Voices Against the Coup
Skriv kommentar August 28th, 2009
Arkiv for August, 2009
Week Summary, August 22-28
Diplomacy
The OAS delegation of foreign ministers at last arrived in Honduras this Monday joined by the foreign minister of Panama and headed by General Secretary of the organization, José Miguel Insulza. The delegation met with Zelaya’s wife, Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, members of Zelaya’s cabinet, business leaders, members of Congress, civil society representatives, the presidential candidates and members of the de facto government, including Micheletti. The purpose of the visit was to convince the de facto government to sign the Arias proposal, but it did not succeed. The de facto government says that they will not agree on two of the twelve points in the proposal – the return of Zelaya as president and amnesty to Zelaya. Micheletti says, that he is not worried about international isolation and that he will go on with the elections planned for 29th of November whether the international community recognizes the elections and their outcome or not:
Delegation Seeks Zelaya’s Return in Honduras Visit
Insulza presented the disappointing results of the visit in a meeting of OAS’ permanent council this Wednesday: Statement of the OAS mission of foreign ministers that visited Honduras august 25, 2009
Insulza also invited Zelaya to a meeting of the council in Washington next Monday or Tuesday. Zelaya has confirmed his participation in that meeting, but otherwise we haven’t heard any reaction on the OAS delegation’s visit from his side.
The international pressure on the de facto government continues to grow. This week Spain and Uruguay expelled the Honduran ambassadors from their countries. The Dominican Republic has suggested that Honduras be expelled from the CAFTA-agreement, a fact that would enable the USA to impose a trade-embargo: DomRep leader urges CAFTA suspension for Honduras
As a consequence of Micheletti’s unwillingness to negotiate, the USA finally decided to come up with new measures. On Tuesday a temporary restriction of the issuing of U.S. visas in Honduras was announced, and in a press conference on Wednesday the State Department said that it was considering other measures – such as maybe asking for some conclusions from their lawyers’ investigation on whether or not what happened on June 28 was a military coup:
U.S. Limits Visas In Honduras, Stepping Up Pressure
Senior State Department Officials on Honduras
The restriction of the issuing of U.S. visas, made Micheletti react, proposing another way of resolving the crisis. He said that he would be willing to resign and leave politics – if Zelaya resigned too. This is the second time he proposes that – and probably the answers from the international community and the Resistance in Honduras will be the same as last time: A precondition for the restoration of democracy in Honduras is the return of Zelaya as president.
New Plan to End Honduran Standoff Resembles Failed Ones of Past
Today rumors came out that the staff of the U.S. State Department actually recommends Hillary Clinton to formally declare the coup a military coup. The next days will show if she does so or not:
State Department Recommends Aid Cutoff to Honduras
Demonstrations and human rights
Today it has been two months since the coup, and people continue in the resistance. Every day they march in the streets of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, and demonstrations of different kinds are being held all over the country. Today the Resistance invited people to join a ‘noisy march’ to mark the date, bringing all kinds of noisemaking instruments. The demonstrations this week have been peaceful, starting with a concert on Sunday called ‘Voices Against the Coup’, where bands from different countries came to play music for a 30-40.000 people audience. The only regrettable incident that day was the fact that the two radio-stations that were transferring the concert were violently closed.
Pictures from the concert:
During the visit of the OAS delegation, Honduras was also visited by Spanish National Court Judge Baltasar Garzon, who received several testimonies of violations of human rights. A group of Honduran lawyers met with him to go through the procedures of charging Micheletti and other persons behind the coup in the International Court. See: Visiting Spain judge concerned by Honduras rights situation
As the mission from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) left Honduras last Friday they issued a preliminary report on their findings. Read a summary of the report here – and the whole report here: Preliminary observations on the IACHR visit to Honduras
Tomorrow (29th of August) the electoral campaign is to begin. The Resistance is urging people not to allow the politicians to make their campaigns as long as Zelaya is not back. The next days will show how people react to this.
Skriv kommentar August 28th, 2009
Week Summary, August 15-21
Diplomacy
Costa Rica and Nicaragua have decided to join Argentina and Chile in expelling the Honduran ambassadors in those countries. In both cases, the ambassadors had expressed their support for the de facto government. Manuel Zelaya went to Ocotal, Nicaragua, on Monday and visited Peru on Wednesday, where he was also received as the legitimate president of Honduras. He has been invited to Washington and Spain – the dates for the visits are still pending. In the meantime the de facto government sent a delegation to Washington to talk to the state department, where they were received and once again urged to sign the Arias proposal.
