From sreyes1 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 9 19:03:03 2010 From: sreyes1 at yahoo.com (Sergio Reyes) Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 19:03:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HNA] 9/11 - 7pm The Bolivian Constitution - E5 Message-ID: <452656.56114.qm@web38901.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Sergio Reyes on Latin America's New Constitutions Saturday, September 11, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Encuentro 5, 33 Harrison Ave. 5th Floor, Boston Join Sergio Reyes of the Boston May Day Committee and Latin at s for Social Change for a survey of the radical changes and advances in Latin American constitutional development. Using his firsthand impressions of the process in Bolivia and a textual analysis of the new constitution of the Plurinational Republic of Bolivia, Reyes will provide his assessment and lead the conversation. The Venezuelan Consul, Omar Sierra, will speak about the Venezuelan Constitution. Sponsored by the Boston May Day Committee. Here's Wikipedia's (8/20/10) summary of the new constitution: "The current Constitution of Bolivia is the 17th constitution in the country's history; previous constitutions were enacted in 1826, 1831, 1834, 1839, 1843, 1851, 1861, 1868, 1871, 1878, 1880, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1961 and 1967. It came into effect on February 7, 2009, when it was promulgated by President Evo Morales after being approved in a referendum with 90.24% participation. The referendum was held on January 25, 2009, and the constitution was approved by 61.43% of voters. The 2009 Constitution defines Bolivia as a unitary plurinational, and secular (rather than a Catholic, as before) state. It calls for a mixed economy of state, private, and communal ownership; restricts private land ownership to a maximum of 5,000 hectares (12,400 acres); authorizes a variety of autonomies at the local and departmental level. It elevates the electoral authorities, to become a fourth constitutional power; introduces the possibility of recall elections for all elected officials; and enlarges the Senate. Members of the enlarged National Congress will be elected by first past the post voting in the future, in a change from the previous mixed member proportional system. The judiciary is reformed, and judges will be elected in the future and no longer appointed by the National Congress. It declares natural resources to be the exclusive dominion of the Bolivian people, administered by the state. Sucre will be acknowledged as Bolivia's capital, but the institutions will remain where they are (executive and legislative in La Paz, judiciary in Sucre). The electoral authorities will be situated in Sucre." ---------------------------------------------- Sign the on-line petitions demanding that the U.S. sign the UN Convention on Migrant Workers Rights http://www.bostonmayday.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vinniechops at hotmail.com Sun Sep 12 08:22:31 2010 From: vinniechops at hotmail.com (Brian O'Connell) Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2010 11:22:31 -0400 Subject: [HNA] FW: Military Coups, Mining & Canadian Involvement in Honduras In-Reply-To: <1103676049071.1103480765269.947.1.41133501@scheduler> References: <1103676049071.1103480765269.947.1.41133501@scheduler> Message-ID: Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:36:56 -0400 From: info at rightsaction.org To: vinniechops at hotmail.com Subject: Military Coups, Mining & Canadian Involvement in Honduras Having trouble viewing this email? Click here ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rights ActionMILITARY COUPS, MINING & CANADIAN INVOLVEMENT in HONDURAS September 10, 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MILITARY COUPS, MINING & CANADIAN INVOLVEMENT BELOW: * Article, with photos, by Karen Spring, in Honduras (& Grahame Russell) * Contact info: Cdn gov't and officials To support & get involved: see below * Join our listserv: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1103480765269 * Please redistribute this information Thank-you. Annie Bird, annie at rightsaction.org; Grahame Russell, info at rightsaction.org; Karen Spring, spring.kj at gmail.com * * * MILITARY COUPS, MINING & CANADIAN INVOLVEMENT By Karen Spring (with Grahame Russell), September 2010 Since the June 28, 2009, military coup in Honduras, Rights Action has supported and worked with the Honduran people's pro-democracy, anti-coup regime movement. This widespread people's movement is unique in Honduran history and is one more inspiring 'struggle of the Americas', as people work to end the impunity of and exploitation by minority elites, and to re-found their nations and societies by establishing real democracy and rule of law from below. Since military ouster of the government of President Zelaya, and 15 months a widespread repression, we have also denounced how and why the governments of the USA and Canada have been the main supporters and backers of the coup itself and, since then, the post-coup regime of "President" Pepe Lobo. A direct way of understanding why Canada has thrown democracy and human rights down the toilet is to view Honduras through the lens of Canadian mining interests. C.E.O. OF AURA MINERALS Inc. VISITS HONDURAS WITH CANADIAN AMBASSADOR In April 2010, Rights Action reported that the President of Aura Minerals Inc, Patrick Downey, and other mining and corporate investors accompanied Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder on an official government visit to Honduras in February 2010, to 'encourage' the Honduran government to approve a new mining law that favours the interests of mining companies (http://www.rightsaction.org/Alerts/Good_investment_040810.html). Canada is proceeding with "business as usual" in Honduras, even as Canadian government officials and politicians receive - from Rights Action and many other groups - a steady stream of reports on on-going State-sponsored repression in Honduras. Repression is being widely used to keep in place an undemocratic regime and an unjust economic model that favours global investors and corporate interests, such as the mining industry. In August, Karen Spring visited the "San Andres Mine" in Honduras owned by Aura Minerals. Standing at the edge of a huge 250 meter-deep crater left behind by 3 Canadian mining companies, one gets a glimpse of the serious harms and destruction that the San Andres Mine has caused, and continues to cause in the municipality of La Uni?n, department of Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras. (All photos: Karen Spring) Since the mid-1990s, the San Andres Mine has passed hands 3 times, from Greenstone Resources to Yamana Gold and finally to Aura Minerals Inc. in August 2009. The CPP (Canada Pension Plan) is an investor in both Yamana Gold and Aura Minerales (http://www.cppib.ca/files/PDF/q4_10_cdn_re_holdings.pdf). The