ckaihatsu
13th August 2009, 04:48
Honduras: Second Frontline Report from Allan Fisher (Aug. 12, 2009)
Alan <[email protected]> Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 7:08 PM
[please excuse duplicate postings; please distribute widely]
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Over the past two days, I have had the opportunity to talk a number of times over the phone with Allan Fisher, our Bay Area labor delegate in Honduras. Allan sent me a short written report on Tuesday evening via internet [see below], but he also gave me phone reports later in the evening and earlier this morning. These introductory comments are based on our follow-up conversations:
As many of you may know, yesterday (Tuesday, August 11) was a big day of mobilization, as tens of thousands of people converged from all corners of the country into Honduras' two main cities -- Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.
Most of the participants in this National March of Popular Resistance had left their villages and towns on August 6, the day that the unlimited general strike began, in response to the call from the National Front Against the Coup. Most of the marchers pledged to remain in these two cities throughout the week to participate in the planned demonstrations, roadblocks and plant/campus occupations.
Allan met and got taped testimonies from many of these marchers. One elderly woman, Allan told me, had come all the way from the coast by foot -- a five day trek -- to send her message to the powers-that-be that the resistance movement's three central demands must be heeded -- and NOW!: Honduras' legitimate president, Mel Zelaya, must be reinstated immediately and unconditionally; the Constituent Assembly must be convened post-haste to draft a new Constitution; and the perpetrators of the coup, who are responsible for at least four deaths and hundreds of detained activists, many seriously tortured and possibly mangled for life, must be brought to justice for their crimes.
Allan spoke about how the large turnout on August 11 -- with union banners displayed prominently -- had buoyed people's determination to continue the struggle. One of the chants throughout the march was, "No Somos Cuatro Gatos!" -- or, we are not just a small handful of people (literally we are not four cats) -- a reply to the Micheletti media machine, which keeps trying to convince the world that 45 days after the coup things have "returned to normal," with only a handful of discontents -- four cats -- stirring up trouble.
Allan has participated in numerous demonstrations over the past few days, the largest of which he describes below in his note. As you will read, Allan and Andres Conteris from Democracy Now and Global Exchange were able to address the main rally in Tegucigalpa. After writing this note, Allan learned that the police had, in fact, fired at the motor-bike security team of the demonstration just as the action was winding down and people were dispersing. One activist was seriously injured.
This police violence provoked a response from the crowd -- which was likely infiltrated by police agents -- who threw rocks at Popeye's restaurant and burned buses. It all appeared staged. Allan noted, for example, that it took the firefighters more than one hour to get to the scene of the fires -- time to keep all the media cameras rolling. He also said that all night and all morning the only media story in the mainstream press was the "violence and terrorism" perpetrated by Zelaya's "handful of goons."
There was nothing in the media, Allan noted, about the mass march of tens of thousands of people at which Xiomara Zelaya, the president's wife, and their daughter spoke. The police violence was carefully choreographed to discredit a peaceful yet determined movement whose legitimate demands are being shunned daily by the perpetrators of the coup -- and by all their supporters, open or disguised, in Washington.
Meanwhile the general strike continues. Up till this week, there had been three two-day strikes (all on Thursdays and Fridays) called by the three main trade union federations in Honduras, all of which are part of the National Front Against the Coup. The recent Delegates' Assembly of the Front, held at the hall of the Beverage Industry Workers' Union, voted to maintain the strike throughout the week of August 10-14 -- with the possibility of extending the strike at their regular Sunday meeting on August 16.
This Delegates' Assembly of the Front has become the nerve center and coordinating body of the resistance movement. (In his previous note, Allan described the Delegates' Assembly and reported that he was able to address the 800 delegates in attendance.)
The strike this week has been more widely followed than the previous two-day strikes. In addition to the teachers and State office workers, the workers and students at the National Autonomous University of Honduras hit the bricks, as did the workers at the National Agrarian Institute, the electrical workers of the Empresa Nacional de Energía, some private-sector workers, and the workers at the National Weather Service.
Over the weekend, as was announced widely in the Latin American press, U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens met with the leadership of the National Front Against the Coup. Llorens told the leaders of the resistance movement that their support for the San Jose Treaty -- that is, the mediation agreement drafted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and read by Costan Rican President Oscar Arias -- was "essential if there was to be peace in Honduras" (aporrea.org).
This San Jose treaty, imposed by the U.S. government, asks that Zelaya and the people of Honduras agree that Zelaya could return to Honduras BUT only if he agrees to power-sharing with the perpetrators of the coup, if he renounces his effort to promote a Constituent Assembly and a new Constitution, and if he renounces the call for the army high command to be tried for organizing the June 28 coup.
