Tucson, AZ – In the early hours of June 28, 2009, Honduran soldiers snatched President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya from his home and removed him from power in a coup d’état with tacit support from the U.S. What followed was a brutal dictatorship that murdered, disappeared and oppressed Hondurans. In close collaboration with criminal cartels, the Honduran power elite implemented neoliberal policies, while violence and drugs plagued the country. It should come as no surprise that waves of Hondurans poured out into caravans headed north to seek asylum in the U.S. only to be met by the cruel denial of President Trump and U.S. troops on the border.

From day one, the Honduran people resisted the coup and the robbery of the progressive agenda and constitutional reforms underway with Zelaya. A mass movement, led by the National Popular Resistance Front, built the organized resistance from 2009 to now, against the dictatorship of Presidents Lobo and Hernandez, their military apparatus and death squads. After 12 years with hundreds of murdered and disappeared activists, tens of thousands of detainees and arrests, as well as two massively fraudulent elections in 2013 and 2017, the Honduran people brought back a Zelaya to the presidency, Mel Zelaya’s wife Xiomara. She was elected with over 53% of the vote on November 28.

Moving from a strategic military operation base in the 1980s, in the U.S.-sponsored terror campaign by the Contras in Nicaragua, Honduras can now expel U.S. imperialism’s SOUTHCOM and continue the process of lifting the talons of the Yankee eagle out of Latin America.

Honduras is analogous to similar developments in Bolivia and Peru, where mass movements delivered important blows to U.S. imperialism by electing progressive leftist presidents, and joins Nicaragua, which just re-elected Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega.

Newly elected President Xiomara Castro de Zelaya gave her victory speech saying, “We will not rest one moment. We will give our soul, life and heart to be able to guarantee a different homeland, a just homeland, an equitable homeland, a free, independent Honduras, able to respond to the many needs of the people.” She concluded, “Today I want to say from the depths of my heart so that the Honduran people feel it: No more war! No more hate! No more death squads! No more corruption! No more drug trafficking and organized time! Until the final victory, united, the people, together we are going to transform our country!”

#TucsonAZ #Honduras #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #XiomaraCastro

Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people gathered November 5 at rush hour to protest on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge, a major artery that connects Minneapolis and Saint Paul, to protest President Trump’s relentless racist attacks on the caravan of refugees heading north. The refugees are seeking asylum from rampant violence, political instability and extreme poverty in Honduras.

The protesters carried signs opposing President Trump’s plan to send thousands of military troops to the border and his threats to fire on asylum seekers, as well as signs in solidarity with the thousands of Hondurans who will seek asylum in the U.S., as is their right under international and U.S. law. The protest was called just two days earlier by an ad hoc coalition of immigrant rights, anti-war and Latin American solidarity organizations. The ad hoc coalition has brought together Minnesota Hands Off Honduras Committee, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Minnesota Cuba Committee, Haiti Justice Committee of Minnesota, Puerto Ricans in Minnesota, Women Against Military Madness, and many others.

President Trump and Republican candidates from the national to the local levels have tried to demonize the people fleeing Honduras, one of the most violent countries in the world. The departure of thousands of people from Honduras is a direct result of U.S. military intervention in Honduras since the 1980s, the U.S.-backed coup against the Honduran government in 2009 and more recently, the highly irregular Honduran presidential election last year. These events have created an unstable environment in Honduras with extreme economic difficulties and rampant street violence.

As many people leave Honduras for their own safety, Trump and his followers are trying to trick people in the U.S. into thinking that everyday working people fleeing for their lives are somehow a threat. Trump’s rhetoric bashing the caravan got more shrill as the midterm election got closer, showing it was part of an electoral strategy. But it was also consistent with Trump’s vitriolic approach to immigrants since before he was a candidate and is part of an ongoing anti-immigrant approach, not just something aimed at the midterm elections. As part of Trump’s escalation, on October 29, he ordered over 5000 U.S. troops to further militarize the Mexico-U.S. border.

