Call to Solidarity - One Year Later - Un Año Despues

Statement by the Honduras Solidarity Network November 28, 2018

Un año después - Un llamado a la  solidaridad.

El régimen hondureño usa la violencia contra su gente; Estados Unidos usa la violencia contra los refugiados que huyen de Honduras.

English follows the Spanish

El lunes 26 de noviembre de 2018, las autoridades hondureñas dispararon enormes cantidades de gases lacrimógenos y dispararon balas vivas en contra de una gran marcha de protesta en Tegucigalpa para conmemorar el primer aniversario del fraude electoral de noviembre de 2017. Al menos 3 personas resultaron heridas, una de ellas, Geovanni Sierra, trabajaba como reportero para UNE-TV cuando recibió un disparo. Esto sucedió un día después de que la Patrulla Fronteriza de los Estados Unidos disparara balas de goma y grandes cantidades de gas lacrimógeno -a través de la frontera hacia México- a la Caravana de Refugiados, la mayoría huyendo de Honduras, a quienes se les está impidiendo ingresar a los Estados Unidos. Sólo 2 días antes de este incidente, el hermano del presidente de hondureño de facto, Juan Orlando Hernández, fue arrestado en el aeropuerto de Miami por ser integrante del crimen organizado, con vínculos con el narcotráfico, en Honduras. Estos tres incidentes en 4 días son únicamente la punta del iceberg de la crisis de las políticas estadounidenses en Honduras y de un régimen dictatorial, con en su violencia y corrupción.

El 26 de noviembre de 2017, Honduras acudió a las urnas en una elección en la que se enfrentaron la derecha con el Partido Nacional y el presidente JOH a la cabeza (quien se postuló para la reelección de manera inconstitucional), y Alianza, una coalición entre el anti-golpista/resistente Partido LIBRE y miembros del Partido Anticorrupción. Estas elecciones, en vez de permitir a Honduras tomar un nuevo camino para restaurar la democracia y hacer que el país sea habitable para el pueblo, un flagrante fraude electoral, una nueva ola de represión, y la continua impunidad y corrupción sumieron al país en una crisis aún más profunda.

La crisis que comenzó con el golpe de estado de 2009 respaldado por los Estados Unidos, seguida de las elecciones de 2017 -también respaldadas por los Estados Unidos-, es más profunda y más amplia que nunca. Es esta crisis la que está expulsando a miles de hondureños de su país.

Mientras el pueblo hondureño continúa organizándose, nosotros respondemos con un llamado a la solidaridad para apoyar al pueblo que lucha por el cambio en Honduras y al pueblo que lucha por sobrevivir en el éxodo de refugiados.

Exigimos que los Estados Unidos y Canadá detengan todo apoyo al régimen hondureño. Apoyamos las demandas de libertad para todos los presos políticos y de justicia para todas las víctimas del régimen hechas por el pueblo Hondureño. Exigimos que los Estados Unidos detengan la represión contra los refugiados, que abra las fronteras a quienes están siendo expulsados de sus países, y que ponga fin a la militarización de la frontera y a la violencia contra todos los migrantes y refugiados.

28 de Noviembre 2018

Honduras Solidarity Network of North America

One year later - A Call to Solidarity 

Honduran regime uses violence against its people - US uses violence against refugees fleeing Honduras.

On Monday, November 26, 2018, Honduran authorities fired massive amounts of tear gas and opened fire with live bullets on a large protest march in Tegucigalpa to mark the one year anniversary of the November 2017 election fraud. At least 3 people were wounded, one of them, Geovanni Sierra, was working as a reporter for UNE-TV when he was shot. This happened one day after the US Border Patrol shot rubber bullets and quantities of tear gas across the border into Mexico at the refugees, most fleeing from Honduras, who are being held back from entering the US. Only 2 days before that incident the brother of the defacto president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez was arrested at the Miami Airport for being part of the narcotics trafficking organized crime in Honduras. These three incidents in 4 days, are just the tip of the iceberg of the crisis of US policy, and a dictatorial regime and its violence and corruption. 

On November 26, 2017, Honduras went to the polls in an election that was a face off between the right wing National Party sitting president JOH (who ran for reelection unconstitutionally) and the Alianza, an alliance between the anti-coup/resistance Party LIBRE and members of the Anti-Corruption Party. But, instead of the election allowing Honduras to take a new path to restore democracy and make the country livable for the people, blatant election fraud,  a new wave of repression and continuing impunity and corruption plunged the country even deeper into crisis.