mining-harmed communities of the La Union municipality claim that along with selling the mine from one company to another, the companies pass the problems along that they created, in order to avoid being held criminally and/or civilly accountable. Harms and violations documented over the years include: environmental contamination from cyanide spills and related health harms, forced relocations, unfulfilled promises to the communities, disappearing villages and on-going social tensions between community members. GHOST VILLAGES In the region around the mine, four communities are directly affected by Aura Minerals operations. The property line of the community of San Miguel lies 125 meters from the sprinklers that spray cyanide solution onto the rock. Less than 125 metres from San Miguel homes, a sprinkler system sprays cyanide solution over crushed rock, the leaching process by which the gold is separated from the rock. Although roughly 40 houses are still inhabited in San Miguel, the community looks like a ghost town where several run-down and destroyed houses show the slow disappearance of a once fully inhabited community. It is believed that instead of relocating and compensating the people of San Miguel, first Greenstone Resources, then Yamana Gold decided to slowly buy the houses forcing the people to relocate, in hopes of saving money. DESTROYING MEMORIES AND HISTORY The members of the community of San Andres that were relocated by Greenstone Resources in 1994 are still awaiting land settlements and compensation that was promised to them as a condition of their relocation. Their legitimate claims continue to be pushed aside by Aura Minerals. During the relocation from the 'Old' San Andres to the 'New' San Andres, the community was forced to leave behind their deceased love ones in a cemetery that is still being used by the nearby community of Azacualpa. This cemetery, the resting place of hundreds of years of family and community history, is now under threat by Aura Minerals that wants to destroy the cemetery in order to access the gold and silver buried in the mountain where the community's family and loved ones are laid to rest. When visiting the cemetery with community members from the 'New' San Andres, one elderly woman pointed to an unmarked spot on the ground and told me that her grandson was buried there. She also mentioned that people still visit their loved ones there frequently, which was obvious from the presence of fresh flowers on some of the gravesites. Reports from the same community say that the company has already entered the cemetery to remove gravestones and markers, which act as a hindrance to the company's desire to expand. CONTAMINATION REMINISCENT OF GOLDCORP's MINE The San Andres mine consists of 5 cyanide treatment ponds and one so-called "over-flow" pond. It is obvious what is held in these treatment ponds as one gets close and unwillingly sucks in the smell of strong toxic chemicals or cyanide solution used to separate the gold from the rock. All 6 ponds are dangerously located by the banks of the Lara River which runs into the larger Higuito River that provides water for the city of Santa Rosa de Copan, some 47 kilometers from the mining operations. Similar to Goldcorp's practices at the "San Martin" mine in Siria Valley, pipes submerged in the cyanide solution run from the pond, under the dirt road that separates them and appear on the downhill banks leading to the Lara River. But their on-going discharges into the river are not the only chemical dumping that occurs. On two occasions, cyanide spills have occurred in the San Andres Mine. One in January 2003, under Greenstone Resources and second in March 2009, months before Yamana Gold sold their operation to Aura Minerals Inc. In both spills, community members founds thousands of dead fish, killed from the toxic chemicals which will remain in the water and land years after the mine shuts down. A CANADIAN PROBLEM Given the utter lack of democracy and rule of law in Honduras and the widespread repression and corruption, it is not surprising that communities harmed by mining - Aura Mineral's San Andres mine, Goldcorp's San Martin mine - have no recourse in their own country, beyond very risky community organizing, education and denunciation work that Rights Action, and other international solidarity and human rights groups, are doing our best to support. Yet, if pressure is not brought to bear in Canada on government policy makers, investors (such as the CPP), and company shareholders, then Canadian mining companies will continue to operate their profitable and harmful mines with impunity. * * * WHAT TO DO? (info at rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org) FALL 2010 SPEAKERS: Contact us to plan educational presentations in your community, school, place of worship, home, about the tireless and courageous Honduras pro-democracy movement. EDUCATIONAL DELEGATIONS TO CENTRAL AMERICA: Form your own group and/ or join one of our educational delegation-seminars to learn first hand about community development, human rights and environmental struggles. TO MAKE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS ... for community based groups in the pro-democracy movement, make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to: UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887 CANADA: 552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8 CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm STOCK DONATIONS: info at rightsaction.org Rights Action is a not-for-profit organization ... with tax charitable status in the USA and Canada. Since 1995, Rights Action has been funding and working to eliminate poverty and the underlying causes of poverty. Rights Action funds and works with community-based development, environmental, disaster relief and human rights projects and organizations in Guatemala and Honduras, as well as in Chiapas [Mexico], El Salvador and Haiti. Rights Action educates about and is involved in other work aimed at critically understanding unjust north-south relations and global development, environmental and human rights issues and the challenges of poverty eradication. & ... DON'T STOP WRITING TO YOUR OWN POLITICIANS & GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS Governor General of Canada Micha?lle Jean Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1A-0A1 info at gg.ca, (613) 993-8200, 800 465-6890 Duncan Mousseau, Director, Policy, Planning and Correspondence Office of the Secretary to the Governor General DMousseau at GG.CA Prime Minister Stephen Harper, harpes at parl.gc.ca Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon 509-S Centre Block, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6 cannol at parl.gc.ca Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) Peter Kent 125 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G2 (613) 992-0253, kent.p