The OAS delegation of foreign ministers are expected to arrive in Honduras on Monday 24th and the Resistance is having high expectations about the visit. Members of Zelayas government say that they expect Zelaya back before the 1st of September, and that Zelaya hopes to be signing the Arias proposal in Tegucigalpa next week. The electoral campaign is to begin 29th of August (three months before the elections), and the countries of UNASUR and Mexico have said that they will not acknowledge the elections if Zelaya is not back before the campaign starts. Zelaya has urged the population to boycott the elections if he is not back in time to restore the constitutional order and secure the legitimacy of the elections. There is still nothing that indicates that Micheletti will agree to sign the Arias proposal and the de facto government has made a public statement which says that boycotting the elections is illegal.
Read more:
Washington Still Lagging the Region on Restoring Democracy
Honduras: The liberal majority and small businesspeople are against the coup regime
A firmer condemnation of the coup and the de facto government from the USA is still being called for – both from inside and outside the country. A report on the violations of human rights from Amnesty International is hoped to influence the vague position of the US state department:
Amnesty: Honduras Testimonies Show Extent of Police Violence
Demonstrations and human rights
Demonstrations have continued every day with thousands of participants primarily in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, and since the mission from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) started working on Monday, the police and the army have not intervened. People have come from all over the country to report the violations of their rights, and the IACHR-mission has received them in different cities.
While we wait for the IACHR report, Amnesty International has published their report on an earlier visit:
Honduras: human rights crisis threatens as repression increases
Read a short introduction to the Amnesty International report here.
This week Honduras was also visited by a delegation of 22 Latin and North American women, who have been analyzing the violations of women’s human rights since the coup. Women are being sexually harassed by the police and the army – in addition to the beatings and illegal detentions. Some women have even been raped! This is an aspect of the repression, which has been overlooked until now. Many Honduran women have joined the ‘Feminists in Resistance’, which is a grouping under the National Resistance Front, to make sure that women’s voices are heard. The delegation included women’s human rights activists, legal experts, investigators and journalists from Central America, Mexico, Canada and USA. A report on the visit is to be elaborated, but some of the findings have been published in the following article, which among other things mentions the impact on women, that the de facto government’s idea of reinstating compulsory military service(!) would have:
Coup Catalyzes Honduran Women’s Movement
To read more about the feminist perspective on the situation in Honduras after the coup, please visit:
Radio Feminista – both in Spanish and English
Skriv kommentar August 21st, 2009
Niels Lindvig – igen!
Fremover kommer det meste af det, der staar her paa bloggen, formodentlig til at vaere paa engelsk. Indtil videre har jeg informeret om statskuppet mest paa dansk og spansk – men i nogen sammenhaenge, kan jeg slaa to fluer med et smaek ved at skrive paa engelsk… Og da jeg i forvejen er begyndt at lave ‘uge-resuméer’ paa engelsk, saa…. Ja, saa bliver det mestendels dem, jeg kommer til at laegge ud her…
Men! Nogen gange kommer der jo altsaa god info ud paa dansk, f.eks. i soendags, daa Niels Lindvig atter snakkede om Honduras – endda i en hel time, sammen med bl.a. Hans Peter Dejgaard, som jeg ogsaa gerne vil staa inde for! Saa hermed linket til den udsendelse – god fornoejelse:
Skriv kommentar August 20th, 2009
Week Summary, August 8-14
Diplomacy
To the OAS delegation of foreign ministers from Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, México y the Dominican Republic was added Argentina. And the general secretary, José Miguel Insulza, would head the delegation. They were to arrive in Honduras on Tuesday 11th but after some quarrel in the de facto government over the weekend about whether or not they would accept the visit of the delegation, it was decided to postpone the visit to ‘sometime later’. Probably the delegation will travel to Honduras after the visit of a mission from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which is to take place next week, from the 17th to 21st of August. Micheletti has consistently said that Insulza is not welcome in Honduras because he is not considered to be ‘impartial’. Last time Insulza visited Honduras (3 of July) he refused to talk to people from the de facto government. The purpose of the delegation is still to try to persuade the de facto government into accepting Oscar Arias proposition. Insulza is not considering not joining the delegation despite the request from Micheletti.
Read more:
Honduras snubs OAS leader, cancels visit
IACHR announces delegation that will visit Honduras
While Manuel Zelaya participated in the meeting of UNASUR in Quito on Monday 10th of July, the prime minister of Canada and the presidents of USA and Mexico met in Mexico to discus among other things their position on the crisis in Honduras. After the meeting, they gave a press conference, and gave very short pronouncements on the issue – not any different from what they have said before. Particularly the position of USA is being discussed both inside and outside the country.
Read more:
Venezuela fumes over Obama’s ‘hypocrisy’ remark,
The Honduras coup is a sign: the radical tide can be turned,
More of the Same in Latin America,
Battle for Honduras–and the Region
During the week Zelaya continued his tour in South America, visiting first Lula da Silva in Brazil, then Bachelet in Chile. He still receives support everywhere he goes. The Honduran ambassador in Argentina has been expelled from that country, due to her support for the de facto government.
