[HNA] letter from Committee published in the Nation

[Simon Rios]

 *¡Viva Honduras!* *Nashua, N.H.*

In "Battle for Honduras--and the
Region<http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090831/grandin>"
[Aug. 31/Sept. 7], Greg Grandin free-falls into the booby trap of top-down
coverage by giving voice solely to the Michelettis, Clintons, Zelayas and
Otto Reichs of this conflict--albeit with an anti-imperialist's pen.
Grandin's single mention of the Honduran resistance comes as an afterthought
and does not capture the vibrant, massive, multidimensional cultural
uprising on the day the rightful president was ousted.

I flew to Tegucigalpa with a human rights delegation after the coup, where
we witnessed the burgeoning of a movement of hundreds of thousands of *
hondurenos*, which continues to this day. The resistance manifests itself in
community journalism, acts of civil disobedience, mass demonstrations and
countless gestures of solidarity on top of artistic expressions, so central
to Latin American liberation movements. Grandin rightly points out the
threat of the coup to the stability of the region. If we oppose it, we must
support the resistance: as witnesses, financiers and organizers. We've
formed the Committee in Solidarity With the Honduran Resistance and have
organized activities, pickets, demonstrations and cultural nights--with the
intent of raising awareness of the coup and funds for the folks in the
streets. The IMF has bucked the international community by extending a $164
million loan to the illegal regime (which dwarfs the $3,000 our committee
has raised). Our work will continue until constitutional order is restored.
¡Viva Honduras!

Send donations to the National Front Against the Coup at: Proyecto
Hondureno/CESREH, Box 6095, Chelsea, MA 02150.

SIMON RIOS

------------------------------

 *Grandin Replies*

*New York City*

I agree with Simon Rios that heroic resistance on the part of unionists,
progressive church people, peasants, students and gay, lesbian and women's
rights activists has been more effective in preventing the consolidation of
the coup in Honduras than has international pressure. Their actions--which
include a call to boycott scheduled November 29 presidential elections--have
finally forced Washington to join the rest of Latin America and announce
that it will not recognize the result of that vote. The Honduran regime is
desperate, threatening to prosecute anyone who abstains from casting a
ballot (voting is technically mandatory in Honduras, but in the past it was
not enforced). Also disturbing is that the coup government has just revoked
the citizenship of Catholic priest Andres Tamayo, whom *Nation* readers may
know as a 2005 Goldman Environmental Prize recipient. Born in El Salvador,
Tamayo is a naturalized Honduran who has been in the country since 1983,
working with peasants in their fight to defend their land against commercial
logging. The coup government justifies the revocation of citizenship on the
grounds that the priest has supported the election boycott and has
participated in protests demanding the restoration of democracy.

GREG GRANDIN


-- 
Simon Rios
(603) 233-1922
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