at parl.gc.ca Gilles Duceppe, leader, Bloc Quebecois 1200 Papineau Av, #350, Montreal, QC, H2K 4R5 ducepg at parl.gc.ca Jack Layton, leader, New Democratic Party 221 Broadview Ave, Suite 100, Toronto, ON, MM 2G3 laytoj at parl.gc.ca Elizabeth May, leader, Green Party Saanich Gulf Islands EDA, PO Box 20076, Sidney, BC, V8L 5C9 emaytowin at greenparty.ca Michael Ignatieff, leader, Liberal Party 656 The Queensway, Etobicoke, ON, M8Y 1K7 ignatm at parl.gc.ca Mr. Peter Julian & Mr. Henri Sader, NDP International Trade Critic, Rm 178, Confederation Bldg., Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 julian.p at parl.gc.ca John McKay, liberal, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (613) 992-1447, MckayJ at parl.gc.ca, 613-947-4609 Kevin Sorenson, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, Room 518, Justice Building, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 (613) 947-4608, SorenK at parl.gc.ca, 613-992-2971 Mr. Dean Allison, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairperson, 4994 King Street, Beamsville, Ontario, L0R 1B0 allison.d at parl.gc.ca, 905-995-2772 CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC CANADIAN Embassy in Costa Rica (responsible for Honduras, as well) Ambassador Neil Reeder (506) 2242-4400, (506) 2242-4411 - Political, sjcra at international.gc.ca Honduras Office of the Canadian Embassy Centro Financiero Banexpo - Tercer Piso Boulevard San Juan Bosco, Colonia Payaqu? Tegucigalpa, Honduras (504) 232-4551; tglpa at international.gc.ca * * * Forward email This email was sent to vinniechops at hotmail.com by info at rightsaction.org. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe? | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Rights ACtion | Box 50887 | Washington | DC | 20091 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vinniechops at hotmail.com Tue Sep 14 08:10:41 2010 From: vinniechops at hotmail.com (Brian O'Connell) Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:10:41 -0400 Subject: [HNA] OVER 1, 260, 000 HONDURANS DEMAND NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY & REFOUNDATION OF HONDURAS In-Reply-To: <1103687099582.1103480765269.947.1.25110001@scheduler> References: <1103687099582.1103480765269.947.1.25110001@scheduler> Message-ID: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rights Action OVER 1,260,000 HONDURANS DEMAND NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY & REFOUNDATION OF HONDURASSeptember 14, 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ September 14, 2010 OVER 1,260,000 HONDURANS DEMAND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY & THE REFOUNDATION OF HONDURAS BELOW: Article by Karen Spring, in Honduras * To support & get involved: see below * Join our listserv: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1103480765269 * Please redistribute this information Thank-you, ... Annie Bird, annie at rightsaction.org; Grahame Russell, info at rightsaction.org; Karen Spring, spring.kj at gmail.com * * * OVER 1,260,000 HONDURANS DEMAND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY & THE REFOUNDATION OF HONDURAS By Karen Spring, Rights Action, September 14, 2010 The incredible pro-democracy resistance movement (known as the National Front of Popular Resistance-FNRP) has collected 1,269,142 million signatures (and counting) demanding a National Constituent Assembly (NCA) that will mark an important step in their struggle towards the refoundation of their society and their country. In the last 5 months, volunteers from all the various groups and organizations that come together under the name of the FNRP, have gone to villages, departments, neighbourhoods, cities, parks and door-to-door all over country to educate the Honduran people about the NCA and to collect the signatures. (A gathering in La Esperanza, Honduras in March 2010 organized by COPINH called the 'Refoundation of Honduras' where various organizations and individuals, including the FNRP participated in a mock Constituent National Assembly. This event is one of the many carried out to help educate and prepare Hondurans for the Assembly that they are working to form.) Despite widespread repression, murders and torturing by death squads of resistance members, day-to-day the collection occurred. Given the severe repression, the FNRP reports that many were reluctant to give their signature for fear that they would later be identified and then threatened or killed for participating in the process. Along with many other organizations, the indigenous and campesino organization COPINH (Counsel of Indigenous and Popular Organization of Honduras) was part of this process, collecting thousands of signatures in the four western departments where they work, during community workshops, gatherings, assemblies and other "places of struggle." COPINH reports that their efforts in the collection are "a tribute to the martyrs of the Honduran society in the struggle for the refoundation of Honduras." COPINH also denounced that it was not an easy mission as many of the volunteer members of the organization were detained, repressed, threatened and jailed during the process. At one point, police even tried to confiscate papers containing signatures that COPINH had collected. TAKING MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS The very day President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown on Sunday, June 28, 2009, Hondurans were going to participate in a non-binding, national opinion poll as to whether they supported including a question on the ballot, during the November 2009 elections, concerning the formal establishment of a National Constituent Assembly. Along with electing their president, congressman and mayor, people would have indicated - in a 4th ballot - whether or not they were in favour of a National Constituent Assembly. The opinion poll and the hopes and rights of the Honduran people were crushed that day by the military coup, an attempt by the oligarchy to stop a process that would challenge their power and position in Honduran society. Recognizing that the Congress and Supreme Court, the oligarchy and the two dominant political parties would never permit nor support a process that would give the majority of Honduras a voice in the political, social and economic processes of the country, the FNRP announced their commitment to the campaign and began to gather signatures to demand the Assembly in July 2010. NOT JUST ANY INDEPENDENCE DAY IN HONDURAS In Honduras, Wednesday, 15th of September will not just be like any Independence Day marked by the typical Central American-wide celebrations with firecrackers, marching bands and parades that will mark 189 years of "independence" from Spain. This Wednesday, the resistance movement will participate in the celebration of the hard work carried out to gather the 1.26 million signatures and the end of the collection campaign. Although