The reply by the leadership of the National Front Against the Coup was unequivocal -- and it was public.
A Declaration (No. 19) of the Front was read at the mass rallies in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula to welcome the marchers. The declaration reaffirmed its earlier document in opposition to the Arias mediation plan and went on to state:
"The National Front Against the Coup, on the forty-fifth day of resistance, informs the national and international community that it repudiates the tactics of the coup perpetrators aimed at delaying the return of Constitutional order in our country. ...
"If, in the coming days, the coup clique does not reinstate Manuel Zelaya Rosales as the legitimate president of Honduras, the National Front Against the Coup will increase and deepen its actions of resistance all across the nation." And the declaration concluded, "Welcome sisters and brothers to this National March of Popular Resistance, which represents the road toward the National Constituent Assembly that will draft and approve a new Political Constitution for Honduras!"
This is all for now. More later.
In solidarity,
Alan Benjamin,
Member, Executive Committee
San Francisco Labor Council
*********************
[Letter sent by Allan Fisher on Tuesday evening, August 11]
Alan,
Last night we had the privilege of hearing this wonderful courageous priest, Father Andres Tamayo, give mass and an electric class-conscious sermon. He has been marching for days with the people mostly from his district of Olancho. The people were fed and stayed overnight in the school there on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa. This morning we joined them, already marching for an hour, at 8 pm. We followed the road through working class/poor districts about 6 miles to the center of Tegucigalpa.
Along the way many more people joined us, and we linked up with other contingents so there were at least 20,000 as we gathered in front of the Clarion Hotel. There we heard Mrs. Zelaya and her daughter give rousing speeches in favor of dignity for the working people and expressing their pride of being associated with the people and their movement.
Later Andres [Conteris of Global Exchange and Democracy Now] and I also had the opportunity to climb the truck and speak to the crowd amid rousing cheers. It was a thrilling afternoon.
Unfortunately, it was marred by a riot that occurred later in the late afternoon; some youths and the police got into it and a bus was burned as well as a Popeye's restaurant. Tear gas was used in and around the shopping center and some people were injured and arrested. One wonders if this wasn't planned by the government. The evening news is all about the burning of the bus, etc. -- and nothing about the great rally and Mrs Zelaya.
Thanks for your great work.
Allan
Alan <[email protected]> Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 7:08 PM
[please excuse duplicate postings; please distribute widely]
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Over the past two days, I have had the opportunity to talk a number of times over the phone with Allan Fisher, our Bay Area labor delegate in Honduras. Allan sent me a short written report on Tuesday evening via internet [see below], but he also gave me phone reports later in the evening and earlier this morning. These introductory comments are based on our follow-up conversations:
As many of you may know, yesterday (Tuesday, August 11) was a big day of mobilization, as tens of thousands of people converged from all corners of the country into Honduras' two main cities -- Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.
Most of the participants in this National March of Popular Resistance had left their villages and towns on August 6, the day that the unlimited general strike began, in response to the call from the National Front Against the Coup. Most of the marchers pledged to remain in these two cities throughout the week to participate in the planned demonstrations, roadblocks and plant/campus occupations.
Allan met and got taped testimonies from many of these marchers. One elderly woman, Allan told me, had come all the way from the coast by foot -- a five day trek -- to send her message to the powers-that-be that the resistance movement's three central demands must be heeded -- and NOW!: Honduras' legitimate president, Mel Zelaya, must be reinstated immediately and unconditionally; the Constituent Assembly must be convened post-haste to draft a new Constitution; and the perpetrators of the coup, who are responsible for at least four deaths and hundreds of detained activists, many seriously tortured and possibly mangled for life, must be brought to justice for their crimes.
Allan spoke about how the large turnout on August 11 -- with union banners displayed prominently -- had buoyed people's determination to continue the struggle. One of the chants throughout the march was, "No Somos Cuatro Gatos!" -- or, we are not just a small handful of people (literally we are not four cats) -- a reply to the Micheletti media machine, which keeps trying to convince the world that 45 days after the coup things have "returned to normal," with only a handful of discontents -- four cats -- stirring up trouble.
Allan has participated in numerous demonstrations over the past few days, the largest of which he describes below in his note. As you will read, Allan and Andres Conteris from Democracy Now and Global Exchange were able to address the main rally in Tegucigalpa. After writing this note, Allan learned that the police had, in fact, fired at the motor-bike security team of the demonstration just as the action was winding down and people were dispersing. One activist was seriously injured.
