La Voz Delegation to Honduras

La Voz Delegation to Honduras
From Chicago to Honduras -Teachers and Youth Fight Back

Report 1

Our 14 person delegation of teachers from Chicago’s Teachers Union and youth from the Chicago organization, Fearlessly Leading Youth (FLY) arrived in Tegucigalpa the evening of June 27th just in time to accompany one of the activities in commemoration of the June 28, 2009 military coup  - a vigil in front the U.S. Embassy organized by Movimiento Morazanista por el Poder Popular to remember and condemn the role of the U.S. in the coup itself and in the continuation of the coup with its support for Porfirio Lobo.

Today, June 28th -many thousands of Hondurans all across Honduras celebrated four years of resistance, commemorated their martyrs and loudly declared themselves to be ready to continue their fight for the re-founding of their country for the benefit of the people of Honduras - in the streets and at the ballot box in November 2013 with the Party of Liberations and Refoundation (LIBRE).

We accompanied the massive march  in Tegucigalpa. There were so many marchers that we couldn’t see the beginning or the end of the march from where we were. The marchers: teachers (despite being threatened with firings if they missed work today to march), trade unions, campesino organizations, women’s organizations, LGBTG activists; and thousands of people from the neighborhoods wound through the streets for several hours with the marchers chanting, singing, and playing music the entire time.

There were flags with the logos of the FNRP (National Peoples Resistance Front) and LIBRE (the resistance political party) and placards, flags and banners of all kinds.

Passing by the offices of the human rights organization COFADEH (Committee of the Families of the Disappeared Detainees) marchers paid homage to the hundreds of murdered and disappeared since the coup as we passed COFADEH’s display of the pictures of the martyrs. Police and military presence was restrained but heavily armed units of the National Police were guarding the fast food franchises that are owned by the pro-coup oligarchs and government buildings. There were also big marches in other cities including San Pedro Sula and Choluteca. Two members of the Political Organization Los Necios, Carlos Matute and Edwin Vega were detained by the police in La Ceiba right before the march started there.

A La Voz de los de Abajo Delegation of Chicago Teachers and Youth arrives in Honduras

A La Voz de los de Abajo delegation of teachers from Chicago Teachers Union and youth from Fearless Leading by the Youth (F.L.Y) has safely arrived to El Progreso, Honduras. The 14 member delegation will meet with students, Afro-honduran communities, campesino groups, human rights organizations, teachers' unions, and other organizations that are part of the resistance to the coup. We will post updates here and on Facebook. We wish them a safe delegation.

VIDEO: No More Impunity (English subtitles) from E.R.I.C.-SJ & Radio Progreso

UPDATES FROM HONDURAS and URGENT ACTIONS

As the election period in Honduras heats up with even the most "official" polls showing the resistance movement's party (LIBRE) candidate Xiomara Castro Zelaya in the lead for President of Honduras,  the oligarchy and its military, security forces and politicians are escalating the fight on all fronts against the people. In this fight they are counting on the continued financial, political and military support from the United States which has recently reaffirmed its claim to authority in Central America - in the words of Secretary of State John Kerry "our backyard".  The U.S. continues to supply arms, training, equipment and support for both the Honduran National Police and military and therefore is supporting as well the "new" death squads made up of soldiers, police and private paramilitary security.

Campesinos March on May 1st 2013

War Against the Campesinos of Honduras - The brutal war against the small farmers by the big agribusiness palm companies such as Miguel Facusse's DINANT in the Aguan Valley and the sugar producers of CASHA and AZUNOSA in the Sula Valley continues creating a river of campesino blood and injustice. More than 100 campesinos have been murdered in the past three years. Agribusiness owners are backed up by the military, police and government political parties. Meanwhile the National Congress has continued to ignore the proposal from the campesino federations and organizations for a new integral agrarian reform for land and food rights.

         Today - URGENT - May 23, 2013 Paso Aguan, Panama, Aguan - there are reports coming in that police from the joint military-policy operation in the Aguan (Xantruch III) working with Facusse's paramilitary security are randomly firing into the campesino's homes in Panama in the Aguan. The campesinos were violently evicted from the Paso Aguan plantation on May 21st and have been the targets of intense harassment, violence and detentions for the past several months. On May 1st they were surrounded by Xatruch forces and then they and their supporters were attacked and beaten.
 For more information and declarations by the campesino organizations  and an
URGENT ACTION REQUEST: 
http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/p/march-6-2013-communique-from-campesinos.html

         May 17th Massacre of MOCSAM Campesinos in the Sula Valley - Friday, May 17th private paramiliatary guards from CASHA opened fire on campesinos peacefully occupying land in San Manuel Cortés. The lands were exprorpiated by the National Agrarian Institute for land reform last year but the campesinos have been continuously evicted and threatened. Four campesinos were shot, two died immediately. The police came to the scene but refused to take action against the guards. Then on Monday another MOCSAM member, Marilu Miranda Orellana was assassinated as she returned to her home. Yesterday the spokesman for MOCSAM was followed by a group of armed men as he returned to San Manuel from San Pedro Sula where supporters and activists have a vigil organized in front of the Cathedral. More than 600 campesinos continue their land recuperation and there are calls for support.