it is still to be announced, the FNRP are planning to present the signatures to national and international institutions to continue in their struggle for the Constituent National Assembly. COPINH has proposed that ex-President Zelaya, the elected coordinator of the FNRP, present the signatures to international institutions including the United Nations, ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the People's of the Americas), UNASUR (Union of South American Countries) and SICA (Central American Integration System). Stay tuned; stay involved. The amazing pro-democracy people's movement in Honduras can use all the support they can get as they march resolutely forward. * * * * * * * WHAT TO DO? (info at rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org) MAKE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS for community based groups in the pro-democracy movement. Make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to: UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887 CANADA: 552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8 CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm; STOCK DONATIONS: info at rightsaction.org FALL 2010 SPEAKERS: Contact us to plan educational presentations in your community, school, place of worship, home, about the tireless and courageous Honduras pro-democracy movement. EDUCATIONAL DELEGATIONS TO CENTRAL AMERICA: Form your own group and/ or join one of our educational delegation-seminars to learn first hand about community development, human rights and environmental struggles. Rights Action is a not-for-profit organization ... with tax charitable status in the USA and Canada. Since 1995, Rights Action has been funding and working to eliminate poverty and the underlying causes of poverty. Rights Action funds and works with community-based development, environmental, disaster relief and human rights projects and organizations in Guatemala and Honduras, as well as in Chiapas [Mexico], El Salvador and Haiti. Rights Action educates about and is involved in other work aimed at critically understanding unjust north-south relations and global development, environmental and human rights issues and the challenges of poverty eradication. Forward email This email was sent to vinniechops at hotmail.com by info at rightsaction.org. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe? | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Rights ACtion | Box 50887 | Washington | DC | 20091 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vinniechops at hotmail.com Fri Sep 17 13:31:40 2010 From: vinniechops at hotmail.com (Brian O'Connell) Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:31:40 -0400 Subject: [HNA] HONDURAS-September 15: Resistance & Repression In-Reply-To: <1103695865457.1103480765269.947.1.64133001@scheduler> References: <1103695865457.1103480765269.947.1.64133001@scheduler> Message-ID: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rights ActionHONDURAS - September 15th: Resistance & Repression September 17, 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HONDURAS - SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 - RESISTANCE & REPRESSION: * HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEACEFUL PRO-DEMOCRACY MARCHERS * STATE REPRESSION - ONE MAN (Efrain Lopez) KILLED, MANY WOUNDED (One of the 'abuelas' or grandmothers of the resistance movement (on the left), with Oscar, a child, holding a picture of one of the movement's martyrs, Wendy Elizabeth Avila, who was killed due to overexposure to tear gas fired at her, and other peaceful protesters, in September 2009. The man on the right wears a 'cuarta urna' or fourth ballot t-shirt showing support for the convening of a National Constituent Assembly. In behind, a sign is held up - day 445 of resistance to the military coup regime, since the June 28, 2009 coup. Photo: Karen Spring, September 15, 2010) The isolated, military-backed regime of Honduras (supported almost solely by the USA and Canada) continues to use repression as its daily response to the on-going and amazing people's pro-democracy movement. BELOW: * A series of reports from Honduras about the September 15th Pro-Democracy Marches & About the State Repression * COFADEH's August human rights report * Honduras Human Rights Accompaniment Project * Rights Action's What To Do, How To Support Join/ Unjoin our listserv: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1103480765269 Please redistribute this information Thank-you ... Annie Bird, annie at rightsaction.org / Grahame Russell, info at rightsaction.org / Karen Spring, spring.kj at gmail.com * * * RESISTANCE MARCH IN TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS (by Chuck Kaufman, Alliance for Global Justice, Sept. 15, 2010. chuck at afgj.org) Today, Sept. 15, Central America Independence Day, our US accompaniment delegation to Honduras marched with 50,000 supporters of the National Front for Popular Resistance (FNRP). The FNRP's 2 mile march was far larger than the official government four block march. The Resistance marchers filled much of the 2 mile stretch with marching bands, colorful banners, and militant chants. (Police block road leading to the National Stadium (large blue structure) where the 'golpistas' or coup supporters carry out their independence day celebrations. Photo: Karen Spring) Following the march the Resistance Front released the 1,270,000 signatures they have gathered over the past five months calling for a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution and to return democracy to this country which suffered a US-supported military coup on June 28, 2009, followed by a sham election in which Porfirio Lobo was selected in the hope of legitimizing the coup and returning Honduras to international bodies such as the UN and Organization of American States. There was no international election observation, but the coup government claimed that 1 million Hondurans voted, a claim widely challenged by the Resistance. The FNRP made a decision to gather more signatures than the inflated government vote claim and our delegation had the privilege of witnessing the unveiling of the over 1.2 million names, which unlike, the names of those who allegedly voted in the sham election last year, will be posted to the internet for all to see. Thus the people of Honduras continue to struggle to transform their country. While there was no repression in Tegucigalpa, where our delegation accompanied the march, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras' second largest city, police attacked a concert after the march hospitalizing eight people and killing one. They severely beat the musicians and destroyed all of their instruments. In a few days our delegation heads for San Pedro Sula. The delegation was organized by the Marin Task Force on the Americas, Alliance for Global Justice, and Nonviolence international. * * * VENDOR KILLED IN POLICE/MILITARY ATTACK TODAY By Adrienne Pine (http://www.resistenciahonduras.