"They are killing us. Farmers, teachers, journalists", reports the coordinator of the opposition. The democratic movement sent an open letter to the OAS to ask for help
Protest of a group of supporters of deposed President of Honduras Manuel Zelaya against the mayor of Tegucigalpa. - Gustavo Amador / AP
The return from exile of Rasel Tomé, right hand of former President Manuel Zelaya, has provided new impetus to the strength of Honduras. In a harsh letter to the OAS, the opposition to the coup of June 28 charged against the new administration of Porfirio Lobo and request the Secretary General Insulza "the implementation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, with the aim of" restoring democracy and constitutional order in Honduras. "
"They are killing us. Farmers, teachers, trade unionists, journalists and the worst thing of all is that no one was tried for the brutal crimes committed before and now. They have been covered with a mantle of impunity and injustice" denounced to Público,Rasel Tomé, new coordinator of the People's National Front in Honduras.
Democrats denounced the "impunity" prevailing in the country
The demands of the resistance begin with "debugging" the system of justice and punishment for the soldiers involved in the coup (including General Romeo Vasquez, head of the national telephone company today), and end with the return of Zelaya (named by Chávez's political committee coordinator PetroCaribe) from exile in Santo Domingo.
"But most important is that Insulza comes with a commission to verify violations in situ," said Tome. The resistance also demands the demilitarization of society and an openness that allow debate on "the need for a National Constituent Assembly, to issue a new constitution."
Violence and protests
Five journalists have been killed only during the month of March
Honduras lives these days, the consecuences of the fiscal "paquetazo" taxes (higher taxes), the murder of five journalists in March that make this Central American country the most dangerous for the exercise of the profession, and the conflict of the peasants of Aguan which has claimed the life of a new member of the rebel movement, Jose Manuel Alvarez, 35. "There are Colombian paramilitaries acting" under the orders of the landowners, insists Tomas.
The demand of the resistance occurs only hours after Arturo Valenzuela insisted on the return of Honduras to the OAS. "Lobo has complied with all obligations to which he committed," said the right hand of Hillary Clinton for Latin America.
The coup's having a huge economic bill on the country, "derived from the countless acts of pillage and corruption of the coup regime, which affects the poorest sectors," describes the document.The resistance marches in Honduras emerged again on Wednesday to protest in front of Congress against the paquetazo approved before Easter and the effects begin to be measured now. A cataract of taxes has fallen over the entire country in an attempt to compensate for a depleted public coffers during Roberto Micheletti mandate. That happens in a country where neoliberalism campaigns at its will, no matter if 80% of its people survive on miserable wages. In Honduras, 5% of the population controls 70% of GDP.
Tax the poor
For the first time the government remembers the ones that have the most, which are mostly large enterprises that are exempted from paying taxes, or contribute testimonial amounts to the imposition of a tribute called "solidarity contribution". A minimal direct fee in contrast with high indirect taxes paid by the poor when consuming a large catalog of products.
"The fiscal measures were introduced to recover the millions that were stolen and now it is easiest to rob the people," cried Juan Barahona, who led street protests in the Resistance.
And while all this happens, Micheletti, ad nauseam missed by his followers, enjoys a lively golden retirement. Appointed life deputy to shield further his immunity, despite the amnesty has benefited him, the coup leader has traveled to countries like Colombia, expounding on his magical recipes. According to the opposition, former de facto president "bled" Honduras spending two million dollars a day during his seven months at the helm of the country.
Source: http://www.publico.es/internacional/305258/resistencia/hondurena/lanza/sos/mundo
Letter from the Resistance to the Secretary General of the OAS
Tegucigalpa, 05 April 2010.
Mr.
