National Day of Action: Stop the Coup in Honduras

Democracy – a system of government where the sovereignty belongs to its people. And in Honduras where is that?

National Day of Action

Stop the Coup in Honduras

27 June 2010, 11am

Ibero-American Plaza
Chalmers Street outside Central Station

June 28 is the first anniversary of the military coup in Honduras. The Honduran Resistance Front Against the Coup calls on your support now.

Come and show Australian opposition to the military coup regime –support the people’s demand for a democratic constitution!

Stop the killings and persecution, stop US military bases in Honduras!

Speakers, Songs, Musicians, Photos, Info - bring placards

Information: http://www.sydney-says-no2honduras-coup.net

Organised by: Coalition for Honduras. Please join us afterwards for lunch at Casa Latina, Addison Rd Community Centre, Marrickville (funds towards rebuilding the Centre) – take bus 428

Contact: latinamerica.emergency@gmail.com (and for info about rallies in other cities)

Rosie (Friends of the Earth/Greens) 0410 584 890

Peter Murphy (Search Foundation) 9211 4164

Victor-Hugo (Latin American Social Forum) 0425 324 621 

Lynn Takayama (Teachers Federation)  9217 2100

John Gauci (Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network) 0413 310 452

Honduras Coup – what happened, why, and what now?

 On 28 June 2009, 5.15am, the military violently invaded the home of elected  President Manuel Zelaya. They kidnapped him and put him on a small plane from the US military base into exile.

Honduras is the third poorest country in Latin America and its limited wealth concentrated in several families.

The military coup took place because Zelaya began to implement a number of urgent social reforms in response to grassroots demands - these included a 60% increase in minimum wage, blocking privatisation of the national telephone company and further mining concessions, joining Petrocaribe for cheaper petrol and joining ALBA to fund education, health and development programs.

Most importantly, President Zelaya supported a process to allow the people to form a Constituent Assembly to reform the regressive Constitution which maintains the lack of democracy and exploitation in the country. An official survey to assess the level of support for this project was planned for 28 June 2009. The coup stopped this survey.

Persecution against activists (trade union, farmers, women, teachers, students, GLBTI, human rights, political organisers, etc) opposed to the coup and demanding the formation of a National Constituent Assembly began on the day of the coup and continues today.

Over 50 such activists have been killed, many receiving threats and attempts against them, thousands have been illegally detained, hundreds exiled, hundreds beaten up.

Despite ongoing repression, on 28 June 2010, this brave broad-based and non-violent movement under the banner of ‘National Front of Popular Resistance’, which had never lost sight of the people’s goals, will re-initiate the survey process to demonstrate widespread support for a National Constituent Assembly through a people’s referendum.

They are out to demonstrate that there are many more votes to have a Constituent Assembly to reform the constitution than the meagre percentage of people who voted in the illegitimate and violent election on 29 November 2009 for the present illegitimate President Porfirio Lobo.

They need our support!

Further information: http://www.sydney-says-no2honduras-coup.net

Monthly updates are prepared and emailed out, please support and sign up, latinamerica.emergency@gmail.com