Day 28 of Honduran Coup Resistance
July 25, 2009, Alert #34
DEATH AND DEFIANCE AT THE BORDER, AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Friday and Saturday have been extraordinary days of people mobilization in Honduras; of President Zelaya again trying to peacefully and unsuccessfully enter country (at the Nicaragua border crossing); of Honduran troops again opening fire with tear-gas and live bullets.
At least one person has been killed (possibly assassinated after being tortured), many wounded (numbers unknown) and at least dozens illegally detained just at the Nicaragua-Honduras border crossing alone.
If only the military-coup regime of Robert Micheletti were a “communist” government the west loved to hate, ... then the western mainstream media would be fully reporting on how extraordinary the resolve and courage of the Honduran people are, peacefully confronting a military/economic elitist regime.
BELOW: a series of reports and information about the people’s movement for democracy, against the coup regime, in Honduras
FOR INFORMATION FROM & ABOUT HONDURAS, CONTACT:

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WHAT TO DO & HOW TO DONATE TO GROUPS IN HONDURAS: see below
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OPENING FIRE ON PROTESTERS
As seen and heard on Telesur (http://www.telesurtv.net/) live news coverage yesterday, and as reported from eye-witnesses, soldiers open fire with live bullets and tear-gas canisters against pro-democracy protesters at the Las Manos border-crossing, in the Honduran departamento de El Paraiso.  Some of the wounded were taken to a hospital in the town of Danlí.  One of the wounded is Moisés Hernández, who came from the north-eastern department of Colon, where he is a member of the popular organization COPA (Coordinadora de Organizaciones Populares del Aguán).
DEATH OF PEDRO MAGDIEL
COFADEH (Committee of Family Members of the Disappeared) REPORTS (Tegucigalpa, sábado 25 de julio de 2009) that the body of Pedro Magdiel was found with signs of torture, early Saturday morning some 800 metres from the Honduran military roadblock in Alauca, near the Honduras border.  From the barrio of San Francisco in Tegucigalpa, Magdiel was in the pro-democracy, pro-Zelaya movement.  His body showed signs of him having been handcuffed and tortured.
CADAVER OF PROTESTER FOUND BY MILITARY ROADBLOCK
(By Sandra Cuffe, sandra.m.cuffe@gmail.com, El Paraiso, Honduras, July 25)
This morning, at approximately 8:50am, half a block away from the military/police roadblock and the protest along the highway leading towards the Nicaraguan border crossing near Las Manos, the cadaver of a young man was found.
Go to: http://hondurassolidarity.wordpress.com for text and photos.
Journalists and demonstrators recognized the man as having participated in several marches and protests against the coup d'etat in Honduras. He has been identified as PEDRO MANDIEL from the San Francisco neighbourhood in Tegucigalpa.  A small backpack and red t-shirt were found only a few meters away from Mandiel's body. Further away, there was a cell phone in the swampy grass and a knife along a narrow cement strip commonly used as a walkway through the muddy property.
The feelings expressed by many protestors at the scene were of rage, grief, and determination to continue their actions against the coup d'etat, for the return of elected President Manuel Zelaya, and for justice and democracy in Honduras. … More soon …
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COFADEH (Committee of Family Members of the Disappeared) DENOUNCES (Tegucigalpa, sábado 25 de julio de 2009) the illegal detention of Rafael Alegria, leader of campesino group “vía campesina”, and his driver Gustavo Adolfo Suazo, both captured by the Army near the Nicaragua border. 
Moreover, at least 12 members of COPINH (Counsel of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras) have been illegally detained: 1.- German Bautista, 2.- Santos Hilario, Santos, 3.- Francisco Sánchez Díaz, 4.- Jeremías Gómez Lobo (de Comayagua esposo de Teresa Rivera), 5.- Teresa Rivera (procedente de Comayagua y esposa de Jeremías Gómez Lobo), 6.- Henry Antonio Molina (hijo de Jeremías Gómez y Teresa Rivera), 7.- Kenia Caroline Fúnes, 8.- Nidia Margarita Portillo, 9.- Vicenta Bautista, 10.- Martha Socorro Boquín, 11.- Roberto Bautista, 12.- Pedrina Ramos
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HONDURAS IMPOSES STATE OF SIEGE IN SOUTH:  THOUSANDS OF PRO-DEMOCRACY, PRO-ZELAYA SUPPORTERS STRANDED EN ROUTE TO MEET THE PRESIDENT (July 25, 2009 8:30 a.m.)