The ad hoc coalition will have more upcoming actions to oppose U.S. military troops being sent to the border and to support asylum seekers from Honduras and elsewhere in Central America and México.

#MinneapolisMN #Honduras #PeoplesStruggles #MIRAc #migrantCaravan

Tampa, FL – The U.S. prides itself in having a day to ‘give thanks.’ They call this, ‘Thanksgiving’ and it's supposed to be a time when the family unites and shares a home-cooked meal. This tradition, however, is not always shared by immigrant communities.

For Alicia, a member and founder of Raices en Tampa, this year she will not be celebrating Thanksgiving with her family. Alicia's family is split apart between two countries.

In the fall of 1998, Hurricane Mitch swept through the Atlantic Ocean. The rainfall that fell during Mitch's travel through Honduras flooded over 2 million homes and killed about 11,000 people. The U.S. permitted the entry of some Hondurans during this time. Among them were Alicia and her other four family members: her father, mother and one older and younger brother. They arrived in Naples, Florida that year and attempted to rebuild their lives.

Many Hondurans arriving at this time were extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS is much like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which was given to young undocumented immigrants in June of 2012. TPS is only available for two years and those who have it must reapply, while paying hundreds of dollars for new applications while losing all of their documentation in the meantime. They can face harassment, stalking, arrests and even deportations while they wait for their renewal request for TPS to be approved.

“Sometimes when I go to renew, if the person in Naples does not know what they are doing or if they want to be nasty, they will take my license and cut it in half,” says Alicia.

Alicia's family has each had their fair share of bad experiences while in the U.S. Alicia's mother Irene was pulled over for driving without a license and the police officer threatened to jail her and have her deported. Knowing her responsibility as a mother to two minor children, Irene decided to never drive after that arrest. This quickly became a setback because, even to do a simple task like shopping for groceries, Irene had to ask someone to provide her with transportation.

“As an immigrant and one with such a temporary status, you grow up quickly and learn that the law is used to terrorize us,” says Alicia.

Irene was so afraid to drive that, in October this year, she decided to self-deport back to her native Honduras along with her youngest daughter. Irene put everything she had accumulated in 15 years up for sale. That which she did not sell she gave away to Alicia or friends and neighbors. In a week, everything this family had built with their own work, tears and struggles was only a distant memory.

“I want President Obama to know there are over 2 million deportations, now. All of this is happening without him really caring or even trying to stop them from happening. During his Thanksgiving, I hope Obama thinks about all of us undocumented immigrants who are torn apart from our families and can't share anymore meals with our families,” says Irene.

Raices en Tampa, which is group in Tampa, Florida that Alicia help found, has decided to push for a way to stop these attacks on the approximately 1.5 million undocumented immigrants in the state of Florida. So far, DREAMers Moms Orlando and United Families in Miami have endorsed the action and many others are beginning to express support.

Alicia is positive her work with Raices en Tampa will succeed. “No one deserves to be torn from their home or family for simply driving to work or going to school. We all need jobs, but how are we supposed to drive without a driver’s license? Florida should not deport anymore immigrants for driving without a license. Licenses for all now in the state of Florida!”

Raices en Tampa is collecting public support for their campaign, “Driver's Licenses for All Undocumented – Florida”. They ask that you take a picture of yourself with a sign that reads, “I support driver's licenses for all in Florida! #DL4ALLFL!” and that you email it to raicesentampa@gmail.com.

Marisol Márquez is a member of Raíces en Tampa

#TampaFL #Honduras #deportations #thanksgiving #legalizationForAll #borderRepression #DriversLicenses #ImmigrantsRights #RaicesEnTampa

On Oct. 24 the newly formed Hands Off Honduras Coalition, made up of anti-war and Latin America solidarity groups, organized a demonstration at the major intersection of Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue. 70 people protested in opposition to the military coup d'état in Honduras and to the de facto acceptance of the coup by the U.S. government.

