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<b style=""><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Emergency
Resolution on the Current
Crisis in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Honduras</st1:place></st1:country-region>
– S.F. Labor Council<o:p></o:p></span></b>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Whereas,
following the June 28, 2009 military coup in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Honduras</st1:country-region>,
the San Francisco Labor Council and AFL-CIO National Convention both
passed
resolutions in September demanding immediate reinstatement of President
Manuel
Zelaya, restoration of all labor and democratic rights, and an
immediate halt
to all <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
aid to the coup government. The Honduran labor movement is at the heart
of the
National Resistance to the coup; and </span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Whereas, since
that time President Zelaya is still taking refuge in the Brazilian
Embassy; the
Honduran people led by the National Resistance Front against the Coup
continue
to mount massive daily demonstrations against the coup regime; and the
coup
government continues to deploy the U.S.-trained army and police in an
attempt
to suppress the popular will and prevent the exercise of democratic
rights; and<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Whereas, a U.S.-brokered
deal [the Tegucigalpa/San Jose Accords] to reinstate President Zelaya
by
November 5th – in preparation for the Nov. 29th elections – has
unraveled. Nov.
5th came and went and the coup regime refused to restore Zelaya to the
Presidency. As a result President Zelaya, denouncing the “bad faith” of
the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
government,
said the Tegucigalpa/San Jose Accords were “a dead letter”. The
National Resistance
Front confirmed it could not participate in nor recognize the
legitimacy of the
Nov. 29th elections under these conditions; and<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Whereas, mass
tear-gassing and beating of protesters has continued. There is a total
lack of
political space for opposition candidates to campaign and for the
expression of
any dissident political opinion. Under the current coup regime,
conditions for
free, fair and open elections are non-existent; and<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Whereas, the National
Resistance Front has denounced the Nov. 29th elections as a scheme by
“the de
facto regime that is repressing the people and violating the civil and
human
rights of its citizens, with the goal of validating the dictatorship of
the
oligarchy.” It said that participating in such an electoral exercise
“would
give legitimacy to the coup regime or its successor.” The Front also
stressed
that “our stance in opposition to the electoral farce will remain firm
even if
President Zelaya is reinstated between now and Nov. 29th, since 20 days
or less
is too short a time to dismantle an electoral fraud many months in the
making,”
and since there is no time for opposition candidates to mount a
campaign. <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<b style=""><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Therefore be
it resolved</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">,
that the San Francisco Labor Council stands
in solidarity with the heroic people of Honduras as they resist the
savage
repression of a military dictatorship, and fight to win real democracy
and
sovereignty for their country; <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<b style=""><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And be it
further resolved</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">,
that the Council send official letters
to Congressional representatives and President Obama demanding that the
<st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> government take
strong measures against the
repressive coup government in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Honduras</st1:place></st1:country-region>
– and whatever government may succeed it as a result of the “electoral
farce”
scheduled for Nov. 29th. These measures should include: 1) Immediately
break
off all political and economic ties with the coup government; 2) Recall
the US
ambassador; 3) Establish an economic embargo on all trade and aid to
Honduras;
4) Freeze the U.S. bank accounts of the coup plotters and deny them
visas for U.S.
travel; 5) Shut down U.S. military bases in Honduras; <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<b style=""><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And be it
further resolved</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">,
that the Council demand that the U.S. denounce
and refuse to recognize the results of the Nov. 29th elections or any
electoral
process organized under the repressive coup regime; <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<b style=""><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And be it
finally resolved</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">,
that the Council make common cause with
other labor and community organizations, to develop a reliable support
network
for the National Resistance Front against the Coup, and for the labor
unions
that are at the center of the Resistance movement in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Honduras</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<b style=""><i style=""><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Georgia","serif";">[Adopted
Nov. 23, 2009 by unanimous vote of the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City> Labor Council.]</span></i></b><b
style=""><i style=""><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b>
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