[News] Honduran Teachers Defy Coup Government, Maintain Strike

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Honduran Teachers Defy Coup Government, Maintain Strike

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2009/07/honduran-teachers-defy-coup-government-maintain-strike
Posted by 
<http://narcosphere.narconews.com/users/kristin-bricker>Kristin 
Bricker - July 7, 2009 at 2:00 am

The Teachers Union Won't Return to Classes Until Zelaya is Back in 
Office; Street Protests Continue

With the death of 19-year-old Obed Murillo allegedly at the hands of 
Honduran security forces at Tegucigalpa airport yesterday while 
President Manuel Zelaya was attempting to land there, the coup 
government demonstrated its willingness to resort to lethal force to 
maintain its power.

Likewise, the Honduran people have demonstrated their resolve to 
oppose the coup government, no matter the cost.  On Monday, just one 
day after Honduran security forces opened fire on an unarmed crowd of 
Zelaya supporters at the airport, resulting in one death and a 
still-unknown number of injuries, thousands of Zelaya supporters took 
to the streets for the ninth straight day, with protests reported in 
<http://www.abc.es/20090706/internacional-iberoamerica/tension-baja-honduras-aunque-200907062324.html>Tegucigalpa, 
<http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98473&Itemid=1>San 
Pedro Sula, and El Progreso.

Meanwhile, 
<http://www.radioamerica.hn/sitio.cfm?pag=leenoticias&t=Dia&id=13488>Radio 
America reports that schools across the country remain shuttered on 
Monday as part of a national strike called by the Federation of 
Teachers Organizations of Honduras (FOMH, the Honduran teachers 
union). <http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=16634> The strike 
continues despite pressures from the coup government to resume 
classes.  The Micheletti regime's Ministry of Education spent the 
weekend <http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=16712>ordering teachers 
back to classes.  Teachers and their families called into Radio 
Progreso over the weekend decrying strong pressures from the 
Micheletti government to return to classes.

The Micheletti regime triumphantly 
<http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=16712>declared that classes would 
begin on Monday at all levels, from primary schools to 
universities.  Micheletti's Secretary of Education, Santos Eleo Sosa, 
attempted to convince the press that "the majority of inland 
educational institutions" resumed classes on 
Monday.  Notwithstanding, Radio America and Radio Progreso both 
reported that schools remained shuttered due to the strike.

Teachers across Honduras have been on strike since last Monday, one 
day after the military forcibly removed President Zelaya from 
Honduras.  They have steadfastly declared that they will not return 
to classes until Zelaya returns.  The 
<http://www.elpais.cr/articulos.php?id=8669>union leadership's 
message to members, in addition to declaring an indefinite strike, 
requested that teachers "begin civil disobedience and defy any 
regulation or order that comes from the de facto government, because 
we do not recognize any authority other than that which was 
legitimately elected by the Honduran people."

In the one school where some (not all) classes were scheduled to 
begin on Monday, the National Autonomous University of Honduras 
(UNAH),<http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98449&Itemid=1> 
students occupied the school to maintain the strike despite the 
university rector's attempts to re-open the school.  A student who is 
participating in the occupation told Radio Progreso that the students 
will continue to occupy the university until Zelaya returns.

Other sectors of Honduran society continue to mobilize for the return 
of President Zelaya. 
<http://www.elheraldo.hn/Especiales/Honduras%20en%20contra%20de%20la%20ilegalidad%20del%2024%20de%20junio%20de%202009/Ediciones/2009/07/07/Noticias/Manifestantes-regresan-al-interior-del-pais> 
El Heraldo reports that movement leaders have announced that highways 
and bridges all over the country will be blocked until Zelaya returns 
to Honduras as its president.  While highway blockades have occurred 
throughout the coup, an increased focus on blockades could represent 
a more sustainable strategy for nation-wide mobilization.  Up until 
now, Zelaya supporters' tactics have focused on mass mobilizations 
and mega-marches in Tegucigalpa.  Highway and bridge blockades, 
particularly on the northern coast, could strike a significant blow 
to Honduras' economy while allowing Zelaya supporters to mobilize in 
support of the president from their towns and communities, rather 
than leaving their jobs and homes to travel to Tegucigalpa to 
participate in actions there.



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