Honduran police clash again with Zelaya supporters
Supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya clashed with soldiers and police for a second day on Wednesday as street protests over the June 28 army coup turned rowdy.
Security forces fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of thousands of demonstrators in the capital Tegucigalpa and protesters responded by throwing stones in a scuffle near Congress. The demonstration calmed down by the afternoon.
Zelaya’s wife attended another pro-Zelaya protest on Wednesday in the industrial city of San Pedro Sula near the country’s Caribbean coast, which was also broken up by police firing tear gas canisters .
Zelaya’s overthrow, after opponents accused him of trying to change the constitution to allow presidential re-election, has thrust Honduras into the worst political crisis Central America has seen in years.
Talks to resolve the standoff, mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, have so far made little progress as a de facto government headed by former Congress head Roberto Micheletti refuses to let Zelaya return to power, despite widespread international condemnation of the coup.
Protests on Tuesday and Wednesday by pro-Zelaya activists left broken windows at shops and fast-food restaurants and sent demonstrators fleeing clouds of tear gas. It was one of the few times the near-daily rallies have turned violent since the coup.
Micheletti, in a message broadcast on national television, claimed the clashes were being spurred by “foreign agitators” and promised to respect the rights of those detained at the protests.
“We have to stop with firmness any criminal acts to avoid property damage to small and medium-sized businesses, which is putting many Hondurans out of work,” Micheletti said.
The June 28 coup was bloodless and since then only two protesters have been killed in demonstrations. One was shot by soldiers at the airport when Zelaya tried to return in a plane and was blocked by the army. The other was shot in the head in a later protest.
Zelaya, an ally of socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has been touring the Americas in exile as most of the world pushes for his return and supporters hold continual street rallies. Thousands have also turned out to support Micheletti’s de facto government.
President Barack Obama said this week the United States strongly condemned the coup but it was hypocritical for critics to demand a more forceful U.S. role in bringing Zelaya back.
The interim leaders have said they are ready to hold on to power until regularly scheduled elections in November, even though the head of the Organization of American States has said the regional body will not recognize the result
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Honduran Coup Government Continues Attack on the Poor with Plan to Seize Indigenous Hospital
Dr. Luther Castillo, who was named “Honduran Doctor of the Year” in 2007 by Rotary International, has just sent out an alert through the non-profit group MEDICC, that he and his staff at the Indigenous Garifuna Community Hospital have received an order from the de facto Honduran government to leave the Hospital and discontinue their work there. The government has announced that it is downgrading the standing of the hospital and will be taking over with “new management.”
In the meantime, the de facto government has stopped paying the salary of the staff — which includes locally-trained nurses and 10 physicians — and will no longer guarantee medicines or vital supplies. In spite of this, the Hospital staff have vowed to stay and continue their work, serving the poor in the Garifuna indigenous region of Ionia and surrounding area.
As Dr. Luther Castillo explained to MEDICC, “We will not abandon our people. These are the poorest of the poor, the invisible poor. They are the real victims of the coup.” The coup government has made Dr. Castillo’s ability to continue his work on behalf of the poor particularly difficult, putting out a warrant for his arrest and capture right after the coup. Yet, Dr. Castillo perseveres. This act on the part of the Honduran de facto government shows its true intentions in carrying out the coup against President Zelaya — to roll back the modest social reforms Zelaya put in place to alleviate the suffering of the poor in that country. As MEDICC explains, the Garifuna Community Hospital opened in December of 2007 under an agreement with the government of President Zelaya and in accordance with an International
Labor Organization covenant that supports locally-managed health services for indigenous and tribal peoples. According to Dr. Castillo, the hospital has treated 175,000 cases since that time, providing such services as birthing, surgeries, hospitalization, dental care, laboratory tests and other outreach and prevention services.
Now, the de facto Honduran government is threatening the lives of the poor in the Ionia coastal department and surrounding area by its move to oust the staff of this hospital. While the coup government has claimed that it is protecting the Honduran constitution, this claim has never held weight. As Conn Hallinan explains succinctly in a recent article in Foreign Policy in Focus: That story is a massive distortion of the facts. All Zelaya was trying to do is to put a non-binding referendum on the ballot calling for a constitutional convention, a move that trade unions, indigenous groups, and social activist organizations had long been lobbying for. The current constitution was written by the Honduran military in 1982, and the one-term limit allows the brass-hats to dominate the politics of the country.
