Join Honduras Solidarity Network Emergency Delegations!

Ever since the June 28, 2009, coup that deposed Honduras’s democratically elected president, José Manuel Zelaya, the country has become an out of control center for drug cartel violence and political impunity.  The current government of President Lobo won power in a disputed November 2009 election, which was widely boycotted because it was managed by the coup leaders.  To this date no one has gone to jail for the military actions of the coup and the fraudulent election has created an environment of widespread corruption.

At least 34 members of the opposition have disappeared or been killed, and more than 300 people have been killed by state security forces since the coup, according to the leading human rights organization Cofadeh.

But the people can’t be stopped.   Since the coup, a vibrant, nonviolent democratic resistance has demanded a “refounding” of the State. Democratic popular movements including unions, teachers, students, indigenous and Afro-descended, human rights, LGBTQ, and campesino groups united to form the National Front for Popular Resistance (FNRP).

The FNRP last year formed a political party, LIBRE, to compete in the national elections of November 2013. Primary elections for LIBRE and Honduras’ traditional parties will be held November 18, 2012. Four LIBRE primary candidates have been killed to date and violence against FNRP activists and members is committed daily, with total impunity by the private armies of rich Hondurans and the police and army of defacto president Porfirio Lobo.

Join other people who care about Honduras to investigate US complicity in the on-going role of North American governments who have continued their economic and political support of the current president.

In the context of the elections, delegation members will examine the role that their government has played in the human rights situation in Honduras.

The LIBRE party has asked the US Honduras Solidarity Network to organize an accompaniment delegation for the Nov. 18 primary election and we’ve accepted the challenge.

Alliance for Global Justice is administering the delegation, which will be led by staffer Elaine Spivak Rodriguez and Rights Action Honduras expert Karen Spring. Prospective delegates will have two options:

1)     Full Delegation: Nov. 12-21, 2012 - $850
Delegates choosing this option will investigate the human rights situation in the context of the election in the capital city of Tegucigalpa and at least two trips to rural areas including the Siria Valley and Zacate Grande. The delegation will meet with human rights defenders and the many groups that make up the Resistance. On election day, Nov. 18, delegates will be divided into small groups to monitor human rights at several Tegucigalpa polling sites. Following the election the delegation will gather testimony on any violations of human rights and write a report for activists and policy-makers. The price includes double occupancy hotel, two meals a day, in-country transportation, and translation. It does not include international airfare.

2)    Election Week-end Delegation: Nov. 16-19 - $300
Delegates will arrive on Nov. 16 and join the full delegation. They will receive a briefing on the state of human rights in the context of the election and training on accompanying the voting on Nov. 18. They will participate in scheduled meetings with FNRP member groups and on election day will be divided in small groups to monitor human rights at several Tegucigalpa polling sites. Before leaving on Monday, Nov. 19, they will join the full delegation in hearing an analysis of the election from a LIBRE leader. The price includes double occupancy hotel, two meals a day, in-country transportation, and translation. It does not include international airfare.