The people of Honduras have bravely resisted the June 28 coup that illegally removed President Manuel Zelaya. The Honduran resistance has carried out huge protests and massive strikes. The military responded with brutal repression including tear gas, clubs and gunfire. They have arrested thousands, killed many and closed down all independent news media.

Meredith Aby, of the Anti-War Committee and the Colombia Action Network, explained the root of the coup, “While in office Zelaya took some strong stands to help his people, like increasing the minimum wage and standing with ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) against the U.S.'s free trade agenda in the region.

Aby continued, “However, this isn't a protest or a movement merely about a president. This is a protest and a movement in solidarity with the people of Honduras. A people who have chosen to defend their right to pick their president and to determine the course for their country. It is just that very idea – the idea of change – that has scared the Honduran elite and their military. Power in Honduras is in the hands of about 100 people from 25 families, while the majority of Hondurans live in poverty. The elite hoped that they could just remove Zelaya and their problem would go away. But the people of Honduras are saying, 'Ya Basta!' 'Enough is enough!' and are refusing to go back to the old ways.”

The Oct. 24 protest’s speakers, signs and chants denounced the U.S. government’s support for the coup government. The U.S. continues to fund the Honduran government and has criticized President Zelaya as 'irresponsible' for trying to return to Honduras to resume his rightful place as president. The U.S has not condemned the repression by the military. Honduran military officers are graduates of the infamous U.S. School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia, which continues to train officers from all over Latin America on how to wage war on their own peoples. Recently, groups of U.S. legislators traveled to Honduras in support of a phony 'election' set for Nov. 29. The protest demanded a change in the U.S. policy of intervening in Latin American.

Joe Callahan, of the Minnesota Cuba Committee, gave a passionate appeal for Americans to connect to the cause of Honduras, “In addition to the rifle fire, tear gas and the clubs, a brand new high-tech weapon was used against the Honduran people – sound cannons. One month ago this weapon was used in Pittsburgh against people protesting the policies of the Group of 20. This is a very loud reminder that we are linked together with the peoples of the world, like the people of Honduras. So when we stand up in support of their rights we are fighting for our own rights too.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Honduras #ManuelZelaya #Americas #Coup

Join tens of thousands in Washington DC on Saturday, September 29 to say:

• No to Plan Colombia
• No to the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas)
• U.S. Bases out of Vieques and all of Latin America & the Caribbean
• Close the School of the Americas / WHISC
• Stop the Direct Assault Against People of Color and the Poor in the Americas through the Phony War on Drugs

The U.S. government is continuing its legacy of intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean by imposing pro-corporate, anti-people economic policies, by providing military aid and training to repressive governments, and attempting to crush any movements that support alternative models. We must stop these policies and stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers throughout the Americas. They are at the forefront of opposition to these policies, and are creating alternatives that place human need above corporate greed.

The U.S. government is using its armed forces to push through economic policies that only serve to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. This war system works hand in hand with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The U.S. government is using the production of narcotics in the southern part of the American continent as an excuse to militarize the Americas. There are currently military bases in Cuba, Ecuador, and Puerto Rico and a strong military presence in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru.

Current U.S. policy towards Colombia is a failed policy which is inflaming a violent conflict and contributing to increased human rights abuses. We call for an end to all military aid to Colombia and for an end to U.S. funding of fumigation in Colombia and the Andean region. We recognize that U.S.-funded fumigation of coca crops is destroying critical biodiversity throughout the Amazon region and is creating health and food security crises among the local populations. At the same time – with the excuses of the “drug war”, and “illegal” immigration – the U.S. has militarized its border with Mexico. It is also increasingly militarizing the police forces in urban and rural areas and is brutalizing the people of color who live there. We know that all this repression has the same root and the same purpose: to maintain U.S. economic control, and to concentrate wealth in even fewer hands.

Challenges to this anti-people model – especially those rising from democratic processes and civil society – are a tremendous threat to U.S. control in the region. We support the peaceful resolution of differences in our personal lives, in our communities, in our nation and in the world. We condemn the actions of the United States government that increase economic and social inequality, undermine democratic institutions, and fund police and military violence.

