June 28 marked the one-year
anniversary of the Honduran military coup that overthrew democratically elected
President Manuel Zelaya.
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Mass protest against the coup |
On June 28, 2009, the world
woke up to an all too familiar news story: In the early hours of the morning
there had been a military raid on the house of a Central American president. He
was forced out of office. Decades after the wave of U.S.-backed military coups and only seven years after the coup attempt on Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez, Latin America again fell victim to a right-wing coup.
Wealthy business interests who
had grown hostile toward Zelaya plotted to install Roberto Micheletti, to
prevent any progressive measures from taking place.
Although Zelaya’s election
campaign offered no economic relief for the masses, soon after he assumed
office the progressive forces began to mobilize and demand economic reforms
that would alleviate the deep poverty of the masses. Following the examples of
new progressive constitutions that had been adopted in Venezuela and Bolivia,
the people also called for a process for a new constitution that would reflect
a progressive program.
The Honduran president began to reflect those popular
demands, moving closer to the progressive governments of Latin America—by
joining the ALBA alliance. He gained popular support with reforms that favored
the vast majority of Hondurans who live in severe poverty, including a
significant increase in the minimum wage.
Over 600,000
signatures were rapidly gathered by the people in a campaign to create a
constituent assembly that could rewrite the country’s current constitution, a
constitution written in 1982 under direct influence of the Reagan
administration. The campaign catalyzed the right-wing opposition that felt
threatened by the popular policies of Zelaya’s administration.
June 28, 2009, was the date set
for a non-binding referendum to gauge the sentiment of the Honduran population
on whether to call on Congress to initiate a constituent assembly. The
oligarchy, no doubt with the approval of Washington, moved to overthrow the
whole process with a coup. Zelaya was arrested by the military and flown out of
the country against his will.
After the coup, mass protests
Following the coup, mass
protests filled the streets and continually occupied them for several months. A
new people’s movement, known as the National Front of Popular Resistance
(FNRP), arose despite brutal repression from the coup leaders.
In the weeks after the coup,
Zelaya flew into Honduras only to be denied access by the military, which
subsequently opened fire on a peaceful crowd of supporters on the runway.
Zelaya then secretly entered the country and found refuge in the Brazilian
embassy with supporters rallying and fighting against police and military
attacks.
Given the history of U.S.
intervention in the region, there was immediate suspicion that Washington had
played a part in the illegal action. During the coup, the United States, which
mildly criticized the injustices in Honduras, failed to take a decisive position
backing the return of the disposed Zelaya. The U.S. government directly
influences almost half of Honduras’ economic activity.
Fraudulent elections
In an attempt to legitimize the
military action, coup leader Roberto Micheletti announced elections for Nov.
29. But they were heavily boycotted by the population, with the FNRP denouncing
them as a fraud. The Obama administration claimed that “democracy” had been
restored and that the coup should be considered a thing of the past. But for
the awakened Honduran people, the atrocities that occurred under then-President
Micheletti and are occurring under the new President Porfirio Lobo are not
easily forgotten.
A
year after he was overthrown, Manuel Zelaya is quoted as saying, “Today we know
that what we suspected at the time has been confirmed. The United States was
behind the coup d’etat,” a statement heard repeatedly by the people in Latin America.
During Micheletti’s short five-month
rule, over 270 human rights violations occurred. In the last seven months, 210
such cases recognized by several human rights groups have taken place. The media censorship and political repression
have continued and, in some cases, have increased under Lobo, as activists, journalists,
resistance leaders and many others are killed, tortured or disappeared by
paramilitary and security forces.
To date, only 52 countries have recognized the Honduran
government, including the United States, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rico and
Peru.
U.S. imperialism is trying to re-impose its domination over
countries where it has lost influence, including Honduras. But despite military
brutality and repression, the conflict has served to isolate the United States
in Latin America, where a growing number of countries have created alliances
independent of the United States, through organizations like ALBA, the Rio
Group and MERCOSUR. These institutions represent Latin American interests that
seek to develop outside the influence of the United States, whose traditional
regional model lies in the Organization of American States, which bows to the
weight of U.S. imperialism. U.S. interferences in Latin America has been detrimental for the masses of people and has often resulted in military interventions and coups installing right-wing governments.
A
year after the coup, the FNRP celebrated its resistance by marching in the
streets of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. It has vowed to continue fighting
for justice through the establishment of an independent Truth Commission.
The
demand for a constituent assembly has been revived on a larger scale: An estimated
1.2 million signatures have been collected in recent months, in a population of
8 million. (aporrea.org)
While
these developments are largely ignored by the U.S. media, we cannot forget what
happened the morning of June 28, 2009, and we must not forget the Honduran
people who are fighting under repressive conditions for the right to have
representation in their government, the right for sovereignty from corporate
interest and the right to share in the wealth of their labor. A
year later, the PSL says, “Viva el Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular,”
“Viva la Lucha de los Pueblos”.
