Repression and Resistance Mount; Honduran Trade Unionists Call for Support; US Groups Respond

In the face of violent repression of supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, Honduran trade unionists have joined other opponents of the June 28 coup calling for international support to ward off further violence.   The situation in Honduras is rapidly deteriorating, with reports of coup resistors putting up barricades in barrios across the country, the shooting of a trade union leader, three deaths on Tuesday, September 22, and hundreds of arrests.

NOTE:  For current information on breaking developments in Honduras, visit the websites of the Latin America Working Group and the Quixote Center.

President Zelaya returned to Honduras clandestinely on Monday, September 21, taking refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.  Coup leaders have threatened to arrest him for treason if he steps out of the embassy onto Honduran soil.   On September 22, police tear gassed and fired upon supporters of the President gathered outside the Brazilian embassy, and cut water, electricity and telephone service to the embassy (reportedly restored a day later).  The coup government declared a curfew and has arrested hundreds of protestors, taking some to a football stadium in a move that evokes awful memories of the 1973 coup in Chile.

On September 28, over U.S. 30 religious and NGO organizations, including USLEAP, released a statement calling on the coup government in Honduras to respect civil liberties and human rights.

Take action now. 

1.  Call the State Department at 202-647-4000. Urge the Obama Administration to denounce the use of violence in Honduras by the coup government and to take every step to pressure the coup government to sign the San Jose Peace Accords.**

2.  Also continue to urge your representative to put Congress on record in opposition to the coup.

**The Accords, negotiated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, would allow President Zelaya to resume his presidency with reduced powers and provide immunity for both sides.  The Accords were agreed to by President Zelaya in July but coup government leader Roberto Micheletti has refused to sign.

For additional background information and links to sources with current information, see the Latin America Working Group blog on Honduras.

Human rights groups and members of Congress have been calling on the Obama Administration to vigorously denounce the coup government’s use of violence and repression for weeks but to little avail.   (For a highly critical view of the State Department’s response, see the Center for Economic and Policy Research article, How Much Repression Will Hillary Clinton Suppory in Honduras?)