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June 28th marked the anniversary of the coup d'état in Honduras. One year later, the political crisis in the country remains unresolved. Despite an election in November, 2009, violence and repression have continued under new President Porfirio Lobo, and civil society continues to refuse to recognize his government while pressing ahead with plans to hold a Constituent Assembly to begin the process of changing the Honduran Constitution.
Both the Canadian and US governments have praised last November's elections in Honduras as a major step forward toward a return to democracy and national reconciliation. Yet the reality on the ground under the newly elected government of Porfirio Lobo is one of continuing repression and selective assassinations of those who dared to oppose the June 28, 2009 military coup.
The face of Honduras' president may have changed, but the impunity and repressive policies of the old coup government continue. Porfirio Lobo took office on January 27 after winning a deeply flawed election. Since then he has shown little interest in reconciling with ousted president Manuel Zelaya or the National Resistance that had mobilized opposition to the coup government.
Mounting evidence suggests that fraud was committed in the November 29 Honduran national elections, but the fraud wasn't against the minority who voted; it was against the majority who abstained. Though we may never know the truth about how many Hondurans stayed home on November 29 to protest the coup, what we do know is that fewer than 50% of the population voted.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was forced into exile following a military coup in the country on June 28, defied the coup regime's efforts to keep him out of the country by staging a return to Honduras on September 21. The coup regime is responding with a brutal crackdown on the Honduran democracy movement. In the face of this escalation of violence, Canada is one of the only countries that has failed to act effectively to isolate the coup regime. We need to speak out now and demand action from the Canadian government, before it's too late.
Apparel brands with production in Honduras, including adidas Group, Nike Inc. and Gap Inc., released a joint letter sent to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "calling for the restoration of democracy in Honduras" following the June 28th military coup. The brands urged "an immediate resolution to the crisis" and asked that "civil liberties, including freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association be fully respected."
The Central American Women’s Network (CAWN) is bringing attention to the plight of women after the June 28 military coup in Honduras. In a July 10 press release CAWN provides a detailed account of the violent impact of the military coup on women, stating “We are seriously concerned that the political participation of women and women’s organisations is being threatened and their protests have been suppressed. This is putting their lives at risk.”
Honduran troops block protesters
World governments have called for the restoration of democracy in Honduras following the military coup which ousted the democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya on June 28th. The response from the Canadian government, however, has been tepid at best.
As a result Common Frontiers and other social justice organizations (including MSN), has published an open letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging him to break relations with the military-backed government and call for the unconditional reinstatement of democratically-elected Zelaya.
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