CUPE – along with a range of other civil society groups – is supporting a delegation from the Latin American Solidarity Network that will travel to Honduras at the end of August. They will meet with labour and community activists to document what has been happening in the two months since the Honduran army violently removed the country’s democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya.
Canada supported the unanimous resolution expelling Honduras from the OAS but has not taken concrete action to support the demand for the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of President Zelaya. Canada could follow the example of South American states who have declared that they will not recognize any president that is elected under the dictatorship in the upcoming elections.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Hondurans from humble backgrounds ― workers, farmers, women, students, youth and indigenous people, have mobilized against the coup in a struggle for democracy, workers’ rights, and economic and social justice. Tens of thousands have been participating in peaceful marches, facing tear gas, beatings and arrest by the military and police. A week-long nationwide general strike of teachers and public sector workers took place to press for the immediate and unconditional reinstatement of Manuel Zelaya as the sole and legitimate president of Honduras.
Political activists have been murdered, independent TV and radio stations have been shut down, journalists have been detained and intimidated, and hundreds of people arrested. We have heard no condemnation of this violence from Canada. Amnesty International has reported extensively on escalating human rights abuses as violence and repression increase.
For ongoing reports from the Latin American Solidarity Network delegation – and for other news about CUPE’s work promoting solidarity around the world – keep an eye on CUPE’s global justice page.
