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Hondurese politie weigert repressie

Eindelijk goed nieuws uit Honduras, waar een volksopstand is uitgebroken omdat de verkiezingen met behulp van de VS doorgestoken kaart bleken te zijn en de linkse kandidaat ‘verloor’. Politie weigert nu de straat op te gaan om demonstranten te belagen.

7 min leestijd

(Foto Joe Catron flickr/cc Solidariteitsdemonstratie in New York)

Zie hier een eerder bericht over de crisis in Honduras

Verschillende ‘serieuze media’ hebben maandag bericht dat belangrijke eenheden van de Hondurese politie (met name de beruchte Cobras) bekend hebben gemaakt dat ze niet langer op zullen treden tegen demonstranten zolang niet duidelijk is wie de werkelijke winnaar van de verkiezingen is.

Zo schrijft The Guardian van 5 december: Honduras: police refuse to obey government as post-election chaos deepens

All national police – including elite US-trained units – in the capital, Tegucigalpa, would refuse to enforce a curfew ordered by the government after days of deadly violence triggered by allegations of electoral fraud, a spokesman said on Monday night.

(Zie voor achtergrond truthdig: Is the Honduran Election Being Stolen Eight Years After US-backed Coup? van 30 nov.)

De Mexicaanse krant La Jornada meldt (al op 4 december) dat de politie in z’n geheel in staking is gegaan.

“We zijn geen machines of robots, verklaarde een agent van de Cobras, en we gaan ons niet op straat laten doodschieten of het volk onderdrukken” (“Nosotros no somos máquinas ni robots y no estaremos exponiéndonos a que nos maten en las calles y a reprimir al pueblo”, dijo un agente de las fuerzas especiales Cobra, Tigres y Antimotines de la Policía de Honduras, al comenzar los uniformados una huelga de “brazos caídos” en rechazo a la crisis política que se vive en el país y en protesta a la falta de pago de sus salarios.”)

Zie ook op Common Dreams: We Don’t Want To repress.

SOAW Watch, een actiegroep uit de VS, meldt in een nieuwsbrief dat de politie-eenheden weggegaan zijn bij de protesten waar ze aan het ‘werk’ waren en zich teruggetrokken hebben naar hun kazerne, waar zich nu een grote menigte voor verzameld heeft.

Het is natuurlijk niet gezegd dat de notoire corrupte politiekrachten weer gewoon hun ‘werk’ gaan doen als de verkeizingsuitslag formeel gemaakt wordt. De druk op ze zal in ieder geval groot zijn. Maar voorlopig is het goed nieuws!

(De hele nieuwsbrief staat hieronder afgedrukt, met aan het eind tips/oproepen voor solidariteitsacties)

Yesterday was a remarkable day in Honduras.  The COBRAS, an elite police force, and basic level police officers of the National Police announced they would no longer obey the government’s order to repress the protests and mobilizations taking place all across Honduras.  ’We are the people and we can’t be killing our own people to protect the interests of external persons,’ announced one of the Cobras.  Another Cobra stated, ‘our job is to give peace and security to the Honduran people, not repress them.’  This incredible turn of events comes after violent repression of the massive protests, including numerous murders of protesters by the Military Police and the Armed Forces. 

In a tremendous show of integrity, the Cobras and police officers abandoned the protests where they had been sent to repress and returned to their barracks. A huge crowd gathered outside the Cobras in Tegucigalpa, sharing food and water with the police officers arriving there, and celebrating those who have the dignity to refuse to attack their own people for demanding a basic tenet of democracy be respected: the popular vote. 

Earlier in the day, the Coordinator of the Alliance in Opposition to the Dictatorship, Mel Zelaya, presented slides of vote tally sheets altered by the election authorities to give more votes to the current President Juan Orlando Hernandez and take votes away from the Opposition Alliance candidate Salvador Nasralla.  Each party receives tally sheets from each voting station and so the Opposition Alliance was able to compare their tally sheets with those posted by the electoral authorities and found that the electoral authorities had frequently altered the results, even creating new tally sheets to increase the number of votes for Juan Orlando Hernandez (JOH as he is called) and reduce those of the Opposition Alliance.  The Liberal Party, which came in third place, is also willing to provide its copies of the tally sheets for comparison.  Salvador Nasralla declared he was requesting a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States to present the vote tally sheets.  The Opposition Alliance’s findings suggest a major fraud operation by the electoral authorities, who are firmly aligned with US-backed President Juan Orlando Hernandez, to try to thwart a massive popular vote that roundly rejected his re-election effort. 

People in Honduras continue in the streets demanding an end to the fraud and the dictatorship of Juan Orlando Hernandez, who has consolidated power throughout the past 8 years following the SOA-graduate led 2009 coup, and ran for re-election despite the Constitutional prohibition against re-election.  Last night, once again people throughout the country chanted ‘Fuera JOH’ (get out JOH) and banged pots and pans throughout the night in a show of resistance to the curfew and suspension of constitutional guarantees.  Hernandez, whose regime continues to be financed by the United States despite the massively violent crackdown on protesters, is trying desperately to maintain his grip on power despite widespread popular rejection. 

The Platform of Popular and Social Movements of Honduras is now demanding the immediate resignation of Juan Orlando Hernandez and thousands upon thousands continue in the streets today.  The momentum is clearly on the side of the Honduran people and the fraud is becoming too obvious to deny.  As Hernandez tries to maintain power, will the US continue propping him up?  Or will it finally acknowledge how corrupt and repressive his regime is and let the Honduran people decide their own future?    

Take action in solidarity with the people of Honduras TODAY.  The United States has financed and propped up the Juan Orlando Hernandez regime for far too long and bears responsibility for the murders of those who are simply demanding that the official election results reflect how people actually voted.  Here are several ways to take action:  

1. Call the State Department Honduras Desk at 202-647-3505 TODAY and demand the State Department publicly denounce fraud and repression in Honduras and request that the US not recognize the outcome of the elections until there is a transparent process that meets the demands of the Opposition Alliance. (*Note: This is the number published in the Directory of the Department of State. If the operator tells you that it is a wrong number, please ask the operator to share the Honduras Desk’s phone number)  Sample message: ‘My name is ______, and I am calling to urge the State Department to speak out against election fraud and violent repression in Honduras. I am extremely upset that people protesting against fraud have been murdered by the US financed security forces and urge the State Department to suspend US aid to Honduras as well as condemn the violence by state security forces and the massive irregularities in the election results.  The US should not recognize the outcome of the elections unless there is a transparent process that satisfies the demands of the Opposition Alliance with regards to transparency and review of votes, especially in areas where there appears to be inflated vote turnout.’  

2. Tweet at the State Department or post on their facebook page: Call on the US to denounce fraud and violent repression following the elections in Honduras, demand the immediate suspension of aid to Honduras, and demand accountability for the US financing of repression and murder in Honduras.  Twitter: @StateDept, @WHAAsstSecty@WHASpeaks, @USAmbHonduras.  Facebook: @usdos

3. Organize or attend a protest, action, or vigil in solidarity with the people of Honduras.  Contact us for more ideas or to connect with others in your area.  

4. Finally, keep on e-mailing and calling your Representative and Senators urging them to support the suspension of US security aid to Honduras and to speak out against election fraud and repression by the US-financed security forces in Honduras.  If your Representative hasn’t already done so, ask him/her to co-sponsor HR 1299, the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act.  

In solidarity,  

SOA Watch