http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/811/41737
Honduras: Coup regime starts talks as resistance grows Federico Fuentes, Caracas The coup regime in Tegucigalpa is crumbling in the face of growing resistance from Honduran people and international condemnation. Having seized power in a military coup June 28, the coup regime headed by “president” Robert Micheletti has faced sustained resistance in the streets for three months from the Honduran poor. However, the situation exploded on September 21 when legitimate President Manuel Zelaya, who was kidnapped at gun point in the co0up and exiled to Costa Rica, stunned the world by announcing he had snuck back into Honduras and was inside the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. The dictatorship ordered the police and military to violently repress the thousands who protested outside the Brazilian embassy, as well as the people on the streets across the country. An unknown number of people have been killed, including an eight-year-old girl, and hundreds arrested. <strong>Insurrection</strong> The response of the Honduran poor, determined to see “their” president who had increased the minimum wage by 60% returned to office, was to launch an insurrection in impoverished neighbourhoods. With street battles raging, and barricades raised, a number of working class neighbourhoods declared themselves “liberated zones”. Tthe international isolation of the coup regime also worsened when United Nations general-secretary Ban Ki-moon said on September 23 that elections organised by the Micheletti dictatorship would not be “credible” and the UN was withdrawing all assistance (worth US$1.3 million) for a coup regime-organised November 28 poll. Desperate, the regime has now opened dialogue with Zelaya — something it refused to do for three months. The resistance plans once again to take to the streets of Tegucigalpatomorrow (September 25) to demand Zelaya’s reinstatement and the calling of a constituent assembly. The issue of organising a constituent assembly to redraft the constitution was the detonator for the June 28 coup. That day, a non-binding referendum was meant to be held, asking the people whether they were in favor of a constituent assembly to rewriting the 1982 constitution — put in place by the military dictatorship at the time. Gilberto Rios, a leader of the National Resistance Front Against the Coup, told <em>*Green Left Weekly</em>* over the phone from Tegucigalpa: “President Zelaya has meet [today] with a few people from the right wing to see if they could start a process of dialogue. “It possible that the level of tension will briefly come down, although tomorrow will be a climactic day of mobilisations — boosted by the support we received in the UN.” Explaining the course of events that day (September 24), Rios said: “The National Front had called on the people to not mobilise in the center of Tegucigalpa. Instead, it was proposed that people should organise protests in their <em>barrios</em> and <em>colonias</em> [poor neighbourhoods], in order to avoid any provocations by the march of the <em>*camisas blancas*</em> [white shirts, supporters of the coup].” Many feared the pro-coup march could be used as a trigger for street clashes and further repression. Some had warned of plans to stoke up violent confrontations near the Brazilian embassy, where Zelaya remains. Resistance activist Ricardo Salgado told <em>*GLW</em>* that the march was further evidence that “a section of the armed forces and the coup regime are still look to carry out extreme measures” to end the anti-coup resistance. In the end, the pro-coup march was very small and largely consisted of public servants forced to attend, Rios said. <strong>Dialogue</strong> Both Rios and Salgado confirmed that numerous avenues of dialogue had been opened up between Zelaya and coup representatives over the last 24 hours. Salgado said: “Last night a representative of the de facto government arrived at the Brazilian embassy to explicitly propose to the president that he resign and that Micheletti would also resign. “This was considered unacceptable [by Zelaya], as it would basically legitimise the coup. “Then, this afternoon, Father Juan Jose Pineda, a bishop in Tegucigalpa who is very close to Cardinal Rodriguez, one of the coup plotters” also visited Zelaya, “we suspect to offer some kind of negotiation … on behalf of the de facto government.” Salgado added, “later on today [Zelaya] will meet with Father Luis Alfonso Santos who is decidedly against the coup and who just released a 12 point declaration [in which he states] his support for the people, constitutional restoration and the recognition of the legitimate right to insurrection of the people have in the face of a government imposed by force”. He said this seemed to confirm that the Catholic Church would play an important role in any negotiations. Furthermore, the candidates that stated their intention to run in the November presidential elections met this afternoon (September 24) with Michelleti, and will met with Zelaya later tonight. Rios said the National Resistance Front “is and has always been open to dialogue, as long as it contemplates the restitution of Zelaya and the jailing of those responsible for the coup”. “The [plan to organise a] constituent assembly is also non-negotiable. The constitutional order was broken as a result of the coup and the constitution orders that a constitution assembly be held [in such a scenario] so that cannot be up for discussion on the negotiation table.” He told <em>GLWM</em> that Zelaya “has spoken with the resistance and that we have the same position in regards to what is up for discussion and what is non-negotiable”. He added that he didn’t think the dialogue would succeed “very easily or quickly”. “The coup regime has its own internal contradictions”, Salgado said. “Although it has attempted to maintain the facade of a strong regime backed by repression, it is clear that the country is in a very bad state and groups of business owners have said it is necessary to negotiate with the president. “If we take as our starting point the fact that these business owners are the financiers of the coup, then what we are talking about is sections of the coup regime recognising the need to negotiate.” Salgado said: “My personal opinion is that while it is true that the resistance forces have not matured enough yet to be able to stage an insurrection capable of overthrowing the coup regime, it has been able to reach a high level of organisation.” This means that Zelaya “will need to count on the leadership of the National Front for any proposed solution to the current situation, because that is where he finds his social base. His popularity is based on [including] a large range of people, from popular leaders in the barrios, to teachers to supporters of his former party.” <strong>Repression and mobilisation</strong> Rios said: “There continues to be a strong presence of military and police helicopters [circling Tegucigalpa] because the National Resistance Front is meeting. “So I think that if the dialogue does not begin today, we will probably face a night where we will see a repeat of the last few nights — where there has been a lot of repression in the colonias with many people detained.” Salgado agreed, saying “the last few nights have been very tense … the military has been carrying out a campaign of attacking the popular barrios and poor colonias. They have approached homes without any warnings and carried out extrajudicial break-ins into — taking the young men out, beating up the parents. “The exact toll of deaths and those disappeared is difficult to be determine. “We are expecting that [the coup regime] will announce another curfew for tonight. So what we could expect more repression . “And no doubt the people will once again mobilise tonight, on the streets in their barrios.” Boosted by the UN resolution and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s “educational speech [at the UN General Assembly] which reminded us of why we are involved in this resistance movement”, Rios said the resistance will be gathering at 8am tomorrow [September 25] at the Pedagogical University — “for what will be a very climactic mobilisation”. -- A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realisation of Utopias." — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man Under Socialism "The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of dummy?" — Jarvis Cocker ________________________________________________ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