Since the convention would have been held in November, the same month as the upcoming presidential elections, there was no way Zelaya could have remained in office in any case. The most he could have done was to run four years from now. Hallinan goes on to explain that Zelaya is “at best a liberal reformer whose major accomplishment was raising the minimum wage [by 60%]. “What Zelaya has done has been little reforms,” Rafael Alegria, a leader of Via Campesina, told the Mexican daily La Jornada. “He isn’t a socialist or a revolutionary, but these reforms, which didn’t harm the oligarchy at all, have been enough for them to attack him furiously.” Or, as an AP article from August 6, entitled, “Honduran Coup Shows Business Elite Still in Charge,” put it well: “Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a military coup after betraying his own kind: a small clique of families that dominates the economy.” Now, the coup government is attempting to roll back Zelaya’s modest reforms, threatening the lives of the poor living on the margins in the process. As Dr. Castillo explains, the current actions of the coup government with respect to the Gardifuna Community Hospital threaten to “condemn to death many of our old people, and stop all outreach and prevention services.”
In the end, condemning the poor and the vulnerable to further marginalization, and even death, is part of the plan of the current regime in Honduras, for they intend not only to attack Zelaya himself, but also, and maybe even primarily, those who support him. And, Zelaya finds most of his support among the poor who, according to U.S. AID, make up 65% of the Honduran population.
This calls to mind the words of the repressive Guatemalan general, Rios Montt, who once explained his philosophy of fighting the insurgency in Guatemala as follows: “The guerrilla is the fish. The people are the sea. If you cannot catch the fish, you have to drain the sea.” Carrying out this philosophy, Montt carried out death squad activities against the Guatemalan people, killing thousands of Guatemalans, most of them indigenous, in the process. In the case of Honduras, the coup government, with such individuals as Billy Joya at the helm — Joya, who ran death squad activities in the 1980’s quite similar to those directed by Rios Montt in Guatemala, is now the “special security adviser” to the Honduran coup government — similarly wants to drain Honduras of the sea of Zelaya supporters to prevent Zelaya and his modest reform government, or any other reform government for that matter, from ever returning. And, just as social activists and their families were disappeared in the 1980’s by the death squad (Batallion 3-16) linked to Billy Joya, the Committee for the Families of the Detained & Disappeared (COFADEH) as well as an international delegation led by the Quixote Center are reporting recent incidents of disappearances by the Honduran Armed Forces, such as the disappearance of 24 year-old Samuel David Flores Murillo on July 26. As the Quixote Center reported in a letter to the U.S. Embassy in Honduras, Samuel is the son of long-time activist Margarita Murillo, herself a survivor of twenty-two days of detention and torture in the 1980’s. This is a frightening portend of the direction to which this coup government is headed.
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Honduran police crackdown on student protests
Police fired teargas and water cannons at some 3,000 students who amassed in the Honduran capital on Wednesday to protest against the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya last June.
Heavily-protected riot police beat back demonstrators who blocked one of the city’s main thoroughfares in front of the National Autonomous University, fulfilling a pledge to clampdown on protests that have convulsed the Central American since June 28.
Then, Zelaya was bundled out of the country in a military-backed coup, prompting international outrage and a domestic crisis that shows few signs of abating.
On Wednesday his supporters chanted pro-Zelaya slogans and hurled rocks at banks of riot police, leaving the street strewn with detritus, including the husk of a burnt-out vehicle.
Police used water cannon to disperse the protesters, who sought refuge on the university campus, where they were pursued and beaten with batons.
The university’s rector Julieta Castellanos intervened in an attempt to calm both sides, but she too was beaten to the floor.
Elsewhere in the capital, another crowd gathered in front of the Supreme Court — which had sanctioned the move against Zelaya — demanding that coup leaders “get out.”
At the same time protesters across the country began a march on the capital and San Pedro Sula, the country’s economic capital.
As unrest played out, the head of the the Washington-based Organization of America States, Jose Miguel Insulza, said that foreign ministers from the regional block would be dispatched to Honduras “as soon as possible.”
In Mexico, Zelaya continued a visit aimed at shoring up international backing for his government.
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7 steps to Honduras Cultural Immersion
There are many ways to enjoy this wonderful diverse country in Central America. Honduras is bordered by Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, with the Pacific Ocean to the south and a large inlet of the Caribbean sea by the Gulf of Honduras. There is much to explore in Honduras for visitors from the clear waters, its pristine beaches, lush jungles, breathtaking mountains, challenging rivers, to its fascinating ruins. A trip to immerse yourself in the culture of Honduras includes the experience of the traditional and the modern side by side, giving you a fully rounded picture of the country’s diversity.