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1116:vendor-killed-in-policemilitary-attack-today&catid=103:human-rights&Itemid=352) Tegucigalpa, Wednesday 15 September, 2010 -- Mr. Efra?n L?pez, dedicated to the sale of lottery tickets in the central park of San Pedro Sula and who was in the park at the moment when the police attacked the concert and rally of the National People's Resistance Front FNRP, died from teargas shot by the police. The president of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras CODEH, Andr?s Pav?n, confirmed the death of L?pez, in a San Pedro hospital. According to CODEH, at the hospital they did not know what type of antidote to use when they received the patient in urgent condition, because the police does not make public the chemicals that they use in their teargas canisters. The now deceased man had been in the area at the moment of the attack, where he always sold National Lottery tickets, a product of the National Foundation for Childhood PANI. CODEH informed that there are two people hurt with severe injuries who are in hospitals in the city. They also informed that 39 people who had been detained in the police station of the Suncery neighborhood were freed by a judge named by the Appeals Court of San Pedro Sula, following the presentation of a habeas corpus request. That they were freed confirms the fact that their detention was illegal. (Translation by Quotha) * * * SAN PEDRO SULA - AT LEAST ONE PERSON KILLED IN SAVAGE REPRESSION (Summarized and translated from Los Necios and Resistencia, September 15, 2010, by La Voz de los de Abajo, Chicago. vickicervantes at yahoo.com) A march of more than 50,000 was savagely attacked by police and military in San Pedro Sula leaving at least one person dead and others injured. The attack began as the march passed in front of the installations of Radio Uno, a radio station that has been subjected to repression since the coup of June 28, 2009. The military and police broke windows and threw tear gas into the Radio's building while attacking the non-violent marchers, the street vendors, nearby business and people who just happened to be passing by the area. The police used a water canon and massive amounts of tear gas while they brutally beat everyone they could. A number of high school drum and bugle corps were participating in the march and they were attacked and their instruments destroyed. A concert organized as part of the Frente's activities had just begun in the park at the end of the march route was attacked, musicians and the public were beaten and gassed and instruments and equipment stolen or destroyed. Well known musicians - including Mario de Mezapa, Caf? Guancasco, Fredy Melgar - were present when the attack occurred. Troops forced their way into Radio Uno's offices and pulled out Ernesto Bardales; they broke several limbs and some of his teeth in the beating. The police destroyed a statue of President Manuel Zelaya and burnt the flag of the FNRP. There were numerous injuries from the tear gas and beatings and a number of adults and minors were taken to the hospital; least one of the victims had died as of the reports received this evening. * * * COMMUNIQUE FROM THE MUSIC BAND "CAF? GUANCASCO", ABOUT REPRESSION THEY - & THOUSANDS MORE - SUFFERED IN SAN PEDRO SULA (http://www.resistenciahonduras.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1107:official-communique-from-cafe-guancasco&catid=99:official&Itemid=348) To the National People's Resistance Front, human rights organizations, the media, the international community and general population: We write to inform that this September 15 we were brutally attacked by the police and army, while performing at the "What Independence?" concert along with thousands of people in the audience, among them young boys and girls, elderly men and women, and many others who were peacefully enjoying our performance. A little less than 10 minutes after the concert had begun, the repressive agents directly attacked the stage where we were performing, shooting teargas canisters onto the stage and all around the area where the concert was being held. They then sprayed all the audio equipment and the instruments with gas and high-powered water, throwing them from the platform and stealing much of the equipment. A member of our band was brutally beaten in the head and hands; this compa?ero is also a member of the Honduran band Montuca Sound System and had joined us for the tour that was to begin with this concert. Other compa?eros from Caf? Guancasco were seriously injured from the gas and required medical attention. Caf? Guancasco is a musical group that is part of the National People's Resistance Front and on this occasion, together with many other local organizations, we had organized the concert as a gift to the whole Sula Valley. The costs of the damaged equipment reach hundreds of thousands of dollars. The company affected is called Euro Sound and is currently carrying out the estimate of the losses in order to charge Caf? Guancasco, which directly rented the equipment for the activity. We address our message of protest to all the people of the world. We escaped with sick children in our arms, women who had been beaten, injured youths, elderly people who had fainted. In Honduras it is no longer legal to make art, it is no longer legal to publicly side with the people. We send our message of condemnation to the dictatorship of Porfirio Lobo Sosa. Our song is nothing more than a shout of hope for millions of people trying to free their nation, and if this bothers him, he will have to get used to living with the contempt of the people, which we will once again turn into song. * * * COFADEH report for August 2010 August 2010 - Deadly Month for Human Rights in Honduras (translated by: toml at quixote.org) The Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras, COFADEH, emphasizes that the month of August continues to be a period in which those who violate human rights choose to carry out particularly repressive actions -this August, 2010 is no exception. The calendar of human rights demonstrates that this period is deadly. Why have they chosen the month of August? What is the logic? In the decade of the 1980s, this month was tragic and today, in the context of the coup d'?tat, the same occurs. For example, last year, heavy repression was carried out; assassinations of members of the resistance, persecution, imprisonment of dozens of people and the initiation of politically motivated judicial proceedings. Family members of the detained and disappeared of the continent, organized in the Federation of Families of the Detained and Disappeared, FEDEFAM, conducted an analysis of the decade of the 1980s and observed that in all of our countries the forced disappearance of people was being carried out. As a result, August 30 was established as the International Day of the Detained and Disappeared, thanks to the efforts and pressure brought by family members and the Congresses of several nations. In the month of August, the repression and infiltration of marches, assemblies, the seizure of the installations of INPREMA, were some of the strategies to demobilize sectors which had decided to protest. What follows is a partial list of the cases in which diverse forms of repression were used including: political assassinations, torture, persecution, death threats, harassment among others. 