Honduran national police have clamped a state of siege on the southern department of El Paraiso and blocked roads from Tegucigalpa to the Nicaraguan border. Thousands of Hondurans who caravanned from the capital to the border yesterday to support the return of President Manuel Zelaya are stranded in trucks, cars and buses along the road.
“People could be arrested, imprisoned or shot for being out of their houses, but we have no houses here to return to,” said California-based journalist Clifton Ross, who accompanied the caravan and is stranded in El Paraiso.
Honduran coup leader Roberto Micheletti imposed the state of siege on the evening of July 24. It is in effect round the clock in the department of El Paraiso, closest to the border. The rest of the country is under curfew from midnight to 4:00 a.m.
Police shot three Zelaya supporters, ran over three more and tear-gassed the crowd several times yesterday, Ross said. They captured, tortured and murdered a 28-year-old from Tegucigalpa. Thousands of supporters had reached the border before the government set up roadblocks, detaining busloads of others who wanted to meet Zelaya.
President Zelaya crossed the border yesterday unarmed and negotiated for a half-hour with an Honduran army colonel. Zelaya was denied entrance, the colonel was arrested for talking to him, and the coup government called the state of siege.
“Nothing can get in or out of El Paraiso at this point,” Ross said. Zelaya supporters slept in their cars, under trucks or on neighbors’ porches as heavy rain fell on and off through the night.
“People here have been fighting for Zelaya’s return for a month now. They are incredibly committed and won’t back down,” he said. He urged people to call Congress and the White House and demand that the U.S. government pressure Micheletti to lift the siege.
White House comment line: 202-456-1111
Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121
For more information: Clifton Ross, Honduras, 011-504-8971-2681
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VENEZUELAN EMBASSY UNDER SIEGE … RESISTING
Some 200 pro-democracy, pro-Zelaya Hondurans have surrounded the Venezuelan embassy, as the coup regime sent heavily armed men (in masks) to the embassy to try and force the Venezuelan diplomatic mission out of the country.  Venezuela is refusing to leave, as they don’t recognize the authority of the coup regime.
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Major highways in northern Honduras are blocked, including vital access roads to the Cortes shipyard – the largest in Central America.  Many state buildings and offices are blocked – public sector workers on strike, demanding a return of President Zelaya and his entire government.
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U.S. GOVERNMENT WAFFLING EMPOWERS MILITARY REGIME
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION MUST SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS IN HONDURAS, NGO'S AND SCHOLARS SAY LATEST STATEMENT FROM HILLARY CLINTON GIVES BLANK CHECK TO HONDURAN MILITARY
WASHINGTON - A group of organizations, scholars, and academics who specialize in Latin America released the following statement today:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's latest statement, which appears to hold President Zelaya responsible for any potential further violence by the Honduran government against civilians, is unacceptable. It is very disheartening to see the United States government go against the international consensus that has called for the immediate and unconditional return of President Zelaya.
Even worse, such statements could be seen as a blank check to the Honduran military and others to use violence against peaceful protestors who support their elected president.
Clinton's statement called Zelaya's attempt to return peacefully to his country "reckless," and said that "We have consistently urged all parties to avoid any provocative action that could lead to violence," implying that Zelaya is responsible for the violence against his unarmed supporters.
Given that neither Clinton nor President Obama, nor any U.S. official, has even once criticized the Honduran dictatorship for the violence and political repression of the last four weeks, Clinton's pointing the finger at Zelaya is especially threatening to the human rights of Hondurans.
By contrast, the shootings, beatings, arrests and detentions of journalists, closing of radio and TV stations, and other repression have been documented and condemned by the Inter American Commission for Human Rights, by human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and a report from the Honduran Committee for the Relatives of the Disappeared Detainees.
On July 23rd, an international commission of human rights organizations - including the International Federation of Human Rights and the Center for Justice and International Law - concluded that "grave and systematic violations of human rights" have taken place in Honduras since the military coup.
Yet the Obama administration has been silent in the face of these abuses.