That crisis began with the US backed 2009 coup, and after the 2017 election (also supported by the US), it is deeper and broader than ever before. It is this crisis that is pushing thousands of Hondurans out of their country. 

As the Honduran people continue organizing, we respond with a call for solidarity to support the people fighting for change in Honduras and to support the people fighting for survival in the refugee exodus. 

We demand that the US and Canada stop all support for the Honduran regime. We support the Honduran people’s demand for freedom for all the political prisoners and for justice for all the victims of the regime. We demand that the US stop the repression against the refugees, open the borders to those being pushed out of their countries and end the militarization of the border and violence against all migrants and refugees. 

November 28, 2018

Honduras Solidarity Network of North America

Delegation Report from November Election Crisis in Honduras

Report from La Voz de los de Abajo, CODEPINK and Marin Task Force on the Americas Human Rights Observation Delegation during Honduran Elections 2017

Delegation Report: Honduran Elections 2017

Tegucigalpa protest 

Singer Karla Lara in Tegucigalpa 

Police and Military Tegucigalpa 

Photos by Chris Jeske

Delegation Report: Honduran Elections 2017

In Defense of Father Ismael "Melo" Moreno & of the Honduran Students

Statement of the Honduras Solidarity Networks In Defense of Padre Melo and the Honduran Students
En Español and in English 

Padre Melo
photo from Ignaciansolidarity.net

La Voz de los de Abajo is sharing the HSN Statement in Spanish and English at the link above. 
Students in Honduras' universities and high schools have been fighting the privatization of education and the authoritarian anti-democratic administration of the National Autonomous University of Honduras as well as the rule by the coup government's Ministry of Education in the public schools. When our delegation was in Honduras in March, we talked to students at the National Autonomous University of Honduras and learned about their movement.  Just as it does in the face of all the movements in resistance,  the government answers the students with violence and even assassination, reneging on agreements and refusing to dialogue. When human rights groups, political opposition members and members of the peoples' movements defend the students, they are threatened. La Voz de los de Abajo is a member of the Honduras Solidarity Network in North America and is working with other organizations in the US to cut off US aid to the repressive Honduran government and we also hold the Honduran government responsible for the safety of Padre Melo, Berta Caceres' family, Berta Oliva of COFADEH, Miriam Miranda of Ofraneh, Doris Gutierrez of PINU, the student leaders and the many many others at risk. 

University Student Protest
foto Honduras Tierra Libre

COPINH Calls for Month of Action in March 2017

The Honduran indigenous organization COPINH calls for a month of action demanding justice for Berta Caceres and for the indigenous communities in struggle in Honduras. La Voz de los de Abajo and the other organizations of the Honduras Solidarity Network will be organizing actions, so stay tuned to our Facebook pages and other social media so you can join in.

el español sigue despues del ingles 

“Berta lives on, COPINH is strong” - COPINH calls for month of actions

On March 2^nd, 2016 they assassinated our sister Berta Cáceres. They thought they would get rid not just of her as a leader recognized throughout Latin America and around the world, but also would end a struggle, a political project, that they would destroy the organization of which she was both founder and daughter, COPINH (the Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras).

One year since she spread her wings, since the crime that tried to steal her clarity and leadership from us, the peoples of the world who recognize her legacy are here, walking in her footsteps, confronting the patriarchal, capitalist, colonial and racist system that is imposed upon our peoples. We have been and will continue confronting the deadly projects of transnational corporations and imperialism in every corner of the planet.

In March we won’t just painfully remember that horrendous crime, above all we will celebrate life: the life of Berta, who was born on March 4^th and the life of COPINH, which was founded 24 years ago on March 27^th.

For all of these reasons, we invite you to use every day of March to multiply:

• Actions of protest, resistance and struggle against the deadly policies of transnational corporations…
• Actions to defend the bodies and lives of women in the face of the patriarchal and colonial system...
• Actions against the criminalization of grassroots movements, against militarization and commodification of the lands and all dimensions of life...
• Actions to denounce the Honduran State in front of its embassies in every country of the world...
• Actions of solidarity with COPINH and with the organizations of the grassroots Honduran social movement...
• Actions to spread the thinking and example of Berta’s life…
• Moments of reflection and spirituality...

We call for these types of actions to be developed and spread through every corner of Abya Yala and the world. As movements, organizations and people, let’s accompany COPINH, embody it, multiply its march.

In all of these potential proposed actions, and all others that your creativity gives rise to, let the world shake with the cry of: “Berta lives on, COPINH is strong!”

In the face of militarization and criminalization, more struggle and organization!