1- At the beginning of August, the National Autonomous University of Honduras, UNAH, was converted into a battlefield between students and repressive forces, who beat, gassed, tortured and captured students at the request of university authorities, information which was reconfirmed by Security Minister Oscar Alvarez. 2- Teachers were victims of repression; harassment, threats, aggressions, imprisonment and assassination. Teachers Andr?s Mart?nez; Edgar Soriano; Lu?s Sosa and Carlos Anariva were captured and tortured, and the Public Prosecutor's Office opened a legal suit against them for exercising their right to peaceful protest. Teachers Nelson Milla D?az, N?stor Alem?n, and Juan Ram?n M?rquez were captured and taken to the Transit Police Station where their bodies, bloodied from the beatings, were cleaned up as were those of other teachers. Teachers Dagoberto Espinal, Jos? Mar?a Andino and German de Jes?s Maldonado, were captured and taken to Liberty Plaza, next to the Presidential Palace, where they were illegally detained for hours. 3- Repression against peasants in Puerto Grande, Zacate Grande; the Bajo Agu?n; Uni?n, Cop?n; and Cofrad?a, Cort?s, and all of the actions against them share the common denominator of the use of public forces to protect the interests of powerful landholders and to usurp land from its legitimate owners. 4- The repressive actions of the regime extended to journalists and media outlets that are not supportive of the coup: A campaign of defamation and persecution has been directed against Swedish correspondent in Honduras, Dick Emanuelsson, who has been threatened with being taken to court due to his coverage of activities of the popular resistance. For several days, Rene Rojas, in Santa Rosa de Copan in the western part of the country, has been the victim of repeated attacks ranging from death threats to detention by members of the National Preventative Police assigned to the zone, due to his denunciations of abuses committed by the police against citizens in the region. Detention and threats against journalist Brayan Flores of El Libertador by COBRAS while carrying out journalistic work at the National Teachers Institute (INPREMA). Journalist Eduardo Coto Barnica, of the Radio Uno collective of San Pedro Sula, was illegally and arbitrarily detained by police while carrying out his work as a social communicator during a violent displacement of people in Choloma, Cortez. Journalists Richard Casul? of Canal 36 and Carlos Paz, of Radio Globo, were savagely beaten by police while covering the violent repression against teachers. Journalist Jos? Alem?n of Ocotepeque is the object of harassment by a local Municipal Council official. Radio Uno of San Pedro Sula has been sabotaged and was forced off the air. Transmission cables were cut so that the radio could not transmit. Day before the incident, unknown actors threatened to burn the transmitters. 5- Unknown actors threatened to kill Mr. Heliodoro C?ceres, member of the National Popular Resistance Front in Tela, Atl?ntida, for his efforts in search of his son Oslin C?ceres Obando who was disappeared on June 13 minutes after informing his family that he was surrounded by police. 6- Murders: Murder of Santos Remigio ?vila, member of the National Popular Resistance Front and General Secretary of the National Peasants Association of Honduras (ANACH) in Guaymaca, Francisco Moraz?n. Murder of V?ctor Manuel Mata; Sergio Magdiel Amaya; and youth, Rulbin Marel Villeda (14), on August 17, all members of the San Esteban Cooperative, Bajo Agu?n. Murder of journalist Israel Zelaya, who prior to being murdered had suffered threats for his opposition to the coup. Murder by stabbing of leader in the teachers movement and active member of the FNRP, Lu?s Antonio Hern?ndez, in Sinuapa, Ocotepeque. We denounce the murder of Bessy Pamela Cerrato Banegas, in Yucar?n, El Para?so, who bore machete wounds and signs of torture. She is the daughter of Arminda Banegas , member of the Eighth Section of the Bottling Workers Union, STIBYS, and member of the FNRP. Six months have passed since this criminal act and the Public Prosecutor's Office has not prosecuted those responsible. COFADEH demands that the national and international community take actions that will stop the persecution and political crimes against different sectors of Honduran society who are committed to the struggle for a National Constituent Assembly, through the National Popular Resistance Front. FOR THE ACTS AND THE PERPETRATORS WE WILL NOT FORGET, NOR FORGIVE Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras [COFADEH] September 3, 2010, Tegucigalpa * * * HONDURAS ACCOMPANIMENT PROJECT HISTORY: In the days immediately following the June 29, 2009 coup d'?tat in Honduras, Friendship Office Staff (formerly with the Quixote Center) traveled to Tegucigalpa at the request of Honduran social movement leaders to provide emergency accompaniment and help to assess needs. In the first weeks of the coup, we worked with partners in the Hemispheric Social Alliance to organize International Missions of Accompaniment, Solidarity and Witness to provide a seamless international presence and set up a mechanism for daily communication with the National Coalition against the Coup (prior to establishment of the FRNP) to coordinate efforts and disseminate information in a context of human rights violations, repression and a total news blackout. Then, during a two day gap in July with no International Mission in the country, a bomb exploded in the STIBYS union office used for meetings and a movement leader was violently murdered - 26 stab wounds, every finger broken. The National Coalition against the Coup called with an urgent request to establish a program for permanent accompaniment. In response, we initiated the Honduras Accompaniment Project with a two person team permanently based in Honduras. We sponsor US/Canadian Human Rights Accompaniment Delegations to increase the international presence and help to get information out. We place short term accompaniers to accompany specific individuals/organizations who request and require it and helped to facilitate emergency evacuations when requested. PURPOSE: To accompany the Honduran people, especially the National Front of Popular Resistance in their historic, non-violent, struggle to transform their society