Take Action on the Military Coup in Honduras

An email from CISPES (Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) offered a few good ways to voice your concern about the military coup that took place in Honduras over the weekend. In essence, this is a call to bring international attention to the coup and urge leaders in the U.S. to publicly denounce the actions of the Honduran military. Below is the content of their email:

CISPES joins the Alliance for Global Justice, SOA Watch, and other members of the Latin America Solidarity Coalition in denouncing today's coup in Honduras. CISPES committees are joining rallies at consulates around the country to demand the reinstatement of the democratically elected Honduran president.

Call the State Department and the White House!

Demand that they call for the immediate reinstatement of Honduran President Zelaya.

State Department: 202-647-4000 or 1-800-877-8339
White House: Comments: 202-456-1111, Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Here are statements by other members of the Organization of American States: http://americasmexico.blogspot.com/2009/06/oas-countries-back-zelaya-calls-for.html

The CISPES email also included two short updates about the actual occurrences in Honduras from Rights Action:

June 28:

On the Day of the National Survey for Constitutional Reform, the Honduran President Was Captured by the Military. According to reports from national human rights organizations, at approximately 1am the president of Honduras, Mel Zelaya and his family were captured by the military. He was taken to a military airport. He denounced the military coup and his capture to TeleSur over the telephone from Costa Rica.

It is also reported that other members of the government, particularly the ministers, are being arrested, and that cars with diplomatic license plates are being stopped and searched to facilitate the detentions.

Robert Michelletti, one of the strongest opponents of the president and president of the Congress, is rumored to be backed by the military to assume the presidency.

Communications have been interrupted. The national press, all strongly opposed to the president, is silent. Channel 8, established by President Zelaya after years of press censorship, and was shut down. Community radios have been cut off.

Nationally the national telephone system was shut down, and the national energy grid has been shut down in many areas. The national telephone system was temporarily cut off, and in some areas cellular phones are not longer operating.

The military is occupying the entire county, and has established checkpoints in the entry and exits of towns, presumably to restrict protesters and possibly to facilitate detentions.

Despite the military occupation there are protests throughout the country and repression is being report.

We are extremely concerned for the safety of the human rights organizations that have supported the President and the efforts for Constitutional Reform.

Currently there are reports of the military pursuing civil society leaders in the street. COPINH, the National Council of Indigenous Peoples has strongly backed the constitutional reform effort. The home of Bertha Caceres, a leader of COPINH, has been under military and police surveillance for several days. Today leaders of COPINH have been pursued by the military in the street, and are in hiding.

On Tuesday of last week Fabio Ochoa, the regional coordinator promoting the Constitutional reform consultations, was shot five times when leaving a television station after promoting the constitutional reform. He is in intensive care.

The proposal to draft a new constitution is the culmination of a series of controversial measures undertaken in his presidency, which include a significant raise in the minimum wage, measures to re- nationalize energy generation plants and the telephone system, signing a bill that vastly improves labor conditions for teachers, joining the Venezuelan Petrocaribe program which provides soft loans for development initiatives via petroleum sales, delaying recognition of the new US ambassador after the Bolivian government implicated the US embassy in supporting fascist paramilitary groups destabilizing Bolivia, and others.

Democracy in Honduras was violated by a military coup this morning, but the people of Honduras have come to the defense constitutional order and democracy in Honduras.

Though the President was forced into exile in Costa Rica, the goal of stopping the public opinion poll has not been successful.

Civil society leaders report that more then 25,000 Honduras are protesting in front of the National Palace in support of the president, despite reports that the entry and exits to some towns have been blocked by the military to prevent public protests.

Though it is reported that in some areas the ballot boxes have been captured by the military, promoters of the poll have establish mobile polling stations to defend the ballot boxes. The military has not been able to occupy all of the country, and some towns have declared that they will not recognize the authority of the military imposed government.

Though the President of the Congress, Roberto Michelletti, read a letter of resignation allegedly signed by President Zelaya and his cabinet, Zelaya from Costa Rica has denied signing the letter, as have his cabinet members.

The Congress the proceeded to name Roberto Michelletti, a strong opponent of Zelaya, as president de facto. Governments around the world, particularly in Latin America, have declared that they will not recognize any not elected by the population of Honduras.

The Chancellor of Honduras, Patricia Rodas, has been kidnapped by the military, in front of member of the diplomatic corps, and the ambassadors of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua were kidnapped with her but later released. The whereabouts of Patricia Rodas are unknown.

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