Honduran Resistance is
Strong, Nonviolent, and Persistent—How do we respond?
By Val Liveoak
I spent a week in Honduras with the Francisco Morazán Mission for
Democracy, Active Nonviolence and Peace in Honduras, a project of the Centro
Amigos por la Paz , in San José Costa Rica.
We visited with a large number of organizations and individuals who
are active in the resistance to the government which ousted the elected
president in a military coup—the first in forty years.
This movement has staged street protests in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro
Sula, Honduras’ largest cities, daily for almost seventy days (as of this
writing). Except for some rock throwing at demonstrations, and the painting of
resistance slogans on walls (a mild form of property damage), the movement has
been quite nonviolent. The response
of the police and Army has been quite violent, however, with marchers being
beaten, tear-gassed, shot with live ammunition, and detainees being tortured,
raped, denied food and water, and beaten. Many people told us of receiving death
threats by telephone and in person, and several said armed men were stationed
outside their families’ homes.
Specific groups have different goals, but many believe, as one
leader shared with us, “If we lose now, Honduras will not change for a hundred
years.” Another said, “If the coup leaders succeed, my family and I, and all the
thousands of protesters, will be forced to flee or will be dead within a year.”
We visited the US Embassy, where we met with the head of the
Political Section and the officer in charge of Human Rights. They assured us
that the Embassy has a policy of no contact with the government in power, and
that the US military on the Palmerola Air Base was not communicating with or
aiding the Honduran military. They reiterated their position that the US will
not recognize any winner in the Nov. 29th elections
even if the current government holds them as scheduled.
There was a rumor that ousted President Manuel Zelaya would return
to the country on Sept 15th, Independence Day.
On the 13th, exiled members of his cabinet were reported to
have returned to the airport in Tegucigalpa with the aid of US personnel. Even
if the previous government is restored, however, the opposition wants elections
postponed at least 6-8 months so that realistic campaigns can be waged.
They also would like to see issues of constitutional change discussed, if
not voted upon, in new elections.
There is much to discuss.
Honduras is the third poorest nation in Latin America, and is ruled by
the oligarchy that sponsored the military coup.
Media has been strongly censored since the President was ousted, and the
desperate struggle for a living wage, safe working
conditions, health care, indigenous rights, women’s rights, basic education, and
public services have rallied disparate groups into a strong coalition of
resistance.They have mobilized big crowds of protestors, excited young people
seeking a future, developed alternative media, and created ties of solidarity
with groups all over the world.
Our delegation from Costa Rica received strong approval for the
statement, “The main reason Costa Rica hasn’t had any coups for 50+ years is
that we abolished the Army.” The resistance movement is strategizing more than
just the return of the legal government—it is moving toward what one leader told
us it was a life or death opportunity to bring Honduras into the 21st century.
If it succeeds, especially if it continues its use of nonviolent tactics,
it will be a model for long awaited changes in the hemisphere. If the coup
leaders succeed, many Latin Americans and analysts in the US and Europe fear
that military coups, governmental instability, poverty, and death could spread
to other countries in the hemisphere.
I fear that it may not stop there, however.
I believe that the US has practiced the tactics of low-intensity warfare
in Latin America for the last half century through the infamous School of the
Americas’ training of military officers, economic tactics such as NAFTA, CAFTA,
etc., and numerous acts of war, often against unarmed civilian populations.
These and other changes that have allowed the militarization of our policies are
now being felt in the US itself under the Patriot Act and other so-called
anti-terrorist measures. In order to
counter this trend, we believe that support of the Honduran resistance is vital
not only to Honduras’ future, but also to that of the US.
As a nonviolent activist for over 35 years, it’s exciting to me
that the resistance movement has so far been nonviolent, if only by default.
This follows a trend in other movements in Latin American nations such as
Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador. I
believe that many members of the Honduran movement are nonviolent because they
do not think they have nearly enough power and weapons to mount an armed
opposition. But others, I believe,
are truly interested in continuing nonviolent struggle, and learning more about
it. They are inventing new tactics
and reviving older ones. They are reaching out for solidarity and support from
all over the world.
Friends Peace Teams has been invited to help by offering
Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) workshops in Honduras.
I hope that we can rise to this challenge posed by the people of
Honduras, calling upon the network of AVP facilitators in Latin America that we
have helped to develop. Financial
and moral support is critical to this effort.
A series of workshops leading to the development of trained Honduran
facilitators would cost less than $10,000, and could be completed within two
months. We have received invitations
to do a workshop from one group in February, and other groups have expressed
interest. With adequate funding from
new sources, we could respond more quickly and with greater outreach.
If you believe this is important and worthwhile, please send your
donations, earmarked, “PLA—Honduras”, to Friends Peace Teams, at 1001 Park Ave.,
St. Louis MO 63104 USA. FPT is a federal tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.