 For more information and links to the campaign for emergency food aid for the campesinos:
MOCSAM Massacre:
http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/p/declaration-campesino-movement-of-san.html

Defending Land and Culture - The Indigenous  Peoples' Movement Under Attack
           
             Today May 23, 2013 in San Antonio Chuchiutepeque, Santa Barbará the National Police and special forces, the Cobras, evicted a land recuperation by members of the Lenca indigenous people near the Ulúa River which is an area that would be affected by a major hydroelectric project. At least five people have been detained.
           This comes right after Lenca communities and activists in Intibuca at Rio Blanco were also attacked after almost 50 days of an action to maintain their lands and block construction of the Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project. On the same day at 3:300 am the police raided homes of the residents of Campas, Lempira arresting the local Priest Candido Pineda and 22 of his parishioners also related to the same projects and the FNRP resistance.  COPINH in La Esperanza, Intíbuca is under constant harassment and threats because of its support for the communities and the anti-mining and anti-damn movements. The protests and struggles continue and there is a call for support.
For more information here is an action alert from COPINH from last week with contact numbers that can be used to express support for the communities in Santa Barbara and Intíbuca:
http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/p/urgent-action-request-from-copinh-lenca.html

        One Year Later - Impunity in the Killings of Indigenous Villagers in Ahuas, Moskitia
On May 11, 2012 four villagers including one pregnant woman and a 14 year old boy were shot to death and 3 others were wounded by a joint U.S. DEA, Honduran Military-Police action in the Moskitia  region of Honduras. Despite demands for a serious investigation and support for the survivors and families of the dead the U.S. has continued to stonewall. Below is the link to the article by Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR) with an anniversary of the crime update on Ahuas:
http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/p/some-hondurans-pay-ultimate-price-for.html

Organizations Condemn Military-Landowner Violence and Slander Against Campesinos

el comunique en español sigue abajo del ingles

Below is a new communique from the Aguan campesino organizations condemning the escalation of violence and the propaganda to justify violence against the campesinos of Aguan. In recent weeks there have been more assassinations and there have been attempts against spokespersons for the Campesinos Movement and Resistance in the Aguan.  The military recently released a video of armed groups in the Aguan implying that the campesinos are involved in such groups - however it was the campesino organizations that denounced these armed groups back in 2011. 

La Voz de los de Abajo condemns the statements issued by Colonel Germán Alfaro Esclante of the Honduran military in command in the Aguan. We condemn the  big landowners such as Miguel Facusse whose private paramilitary guards are implicated in most of the murders and violence in the region. We strongly condemn the fact that the U.S. Government continues to fund and support the militarization of Honduras despite the obvious consequences and death squad connections of the National Police and Honduran Military.

The Regional Agrarian Platform of the Aguan Valley communicates the following to the Honduran people and the international community:

1-  We condemn the systematic, dirty, and malicious campaign of the landowners in the Aguan, through the La Prensa newspaper and their spokesmen, including Colonel Germán Alfaro Escalante, head of the Xatruch III Operation, who was trained at the U.S. School of the Americas in 1984 to protect the interests of capital.

2-   This campaign seeks to prepare the conditions to continue the murders of the organized campesinos in the Bajo Aguan with impunity and to pressure the judicial system to rule in favor of the landowners in the case of the La Trinidad, La Despertar and San Isidro cooperatives, which belong to MARCA. They were given legally given to the campesinos on June 29, 2012 by the judicial authorities when a Francisco Morazan court issued a final judgement about the land.  So we are not land invaders.

3- We make clear that the farms La Confianza, La Aurora, La Lempira, La Concepción, Marañones, Isla I and Isla II, which add up to 3,962 hectares of land, were acquired by signed agreements between the government and MUCA on April 13, 2010.  The agreements are for 11,000 hectares, of which the government still owes 7,038 hectares to MUCA.  Similarly, MARCA signed agreements on May 24, 2011 for 1,600 hectares of land, of which only 667 hectares in the San Esteban farm have been handed over; the government still owes 933 hectares.