With the ancestral strength of Berta, Lempira, Iselaca, Mota and Etempica, we raise our voices full of life, justice, liberty, dignity and peace.

  

--

BERTA LIVES ON, COPINH IS STRONG

#justixciaparaberta #SoyCOPINH

#bertavivecopinhsigue

Listen live: 

http://a.stream.mayfirst.org:8000/guarajambala.mp3

web:  copinh.org blog:  copinhonduras.blogspot.com

blog in English: http://copinhenglish.blogspot.com/

Utopia: https://utopiacopinhblog.wordpress.com/

fb:     Copinh Intibucá twitter: @COPINHHONDURAS

Convocatoria del COPINH a la jornada “Berta Vive, el COPINH sigue”

El 2 de marzo de 2016 asesinaron a nuestra hermana Berta Caceres. Creían de esta forma acabar no solo con la lideresa reconocida en todo el continente latino americano y el mundo, sino acabar con una idea, con una lucha, con un proyecto político; acabar con la organización de la que fue fundadora e hija a la vez, el COPINH (Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras).

Al cumplir un año de su siembra, del crimen que quiso arrebatarnos su claridad y su liderazgo, los pueblos del mundo que reconocemos su legado estamos presentes, caminando tras sus huellas; enfrentando el sistema capitalista, patriarcal, colonial y racista que se impone en nuestros pueblos. Seguimos y seguiremos enfrentándonos a los proyectos de muerte de las transnacionales y del imperialismo en cada rincón del planeta.

En marzo no solo recordamos con dolor aquel horrendo crimen, sino que sobre todo celebramos la vida: la de Berta, que nació un 4 de marzo; y la del COPINH, que el día 27 de marzo cumple 24 años de su fundación.

Por todo ello, invitamos a que cada mes de marzo se multipliquen:

.acciones de protesta, resistencia y lucha en contra de las políticas de muerte de las corporaciones transnacionales...

.acciones de defensa de los cuerpos y las vidas de las mujeres frente al sistema patriarcal y colonial...

.acciones contra la criminalización de los movimientos populares, contra la militarización y contra mercantilización de los territorios y de todas las dimensiones de la vida...

.acciones de denuncia contra el Estado de Honduras frente a sus embajadas en cada país del mundo...

.acciones de solidaridad con el COPINH y con las organizaciones del movimiento popular y social hondureño...

.acciones de difusión del pensamiento y ejemplo de vida de Berta...

.momentos de reflexión y espiritualidad...

Invitamos a que en los distintos rincones del Abya Yala y del mundo se multipliquen y desarrollen este tipo de acciones. Que desde nuestros movimientos, organizaciones y a título personal, acompañemos al COPINH, lo acuerpemos, y multipliquemos su caminar.

Para todas estas posibles acciones propuestas, y para todas las que la creatividad pueda desarrollar, convocamos a que este 2 de marzo de 2017 el mundo vibre con el grito: “Berta Vive, el COPINH sigue”.

¡Frente a la militarización y criminalización, más lucha y organización!

Con la fuerza ancestral de Berta, Lempira, Iselaca, Mota, y Etempica se levantan nuestras voces llenas de vida, justicia, libertad, dignidad y paz

-- 

BERTA VIVE, COPINH SIGUE

#justixciaparaberta #SoyCOPINH

#bertavivecopinhsigue

escuchenos en vivo: 

http://a.stream.mayfirst.org:8000/guarajambala.mp3

web:  copinh.org
blog:  copinhonduras.blogspot.com

blog en ingles: http://copinhenglish.blogspot.com/

Utopia: https://utopiacopinhblog.wordpress.com/

fb:     Copinh Intibucá
twitter: @COPINHHONDURAS

Delegation of observers from the Honduras Solidarity Network testify to grave irregularities and does not ratify the official results the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Honduras

From Honduras Solidarity Network Election Observation and Human Rights Monitoring

Release:  Delegation of observers from the Honduras Solidarity Network testify to grave irregularities and does not ratify the official results the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Honduras
English: http://www.hondurassolidarity.org/report1
Spanish: http://www.hondurassolidarity.org/informe1

Preliminary Report of the Delegation of Honduras Solidarity Network regarding the Honduran Elections of 2013
November 26, 2013
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

This report is a preliminary summary of observations based on the accounts from the US-based Honduras Solidarity Network / Alliance for Global Justice election observation delegation. The HSN/AGJ delegation was comprised of 166 International Accompaniers accredited and trained through the Honduran Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Our election observation delegates were organized into two zones, one in Tegucigalpa and one in the North with a presence in Progreso, Copan, Colon,  Ocotopeque,  Lempira, and Santa Barbara.  This is our initial public statement regarding the work in the northern zone where we observed at least 100 voting tables (MER).

