[News] Honduras: Poll Proposed by Resistance Challenges Regime

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Honduras: Poll Proposed by Resistance Challenges Regime

Written by Peter Lackowski
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 08:18
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/honduras-archives-46/2406-honduran-resistance-challenges-regime

"On June 28 (2010) we are going to hold a great 
poll of our people which is going to express our 
judgment, massively, in favor of a democratic and 
participatory constitutional constituent assembly 
in our country," 
<http://ellibertador.hn/Nacional/3849.html>said 
Rafael Alegría of the National Front of Popular 
Resistance, earlier this March.

The poll is planned for the one year anniversary 
of a similar non-binding opinion poll that 
President Manuel Zelaya wanted to hold to 
determine whether a majority of Hondurans wanted 
a referendum on a new constitution to be included 
in last November's election.  The nation's 
oligarchic press expressed their horror that this 
was similar to what had happened in Venezuela, 
Bolivia, and Ecuador. Those nations have 
established new constitutions that are more 
favorable toward the rights, participation, and 
interests of the popular classes. The Honduran 
legislative and judicial branches also opposed 
Zelaya's initiative, and the army deported him to 
Costa Rica. In response, a massive movement of 
labor, human rights organizations, indigenous 
peoples, gays, community organizers, and 
virtually every progressive in Honduras came 
together and began organizing resistance to the illegal regime.

The de facto government that replaced Zelaya went 
ahead with the elections scheduled for November 
29, 2009, but according to Alegría, "The 
Resistance considers the current regime to be the 
continuation of the de facto regime of (dictator 
Roberto) Micheletti. Up to now there has been no 
reform, it is the same scheme."

This bold announcement indicates a new stage in 
the struggle to establish democracy in Honduras. 
Alegría expressed determination to go forward 
with a vote on a constitutional constituent 
assembly, saying that those who oppose it might 
resort to their usual tactics, "to repress, 
murder, and imprison our people, but nothing and 
no one is going to stop this initiative of the Resistance..."

Alegría went on to denounce the intervention of 
United States Ambassador Hugo Llorens, who is 
"dedicating himself to establishing a famous 
dialogue with the businessmen, with the leaders 
of the Liberal Party, with other sectors, in order to weaken the Resistance."

Commenting on the fact that the European Union 
has recognized the government of President 
Porfirio Lobo, Alegría said, "They are looking 
after their own interests, they want to sign a 
free trade treaty with Central America, and 
Honduras is important to them." The objective of 
the great powers, he said, is "to get control of 
our natural resources, the wealth of our country."

According to Alegría, "If there is something that 
is positive about the coup, it is that our people 
have awakened, they have social and political 
consciousness, and they want to get rid of the 
oligarchic power structure." He insisted, "We are 
going forward with the reformation and refoundation of our country."

Planning Meeting

 From March 12 through 14 about 1000 activists 
attended a meeting in La Esperanza, including 
delegates from all the movements that make up the 
resistance.  Giorgio Trucchi provides a 
<http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/refundar-construir-poder-popular-constituyente-honduras>report 
on the conference at kaosenlared.net.

In the words of Bertha Cáceres, national 
coordinator of COPINH, the indigenous rights 
organization that hosted the gathering, "To 
refound Honduras means to get together and think 
and dream about what we want our country to be, 
and to structure the process for achieving this 
objective...It is a complex process that must 
touch all aspects and areas of national life, at 
the individual and collective levels. A path of 
economic and political transformation that 
confronts the culture of domination, that 
benefits our people and that leads to a Honduran 
constitution with justice, humanity, solidarity, 
sovereignty, self determination, and equality."

After a serious debate the various sections of a 
new constitution were laid out. A committee to 
direct the National Constituent Assembly was 
nominated, and Bertha Oliva of the Committee of 
Families of disappeared Detainees in Honduras 
(COFADEH) was elected to lead this group.

Carlos H. Reyes, President of STIBYS, the 
beverage workers' union, commented that there 
were 20 working groups that analyzed different 
things to be included in the constitution, such 
as political forms, the economic model, human 
rights, the rights of indigenous and 
Afro-Caribbean peoples, labor, gender, etc.

"We are going to work very hard for the next two 
and a half months to get to a poll next June 
28th, the date of the coup. We have not yet 
determined what form it will take, but we know 
that it will be an instrument that will not only 
serve to count the people who support the 
constituent assembly process, but also to further 
the process of uniting us, of mobilizing and organizing," said Reyes.

Reyes pointed out that the people who made the 
coup know perfectly well that the National Front 
of Popular Resistance (FNRP) has succeeded in 
maintaining and strengthening the unity among 
social and political organizations with the 
objective of taking power.  For this reason they 
have increased selective violence against members 
of the Resistance as well as strategies to break up their unity.

Bertha Cáceres concluded the meeting by 
expressing the need to continue the process of 
reflection and construction.  She noted that it 
had been a rich learning experience for those who 
participated, and she expressed her appreciation 
of the presence and participation of the women delegates.

In her concluding remarks, Bertha Cáceres 
reaffirmed the assembly’s commitment to “keep the 
process of reflection and construction open.”

“It needs to be emphasized,” she said, “that this 
meeting for the refoundation of Honduras has no closing ceremony.”
Burlington, VT resident Peter Lackowski recently 
returned from a 
<http://www.rightsaction.org/>Rights Action human 
rights delegation in Honduras.




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