Rights Action SPEAKING TOURS - FALL 2009
“RESISTANCE TO MILITARY COUPS & GOLD MINING DEVASTATION IN HONDURAS & GUATEMALA”
In October, activists with Rights Action will be on speaking tours in Ontario, Quebec, eastern Canada, and parts of north-east USA, showing slides and short documentaries and speaking about the on-going pro-democracy, anti-coup movement in Honduras and about indigenous and community resistance to Goldcorp Inc.’s open-pit, cyanide leach mines in Guatemala and Honduras.
* Karen Spring (spring.kj@gmail.com) in Ontario;
* Francois Guindon (francois.guindon@gmail.com) in Quebec and eastern Canada;
* Grahame Russell (info@rightsaction.org) in the north-east USA.
Rights Action will ask interested organizations to raise funds and contribute towards the over-all costs of the tour.  All profits from the tour will go to people and organizations involved in the pro-democracy movement with the “National Front Against the Coup”.
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Rights Action has worked in and supported grassroots indigenous and campesino movements in Guatemala, since the 1980s, and in Honduras since Hurricane Mitch devastated the country in 1998.
RESISTANCE TO GOLD MINING:  One issue we have worked on, over the past years, is supporting local resistance to the environmental and health harms, and the human, indigenous and land rights violations caused by global mining companies, particularly the Canadian gold mining giant Goldcorp Inc., that operates open-pit, cyanide-leach mines in Honduras and Guatemala.
RESISTANCE TO MILITARY COUP:  Building on 11 years of work in Honduras, Rights Action is working in support of the amazing pro-democracy movement of the Honduran people.  On June 28, the Honduran military, in collusion with Honduran economic and political elites, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and the media, violently overthrew the democratically elected government of President Mel Zelaya.  Since that date, a massive movement of the Honduran people has come together to peacefully and courageously restore democracy to their country.
Since June 28, Rights Action staff (including Grahame Russell, Karen Spring and Francois Guindon) have been in Honduras, channeling funds to our partner groups, including emergency relief funds for victims of the repression; reporting daily on the pro-democracy movement and the repression; and providing accompaniment for Hondurans at risk of repression for their participation in the pro-democracy movement.
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In all our work, Rights Action pays particular attention to the policies and actions of the governments of Canada and the United States that directly support North American resource extraction companies – like Goldcorp Inc.  And, although both governments formally condemned the military coup in Honduras, they have been notably weak in their support for the elected government of President Zelaya and have not implemented the necessary economic and military sanctions against the coup plotters and perpetrators.
MILITARY COUP IN HONDURAS
Who are the coup plotters and perpetrators?  What are their economic and political interests?  Who are their national and international supporters?
What is the state of militarization and repression in Honduras? 
Who is President Zelaya?  What were the policies and programs of his government that so angered the coup plottters?
Who are the amazing people and organizations that comprise the “National Front Against the Coup” that is leading the peaceful pro-democracy movement? What vision do they have for their future?
What can North Americans do to support the pro-democracy movement?
GOLDCORP Inc IN GUATEMALA & HONDURAS
What are the environmental and health harms, and the human, indigenous and land rights violations that have been caused by Goldcorp Inc’s open pit, cyanide leach mines in Honduras and Guatemala?
Who are the people and communities most negatively impacted by this gold mining?
What are they doing to resist these large-scale “development” projects?  what is their vision of development?
Who are the investors in and supporters of this type of global, corporate “development”?
What can North Americans do to support local communities in their struggles for equality based development and respect for Mother Earth?
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Combining slide shows and short documentary films, these are the issues and questions that Karen Spring, Francois Guindon and Grahame Russell will be addressing.
INTERESTED IN HOSTING AN EVENT?
Is your organization, educational or religious institution, union, etc., interested in hosting education events in your community?  CONTACT: Karen, Francois or Grahame.
Rights Action will ask interested organizations to raise funds and contribute towards the over-all costs of the tour.  All profits from the tour will go to people and organizations that are involved in pro-democracy movement with the “National Front Against the Coup”.
General information: 1-860-352-2448, info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org
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