[HNA] Witness for Peace - Tomorrow: Honduras Action Day

Mon Aug 10 12:46:15 PDT 2009

FYI

--- On Mon, 8/10/09, Ben Beachy, Witness for Peace <wfpma at witnessforpeace.org> wrote:

From: Ben Beachy, Witness for Peace <wfpma at witnessforpeace.org>
Subject: Tomorrow: Honduras Action Day
To: info at bostonmayday.org
Date: Monday, August 10, 2009, 3:00 PM

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Tomorrow:  Global Day of Action for Honduras

Dispel the myths, expose the truth:  Send a quick letter to the editor.

Join a unique WFP delegation to Honduras: September 5-12.

Tell your representative to stand with Hondurans and condemn the coup.

Watch a WFP on-the-ground slideshow of repression and resistance in Honduras. 

Read WFP's letter to Secretary of State Clinton on Honduras.  

Tomorrow: Global Day of Action for Honduras

Dispel the Myths, Expose the Truth

Come with us to Honduras

Dear Supporter,

The coup regime in Honduras has now clung to power for six weeks.  Meanwhile, the U.S. response has remained sluggish and two-faced.  Late last month, the State Department finally revoked the diplomatic visas of four coup-plotters.  But just last week the same State Department sent a letter to the Senate that incredibly names President Zelaya, not the coup-plotters, as responsible for his own ouster.  The U.S. response to the coup should not be a matter of supporting or rejecting the prior actions of Manuel Zelaya; it's a matter of supporting or rejecting the flagrant usurpation of Hondurans' right to exercise their democratic will.  The illegitimate coup regime merits clear, consistent condemnation from the U.S., not the schizophrenic response seen thus far.  

While the U.S. delays and equivocates, Hondurans are suffering a level of repression not seen since the death squads of the 1980's.  One week after the coup, the military fired 160 rounds of live ammo into a nonviolent crowd, killing a teenager.  Since then, the coup regime has overseen nine politically-motivated murders, countless military attacks on peaceful protesters, the arbitrary arrest of over 1,300 people, and the systematic military occupation and shutdown of most independent media outlets.  (Has this been reported in your local papers?  Send a quick letter to the editor today.)  

Yet, such repression has failed to silence Honduran social movements.  Indeed, those movements are actually gaining strength, according to on-the-ground sources.  Currently thousands of Hondurans from across the country are marching towards Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula (the country's two biggest cities) as part of a nationwide march organized by The National Front of Resistance Against the Coup, a large coalition of Honduras's diverse social movements.  To coincide with the march's culmination tomorrow, the National Front has declared Tuesday a "Global Day of Action for Honduras."  Honduras's social movements are calling on us to act tomorrow in solidarity with their efforts to restore democracy and dignity to their country.  

How can you demonstrate your solidarity?  Here are three ways:

Send a letter to the editor that exposes the violations in Honduras and dispels myths about the coup.  Mainstream media coverage of the coup has been laden with misinformation, while human rights violations have gone largely unreported.  Get the truth out in your community by submitting a quick letter to the editor.  Click here to review our sample letter and easily send it to your local papers.  

Join us on a delegation to Honduras.  From September 5-12, we will go to Honduras to bear witness to the alarming human rights situation, show international solidarity with the Honduran social movements, and push the U.S. government to fully revoke support for the coup-plotters.  A few spots are still open for this unique delegation.  To sign up or get more information, please contact Ken Crowley: ken at witnessforpeace.org, 773-564-9535, 202-423-3402.

Ask your representative to condemn the coup.  House Resolution 630, currently with 44 cosponsors, echoes the resounding demands of thousands of Hondurans, the international community, and organizations like Witness for Peace: that President Zelaya be immediately reinstated as Honduras's legitimate leader.  Ask your rep to cosponsor this resolution--click here for more info and a suggestion of what to say when you call your representative. 
Thanks in advance for acting at this critical moment to support Hondurans' demands for democracy. 

Adelante,
Ben Beachy
National Grassroots Organizer

Witness for Peace 
3628 12th Street NE. 1st Fl.,
Washington, DC 20017 
202.547.6112 - 202.536.4708
witness at witnessforpeace.org
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