. embassy in Tegucigalpa was called “Open and Shut: the Case of the Honduran Coup.” “There is no doubt” that the events of June 28 “constituted an illegal and uncons

A year after the coup in Honduras

One year ago today, this is the situation that the citizens of Honduras were dealt when soldiers forced President Manuel Zelaya from the country. By recognizing the “elections” that the de facto government held last fall, the U.S. has condoned insurgent activity against constitutional order. Even more baffling are the millions of dollars of military aid that the State Department has pledged to the current regime. The double standard couldn’t be any clearer: how is it that the

“Don’t Close Your Eyes”: Honduran Journalist César Silva Speaks Out

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team César Omar Silva Rosales – a journalist, filmmaker and member of the Honduran resistance movement – was arrested and tortured by Honduran authorities last December after compiling and distributing a video that demonstrated the repressive tactics used by the police and military against protestors in the wake of the June 28, 2009 coup. Three of his colleagues, including film editor Rénan Fajardo and gay right’s activist and fi

Whitewashing the Coup

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo, winner of Honduras’ controversial November 29, 2009 presidential elections, was officially sworn into office yesterday morning in Tegucigalpa. Many Latin American nations continue to withhold recognition of the elections, which were held under the auspices of Roberto Micheletti’s coup regime while democratically-elected president Manuel Zelaya took haven in the Brazilian Embassy. Despite massive human r

Empty Streets on Election Day

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team Tegucigalpa woke on ‘election’ day to eerily quiet streets. The few taxis working this morning cruised easily through roads normally congested with traffic. The great majority of stores and business (excluding the fast food chains) kept their metal shutters tightly secured. Driving through this sudden ghost city, the few areas that showed some signs of human activity were the capital’s high schools as they transformed themse

Tragedy and “Tranquility” Reveal Dual Realities in Honduras

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team On the eve of Honduras’ “elections,” Angel Sagrado lays in critical condition in a hospital bed in downtown Tegucigalpa. After nearly twenty-four hours of delicate surgery during which doctors attempted to remove the bullet lodged in Angel’s head, he was transferred to the recovery room late this afternoon. Angel Sagrado lays in critical condition after soldiers fired on his car on Friday night. According to witnesses’ repor

Will Election Observers Understand the Context of the “Elections”?

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team “The three emotions you will see most prevalently this weekend are fear, uncertainty and happiness,” says Felix Molina of Radio Progreso, an independent radio station in northern Honduras. This is a strange mixture to be sure, but one that reflects the bizarre conditions under which this weekend’s elections will be held. “Happiness will be seen on the faces of those that supported this coup and look at what they call the ‘el

The Pre-Election Environment in Honduras

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team Young girl lights a candle at a vigil for the International Day Against Violence Against Women near the barricaded Brazilian Embassy. Honduran human rights organizations have recorded twenty nine cases of rape by the military and police since the June 28th coup. On the walls and street-signs of Tegucigalpa, graffiti proclaiming “Yes to the Constituent Assembly!” and “Go Home, Coup-mongers!” is juxtaposed with posters adverti

U.S. Hands Victory to the Coup Regime in Honduras

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team Last Friday Manuel Zelaya declared from his refuge in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa that the U.S.-brokered deal signed on October 30th was dead. This declaration was prompted by Roberto Micheletti’s appointment of a “unity and reconciliation government” that does not include a single Zelaya-appointed representative, just as the Thursday evening deadline approached. It is certainly an embarrassment to the U.S. that th

More Delays in Honduras

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team The initial optimism inspired by last Friday’s announcement of an agreement signed between the Micheletti and Zelaya camps is starting to dwindle. It is becoming increasingly clear that Micheletti’s government – in a continuation of the foot-dragging tactics characteristic of this coup regime – plans to utilize loopholes in the agreement in order to delay Zelaya’s return to office. The Honduran Congress, which must make a fi

Is the Honduras Agreement a Breakthrough?

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team Out of Honduras today come reports that ousted President Manuel Zelaya and representatives of the de facto government headed by Roberto Micheletti have signed a deal that could lead to the restoration of Zelaya to office. The deal stipulates the formation of a “unity government,” the establishment of a “verification commission” composed of two international representatives chosen by the Organization of American States and tw

International Fast in Honduras

The International Fast for Honduras began its water-only phase on October 6th, 2009. One core faster, Andrés Thomas Conteris, is fasting inside the besieged Brazilian embassy with the elected President of Honduras. We are calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Honduras, the cessation of human rights violations by the de facto regime, and the immediate return to Constitutional order. More information about the fast can be found at http://www.ayunoporhonduras.net./

Give Hondurans Time for Free and Fair Elections

by Roxanne Hanson The June coup overthrowing Manuel Zelaya, the democratically-elected president of Honduras, may soon reach a resolution. With constant pressure from the US, European Union, international institutions like the UN and Organization of American States, and international mediators like Jimmy Carter, the de facto regime led by Roberto Micheletti has finally agreed to come back to the negotiating table. But they have yet to say that they will agree to any proposed

Honduran Economy and the Coup

by the Witness for Peace Staff in Honduras In San Pedro Sula we met with several union leaders to discuss the impact the coup has had in the industrial capital of Honduras, San Pedro Sula. Nora, a union leader, told us about her personal experiences with organizing in northern Honduras. Nora and her sister started working at a maquila when they were only 15 and 17 years old, though Honduras labor law states that 18 is the minimum age for employment. The young women sewed clot

“They are afraid of us, because we have no fear.”

by the Witness for Peace Staff in Honduras This is the mantra of the resistance movement in San Pedro Sula. After meeting many leaders and demonstrators here, we discovered that no solution to this crisis will gain popular support while the military and police repression continues, despite the media’s assertions that a peaceful resolution is near. Protestors are incensed by Micheletti’s actions and decrees including the decree banning constitutional rights and the push for

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