Solidarity with the Honduran Members of La Vía Campesina and with the People of Honduras
Solidarity with the Honduran Members of La Vía Campesina and with the People of Honduras
Media Contacts below
For
the past few months the grassroots organizations of Honduras, together
with president Manuel Zelaya Rosales, have been promoting and preparing
for a national consultation of public opinion on possible
constitutional reforms, to be carried out on June 28, 2009.
At 5 am
this morning the armed forces of Honduras executed a surprise Coup
d'Etat against President Zelaya, thus abruptly interrupting the
democratic aspirations of the Honduran people, who were preparing to
carry out the popular consultation/opinion poll.
Upon hearing the
news, the grassroots organizations of Honduras, including those
belonging to La Vía Campesina, have taken to the streets to repudiate
the Coup and to demand the return of the democratically-elected
President to his office and to all the powers that the law invests him
with.
The government of President Zelaya has defended the rights of
working people and peasant farmers, has joined the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), and in general has implemented
policies that have been positive for Honduran peasant and family
farmers.
The events of the past hours are the desperate acts of the
wealthy oligarchy and the retrograde Right-wing to preserve their
interests and those of international and national capital, and in
particular they serve the interests of giant transnational
corporations. To these ends they are making use of the armed forces
and other public institutions, including the parliament, state
ministries, the Neoliberal news media, and others.
Faced with these reprehensible acts, La Via Campesina International demands:
1. The immediate reestablishment of Constitutional order, without bloodshed.
2. We call on the armed forces to refrain from repressing the
people of Honduras, who are demanding a return to democracy.
3. That the physical integrity of social leaders be respected,
including that of Rafael Alegria, leader of La Via Campesina
International.
4. We demand the immediate return of President Zelaya to his functions as President.
5. That the authorities guarantee the right of the population to
the full exercise of democracy through the popular consultation, and
through any other form of free expression.
In the La Via Campesina
we will be closely monitoring the safety of our member organizations
and leaders in Honduras, and that of the people of Honduras, during
these difficult moments.
We call on all peasant and family farm
organizations, and other social movements, to protest and to present
public letters of repudiation against the Coup at the Embassies of
Honduras in every country.
We stand in solidarity with our sister peasant organizations in Honduras.
Globalize the Struggle!! Globalize Hope!!
International Coordination Committee of La Via Campesina
Mali, Africa, June 28, 2009
Media Contacts
Edgardo García - Coordinator ATC/Nicaragua + 50588872973 (mobile phone) - + 50522784575 (office)
Yolanda Areas - Member of the International Coordination Committee of Vía Campesina / Nicaragua: + 50586549300 (mobile phone)
