The people of Honduras are in the streets. Men and women from all walks of life have been protesting for more than a month, since the coup d’etat ousted the elected president José Manuel Zelaya on June 28 and replaced him with Roberto Micheletti. The coup leader is supported by the conservative elite, including sections of the army, the church, and the business sector—each of whom saw their prior privileges shrinking under Zelaya’s social policies.
Since then, thousands of citizens have marched to the border with Nicaragua to welcome the possible return of the elected president, who has not been been able to come back thus far. Protesters are staying in camps, on both sides of the border, keeping the pressure high. In cities too, farmers movements, workers unions, student groups, teachers unions and many other social movements and ordinary citizens have been demonstrating, organized under the ’Resistance Front Against the Coup’.
Repression has been extremely harsh: hundreds of people are being beaten up by the police and the army, the media are muzzled and at least 8 people have been killed.
However, social movements in Honduras are rising up, and they have never been so organized and mobilized.
Yesterday, on August 5, thousands of people started marching from the provinces towards the two main cities of Honduras: Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. They are walking 15 kilometers a day, showing to all the strength and the determination of the resistance against the bloody coup. Their march will culminate on August 11, when an International Day of Action for Honduras was proclaimed.
Protesters are asking for the return of the elected president, but more than that, they are marching for a new society where farmers, teachers, workers, students, ordinary people would be at the center of the political life. A society based on solidarity and justice, and not on privileges and money.
The outcome of the crisis in Honduras will determine the fate of the whole region and of its people, it will echo everywhere at the international level.
All of us are concerned.
Protesters in Honduras urgently need resources to sustain the struggle: you can support them!
After one month of concerted efforts, Via Campesina Honduras is calling for financial support to sustain the mass protest.
– People need water, food, blankets, medicines in the camps and on the streets;
– Organizers need credit in their mobile phones and access to internet to keep networking and informing the world – especially now that the media is controlled;
– The victims and their relatives need legal support: some activists are missing, some were killed, bloody repression is going on on a daily basis.
– International delegations are on their way to Honduras to witness and to denounce human rights abuses and to bring solidarity to the women and men in the struggle. They also need funding for their travel expenses.
You can also organize a solidarity action where ever you live on August 11.
(see our call for action August 11, 2009: Global Action Day for Honduras)
Bank Account Nº 1
Bank: IPAR KUTXA
Account holder: ASOCIACIÓN LURBIDE – EL CAMINO DE LA TIERRA
Country: ESPAÑA
SWIFT: CVRVES2B
IBAN: ES54 3084 0023 5364 0006 1004
Account number: 3084 0023 53 6400061004
Communication: Lucha Honduras
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Bank Account Nº 2
Bank: BANCA POPOLARE ETICA
Account holder: ASOCIACIÓN LURBIDE – EL CAMINO DE LA TIERRA
Country: ITALIA
SWIFT: CCRTIT2T84A
IBAN: IT21 O 050 1812 1000 0000 0125 127 (Distinguish the letter “O” with the zeros “0”)
Account number: 000000125127
Communication: Lucha Honduras
International Operational Secretariat
La Via Campesina - International Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV No. 5 Jakarta Selatan, Jakarta 12790 Indonesia
Phone : +62-21-7991890, Fax : +62-21-7993426
E-mail: viacampesina viacampesina.org, Website: _ http://www.viacampesina.org