Our goal was to accompany the people of Honduras in their electoral process as they seek social justice in their country. We have been clear that our limited presence – and the presence of election observers in general – cannot guarantee that a fair election would be held. The elections took place within a context where international and Honduran human rights groups have expressed alarm at conditions that could prevent the possibility of fair and free elections. We are concerned by the violence and harassment against the political opposition, human rights defenders, small farmers and indigenous communities.


First of all, without exception, our delegates observed a grand number of Hondurans going to the polls and participating in good faith in the electoral process. In many polling places, workers from all parties cooperated in a peaceful and orderly casting of ballots. It was reassuring to witness the level of commitment to the election as an expression of the popular will. However, this heartening manifestation of Honduras’s possibilities was overshadowed by violence, intimidation and outright fraud, all of which went almost completely unreported in the Honduran and international media. Despite the public availability of this information early on Election Day, we are left baffled by the deafening silence of international observer groups and also the U.S. Embassy regarding the following events and their obvious and explicit impacts upon the electoral results.

1. Vote buying – Many of our delegates were simply shocked to see party representatives overtly reward voting Hondurans with cash amounts between L100-L500. This practice was so wide spread that we were able to document it in a half dozen forms. The most common form witnessed, however, was taking a photo of one’s own ballot and presumably sending it, or showing it to the responsible party official. More than a couple voters failed to turn off their camera flashes and drew undue attention to themselves while in the voting booth.
   
   
2. We observed that MERs tables were often comprised of people from different parties than the one they represented on the MMERs. In one occasion, at table #15261, MMERs members voted to disqualify another member because she publicly announced that she would vote for a candidate different from the party she was representing at the MMER. As of the writing of this report, the Acta for table #15261 still remains to be entered in the TSE count.
   
   
3. Violent Acts and Intimidation

• On the eve of the election, Maria Amparo Pineda Eduarte and Julio Ramon Araujo Maradiaga from Cantarranas, Francisco Morazan were ambushed by masked gunmen as they returned from an electoral worker training. Both had reported to police that they had received repeated death threats, but these were consistently unattended.
  
  
• In the city of Lempira in the department of Gracias a Dios, five people were killed, the media calling it narco-trafficking violence. This violence happened in the morning of Election Day. The authorities closed the polling station thereafter, largely disrupting the people’s access to polls.
  
  
• Our delegates received testimony from two poll workers outside a polling station in Santa Rosa who were assaulted and their MMERs credentials were stolen.
  
  
• 50 MER workers were held captive by armed, masked men in a hotel in Paraiso, Copan until 9:00AM, ostensibly with the goal of preventing their integration into the MMERs tables. Our observers recorded first person interviews with two of these workers. In the middle of the interview, the workers received an anonymous phone call saying, “You’re still in town? You better leave.”

4. State intimidation of Election Observers/Accompaniers

• During the week before the election, a group of our delegates was temporarily blocked from visiting a group of campesinos who have been the victims of extreme political violence and repression in their opposition to the Agua Zarca Project. HSN/AGJ delegates were ominously told by a group of employees from the DESA Corporation that if they passed the road block, they would “never leave” the area. Unimpeded by these threats, delegates nervously continued on foot to their destination, where they spent the night.
  
  
• Our delegations in Progreso were subjected to a raid by Honduran immigration agents when we had just been given a official electoral observation training by TSE Trainers. During the raid, our delegates were subjected to harassment and some were threatened with deportation. The raid not only sent a shock through our delegate corps, but also delayed our schedule so that we were forced to skip important aspects of our training schedule.
  
  
• We were not the only delegation to suffer this type of repressive action. Groups from Germany, El Salvador, Brazil also reported harassment by immigration agents, despite having been accredited by the TSE, and their immigration papers in order.

The aforementioned observations made by HSN delegates were made in good faith by people who voluntarily served as witnesses to the entire electoral process.  Given the extensive list of threats and violence before and during the election, and given the hourly revelations of discrepancies in the data on the vote tallies (Acts), and considering the fact that 20% of the votes are held by the TSE, the Honduras Solidarity Network cannot and will not in good conscience join in the rubber stamp endorsement of the results as they have been announced by the TSE.

We continue to stand with the Honduran people in defense of their human rights and of their struggle to build a Honduras that provides a better life for everyone.