The old fears of a
dark era that was believed to be long
gone in Latin America were reawakened
early this Sunday, June 28.
While Hondurans
prepared to vote and decide on their
country’s future, the Armed Forces broke
into the Presidential Residence and
hauled President Manuel Zelaya out of
bed, driving him to an air force base
where they put him on a plane to Costa
Rica.
|
Protesting in front of the
Presidential Residence |
 |
|
Reading of a declaration |
The people of Honduras mobilized across
the nation to defend democracy as the
country was left without electricity,
all media favorable to the government
was silenced, soldiers marched through
the streets, war tanks patrolled
Tegucigalpa, and Air Force planes flew
over the main cities.
The coup that ousted Honduras’
constitutional president on Sunday,
June 28 was staged by the Armed Forces
with the complicity of the other
branches of government.
Reports that a group of soldiers had
broken into the presidential residence
came shortly before 6 am on Sunday, as
Hondurans were getting ready to
participate in a popular poll to decide
on the inclusion of a “fourth ballot
box” in the November presidential
elections.
As the news broke and the media was
unable to report on the situation due to
the almost complete ban on all media and
the power blackout, social, popular and
labor organizations quickly put in
motion their own channels of
communication to organize an immediate
response to the coup.
Meanwhile, people marched spontaneously
to the Presidential Residence, which was
already completely surrounded by the
military.
Carlos Reyes,
general secretary of the Union of
Beverage and Related Industry Workers (STIBYS)
and member of the IUF’s
International Executive Committee, spoke
before protesters at an improvised rally
in front of the Presidential Residence.
“The Honduran people are mobilized,” he
declared.
“We’re going to protest peacefully and
we’re going to mobilize across the
country until the President of the
Republic is reinstated. For that to
happen, it is necessary for the
governments of Latin America and the
world to demand the reestablishment of
democracy by the oligarchic forces that
have illegally taken control. Here in
Honduras we will continue our resistance
until President Manuel Zelaya
is allowed to return”, Reyes
said.
Speaking at a press conference in
Costa Rica, President Zelaya
said that he would recognize no one who
took over the Presidency, as he was the
legitimate President, and that he blamed
the coup on “a voracious elite that
dominates the country and knows no
limits.”
The international community has issued
several warnings and declared its
unconditional support for Manuel
Zelaya as the lawful President of
Honduras. Costa Rican
President Oscar Arias announced
that he would be traveling with
President Zelaya to Managua,
Nicaragua, today, June 29, to attend the
Central American Integration System (SICA)
meeting, and that he has invited the
Presidents of the Rio Group
to participate in this event to give
their support to the ousted Honduran
President.
“It is essential that we stay on the
streets and continue protesting,”
Reyes said at the rally. “Any act
that enables the enemy to take us off
the streets is a victory for them
because they will occupy them instead.
It’s very possible that they will
declare a ‘State of Siege,’ and that can
only be counteracted if we remain firmly
on the streets.”
“We need to continue with our peaceful
resistance until the situation is
overcome, and we need to double or
triplicate the number of people on the
streets. We need to call on people from
every neighborhood, every community,
every man and woman, to join in the
protest.”
“We are going to keep in contact with
the rest of the country,” the STIBYS
union leader continued, “to
guarantee a national leadership that
will enable us to succeed, because
that’s what this is all about. And only
through peaceful mobilization and
resistance will we be able to overthrow
these ‘goons’ that have taken over
Honduras following the orders of a
group of mobsters that controls our
economy and the entire country.”
“When we say leadership we’re not
talking about individuals or leaders;
we’re talking about a common direction
to move forward as a group, as a
collective body, as an organization. All
of us must contribute our opinion and
input on how to move forward in this
struggle, because the best intelligence
is that which is built by all of us,”
Carlos Reyes concluded amidst cheers
of supports.