In the meanwhile Micheletti seems to be achieving what he wants – more time. The maneuver of not welcoming Insulza in the country and consequently having postponed the visit of OAS is the latest ‘trick’.
Read more: Honduran coup leaders try to beat the clock
Demonstrations
The two marches that moved from El Progreso, Copán Ruinas, and Santa Bárbara to San Pedro Sula, and from Choluteca, Comayagua and Olancho to Tegucigalpa reached the cities on Tuesday 11th. The approximately 40.000 participants made peaceful demonstrations in the two cities – in San Pedro Sula the arrival of the people was celebrated in a Mass held by the catholic bishop from Santa Rosa de Copan (one of the few catholic leaders who have condemned the coup). Unfortunately both demonstrations ended up in riots, which leaders of the demonstrations claimed had been started by people other than the ones participating in the demonstrations. In spite of this, people continued demonstrating the rest of the week.
Information about the aggressions and the detentions by the police and the army that people are suffering are hard to find in official media, but the violations of human rights are still growing more and more severe every day. Specific targets are people from the independent media and people taking pictures. On Wednesday member of congress for the party UD (the only party which has condemned the coup), Marvin Ponce, was severely beaten and is still hospitalized with three fractures in the arm and one in the leg. E-mails are being sent to us daily asking for the international community to take action against the violence, which seems simply to be silenced.
Read more:
Honduras reimposes night-time curfew in capital
Violent Protests Hit Isolated Honduras
Pictures:
Skriv kommentar August 14th, 2009
Week Summary, August 1-7
The Arias negotiations.
Arias has not yet called for a third meeting after the negotiations broke down on Sunday 19 of July and his 72-hour deadline for presenting a new proposition ran out at midnight 22 of July. Manuel Zelaya has accepted the terms of the proposition – the de facto government is still discussing their position. See below three articles touching on the issue.
Interview with Manuel Zelaya ‘We Will Not be Brought to Our Knees’
Honduras: De Facto Leader Rejects Part of a Deal
On TV, Honduran Generals Explain Their Role in Coup
The newest diplomatic initiative comes from OAS, who has announced the visit of a delegation of foreign ministers to Honduras at the beginning of next week. Few hours ago, it was announced that the participating countries in the delegation will be Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, México y the Dominican Republic. The de facto government had announced that they would not welcome participants from the ALBA-member countries. The purpose of the delegation is to try to persuade the de facto government into accepting Arias proposition.
Demonstrations.
The daily demonstrations continue and are mostly peaceful. After Thursday 30 of July, however, the police and military are beginning to intervene violently in the demonstrations as was the case on Tuesday at the university in Tegucigalpa.
Two marches have started moving from different parts of Honduras (El Progreso, Copán Ruinas, Santa Bárbara), with the purpose of reaching San Pedro Sula (the Industrial city) and from Choluteca, Comayagua and Olancho to reach Tegucigalpa on Monday or Tuesday next week. What will happen once they reach the cities remains unclear.
Read more: Clashes at Honduras student protest
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41057900@N08/page2/
Many people who are participating in the marches and the demonstrations are having problems finding and/or paying for food, water and medicine. International help has been called for a number of times.
Read about one of the initiatives to face this problem:
ACT Rapid Response Payment for Emergency needs related to the political crisis in Honduras
Human rights.
The human rights situation seems to get worse every day as the repression continues. The media are still being harassed if they do not show themselves as supporters of the de facto government.
Media crackdown in Honduras worsens
Below is a report from the Centre for Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and their Families (CPTRT) in Honduras. The edition was finished before Thursday 30 of July, so the situation has become more difficult since then. Still it shows some unfortunate trends.
Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations
Skriv kommentar August 7th, 2009
Diplomatisk stilstand og mere undertrykkelse
Onsdag aften, tilbage efter to ugers ferie. Det har vaeret en udfordring at holde fri midt i al balladen, men det er lykkedes ok, synes jeg – med stor hjaelp fra min soester Solveig, som nu er rejst igen. Jeg er stadig i Managua, Nicaragua, og fortsaetter foreloebigt med at lave informationsarbejde herfra. I gaar flyttede jeg ind i en lille, gloende hed men ganske hyggelig lejlighed uden internet men med fjernsyn… Det er rart at have ‘mit eget’ igen, efter en maaned paa hoteller… Men samtidig er det ogsaa et klart signal om, at vi ikke laengere forventer, at tingene loeser sig indenfor de naermeste dage.