We uphold the right to self-determination and national sovereignty. The nations and peoples of the hemisphere have the right to pursue self-government free of external military and economic pressures.

We who live in the United States must realize the responsibility of the U.S. government in creating and maintaining inequality in the Americas. We must work to end all U.S. military aid and training to the region, to stop the blockade of Cuba, to end the continued colonial exploitation of Puerto Rico and its use as a giant military base from which invasions to other countries are rehearsed. We must say no to the U.S. viewing and using other countries as their backyard.

We propose alternatives to the pro-company, anti-people economic model – alternatives that overcome repressive structures in our own countries, as well as the existence of the same structures elsewhere. We propose alternatives that include real community building, fair economics, and self-determination. Therefore, we oppose the so-called “war on drugs”, Presidential fast track authority in trade negotiations, and NAFTA- style Free Trade Agreements between the U.S. and the other countries of the Americas.

We call on people of conscience around the world to join us on September 29 in our protest against U.S. military and economic intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean. We are organizing a massive protest in Washington D.C. as part of the week of action against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. We call for people to organize local demonstrations on the same day. We are also coordinating with movements throughout Latin America and the Caribbean to make this an International Day of Action Against U.S. Military and Economic Intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Signed:

• Nicaragua Network
• CISPES(Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador)
• NISGUA(Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala)
• Colombia Action Network
• Witness for Peace
• Latinos and Latinas for Social Change
• Chicago Nicaragua Solidarity Committee
• Guatemala Human Rights Commission – USA
• Rights Action

Stop U.S. Intervention in Colombia

The Colombia Action Network (CAN) is a national network of local activist groups fighting to stop U.S. intervention in Colombia and supporting progressive forces working for social justice within Colombia. We encourage everyone to use our activist resources and take up our campaigns. Resources, background info and up-to-date information is available on our website. Get in touch with us!

Colombia Action Network

www.actioncolombia.org

actioncolombia@hotmail.com

612-872-0944

#WashingtonDC #AntiwarMovement #Colombia #Cuba #ElSalvador #Honduras #Americas #Bolivia #IMF #Statement #FTAA #freeTrade #PlanColombia #WorldBank #InternationalBank #SchoolOfTheAmericas

Minneapolis, MN - An emergency response protest here, June 29, condemned the military coup that happened on June 28 in Honduras. The protest also expressed solidarity with the Honduran people's resistance to the right-wing military coup and demanded that the U.S. government cut off aid to Honduras. This was one of many emergency protests that happened in the U.S. and throughout the world.

The main speakers at the Minneapolis protest were Father Luis Alvarenga, a Salvadoran religious leader and immigrant rights activist in the Twin Cities and Meredith Aby, of the Colombia Action Network and Anti-War Committee. Alvarenga emphasized the need for solidarity with the people of Honduras. Aby talked about the long history of U.S. military intervention in Latin America and the need to stop it. She noted that the Honduran coup leaders were trained at the U.S.-based School of the Americas.

On the morning of June 28, the command of the Honduran military took over the house of the president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. The men covered their faces and wore regular military uniforms. While entering the house, they shot and killed one of the president’s security guards, then kidnapped the president and forced him to fly to Costa Rica. The coup took place as Hondurans were set to vote on possible future changes to the country's constitution.

Francisco Segovia, a member of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAc) said, “The Central American community living in Minneapolis, Minnesota condemns this coup executed by the higher ranks of the military powers, supported by economic elites and given illegitimate imprimatur by the president of the Honduran parliament, Roberto Micheletti.”

Niger Arevalo, a member of the FMLN of Minnesota, added, “For more than a century, the people of Latin America have suffered horrendous crimes executed by the military in alliance with the dominant national and international economic groups that exercise great power in Latin America. Once again, the ghosts of previous military coups traverse the continent – this time visiting the Honduran people.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Honduras #ManuelZelaya #Coup #Americas