ALBOAN

Serious situation in Honduras after the coup d´état in Honduras 

The most prominent issues of the present situation.

Interview: Leticia Salomón comments on the situation in Honduras and the latest decisions taken by the USA.

Articles on the latest news regarding the Honduran Coup:

• "There are no ideal sollutions concerning this coup d´état”: Ismael Moreno
• "Stroke by stroke, step by step, day by day": Alejandro Fernández
• "Replicas of the Honduran political earthquake”: Elaine Freedman

Demonstration in Honduras

Resistance in the country has increased dramatically. Neighbourhood, city and regional committees have been organized. It is a phenomenon that not even the most optimistic imagined. People have been slowly losing fear and taking on a patriotic and consistent position. Demonstrations are increasingly numerous and new forms of protest have come into place such as night vigils and demonstrations with torches and candles as well as motorcades throughout the country which still shock the perpetrators of the coup.

Many people who work in the public sector have not been paid since July. Hundreds have been fired on the grounds that there is no money. Countless teachers do not receive payments due to the fact that they are paid with funds that come from international organisations which have been cancelled. In the private sector, thousands have been fired in areas ranging from the construction industry to tourism including micro-enterprise and business. This fills me with sadness and pain as I understand that it will take a long time before the situation is improved.

 The military repression known as “Operation Dragon” has passed on to another phase, from indiscriminate beatings to targeted killings. Almost on a daily basis one hears about hit men who shoot people identified with the resistance from motorcycles. The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Honduras (CODEH) has registered more than a hundred deaths in the last two weeks, many of which were carried out with official arms and during curfew. The owner of a radio station against the coup assured me that there is a list of 500 leaders, journalists and supporters of the movement who could be killed in the coming weeks. It’s obvious that the structures of the 3-16 Battalion of the bloody decade of the 80´s have benn reactivated. Amongst those who lead the resistance movement there is talk of preparation to confront an apocalyptical escalation in violence.

Teachers and other unionised workers who have been active in demonstrations and other activities of the movement receive constant harassment and threats from institutions such as the public ministries, the commission of human rights and even from colleagues. There has been talk of not paying us in September and calling us to discharge hearings in coming days.

The struggle of the brave Honduran people goes beyond the return of Manuel Zelaya, rather, the struggle is directed towards the establishment of one national assembly which will draw up a new constitution in which the aspirations of the immense majority, excluded for centuries, will be reflected in order to boost the re-establishment of a country of the people and for the people.