José Miguel Insulza,
Secretary of the
Organization of American States, OAS
Washington, DC
Mr. Secretary General:
We, members of the National Front for Popular Resistance of the Republic of Honduras, are a platform that brings together the country's most representative social sectors, unions, farmers, teachers, students,intellectuals, artists, religious, feminist, ethnic, black, small and medium entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and progressive politicians in opposition to the military coup of June 28, 2009, which enthroned a dictatorship to defend an oligarchic elite that prevents the structural changes the country needs. These coup groups staged a spurious and illegitimate electoral process without qualified international observers as the OAS, Carter Center, which was done by those who carried out the coup with high levels of militarization, political violence and exclusion of hundreds of candidates, who, because of conscientious objection and lack of guarantee of transparency were forced to resign. During the electoral process, the Platform of Human Rights Organizations reported over 240 cases of human rights violations.
Since January 27, Mr. Porfirio Lobo Sosa took office in the executive power, who due to international constraints, but with an obvious lack of real political will , has proclaimed the discourse of dialogue and reconciliation. However, its scheme has continued with the same positions in relation to the dictatorship of Roberto Micheletti, incorporating into the government the visible faces in charge of the military coup, like in the case of the General who executed the coup, Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, as Manager of the Honduran State Telephone Company Hondutel, Mr Arturo Corrales as Secretary for Cooperation and Technical Assistance SETCO, Ms. Vilma Cecilia Morales as President of the National Commission of Banking and Insurance. It has limited itself to the distribution of government charges between the political parties related to the regime, and also those who usurped the sovereignty of the people and held positions in State institutions, have now been appointed to constitute the High Court of Auditors to clean up the countless acts of corruption of the dictatorship, have enacted self-amnesty to free from justice a few cases brought to Court, continue with the killings and detentions with political character, maintain the institutions that participated in the coup, as the National Human Rights Commissioner, the State Prosecutor and the judiciary, despite international reports of their bias, lack of independence and high politicization. The National Congress of the government of Lobo Sosa is at the service of the continuity of the rupture of the institutional order, for this reason the accountability of these bodies has not been sought, their administrative behavior has been approved, much less have they been asked for their resignation.
Consequently, Mr. Secretary General, the country is in an acute economic, social, and political crisis stemming from the countless acts of pillage and corruption of the coup regime that affects the poorest sectors, fiscal measures paquetazos are implemented, peasants who claim for the just access to land are persecuted and killed, the budgets for health and education remain static, reducing the budgets for culture, sports and agriculture, of the Forest Conservation Institute, and in a clear vision of national security doctrines, defense and security budgets were increased. While the Health Secretariat can not hire new doctors nor nurses for the most vulnerable sectors, the armed forces have been allowed to call 1,000 more soldiers and possibly inject additional resources for them to entrust tasks such as "education" of youth, which obviously leads to the militarization of the nation's civic life.
The National Front for Popular Resistance of the Republic of Honduras, denounces the following facts:
1. The organs of control and guarantees,(of individual rights) like the Public Ministry, Judiciary, and National Commissioner for Human Rights continue with the political persecution and criminalization of social protest, and the political judicial persecution of officials of the Zelaya administration inside the country and in exile. The Commissioner of Human Rights presented a non public report to Congress, which denies the human rights violations and recriminates international human rights organizations, who issued reports in this regard. Serious acts of corruption by the dictatorship of Roberto Micheletti that have been denounced are not investigated and the Attorney General justifies them through administrative arguments, in a clear act to protect who appointed him in office, generating total impunity for the perpetrators of this brutal crime.
2. The political killings continue since the takeover of Porfirio Lobo, over 10 union leaders, journalists, teachers' leaders, the peasant movement and political parties have been murdered by hired assassins in a clear linkage to the allegations that Colombian paramilitaries in coordination with well-known human rights violators such as Mr Billy Joya Almendola have been hired to murder social leaders in Honduras. The last case was reported on March 23, when comrade teacher José Manuel Flores was shot and murdered in his workplace, a State High School, a comrade who was an active militant of the Popular Resistance Front. We count since the coup nearly a hundred people killed for political reasons.
