Quest Import
Honduran Coup d’état, a ‘win’ for the U.S.?
Thu, 01/28/2010 - 4:51pm | 
January 27, 2010
Today, Pepe Lobo will be inaugurated as the new President of Honduras in what many consider to be an institutionalization of the coup d’état which took place seven months ago. Lobo comes to the Presidency as a result of a highly disputed election process carried out by the coup regime. The elections, which have been widely condemned as illegitimate were boycotted by a large percentage of the Honduran population.
Tags: Repression at the Embassy
Here is another testimony taken by a member of our International Witness Delegation. Lilian, a 46-year old resident of Tegucigalpa, was in the region of the Brazilian Embassy yesterday, along with hundreds of others, celebrating democratically-elected president Mel Zelaya’s return. At about 5:30am, members of the police and military came to displace the assembly. They used tanks to surround the area and began firing tear gas and live bullets into the crowd in an attempt to concentrate people in one area. At that time, Lilian was vomiting from the strong effects of the tear gas.
One Story of Last Night’s Repression
Twenty-four year-old Eric was participating in his Tegucigalpa neighborhood’s protest last night when the nonviolent gathering was attacked by police. He was beaten with police batons before being detained for two hours along with a nineteen year-old compañero.Police continued to beat Eric after he was detained. “They made us put our hands flat on chairs so they could beat them,” he said. He heard police talking among themselves about killing them.
Curfew Extended, 7.5 Million Effectively Under House Arrest
They’ve declared another full-day curfew today, which is disastrous for most people, who need to work every day for income, and who therefore buy food on a day-to-day basis. People are calling into television and radio stations saying they don’t have any food in their houses, and in some neighborhoods the water has been cut, too. One woman just called in and said that her mom is diabetic and hasn’t had insulin in three days. Even if these individuals decide to defy curfew, as many are doing, the stores and markets are closed.
Protestors Attacked, Curfew Extended
The protesters camped out in front of the Brazilian Embassy were violently attacked and removed from the Embassy with live rounds of ammunition and tear gas. There are at least 4 people wounded. President Zelaya was in the middle of an interview with Radio Globo early this morning from inside the Brazilian Embassy, struggling to talk through the tear gas, when the Radio Globo signal was once again cut. The curfew started yesterday at 4pm has been extended until 6pm today.
Honduras Delegation Report - Aug 6, 2009
This morning, after preparing our letter to Ambassador Llorens, we rushed off to the US Embassy for a meeting. After a wait, we were greeted by Mike Gorman, the person responsible for ‘human rights'. He was very courteous, but unfortunately used the same double speak that those in the State Department have refined so eloquently.
Honduras Delegation Report - Aug 5, 2009
The situation here continues to deteriorate. For the last week nearly every day there have been reports of police and military attacking unarmed protesters. Our delegation just returned from San Pedro Sula, where there was an unprovoked attack on a peaceful march on Monday. Over 2000 protestors had organized a caravan in San Pedro Sula calling for an end to the coup and the restoration of democracy. When the military cordon began advancing on the caravan, protest leaders called on the people to withdrawal.
Delegation Report Aug. 3, 2009
Emergency Delegation Report
Tues. August 4, 2009, Tegucigalpa Honduras
On Monday morning we went to the two locations where the wakes were being held for the two teachers who were killed in the last few days. One teacher was shot on Thursday, and died on Saturday from gunshot wounds to the head. Another was stabbed on his way home from the Saturday wake. At the press conference/rally which was held before his funeral, teachers declared that they would strike all week this week to protest the deaths of these two teachers. Until now, teachers had been striking two days a week in support of the national strike against the coup regime.
Emergency Delegation Arrives in Honduras!
Yesterday, Sunday August 2nd, our Emergency Delegation of Solidarity, Accompaniment and Witness arrived in Honduras. The arrival of the nine person team assures an international presence on the ground this week and carried urgently needed assistance to the social movements of Honduras.
Emergency Delegation to Honduras
Yesterday we received a request from social movements in Honduras for international accompaniment during this critical period. Starting next week, there are no international delegations scheduled to be in Honduras.
