Press Release - Coup in Honduras (LASC 2009)
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The Organising Committee of the Latin America Solidarity Conference 2009 (Melbourne, Australia) condemns the June 28 military coup against democratically elected President of Honduras Manuel “Mel” Zelaya. The conference expresses our solidarity to the people of Honduras and demands the immediate reinstatement of the democratically elected President.
It has been reported that approximately 200 Honduran soldiers arrived at President Manuel Zelaya’s
residence in the early hours of the morning on June 28. The military personal dressed with balaclavas reportedly fired four shots, and detained the President. Zelaya told Venezuelan based TV TeleSUR that the soldiers took him to an air force base and put him on a plane to Costa Rica.
Zelaya told TeleSURthat he doesn’t believe it was regular soldiers who kidnapped him. “I have been the victim of a kidnapping carried out by a group of Honduran soldiers. I don’t think the Army is supporting this sort of action. I think this is a vicious plot planned by elites. Elite who only want to keep the country isolated and in extreme poverty.”
Kristen Bricker from Narco news website reported that, “Zelaya informed TeleSUR that he has not requested
asylum in Costa Rica, and that he will return to Honduras as its President to complete his term, which expires in 2010.
“The anti-Zelaya President of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, has declared himself interim President of Honduras. On the Friday before the coup, Zelaya called Micheletti ´a pathetic, second-class congressman
who got the job because of me, because I gave you space within my political current”, reported Bricker.
During an emergency session of the Organisation of America States meeting it was reported that the ambassadors of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela had been kidnapped along with the Foreign Minister of Honduras. It is clear that this is a politically motivated coup from the right wing forces and big business that have been expressing concern over Zelaya’s increasingly close ties with the governments that make up the
Bolivarian Alliance for the People of the Americas formerly (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas - ALBA).
Numerous Latin American countries have strongly condemned the coup. The OAS and other international
organisations reject the repression by the military. The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has put the Venezuelan military on alert and said that he would not sit back and let the coup succeed. Chavez stated that the coup leaders would feel the full force of the people of Honduras. Chavez also stated that there is increasing evidence to suggest that the United States has had some role to play in the process.
We call the Australian and the international community to express their rejection and condemnation of the coup, and to express their solidarity with the people of Honduras in their democratic rights.
Supported by the Latin America Solidarity Conference 2009 Organising Committee:
Centre for Latin America Solidarity and Studies (CLASS)
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG, Australia)
Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN, Melbourne)
Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network
Peace & Justice for Colombia (Melbourne)
Chilean Communist Party (Melbourne)
Communist Party of Australia (CPA)
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP)
Socialist Alliance
For comments please contact Lulu 0421 957 341, Roberto 0425 182 994 or Oscar 0415 232 057
Background and further information:
Showdown in Honduras: The Rise and Uncertain Future of the Coup
Latest news in English in Venezuelanalysis
