On July 1, more than 150 people came out in Los Angeles to protest the right-wing military coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. Just four days after the coup, similar demonstrations took place in cities across the United States and Latin America, in solidarity with the struggle of the working people of Honduras. Scenes of brave protesters battling riot police and heavily armed military forces in Tegucigalpa certainly were on the minds of the demonstrators in Los Angeles.
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The local Honduran Consulate was the scene of this energetic action. Honduran workers, joined by a large, multinational group of people, chanted and held signs demanding “Reinstate Zelaya now!” and “The people can overturn the coup!” in both Spanish and English. Chants against fascism and U.S. imperialism rang out loudly.
The demonstration was called by the newly formed Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras. Members of the coalition include the FMLN-LA (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front), the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front), the Comité Pro-Democracia en Mexico and the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), along with many other Latin American leftist organizations and individuals. The determination and spirit of unity was palpable among the organizers and in the crowd.
A large picket line took up the entire sidewalk outside the consulate, which is headed by an ally of the coup plotters and their faux president, Roberto Micheletti. The consulate went so far as to call on right-wing Hondurans to counter-protest, but a weak crowd of only 15 fascists showed up with uninspired anti-communist, anti-Hugo Chávez signs. They tried to attack the pro-Zelaya forces, but ANSWER organizers and Honduran workers pushed them back and out of the way.
Speakers from Honduras and various organizations read solidarity statements. Protest leaders in Honduras also addressed the LA action via cell phone. Speakers included Mario Cuellar and Berny Moto of the FMLN, Marcial Guerra of ANSWER and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and Jerry Esguerra of the Filipino Echo Park Community Coalition. A point stressed by several speakers was that the U.S. government, despite its rhetoric otherwise, bears significant responsibility for the coup. After the rally, people stayed for a candlelight vigil.
Honduran activist and college professor Suyapa Portillo told PSLweb.org that the demonstration was an important display of international solidarity with the Honduran people’s struggle: “I was very disheartened during the first couple of days to see the Honduran right-wing in the U.S. out supporting the coup. Today, I’m very happy to see so many progressive people here. It shows that we Hondurans are not alone.”
“We are not here demonstrating on behalf of the Liberal Party, but for the people, the unions, we want to make sure people are benefiting from the taxes they pay,” Portillo continued. “I’m really thinking of the poor and the working classes at this point. I worry about the repression against them.”
The Coalition for Peace and Democracy in Honduras is meeting regularly and planning actions in light of Zelaya’s announced plans to return to Honduras over the July 4 weekend. Whatever the immediate outcome, we can be sure that the people’s struggle for justice and workers’ democracy is not over. Building concrete solidarity with the people of Honduras and all Latin America is more important than ever.