This police violence provoked a response from the crowd -- which was likely infiltrated by police agents -- who threw rocks at Popeye's restaurant and burned buses. It all appeared staged. Allan noted, for example, that it took the firefighters more than one hour to get to the scene of the fires -- time to keep all the media cameras rolling. He also said that all night and all morning the only media story in the mainstream press was the "violence and terrorism" perpetrated by Zelaya's "handful of goons."
There was nothing in the media, Allan noted, about the mass march of tens of thousands of people at which Xiomara Zelaya, the president's wife, and their daughter spoke. The police violence was carefully choreographed to discredit a peaceful yet determined movement whose legitimate demands are being shunned daily by the perpetrators of the coup -- and by all their supporters, open or disguised, in Washington.
Meanwhile the general strike continues. Up till this week, there had been three two-day strikes (all on Thursdays and Fridays) called by the three main trade union federations in Honduras, all of which are part of the National Front Against the Coup. The recent Delegates' Assembly of the Front, held at the hall of the Beverage Industry Workers' Union, voted to maintain the strike throughout the week of August 10-14 -- with the possibility of extending the strike at their regular Sunday meeting on August 16.
This Delegates' Assembly of the Front has become the nerve center and coordinating body of the resistance movement. (In his previous note, Allan described the Delegates' Assembly and reported that he was able to address the 800 delegates in attendance.)
The strike this week has been more widely followed than the previous two-day strikes. In addition to the teachers and State office workers, the workers and students at the National Autonomous University of Honduras hit the bricks, as did the workers at the National Agrarian Institute, the electrical workers of the Empresa Nacional de Energía, some private-sector workers, and the workers at the National Weather Service.
Over the weekend, as was announced widely in the Latin American press, U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens met with the leadership of the National Front Against the Coup. Llorens told the leaders of the resistance movement that their support for the San Jose Treaty -- that is, the mediation agreement drafted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and read by Costan Rican President Oscar Arias -- was "essential if there was to be peace in Honduras" (aporrea.org).
This San Jose treaty, imposed by the U.S. government, asks that Zelaya and the people of Honduras agree that Zelaya could return to Honduras BUT only if he agrees to power-sharing with the perpetrators of the coup, if he renounces his effort to promote a Constituent Assembly and a new Constitution, and if he renounces the call for the army high command to be tried for organizing the June 28 coup.
The reply by the leadership of the National Front Against the Coup was unequivocal -- and it was public.
A Declaration (No. 19) of the Front was read at the mass rallies in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula to welcome the marchers. The declaration reaffirmed its earlier document in opposition to the Arias mediation plan and went on to state:
"The National Front Against the Coup, on the forty-fifth day of resistance, informs the national and international community that it repudiates the tactics of the coup perpetrators aimed at delaying the return of Constitutional order in our country. ...
"If, in the coming days, the coup clique does not reinstate Manuel Zelaya Rosales as the legitimate president of Honduras, the National Front Against the Coup will increase and deepen its actions of resistance all across the nation." And the declaration concluded, "Welcome sisters and brothers to this National March of Popular Resistance, which represents the road toward the National Constituent Assembly that will draft and approve a new Political Constitution for Honduras!"
This is all for now. More later.
In solidarity,
Alan Benjamin,
Member, Executive Committee
San Francisco Labor Council
*********************
[Letter sent by Allan Fisher on Tuesday evening, August 11]
Alan,
Last night we had the privilege of hearing this wonderful courageous priest, Father Andres Tamayo, give mass and an electric class-conscious sermon. He has been marching for days with the people mostly from his district of Olancho. The people were fed and stayed overnight in the school there on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa. This morning we joined them, already marching for an hour, at 8 pm. We followed the road through working class/poor districts about 6 miles to the center of Tegucigalpa.
Along the way many more people joined us, and we linked up with other contingents so there were at least 20,000 as we gathered in front of the Clarion Hotel. There we heard Mrs. Zelaya and her daughter give rousing speeches in favor of dignity for the working people and expressing their pride of being associated with the people and their movement.
Later Andres [Conteris of Global Exchange and Democracy Now] and I also had the opportunity to climb the truck and speak to the crowd amid rousing cheers. It was a thrilling afternoon.
Unfortunately, it was marred by a riot that occurred later in the late afternoon; some youths and the police got into it and a bus was burned as well as a Popeye's restaurant. Tear gas was used in and around the shopping center and some people were injured and arrested. One wonders if this wasn't planned by the government. The evening news is all about the burning of the bus, etc. -- and nothing about the great rally and Mrs Zelaya.
Thanks for your great work.
Allan