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<h1><b>Anti-Coup Protests Reported Across
Honduras</b></h1><font size=3>Posted by
<a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/users/kristin-bricker">Kristin
Bricker</a> - July 1, 2009 at 9:11 pm <br><br>
<b>Despite Repression and the Suspension of Constitutional Guarantees,
Hondurans Keep Fighting the Coup Government<br><br>
</b>The anti-coup movement's momentum appears to be building across
Honduras, with protests reported across the country. Meanwhile,
international pressure builds against the coup government.<br><br>
Over the past two days, anti-coup protests were reported in Tocoa, Colon;
San Pedro Sula; La Ceiba;
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP7Fhf7EnDc">El Progreso,
Yoro</a>; Tegucigapla; Intibuca; El Paraiso; Olancho; Santa Barbara; and
all over President Zelaya's native department of
<a href="http://www.ansa.it/ansalatina/notizie/notiziari/amcentr/20090630172134906526.html">
Olancho</a>. Moreover, the
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/america_latina/2009/07/090630_honduras_protesta_pais_sao.shtml">
BBC</a> reports that citizens have blocked major highways in Copan and
Tocoa. The BBC's sources on the ground in Honduras say anti-coup
protests have occurred in the majority of Honduras' departments.<br><br>
A leader of the teachers union, Freddy Vega, told
<a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/secciones/nota/53120-NN/hondurenos-marchan-hacia-la-capital-a-pesar-de-la-represion/">
TeleSUR</a> that teachers are on strike and classes will not resume until
ousted President Manuel Zelaya is back in Honduras.<br><br>
Via Campesina reports that yesterday morning, social leaders from across
the country met to discuss strategy. <br><br>
Teachers union leaders report that citizens in Cortés, Choluteca,
Comayagua, Santa Bárbara, and Copán are preparing mobilizations and
marches to Tegucigalpa to receive President Zelaya when he returns.
Zelaya had originally stated that he would return on Thursday.
However, as a result of the Organization of American States' (OAS)
decision to give the coup government 72 hours to turn power over to
Zelaya, the ousted president has decided to
<a href="http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/62504/pospone-su-regreso-a-honduras-para-%E2%80%9Cel-fin-de-semana%E2%80%9D/">
postpone his return</a> until after the OAS' 72-hour deadline has passed
on Saturday. <br><br>
The delay will give Zelaya supporters more time to reach
Tegucigalpa. The
<a href="http://news.google.com.mx/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_0_0_t&usg=AFQjCNFvRJob3H4hLa6mvwyXHY50PljBfg&cid=1249364334&ei=6RNMStj8PJH0NJnJ450D&rt=SEARCH&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fhostednews%2Fafp%2Farticle%2FALeqM5i3ZoBBp6gbZrXyqaLFNOL5FQNYXQ">
AFP</a> reports that several Honduran social leaders have told that news
agency that soldiers have blocked highways, preventing thousands of
people from arriving in Tegucigalpa. <br><br>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdOUVU2o_k0">Jose Antonio
Zepeda</a>, President of the Central American Union Movement, says that
when a caravan carrying peasants and union members towards Tegucigalpa
reached a roadblock near San Pedro Sula, the 105th Infantry used machine
guns to shoot out the tires on their busses. Undeterred, the
unionists and peasants continued to Tegucigalpa on foot. They
arrived in the capital today, where they await President Zelaya's arrival
this weekend. <br><br>
<b>Pro-Coup Rallies<br><br>
</b>Pro-coup forces also mobilized yesterday, drawing thousands of
protesters to a rally in Tegucigalpa. Coup president Roberto
Micheletti and the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Romeo Vasquez,
spoke during the rally, which was organized by the Democratic Civic Union
(UDC). The UDC organized a similar, smaller protest in San Pedro
Sula, Honduras' second-largest city. A UDC protest occurred today
in Choluteca.<br><br>
While it is impossible to get accurate crowd estimates on any of the
protests, the UDC's Tegucigalpa rally appeared to be larger than any of
the anti-coup protests that occurred yesterday. But appearances can
be deceiving. <br><br>
Rumors are circulating that bosses forced their workers to participate in
the pro-coup mobilizations. The Popular Resistance Front of
Honduras (which, like the UCD, is an ad-hoc organization formed in
response to the current crisis), issued a communiqué claiming that
"fast food, factory, and private security company employees have
been forced to participate in the [UCD] event." <br><br>
Andrés Pavón of the Honduran Committee for the Defense of Human Rights,
<a href="http://www.radiomundial.com.ve/yvke/noticia.php?27560">echoed
that claim</a>: "They took all of the fast food workers in Honduras
and private security guards and they dressed them in white. In
Honduras there's 30,000 private security guards and they dressed six
thousand guards [in white]." <br><br>
Likewise,
<a href="http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2009/07/01/golpistas-hondurenos-crean-pretextos-para-incrementar-represion/">
Rafael Alegría</a>, leader of Via Campesina in Honduras, says that
factory workers in San Pedro Sula were forced to participate in the march
in that city. <br><br>
It's important to point out that these claims have not been confirmed.
<br><br>
Even if the rumors and claims that workers were forced to participate in
the pro-coup rallies aren't true, one fact is undeniable: the UDC's
protests enjoy the full support of the coup government. As such,
the government has made no attempt to repress the marches.
<br><br>
That is not the case for the anti-coup protests. At an
<a href="http://www%E2%80%8B.youtube.c%E2%80%8Bom/watch?v%E2%80%8B=v5cY7DAKp%E2%80%8BeQ&fea%E2%80%8Bture=chann%E2%80%8Bel">
anti-coup protest in Tegucigalpa yesterday</a>, an unidentified speaker
told the crowd, "Our protests would be bigger, but you are all aware
of the repression that we are experiencing." Police have used
tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, billy clubs,
<a href="http://www.radiomundial.com.ve/yvke/noticia.php?27560">live
ammunition</a>, and water cannons against anti-coup protesters.
<br><br>
The following video from inside a Tegucigalpa hospital shows some of the
injuries inflicted by police and soldiers. Even if you don't speak
Spanish, you should be able to understand the injured people. At
one point, the police shoot tear gas at the hospital.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
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