4- We reject the assertions, through fake videos and publications by the La Prensa newspaper, which seek to make us look like armed groups with high caliber weapons such as AK-47s, M-16s, and .223 guns. On April 26, 2011, we denounced armed groups under the command of paramilitary leaders, which clearly coincides with the photograph published in the La Prensa newspaper today (April 3, 2013).

5- We condemn the plan of Operation Xatruch, commanded by Col. Alfaro Escalante, which seeks to assassinate campesino leaders such as Juan Ramón Chinchilla, Yoni Rivas, Vitalino Álvarez, and Wilfredo Paz, the spokesperson for the Permanent Observatory of Human Rights in the Aguán in Tocoa, Colon. 

6- We make clear that the problems of land tenure in the Bajo Aguan were provoked by former President Rafael Leonardo Callejas, when he approved the fatal and unconstitutional Agricultural Modernization and Development Act, which contradicts articles 344 to 350 of the Constitution.

7- We call on national and international human rights organizations to be attentive for any situation which could occur in the coming days against the humanity of the campesino leaders.

We are not birds to live in the air, we are not fish to live in the water, we are campesinos who need to live on the land.

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

April 3, 2013.

 English Translation by Greg McCain and Brigitte Gynther 

Español Original

Comunicado

La Plataforma Agraria Regional del Valle del Aguán comunican al pueblo Hondureño y a la comunidad internacional lo siguiente:

1-  Condenamos la campaña sistemática, sucia y  mal intencionada de los terrateniente del Aguán, a través de Diario la Prensa y sus voceros como el coronel Germán Alfaro Escalante jefe de la operación Xatruch III,  quien fue entrenado en la escuela de las Américas de los Estados Unidos en 1984, para proteger los intereses del capital.

2-   Esta campaña pretende preparar las condiciones para continuar impunemente los asesinatos de los campesinos organizados en el Bajo Aguan, así mismo presionar al sistema judicial para que falle a favor de los terratenientes en el caso de la cooperativa La Trinidad, La Despertar y La San Isidro que pertenecen a MARCA y que fueron entregadas legalmente el 29 de junio del 2012, por las autoridades judiciales a los campesinos,  mediante sentencia firme por un juzgado de Francisco Morazán, por lo tanto no somos invasores de tierra.

3- Aclaramos que las finca La Confianza, La Aurora, la Lempira, la Concepción, Marañones, Isla I y Isla II  las que suman 3,962 hectáreas de tierra y que  fueron adquiridas mediante los acuerdos firmados el 13 de abril del 2010 entre el Gobierno y MUCA, los que contemplan 11,000 hectáreas de las cuales el Gobierno aun adeuda 7, 038 hectáreas a MUCA, de igual manera el MARCA suscribió acuerdos el 24 de mayo del 2011, el que contiene la entrega de 1,600 hectáreas de las que solo se le entregaron 667  en la finca San Esteban y que aun el Gobierno adeuda 933 hectáreas.

4- Rechazamos las aseveraciones a través de falso videos y publicaciones de Diario la Prensa, donde pretenden hacernos aparecer como grupos armados con armas de grueso calibre como AK-47, M-16 y pistolas 2-23, sobre este particular, nosotros con fecha 26 de abril del 2011, denunciamos los grupos armados al mando de jefes paramilitares, y que coincide plenamente con la fotografía publicada en Diario la prensa el día de hoy.

5-  Condenamos el plan de la operación Xatruch,  comandada por Alfaro Escalante pretendiendo asesinar a dirigentes campesinos como a Juan Ramón Chinchilla, Yoni Rivas, Vitalino Álvarez y Wilfredo Paz quien es vocero del observatorio de derechos Humanos en Tocoa, Colón.

6- Aclaramos que la problemática por la tenencia de la tierra en el Bajo Aguán, fue provocada en 1992 por el ex presidente de Honduras Rafael Leonardo Callejas al aprobar la fatídica e inconstitucional Ley de Modernización y Desarrollo del Sector Agrícola, la cual es contradictoria a los artículos 344 al 350 de la Constitución de la Republica.

7- Llamamos a los organismos nacionales e internacionales defensores de derechos humanos  a que se mantengan vigilantes ante cualquier situación que pueda ocurrir en los próximos días en contra de la humanidad de dirigentes campesinos.

No Somos Pájaros para vivir en el Aire, No somos Peces para vivir en el Agua, somos campesinos y campesinas que necesitamos vivir en la tierra.

Dado en Tegucigalpa, Honduras a los 03 días del mes de abril del 2013.