by: providing international accompaniment for human rights defenders, communities and social movement leaders working for systemic change in an environment of repression, political persecution and personal risk in the interest of dissuading violence bearing witness to and supporting the documentation of events and human rights abuses providing consistent and accurate information to the international community communicating with international partners regarding emergency response needs on the ground in Honduras CURRENT TEAM: Caitlin Power Hancey is currently based in Honduras with the Accompaniment Project. Caitlin has done accompaniment work in Guatemala and brings that experience to the Honduran context. Jenny Atlee is based in DC and has done accompaniment work for many years in Central America. We are currently in conversation with partners in Honduras regarding accompaniment needs and working to develop a model and build a team that can begin to respond more fully to those needs. We are also in conversation with Coordination for International Accompaniment in Guatemala (CAIG-ACOGUATE) regarding their accompaniment model, collaboration around training for accompaniers and security measures. We will participate in the bi-monthly phone calls of the Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN) and collaborate with Chuck Kaufman regarding the Emergency Response Network (ERN). If you or your organization is interested is interested in doing long-term accompaniment work, or sponsoring a long-term volunteer accompanier, please let us know. At this time (September 2010) and for the next several months, the project is looking for individuals with prior accompaniment-related experience in a related context and a high level of Spanish who can help respond to emergent accompaniment needs while supporting the establishment of the project in Tegucigalpa. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Jennifer Atlee: jennya at friendshipamericas.org, 301-614-0545/301-204-9549 * * * * * * * WHAT TO DO? (info at rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org) TO MAKE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS ... for community based groups in the pro-democracy / anti-military regime movement, make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to: UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887 CANADA: 552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8 CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm STOCK DONATIONS: Contact info at rightsaction.org FALL 2010 SPEAKERS: Contact Rights Action to plan educational presentations in your community, school, place of worship, home, about the tireless and courageous Honduras pro-democracy movement. EDUCATIONAL DELEGATIONS TO CENTRAL AMERICA: Form your own group and/ or join one of our educational delegation-seminars to learn first hand about community development, human rights and environmental struggles. TO JOIN RIGHTS ACTION's LISTSERV: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1103480765269 Forward email This email was sent to vinniechops at hotmail.com by info at rightsaction.org. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe? | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Rights ACtion | Box 50887 | Washington | DC | 20091 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vinniechops at hotmail.com Thu Sep 23 07:20:09 2010 From: vinniechops at hotmail.com (Brian O'Connell) Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:20:09 -0400 Subject: [HNA] FW: TONIGHT: Obama hosts Porfirio Lobo at reception for heads of state In-Reply-To: <258977009.58096799@org2.org2DB.mail.democracyinaction.org> References: <258977009.58096799@org2.org2DB.mail.democracyinaction.org> Message-ID: Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:05:12 -0400 From: noreply at noreply.com To: vinniechops at hotmail.com Subject: TONIGHT: Obama hosts Porfirio Lobo at reception for heads of state Witness for Peace Updates Dear Brian, Tonight Porfirio Lobo is attending a reception for heads of state organized by President Obama in New York City. Lobo's inclusion at the reception paves the way for continued U.S. support for a president who was not democratically elected. Please take a moment to tell President Obama that Porfirio Lobo has no business at tonight's reception by calling 202-456-1111. Our recent delegation to Tegucigalpa and southern Honduras confirmed that human rights conditions have deteriorated since the coup. Under Porfirio Lobo, journalists, labor organizers, women and members of the GLBTQ community have all become targets of state violence. By recognizing Lobo as the Honduran head of state, Obama allows U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund human rights abuses through military aid. As the State Department prepares to vote on reincluding Honduras in the Organization of American States, we must call on Obama to stop treating Lobo as the legitimate president of Honduras. Please call 202-456-1111 this morning to tell the White House that you object to Obama's tacit acceptance of Lobo and his administration's continued funding of the repressive Honduran military. Thank you for taking action! In solidarity, Galen Cohee Baynes, Christine Goffredo and Brooke Denmark Witness for Peace International Team, Nicargua P.S. Leave a comment on our Facebook page to let us know you took action! Witness for Peace 3628 12th Street NE. 1st Fl., Washington, DC 20017 202.547.6112 - 202.536.4708 witness at witnessforpeace.org If this was forwarded to you, visit http://www.witnessforpeace.org/subscribe to subscribe. Visit http://www.witnessforpeace.org/unsubscribe to unsubscribe. To update your preferences or contact information, go to: http://www.witnessforpeace.org/profile -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From toml at friendshipamericas.org Fri Sep 24 15:33:52 2010 From: toml at friendshipamericas.org (Tom Loudon) Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2010 16:33:52 -0600 Subject: [HNA] Fwd: [Presente-Honduras] Dear Colleague letter, op ed Message-ID: <4C9D2750.3010901@friendshipamericas.org> Folks: Rep. Sam Farr, from California (my district) just sent out a Dear Colleague letter asking for a cutoff of aid to Honduras, and an end to pressure on the OAH. It's great. We have until Oct. 7 to get as many signers-on as possible. Please beat the bushes as much as you can, and broaden your list of Congressmembers to contact, so we can get the numbers up even more this time. Also here's a link to an op ed I just published on the Huffington Post. Feel free to use it to update people, and summarize the key latest developments. Dana Frank danafrank at ucsc.edu http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-frank/repressions-reward-in-hon_b_738620.