We are here with Miriam Miranda, national leader of OFRANEH, and of the National Front Against the Coup. Miriam what has been the state of affairs today? Today is a very important day, not only for the Resistance, but also for the Honduran people. We recall that Wednesday, yesterday, it was clear that there would be no negotiation, no agreement in Costa Rica. In fact, it was clear for both parties. It has been very clear since the moment they left the last meeting in Costa Rica, the coup leaders were very clear that not only would they reject all the points [outlined by Arias], but also the principal point, the restitution of President Manuel Zelaya.
So, in some way, this week we had already begun preparing the Honduran people, the National Front, and organizations for the national strike, for the general strike for today and tomorrow. The other main point is that there are protests around the country, we are talking about the movement of people, of communities, from the principal cities to the border, the people are walking, the people are mobilizing. We have reports of many buses that have been detained, people that have been detained, but even so, the people are resisting. We are making a very positive assessment of what has occurred today.
There are many people gathered in the capital city to walk towards the border tomorrow, but also at the national level, there are communities, there are cities that have been in permanent resistance. It is important to mention the community Guadalupe Carney where, since the day the coup took place, the community organized a popular takeover of the highway to Trujillo. And the city of Olanchito… not only did the people organize a popular takeover of the municipal office, but they have also been in a permanent assembly. We have information that the people are beginning to feel less afraid to speak publicly, to speak with the media, even national media outlets…we already know their stance—but the people are calling to give their opinion about the situation. The atmosphere here has really proven that the Honduran people are not in agreement with the coup despite the many strategies [of the coup plotters], but this has been proven not only with the resistance of the people, but also with this dialogue and permanent discussion, which is a topic from the bed, from the house and from the home to the national level. Even though they had planned for the people to forget the coup and to accept it as something normal, this is something that the coup leaders have not been able to achieve.
We are now in our 25th day of resistance. I think that this is something that must be made very clear, that there is a before and after of the coup. In fact we have already won, the Honduran people have won. There is a very big achievement with reference to the people recovering their dignity, they have recuperated the will to struggle for better life conditions, and for a change and that is a very big achievement. I think that this goes much further than the arrival of President Manuel Zelaya. I think this is very important for the Honduran people. This is history in the
making. This is a personal assessment that I am making and that we have been analyzing, and we see it not only for what these 25 days of resistance have meant, and that the people are there in the streets, and it is like a carnival, but also as a means of saying that we are present. The other point concerns the participation of youth. There is very significant youth involvement, and this is a form of education. I think that this is very important because the youth (female and male) are in the streets and they are participating in this historical process. Here it is definitely the case that no one will tire, and we will continue in resistance and continue constructing our future. I think it is very important for all to listen to us, the Honduran people at the national and international level, not only the Honduran people but all of us here continuing to construct our history and doing so convinced that this is just and necessary, and that this is the moment to do it. I think that this is one of the most important things for us as participants in the National Resistance Front, for the leaders, for the people and the communities, that we are participants in this process, that the Honduran people are participating, they are opining, they are mobilizing, and refuting the bets of the oligarchy—the historical oligarchy, the establishment—that the Honduran people would stay in their homes watching as they [the de facto government] name new posts---. We joined the Movement of Women in Resistance, the Feminists
Women, and we participated with them in the complete rejection of Maria Marta, who was the spokeswoman for the coup on the 29th of June on CNN. We will never forget that day, however, they still named her the Minister of the National Institute for Women. So I think that is what is really happening in Honduras and that is what they do no tell outside of Honduras. And we thank the independent media working in solidarity with us, the Honduran people, to let people know what is really happening here in Honduras.
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