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<font size=4><b>Honduran Cartoonist is kidnapped along with his
17-month-old daughter<br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>Written by Verenice Bengtsson (a Costa Rican
residing in Switzerland)<br><br>
Translated by Nina Serrano, Daniel del Solar (USA)<br><br>
Monday June 29, 2009<br><br>
I am addressing this to you with the expectations of denouncing and
making public that today, at 1 AM Swiss time, I was informed by the well
known cartoonist Allan Mc Donald that he was detained by Honduran
military forces along with his 17 month old daughter, Abril. <br><br>
Allan Mc Donald is a cartoonist whose work is published in the daily “El
Heraldo de Honduras,” “Times,” and
<a href="http://www.rebelion.org">www.rebelion.org</a> putting his
support for the constitutional referendum put forward to a popular vote
by government of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales.<br><br>
Allan informed me from a hotel room where he was detained along with the
Venezuelan Consul and two women journalists from Spain and Chile, whom he
did not know previously. On Sunday, June 28, 2009, after the coup, a
group of Honduran military had arrived at his house in the Santa Lucia
community, 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the capital, Tegucigalpa, and
kidnapped him and his daughter. <br><br>
Later they made a bonfire with all of his cartoons and drawing supplies.
He was removed from his home with his daughter, who had not eaten
anything in almost 24 hours. They were only allowed water. He was not
permitted to take any possessions or money other than his
passport.<br><br>
The communication did not last more than 5 minutes; it was from a
portable computer belonging to a Venezuelan. He told me there was no
electricity and the computer battery was about to give out. Also with
them were Eduardo Maldonado and Esdras Amado Lopez, who were also well
known for their strong support for the Zelayas Civil Referendum.
<br><br>
Maldonado and Lopez had been kidnapped hours earlier and they did know
where they were going. <br><br>
At the moment of farewell, Allan said to me, “Resist and denounce this
act.” This I had seen only on TV in the 1973 (Chilean) coup.<br><br>
The communication ended with his words, “they are coming for us.”
Apparently they were taken by bus out of the country through the “El
Espino Border” and I know nothing more about the fate of the pair, Allan
Mc Donald, his daughter, and their companions.<br><br>
This is a national and international condemnation, and a call to
conscience. This is a clear return to the decade of the 80’s that
seemed to be behind us, is a clear rejection of human rights by a
national congress and Supreme Court acting in concert. They are violating
the fundamental rights of the poor Honduran majority and all of the acts
of this illegal/usurper government reflect only a thin veneer of
democracy by our political elite/class.<br><br>
I beg you who are in Honduras and other countries that you share this
information with your contacts, denounce this act by Internet, TV,
and international news services and other nations and their local
media.<br><br>
Ask human rights organizations to put their resources to mount a campaign
about Allan Mc Donald and his daughter, Abril.<br><br>
Don’t forget that silence makes us complicit in crimes that are being
carried out now. I ask the International Community to energetically
reject this (Honduran) de facto government that has kidnapped the
Honduran people. The Honduran people are without access to information,
terrorized and deprived of their basic rights.<br><br>
Attached are cartoons that show the reasons for the persecution and
detention of Allan Mc Donald and a photo of Allan and his
daughter.<br><br>
Verenice Bengtsson<br><br>
Via Jorge Dalton (El Salavador)<br><br>
(
<a href="mailto:herido_desombras@yahoo.es">herido_desombras@yahoo.es</a>
)<br><br>
#30<br><br>
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