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* e-Dear Colleague *Sent:* Friday, September 24, 2010 5:11 PM *To:* Hanson, Marc *Subject:* ForeignAffairs: Dear Colleague: Support Democracy in Honduras *Support Democracy in Honduras* *From: The Honorable Sam Farr Sent By: marc.hanson at mail.house.gov Date: 9/24/2010* Ever since the Micheletti coup d??tat disrupted Honduran democracy on June 28, 2009, freedom of political expression, free speech and human rights have been under constant assault. Please co-sign the below letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The letter calls attention to the more atrocious violations of human rights and incidents of politically motivated violence. The letter calls on the Obama Administration to curtail assistance to the Lobo government until it protects the rights of all Hondurans, not just political supporters, and remove people who participated in the coup d??tat from the leadership of government corporations. The letter will close October 7. To sign on, contact marc.hanson at mail.house.gov . Sept. X, 2010 Dear Secretary Clinton, We are encouraged to see that the U.S. government has acknowledged the gravity of the political and human rights situation in Honduras. The August 4^th trip by senior State Department official Maria Otero to review the state human rights and democratic governance under Honduran President Porfirio Lobo demonstrates a new assertiveness by the Obama Administration to observe and protect political and human rights in the Western Hemisphere. We believeU.S. assistance should be suspended until the government of Porfirio Lobo distances itself from individuals involved in the June 28^th military coup d?etat and adequately addresses the ongoing human and political rights violations. We have received credible reports from Honduran human rights organizations that abuses continue with near impunity. Members of the human rights community and select political operatives continue to be attacked and intimidated. The Honduran Committee of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared (COFADEH), a highly esteem human rights organization, reports assassinations, arbitrary arrests, beatings and death threats targeting political activists and the human rights workers who attempt to protect them. COFADEH described August as a ?black? month for human rights and has documented a disturbing number of incidents that have taken place in recent weeks. Since the beginning of August, at least six individuals identified with the opposition movement against the Lobo Administration have been murdered, including several rural activists, a teacher union leader and a journalist. Several journalists known for their criticism of the coup d?etat have been arbitrarily detained or suffered physical attacks. An opposition radio station ? Radio Uno of San Pedro Sula ? was forced off the air and its transmission cables were cut. The Honduran authorities have failed to investigate and prosecute dozens of other murders and violent attacks against pro-democratic political activists since the June 28^th, coup d?etat. The victims and their families have been left vulnerable with no access to justice. There is serious concern that the rule of law is directly threatened by members of the Honduran police and armed forces. On the weekend of September 17, a leader in the Social Security labor union, Juana Bustillo, was assassinated while riding in a car with the union's president Hector Escoto, who was hospitalized. Earlier in September, four peasants were murdered in the Aguan region ? home to a land conflict where landless peasants are attempting to secure plots to build homes. In the first incident, three people were killed, allegedly by private security guards of Miguel Facuss? Barj?m -- one of Honduras? largest landowners. In the second incident, Francisco Miranda, a leader among landless peasants, was shot several times by unknown men while running errands on his bicycle. The newspaper La Tribuna, owned by Facuss?'s nephew, reported the killing was part of a dispute internal to the landless peasants? organization. On many occasions, Honduran authorities have summarily dismissed the attacks against political activists, human rights defenders and journalists as a symptom of criminality linked to drug trafficking and organized crime. Crime is a problem; however, since the June 28^th coup, there has been a distinct pattern of political violence that merits a strong U.S. response. It is our expectation that the Obama Administration will advance justice by urging the Lobo Administration to recognize the undeniable political character of many of the attacks against activists and journalists. A strong democracy provides security to those who participate peacefully in political process; lack of security demonstrates deficiencies in Honduran democracy. Tragically, since the August 4^th visit of Undersecretary of State Maria Otera, Honduras has not advanced human rights or political freedoms. Until the government of Honduras makes sustained progress in improving its deplorable human rights record, we believe it is inappropriate to provide direct assistance to Honduran authorities, particularly the police or military. We also urge the Obama Administration to refrain from supporting the immediate re-entry of Honduras in the Organization of American States. The Obama Administration does a great disservice to democracy and human rights across the Western Hemisphere by making an exception for Honduras, while the Lobo Administration continues to include perpetrators of the June 28^th coup d?etat and fails to prosecute politically motivated crimes. Sincerely, ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Visit the e-Dear Colleague Service to manage your subscription to the available Issue and Party list(s). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From vinniechops at hotmail.com Tue Sep 28 13:57:14 2010 From: vinniechops at hotmail.com (Brian O'Connell) Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:57:14 -0400 Subject: [HNA] Honduran Regime Targets Musicians In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: This is a video about a pro-democracy band in Honduras called Cafe Guancasco who had their concert attacked by the police recently. As in, tear gas and water cannons being aimed directly at the stage, the band, and all their gear. I'm sure all their gear, which is not cheap, was destroyed. Musicians, supporters of free speech, and social justice activists everywhere should stand with them. This is a good reminder about how much room we have to work with here in the states. http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=5663&updaterx=2010-09-27+15%3A04%3A22 Brian O?Connell (617) 947-8983 vinniechops at hotmail.com "The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling--their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We be many and they be few. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." - Arundhati Roy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: