US policies at the root of massive demonstrations in Honduras
Since late April, teachers, doctors, and medical workers in Honduras have been demonstrating against the privatization of education and medical services. The demonstrations in defense of public education and health services have grown into massive and ongoing national mobilizations demanding the resignation of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
US-backed economic policies – such as privatization policies promoted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – are at the heart of the current crisis in Honduras. Furthermore, it is US political, economic, and military backing of the Hernandez regime that enables him to maintain his grip on power. Honduran social movement leader Carlos H Reyes recently said, ”The United States government is too brazen in the case of Honduras, throwing a lifeline to a dying regime. If it were not for them, the regime would have already fallen.” With massive demonstrations ongoing against the regime, the US Embassy in Honduras recently announced the arrival of nearly 300 US Marines and others with the US Southern Command’s rapid response force to Honduras and surrounding countries. The US Marines will conduct ‘training and security cooperation’ with the Honduran security forces, which routinely fire live bullets at teachers and other civilians during demonstrations.
SOA Watch condemns the shameful proposal to lock up immigrant children at Ft. Benning
The Trump administration is considering locking up immigrant children at Ft Benning, one of the very locations responsible for the conditions that cause them to flee their home countries in the first place. Representatives from the Departments of Defense and Health & Human Services visited Ft. Benning on Wednesday, June 5, 2019 to consider the site as part of a disturbing plan to detain up to 5,000 unaccompanied immigrant children on US military bases. Ft. Benning’s School of the Americas (SOA) trained some of the worst human rights abusers from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, including military officials who went on to carry out brutal massacres, murders, disappearances and coups. The training of Latin American militaries at Ft. Benning continues today. In 2018, Ft. Benning’s SOA-WHINSEC trained 130 members of the Honduran security forces, which have been firing live bullets at civilians during recent demonstrations against the US-backed regime.
US policies and US military training create the conditions that lead refugees to flee for their lives. Now children fleeing Central America could be cruelly locked up at the same military base where the US has trained those who have terrorized the homelands. This is shameful.
Take action: Ask your representative to co-sponsor the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act
Representative Hank Johnson and 43 representatives have reintroduced the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, H.R. 1945, in the current legislative session of the House of Representatives. The bill would suspend US military and security aid to Honduras until important human rights conditions are met, including justice for the murder of Berta Cáceres, the killings of over 100 small farmers in the Aguan Valley, the murders of demonstrators who were killed by security forces while opposing election fraud last year, and more.
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Urgent Action: 12 human rights defenders facing years in jail in Honduras
On Saturday, February 23rd, 12 Honduran activists who have been defending the drinking water of numerous communities from a mine owned by members of Honduras’ powerful oligarchy were jailed in an extreme misuse of the justice system. This Thursday, February 28th, a hearing will be held that will determine if the 12 defenders of the Guapinol River will spend up to several years in jail while awaiting trial or not. The US-backed Honduran Public Prosecutor’s Office is pursuing charges against at least 32 defenders of the Guapinol River; many are facing serious charges that could result in decades in prison…
Update: Thanks to everyone who took action! The court ruled to dismiss the charges against the 12 Guapinol water defenders!
Guatemala: The Search for Truth and Justice Under Attack!
The search for truth with justice is under attack again in Guatemala. Currently, a proposal in congress seeks to reform the 1996 National Reconciliation Law and seeks to grant immediate amnesty to perpetrators of human rights violations during the 36-year armed conflict. The National Reconiliation Law that came about after the Peace Accords were signed and excludes amnesty for crimes against humanity – disappearance, genocide and torture – has been instrumental in paving the way for key trials that have taken place over the past several years. Between 2008 and 2018, over 30 military officials and civil defense patrols have been convicted of human rights violations, over a dozen more cases are pending, and an overwhelming number of those convicted or pending trial are School of the Americas graduates.
Take Action! No to US Coup d’état in Venezuela; Yes to Sovereignty of the People
On January 23, 2019, Juan Guaidó declared himself president of Venezuela following a phone call from the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence. In doing so, the US and Guaidó are attempting a coup d’etat to achieve Washington’s longstanding goal of removing Nicolás Maduro from the presidency of Venezuela.
President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, Senator Marco Rubio, and US Special Envoy for Venezuela Elliott Abrams are working hard with the Venezuelan opposition, and with other right-wing governments across the globe, to carry out a coup against this Latin American country. A recent article by Mint Press News recounted Elliott Abrams’ ominous historical role guiding disastrous US intervention in Latin America, “Abrams is notorious for overseeing the US covert policy of arming right-wing death squads during the 1980’s in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. His lead role in the Venezuelan coup has stoked fears that another blood-drenched proxy war might be on the way.”
US continues to back repressive regime in Honduras
Sunday, January 27th marked one year since US-backed Juan Orlando Hernandez was installed for a second term as president of Honduras, in the midst of massive demonstrations against widely-recognized election fraud. It was the United States that first recognized Hernandez and ensured he remained in the presidency.
A Miami Herald expose found that US-made M-4 weapons were used by the Military Police to kill 19-year old Kimberly Dayana Fonseca during last year’s demonstrations. Between 2015 and 2017, the State Department authorized companies to export over 10,000 firearms to the Honduran government. Over 35 demonstrators and bystanders were killed during the pro-democracy demonstrations. Dozens more were arrested and jailed; several demonstrators, including Edwin Espinal and Raul Alvarez, have now been imprisoned in inhumane conditions for over a year. Edwin and Raul are in a military-run maximum security prison where their health is deteriorating and they have lost over 40 pounds each.