3. Evictions ordered by judges, so that the armed forces persecute farmers seeking access to land, the state structure is protecting a policy of concentration of wealth, which opposes a comprehensive agrarian reform, allowing the presence of paramilitary groups who are persecuting and murdering the peasants, the latest cases presented on March 17 when in the Aguan valley, comrades Jose Antonio Cardozo and Jose Carias were killed, and on April 02, comrade Miguel Alonso Oliva was murdered.
4 .- Adoption of a self-amnesty decree to deny us the way to justice and non-repetition of the events. The self-amnesty decree has been enacted and applied by various military and civilian judges who raided and shut down various media (the only types of cases prosecuted), while several popular leaders remain imprisoned, since the judges do not automatically apply amnesty to them, accussing them, in contrast, of violating state security, intending to place the struggle against the coup as an illegitimate and illegal situation.
5 .- Militarization of society with the actual presence of active members or recently retired in the head of several institutions of public administration, the most obvious is the case of the General, who carried out the coup, Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, as Manager of the State-owned Telephone company of the Honduran people, and the adoption of a Nation Plan setting goals by year 2038 as the systematic strengthening of the armed forces to protect internal and external defense, defense of national sovereignty and the Constitution ... In clear messages against the social demand that requires a democratic and participatory National Constituent Assembly with the plurality of Honduras' relations with other states.
6 .- The repeal of the Law of Citizen Participation, which allowed direct democracy mechanisms, audit and social control, thus excluding people (sovereign) of the decision-making processes, interrupted by the military coup that prevented the completion of the survey of popular opinion for the installation of a fourth ballot in the general election day.
Facing this serious situation, in which we, Hondurans, find ourselves, we would like to respectfully and urgently ask you, Mr. Secretary General, to continue efforts to restore democracy and constitutional order in Honduras, being essential for us to meet the following conditions:
· The justice system must be restructured and cleansed, LEGAL APPEALS to separate from their positions the co-authors of the military coup, the State Attorney, Judges of the Supreme Court of Justice, National Commissioner for Human Rights, the Armed Forces leading members, General Romeo Vasquez Velasquez from office in the Phone Company of the people of Honduras.
· The demilitarization of society should take place immediately, with the separation of the military from the government, the removal of controls responsible for the military coup and the return of the military and police institutions to their constitutional role.
· Restoration of democracy by creating deliberative spaces, involving all sectors of national life in a comprehensive process that can discuss and decide on the need for a National Constituent Assembly to issue a new constitution, and allow us to reestablish the republic with a new political and social economic order.
· The application of justice to those responsible for crimes against humanity committed since the military coup to date, which must not go unpunished, as well as serious acts of corruption of the dictatorship of Roberto Micheletti.
· Ceasing the exile, in which President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales finds himself, his closest collaborators, and other compatriots who should be allowed to return to the country as citizens in the full exercise of their civil and political rights.
· Democratic Freedom to ensure spaces to the National Front of Resistance to express itself as an opposition social political fource through full participation in all political electoral processes.s.
· Require the demobilization of armies in America involved in coups, to the effect that the military commanders and their troops meet the mandates of the people and not foreign instructions.
· Urge a new visit of the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights to the country, to check in situ the recurrent and selective human rights violations, as well as the denial of justice and lack of political peace in our nation.
As expressed, Mr. Secretary, and with the intention to cease acts of barbarism, to the slaughter we are subjected as people, we ask you to help us in the use of our fundamental rights, and with our genuine interest to restore the democratic order building a climate of freedom, peace and social justice in the country, applying the Democratic OAS Inter-American Charter, being of high priority your direct involvement in restoring democracy and rebuilding the institutions in Honduras.
We take this opportunity to congratulate the Secretary to have been re-elected in office, and receive from us expression of our consideration.
National Resistance POPULAR Front
cc. UN Secretary
cc. EU Presidency
cc. President of PARLACEN.
cc. American Presidents.
cc. President of the European Parliament.
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