My interest in the unfolding drama that is Honduras comes from my outrage at the June 28, 2009, coup d’état and subsequent installation of Porfirio Lobo as president.  I have visited Honduras twice in the last 6 months, talked to members of the social movements and human rights groups and read almost everything written about the coup, the US role and the sham election. Opinions about whether the US orchestrated or initiated the coup are numerous but for the sake of expediency let’s agree that the US facilitated what the oligarchic forces conceived and executed. The oligarchy is made up of the elites (10 families that hold most of the wealth), the business interests, and the hierarchy of the Catholic and Protestant churches, the corporate media and the military. 

Between US Ambassador Hugo Llorens and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the US managed to cut off very little aid to the coup regime, undermined the OAS’s attempts to bring back President Zelaya and recognized an illegitimate election in November. The US never ceased it’s presence at the Palmerola military base nor stopped training Honduran soldiers at the SOA.

Members of the State Department have been busy trying to get governments to recognize the government of “Pepe” Lobo. So far the US has succeeded with only 30 countries, and Honduras still has not been restored to membership in the OAS.

What has surprised many in the international community has been the reaction of the Honduran people. In spite of the coup with its ensuing repression, curfews, arrests, beatings, killings, silencing of the alternative media and intimidation of the Honduran people, a coalition of social movements has coalesced and grown into a formidable force called the FRNP (National Front of Popular Resistance). Their original demand was for the restoration of President Zelaya but as the months have passed they have more and more come together around a common theme, the desire for a Constitutional Assembly to write a new constitution. The current one was written during the US presidency of Ronald Reagan with literally the help of the US Embassy for the benefit of the ruling elites. There is even a clause that stated it is illegal to amend the constitution!

The coalition that is the FRNP was born under the strong leadership of the unions, public sector workers and teachers, but it has since broadened to include the women’s movement, the LGBT community, campesinos, indigenous, Afro-Hondurans, youth and students, and human rights groups.  The Frente, as it is called, has leaders in all areas of the country that participate in a national coordinating committee.

What continues to outrage those of us in the US / Honduras solidarity movement is that, in addition to the ongoing impunity regarding the abuses during the coup, there are now targeted killings of Frente leaders and journalists (eight in recent months), continuing death threats and other acts of aggression. The intimidation and killing have reached unimaginable heights in an all out effort to halt the spread of this movement. On June 5, The Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) released a document denouncing human rights abuses countrywide since January 30th.  Since Porfirio Lobo took office there have            been 12 murders for political reasons, two assaults, 63 death threats, 76 intimidations and persecutions and 53 arrests.

The US is supporting a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” the members appointed by the Lobo government; but the popular movements have said they would not participate. Instead an alternative or peoples truth commission is being organized by Berta Oliva, director of COFADEH and others.

Currently the Frente is collecting signatures of Honduran citizens in support of convening a national constituent assembly in order to re-write the constitution. As of May 23 they had collected over 200,000 signatures; they hope to collect 1.25 million by June 28, the anniversary of the coup.

What you can do:

Because of the support that our government has given to the illegitimate government of Honduras we owe the people our support and solidarity. If you are moved, as I have been, by the determination of the people of Honduras I hope your group will consider joining the US Honduras Solidarity Network(HSN) and the Emergency Response Network (ERN) to respond to the continuing human rights abuses against the resistance movement.

The Mission of the HSN is: to denounce violations of human rights and demand that perpetrators are found and punished; to accompany the people of Honduras; to act with commitment to social justice in Honduras and to oppose at all levels the interventionist policy of the US government. Network objectives include educating, exchanging information, and supporting materially and politically the groups and communities that directly suffer. Your group can join the HSN by emailing Tom Loudon at the Quixote Center, toml@quixote.org or Vicki Cervantes, vickicervantes@yahoo.com , La Voz de los de Abajo.

Individuals can help save lives in Honduras by signing up for the ERN When a Frente leader or supporter is arrested or kidnapped, or a community is threatened by military or death squad violence, the ERN makes the perpetrators know that the international community is watching and will often mean the difference between life and death. You can authorize the ERN to use your name and address to send a fax or email in your name. Email Chuck@afgj.org to join the Honduras ERN.

[The author is Director, Task Force on the Americas, based in Marin County CA. Founded in 1984, the Task Force works in solidarity with social movements in the region and educates US citizens about the role of the US in the Americas.]