The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee is hosting its latest FILM & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES. The theme is MAN & WOMAN AGAINST THE MACHINE. The second film in the series is WHO KILLED SISTER DORTHY? [USA, 2008], and it will be shown on Fri., Oct. 29 at a private home. If interested in seeing the DVD, RSVP to Max at 410-366-1637.
This documentary tells the story of Dorothy Stang, who was murdered on Feb. 12, 2005 in Anapu, located in the Amazon Rainforest. Directed by Daniel Junge, the film is narrated by Martin Sheen. At the mouth of the
Doors open at 7 PM, and the DVD starts at 7:30 PM. There is no charge, and refreshments will be available. A discussion will follow.
Honduran Resistance Movement Shows Signs of Progress
Friday 22 October 2010
by: Bill Quigley and Laura Raymond, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis
(Photo: ThisTideHasNoHeartbeat / Flickr)
On October 21, the democratic resistance in
On September 15, 2010, a nonviolent march and musical concert in
The musicians who were attacked called for today to be renamed Artists in Resistance Day. To mark the occasion, the collective Artists in Resistance and the National Front of Youth in Resistance (FNJR by its Spanish acronym) organized concerts for the night of October 21 in
These groups reflect just a small sliver of the National Front of Popular Resistance in
Ongoing Crisis in Honduras
Since the coup in June 2009, two regimes - the de facto coup government under Roberto Micheletti and the administration of the sitting president Porfirio Lobo - have done little to protect human rights, while police and security forces have subjected FNRP members or those identified with their movement to mass arrests, beatings, tear gas raids, rape and other forms of torture, and kidnappings. Judges critical of the coup and of post-coup authorities have been divested of their positions, transferred arbitrarily and faced disciplinary proceedings.
At least ten journalists have been killed in 2010 alone under circumstances overwhelmingly indicative that the killings were political assassinations. Journalists not killed have faced state censorship. Violence and repression of political speech, public assembly and critical democracy have become a part of daily life.
Rather than investigate these crimes and hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions, Honduran officials have looked the other way. The official line mouthed by these officials and getting much play in Honduran newspapers (which make no effort to hide their support for the coup and post-coup regimes) is that this violence is a by-product of drug and gang wars. Sadly, this narrative has gained some traction in the blogosphere and in diplomatic circles, even though these speculations are not based on any independent investigations or arrests.
The surge in violence against union leaders, community organizers, journalists and activists has in fact come only after the coup, and it is undeniable that the leaders and members of the resistance are being targeted.
According to the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), there have been 83 murders of members of the FNRP, countless injuries from assaults, and a steady stream of exiled individuals who have left the country after being raped or otherwise tortured, or after receiving death threats as a result of being part of - or being perceived as part of - the resistance; some of the people in exile have experienced both torture and death threats.
Time to "Move on"?
Despite the overthrow of democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya last year, the repressive actions of the interim Micheletti coup regime, the illegitimate "election" of Lobo (which groups like the Carter Center and even the United Nations refused to observe because of its clear illegality), the lack of justice for any of the victims of the coup and the subsequent and continuing political violence, the post-coup authorities are repeatedly saying that it is time for the Honduran people to move on.
The latest incarnation of efforts to "move on" is a bogus invitation by Pepe Lobo to the FNRP to dialogue about the Constituent Assembly process. The FNRP considered the invitation carefully. They met in two separate assemblies to consider and decided to reject the invitation because of the ongoing violence and repression directed at the resistance. The reasons for the rejection included the fact that President Zelaya is still being forced into exile with false charges against him, that there are many political prisoners and that there has been no accountability for the human rights violations against the movement. FNRP leadership stated that the invitation was just another attempt by Lobo to legitimize his authority before a national and international audience.
Resistance Progress
The FNRP is committed to changing the Honduran constitution in a way that reflects democracy and human rights. Many in
The Constituent Assembly, or constituyente in Spanish, has been the principal focus of the FNRP for much of the past year. They recently presented 1.3 million signatures gathered in support of the process. At first glance, it might seem counterintuitive - if this is the movement's primary focus and the current president wants to dialogue about it, wouldn't the resistance at least try to engage? The fact is that resistance views Lobo as an illegitimate official and as actively involved in the repression against the FNRP; dialogue with him has the potential to compromise the careful, deeply democratic process that the FNRP has been engaging in for months with numerous sectors of Honduran society, from unions to youth to peasant farmers to LGBTQ groups, as well as others.
The FNRP has now resolved to move forward with the Constituent Assembly as an autonomous, democratic process. This decision is incredibly exciting, even historic, for our hemisphere, and it is an example of participatory democracy that we all could learn from.
Meanwhile, in the
especially given the lead-up to midterm elections - in issuing a strongly worded condemnation of the "deplorable human rights record" in
The members of Congress registered their "serious concern that the rule of law is directly threatened by members of the Honduran police and armed forces" and called on the Obama administration to end all direct assistance to Honduran authorities, especially the police and the military. They also called on the
While most member countries of the OAS have stood firm in their rejection of Honduras, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton has made Honduras's reinstatement a US priority in the region, raising the issue in her meetings with Latin American heads of state and lobbying for it at various regional meetings. For reasons that the Center for Constitutional Rights laid out in our open letter to
Those committed to working in solidarity with ordinary people organizing for democracy, equality and social justice in the
It’s a crucial time to fight ignorance - help Truthout get the word out by donating here.
But history shows that anti-democratic regimes in Latin America and elsewhere can be overcome - even when they have the backing of the
Bill Quigley and Laura Raymond work at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Contact Bill here and Laura here.
Donations can be sent to the
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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