Andet maeglingsforsoeg mellem Mel og kupregeringen, som gik for sig for godt to uger siden, lykkedes som forventet ikke. Oscar Arias udbad sig 72 timer til at finde en loesning – ganske ambitioest – og det fik han naturligvis. Da fristen udloeb, praesenterede han et nyt loesnings-forslag, som mindede meget om det foerste, han havde lavet. Hovedingrendienserne var de samme, nemlig: Mel tilbage paa praesidentposten, amnesti til alle involverede i kuppet, og aflysning af al snak om en grundlovsgivende forsamling. Denne gang var det Mels delegation, der foerst sagde nej tak. Siden har Mel dog selv sagt, at han stoetter forslaget… Michelettis delegation sagde, at ‘det bliver vi noedt til at snakke om derhjemme’. Foerst i mandags naaede de frem til, at de gerne ville gaa med til punktet om amnesti. At Mel skal tilbage paa posten, vil de stadig ikke engang overveje.
Saa paa den diplomatiske front er der med andre ord intet nyt under solen. Mel holdt hvad han havde lovet om at finde en anden maade at komme hjem paa, hvis maeglingen ikke virkede – eller han forsoegte i hvert fald. Fredag den 24. juli koerte han i bil til graensen mellem Nicaragua og Honduras – og gik over graensen til fods. Dog kun et par symbolske skridt, saa vendte han om og gik tilbage. Tusindvis af mennesker var rejst mod graensen inde fra Honduras for at tage imod ham, men kup-regeringen erklaerede udgangsforbud hele doegnet i hele graenseregionen, saa mange kunne ikke naa frem. Mels egen familie blev holdt tilbage i en by ca. 30 km fra graensen. Der ventede de paa at faa lov til at komme videre i en uge! Men udgangsforbuddet blev fornyet hver dag. Imens ventede Mel paa Nicaragua-siden af graensen, mens folk lige saa langsomt kom igennem og sluttede sig til ham. De kom til fods og fandt alternative stier gennem bjergene. Nu er der en maengde honduranere samlet i Ocotal, en by i Nicaragua ca. 20 minutter fra graensen. Som venter ligesom alle os andre paa, hvad der nu skal ske. Mel blev i Nicaragua indtil i mandags (3. august), nu er han paa besoeg i Mexico og en af dagene rejser han videre til Brasilien.
Den internationale opmaerksomhed virker til at vaere dalende, efterhaanden som der sker andre skandaloese ting i verden (saa som nyheden om at USA vil etablere syv militaerbaser i Colombia). I samme takt stiger represionen og overtraedelserne af menneskerettighederne i Honduras. Fra i torsdags har militaeret og politiet aendret attitude. De er begyndt at gribe ind i demonstrationerne med vold. Min Merlin og Moncho var to af ofrene i torsdags, hvor de uden varsel blev smidt paa jorden og slaaet af militaeret – inden de overhovedet var begyndt at demonstrere. Det lykkedes dem at flygte. En raekke andre folk fra vores partnerorganisationer blev tilbageholdt i en lukket lastbil. Doña Edith fra min nabo-organisation var en af dem, og hun fortalte, at de havde smidt en taaregasbombe ind til dem(!), men ellers var de ikke blevet mishandlet. De blev sat fri igen efter smaa tolv timer, fordi repraesentanter fra en menneskerettigheds-organisation havde kraevet dem loesladt.
Antallet af ofre for politi- eller militaervold droener i vejret som dagene gaar. I weekenden mistede to laerere livet – den ene pga. af skud i hovedet, den anden pga. at knivstik. Det har betydet, at laerernes fagforening (som er den staerkeste i landet) i denne uge har erklaeret strejke hele ugen – indtil nu har de strejket hver torsdag og fredag, men undervist de andre dage. I dag gik volden bl.a. ud over 3000 studerende, som demonstrerede foran deres universitet i Tegucigalpa. I den forbindelse blev endnu en journalist – denne gang en honduraner – slaaet og truet vaek fra stedet. Telesur (som jeg har adgang til at se) filmede det.
Mens situationen saaledes bliver mere og mere vanvittig, begynder analytikere at tale om, at det maaske vil lykkes for Micheletti at traekke tiden ud til valget i november. Og hvad sker der saa? En ulovlig regering kan ikke gennemfoere et lovligt valg…. Vil det saa betyde international isolation under en ny regering, eller hvad? Og hvem skal folk stemme paa, naar de ikke faar ordentlig information? Og – vil de stemme?? Praesidentkandidaterne blev valgt sidste aar, saa vi ved godt, hvem man i princippet kan stemme paa. Der er én uafhaengig kandidat, som ligenu markerer sig staerkt imod kuppet. Ham har militaeret braekket armen paa og tilbageholdt. Den eneste anden kandidat, som har markeret sig mod kuppet, var i landflygtighed de foerste uger efter kuppet, fordi han blev truet paa livet… Jeg ved ikke helt, hvor han er nu… Resten af kandidaterne stoetter kuppet, saa de er sandsynligvis stadig levende til valget… Stakkels, stakkels Honduras……
Skriv kommentar August 6th, 2009