1. To really immerse yourself into the Honduran culture you need to experience a little of its past. The best way to learn about Honduras’ past is to visit some of its historical locations that are available. A fantastic place to start is the Copan Ruins found in the west of the country, revealing the Mayan culture. You could also visit Comayagua, Honduras’ former capital city, to get a feel of the old culture. These places will give you a good starting point for your immersion into Honduran culture.
2. The next place to continue with your Honduran cultural immersion is to experience the natural preserves that are all around Honduras. Experience your natural surroundings and embrace the natural beauty of one of Honduras’ most impressive national parks, the Montana de Celaque, and an ecological preserve in the shape of a wildlife refuge like Refugio de Vida Silvestre Cuero Y Salado. Getting to know your environment better is essential to getting to know exactly how the Honduran people interact with different parts of their environment.
3. As you continue with your progress into the new found culture it must not be forgotten that history and nature are only the start. The next place on your list should be food as by now hunger may be evident, and to carry on with your cultural immersion some traditional authentic food from Honduras would be good. The best place to start is with some baleada as well as some carne asada, an excellent way to get to know their cuisine.
4. Travelling to Honduras it will depend on what you want to do while there as to when to go. Rainy season is between May and November while it is dry the rest of the year. However one time to avoid is October and November as this is hurricane season. There is one celebration to be recommended and this is la Feria Isidra, the friendship carnival where people come from all over the world for the week’s festivities. It would show you how the Hondurans celebrate their holidays while immersing you further into their culture.
5. As in the past communities still gather in the main squares of towns around Honduras, with cafes and shops nearby, street entertainment and vendors to be found. Here you can immerse yourself in the local culture with the traditional costumes, cigarettes, ceramics and food of Honduras. Walking through the markets you can take in the sights, smells and sounds of the people going about their everyday business. You can enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and take in the smells, and taste what is on offer, of the local culture.
6. The next step is to meet new people, make friends and talk to them about their lives. The markets and cafes are great places to do this, and you can ask them what they do. You can also meet local artisans in their shops, learn about their family roots and their ancient traditions at first hand. This is a good way to relax and unwind, a good time to mingle in an unstressed atmosphere.
7. Another great way to immerse yourself into the culture is to volunteer through the many programs from around the world that take annual trips to Honduras. Honduras is known for being a country of contrasts, with its pockets of wealth but the majority of people struggling. There are charities that take annual trips to help those less fortunate, with education and conservation projects for starters. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to experience Honduras as tourists rarely can.
Any of these steps above is the perfect opportunity to truly immerse yourself in a foreign culture. To see the world through the eyes of the inhabitants of that country is often an eye opener, yet a great experience. However you choose to do it you will be forever changed by your experiences. So plan your trip carefully, making sure you make the most of the time there. Following these guidelines will help make your trip to Honduras unforgettable.
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Legends of Honduras — the Pech of Las Marias
There is a lost city in Honduras which is considered mysterious, and this is Ciudad Blanca. It has been the focus of many expeditions searching for this lost city.
The Pech people moved to the Rio Platano area, settling in Chilmecca, near Casa Blanca. This according to a native was a city carved in white stones. Casa Blanca was apparently the same place as Cuidad Blanca, made by the gods with giant stones carved in various shapes, wild animals and giant grinding stones.
The Cuuidad Blanca is said to be the birthplace of gods, filled with golden idols.
According to legend among the Pech lived a Tawaka Indian man. After being mistreated by the community he left, cursing the city and ever after disease and other disasters occurred. The Pech were forced as a result to leave Ciudad Blanca, they felt that they had no choice.
The tribe ended up at Sakorska Uya, the big written stone, the site of a large petroglyph which is still there. The Pech lived there for several harvests and moved downriver to Buena Vista in the early 1900s. It is unclear why the Pech moved here but from here they moved downriver again to Quiaquimina, returning to Buena Vista. The Pech moved to Las Marias about forty years ago.
The legend of the lost city, Cuidad Blanca, was based on historical fact. Created by lightning and thunder by the Pech god Wata the large stones sculpted into statues of animals, traditional musical instruments and grinding stones. The city is believed to be the city of Patatahua, the primitive ancestors of the Pech.
The myth of the Ciudad Blanca is known as the Cuidad de los Antigues or Cerro de la Palmera. It is called Wahia-Patatahua in Pech, the village of the ancestors, or primitives. However Las Marias was the last Pech community.
According to ancient writings Ciudad Blanca is the origin of the human deity Quetzalcoatl of the Toltecs and Kukulkan by the Mayas and worshipped for their knowledge and wisdom.
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