By echoing the statements of the coup leaders, Clinton has also put the United States further outside the international community. By returning to Honduras, Zelaya is attempting to implement the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and the Organization of American States, which called for his immediate and unconditional return to the Presidency.
He participated in the mediation process headed by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and agreed to the proposal put forth by Arias, but the de facto government would not budge.
Signed,
ORGANIZATIONS:
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HONDURAS: MAQUILA (“SWEAT SHOP”) EMPLOYERS FORCE WORKERS TO SUPPORT COUP, July 23, 2009, http://cupe.ca/global-justice/honduran-coup-forced-support
Paul Moist wrote to Prime Minister Harper condemning the coup d'état in Honduras and calling for the return of President Zelaya.  Moist criticized Harper for making Canada the only country in the Americas that did not explicitly call for Zelaya’s reinstatement.  Unlike most governments, Canada did not recall its ambassador. Nor did it cut loans and aid (unlike the US and World Bank).
Over the last few weeks CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) has received several reports of violence against those who oppose the coup – including the assassination of community and trade union leaders.  On Jul. 22 CUPE received a statement from CODEMUH (attached below) – the women’s organization that CUPE supports through the Global Justice Fund with the HEU and CoDevelopment Canada.  They report employers forcing women maquila workers to participate in pro-coup demonstrations - so-called “Marches for Peace”.
CUPE condemns the actions of these employers and we will be keeping in close contact with our sisters at CODEMUH.
FEMINIST WOMEN: POWERLESSNESS, PAIN, RAGE, ANXIETY, SADNESS AND HOPE WE LEARN FROM CONFLICT
Feminist women organized in the Honduran Women’s Collective (CODEMUH) feel it is important to expose, both nationally and internationally, the situation that women maquila workers are experiencing in this country.
Workers are being forced to participate in so-called “Marches for Peace” [pro-coup demonstrations]. In some companies, workers are selected from high-producing work-groups, groups that achieve their quotas. Workers are not asked whether they want to participate or not, and in at least one case, the administrators of a cooperative are being forced to participate. […]
We also want to clarify that male and female maquila workers who have been forced to participate in the “Marches for Peace” have not received a penny for their participation. In fact, there are companies that are forcing workers to make up the day on the Saturday after the march, and promising to pay them overtime on that day.
That overtime pay never appears – so nt only are these workers obliged to participate in marches for the bourgeoisie, but they have to work an extra day.
The workers living through this, just to keep their jobs, feel powerless and sad. They do not agree with these activities organized by the employers. […]
WE ARE FOR TENDERNESS, BEAUTY, HOPE AND SISTERHOOD BETWEEN HUMAN BEINGS. NO MORE VIOLENCE AGAINST THE WOMEN AND MEN OF THE HONDURAN PEOPLE, San Pedro Sula, July 21, 2009
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WHAT TO DO
This pro-democracy struggle is of and for Hondurans, and of and for the peoples of the Americas.
Clearly beyond any possible short-term solution, this is a harsh and extraordinary on-going struggle led by the Honduran people peacefully taking to the streets, risking death, detention and further impoverishment.
From North Americans, they need:
1- TO DONATE FUNDS TO PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT IN HONDURAS, MAKE TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS TO RIGHTS ACTION AND MAIL TO:
UNITED STATES:  Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
CANADA:  552-351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS:  http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm
Upon request, Rights Action can provide a proper proposal of which organizations and people, in Honduras, we are channeling your funds to.
2- OVER & OVER & OVER & OVER AGAIN, AMERICANS AND CANADIANS SHOULD CONTACT YOUR OWN MEDIA, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, SENATORS & MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, TO DEMAND:
• unequivocal denunciation of the military coup
• no recognition of this military coup and the ‘de facto’ government of Roberto Micheletti
• unconditional return of the entire constitutional government
• concrete economic, military and diplomatic sanctions against the coup plotters and perpetrators
• respect for safety and human rights of all Hondurans
• application of international and national justice against the coup plotters, and
• reparations for the illegal actions and rights violations committed during this illegal coup
FOR MORE INFO:
See Honduras Coup Alerts at: www.rightsaction.org
Contact: Grahame Russell (info@rightsaction.org) & Annie Bird (annie@rightsaction.org)

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