Stand in Solidarity with the People of Honduras - LASC alert and demands
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Military Coup in Honduras - Stand in Solidarity with the People of Honduras
The Latin America Solidarity Coalition (LASC) condemns the military
coup against the democratically elected Honduran President Zelaya. The
Honduran social movements, who are courageously resisting the military
take-over through protests, occupations and strikes, are calling on the
international community to speak up in defense of real and direct
democracy, for life, justice, liberty, dignity and peace.
Call the State Department and the White House and ask for actions, not merely words, including:
1. A cut off of all US aid (as required by US law) until Zelaya is safely returned to office.
2. Financial sanctions against the coup plotters
3. An investigation into what signals U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens gave to coup plotters before the coup.
Background: A military coup took place in Honduras on Sunday,
June 28, led by SOA graduate Romeo Vasquez. In the early hours of the
day, members of the Honduran military surrounded the presidential
palace and forced the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya,
into custody. He was immediately flown to Costa Rica.
A national referenfum had been scheduled to take place on
Sunday in Honduras to consult the electorate on a proposal of holding a
Constitutional Assembly in November. General Vasquez had refused to
comply with this vote and was deposed by the president, only to later
be reinstated by the Congress and Supreme Court.
The Honduran state television was taken off the air. The
electricity supply to the capital Tegucigalpa, as well telephone and
cellphone lines were cut. Government institutions were taken over by
the military. While the traditional political parties, Catholic church
and military have not issued any statements, the people of Honduras are
going into the streets, in spite of the fact that the streets are
militarized. From Costa Rica, President Zelaya has called for a
non-violent response from the people of Honduras, and for international
solidarity for the Honduran democracy.
UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN HONDURAS (from the SHARE Foundation)
Roberto Micheletti Bain, a son of immigrants from Lombardy,
Italy, was sworn as
president of Honduras
by the National Congress on Sunday, June 28, after the coup in which the
democratically elected president, Manuel "Mel" Zelaya, was ousted by
military officials. Micheletti's appointment was justified by a supposed
resignation letter by Zelaya; howewer, Zelaya denied having signed such a
letter. His cabinet, in a statement made public on Monday, June 29,
expressed that they are joining the peaceful resistance that will not recognize
the new government of Micheletti.
Zelaya announced that he will return to Honduras on Thursday, July 2,
accompanied by the Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General,
José Insulza. "I will complete my four-year term whether you,
leaders of the coup d'etat, like it or not." pronounced Zelaya.
However Micheletti announced that he will remain in power no matter how intense
the international pressure gets. The Honduran Attorney General has threatened
to imprison Zelaya under corruption charges if he returns to Honduras.
In the meantime over 25,000 Hondurans have taken to the streets to demonstrate
against the military coup d'etat. The protesters faced a violent onslaught of
tear gas, rubber bullets, tanks firing water mixed with chemicals, and clubs as
the military tries to maintain control over the fragile country. Click here to watch a video on the riots following
the coup.
Latin American Governments Isolate Honduras Politically and
Economically
The Head of States of many Latin American countries convened in Nicaragua on
Monday, June 30, to conduct emergency meetings regarding the Honduran crisis.
The countries members of Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA), the Central America Integration System (SICA), and
the Rio Group unanimously condemned the coup and
extended their support to President Zelaya. The Organization of American
States (OAS) Secretary General, José Insulza, as well as President Zelaya, and
Honduran Chancellor, Patricia Rodas were present at the meetings.
SICA members, whose attendees included Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes,
Guatemalan President Alvaro Colón, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, decided
to remove their ambassadors to Hondurans and to leave their embassies with a
few staff. SICA members also halted commerce along the border with Honduras for 48
hours. Moreover the Central American Bank for Economic Integration
issue a statement announcing the suspension of credit to Hondurans until Zelaya
in reinstated to power. The ALBA countries also decided to withdraw their
ambassadors but to continue their international cooperation programs with
Hondurans. Mexico and Brazil have also joined the list of countries
that have pulled out their ambassadors from Honduras.
Before traveling to Nicaragua, Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes
held a private meeting with OEA's Secretary José Insulza to analyze the
situation in Honduras.
Funes announced his support for and recognition of Manuel Zelaya as the democratically-elected
president of Honduras and
reiterated his support while attending the summit in Nicaragua. El Salvador has joined the sanctions imposed on Honduras by
SICA members.
In a press conference on Sunday, FMLN party leaders condemned the coup d'etat
in Honduras.
ARENA on the other hand, avoided calling the situation in Honduras a coup
d'etat and condemned what they called the "disruption of the
constitutional order." Donato Vaquerano, chief of the ARENA
legislators, urged President Funes to avoid committing Zelaya's mistakes.
"The president of El
Salvador should see himself 'Mel' Zelaya's
mirror: the leaders should not be authoritarian and should respect the
constitutional order or the Republic" Vaquerano stated threateningly. Many
Salvadorans fear that the coup in Honduras,
if it remains unresolved, will set a very dangerous precedent for El Salvador,
since Mauricio Funes is the first leftist president and the FMLN does not hold
the majority in the Salvadoran Congress.
US Government's Response to the Coup
After outraged citizens organized demonstrations across the country against the
Honduran coup, on Monday President Obama stated, "We are very clear about
the fact that President Zelaya is the democratically-elected
president." He then alluded to the US Government's history of
supporting undemocratic military action and political regimes in Latin America, "It would be a terrible precedent if
we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as
a means of political transition rather than democratic elections… we don't want
to go back to a dark past."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stopped short of calling the
crisis in Honduras
a coup. When asked what demands the US Government is planning to make of
the coup leaders, she responded, "We haven't laid out any demands that we
are insisting on because we are working with others on behalf of our ultimate
objectives." John Negroponte, a former State Department official,
commented on Secretary Clinton's remarks, "I think she wants to preserve
some leverage to try and get Zelaya to back down from his insistence on a
referendum," indicating that the State Department may not want Zelaya
unconditionally reinstated as president of Honduras.
International Institutions Condemn the Coup
On Tuesday, June 30, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution
that asks all 192 member states not to recognize any Honduran government but
Zelaya's. The resolution also demanded the immediate return of Zelaya to
the presidency. Thirty countries co-sponsored the resolution, including
the United States.
Zelaya addressed the UN on Tuesday and received a standing ovation as he
approached the podium. To see coverage of Zelaya's speech at the UN,
click here.
On Sunday, June 28, the
Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted a resolution condemning the coup d'etat in Honduras and
demanding the "immediate and unconditional return of [President Zelaya] to
his constitutional duties." OAS Secretary General José Miguel
Insulza traveled to Nicaragua
over the weekend to attend the summit of the heads of state of SICA "with
the goal of carrying out all necessary consultations." The OAS also
called for a special meeting of the Permanent Council on Wednesday July 1, in Washington, DC,
which Zelaya will attend. Several demonstrations in support of Zelaya are
being scheduled for Wednesday in Washington,
D.C.
Other international
institutions have taken action to criticize the coup in Honduras.
The president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, announced that the bank has
"put a pause" on its projects and lending in Honduras.
In addition, the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis
Alberto Moreno, announced that lending to Honduras will freeze until the
situation in the country is resolved.
Coup leaders' Links to the School of the Americas
The international community remains concerned about the growing reports of
human rights violations in Honduras.
Several of the masterminds behind the coup in Honduras are graduates of the
infamous School of the Americas (SOA), now known as the Western Hemisphere
Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). The SOA/WHINSEC is financed
by the Pentagon and has trained some of the most notorious perpetrators of
human rights violations in Latin America.
General Romeo Vásquez, a senior military officer and leader of the coup,
attended SOA/WHINSEC in 1976 and 1984. General Luis Javier Prince Suazo,
Air Force Commander and coup leader, attended the SOA in 1996. General
Vásquez was dismissed by Zelaya before the coup and General Suazo resigned as a
result.
