A Poet Reports from Honduras

José Manuel Zelaya Rosales was born in Jutigalpa, Department of Olancho, Honduras, on September 20, 1952. He started political life early as a deputy of the National Congress and rose to become Minister for Investment in charge of the Honduran Social Investment Fund. In 2005 he ran as the Liberal Party candidate for president. He won the election and took office on January 27, 2006, promising to faithfully serve the state and uphold its constitution and its laws. In his first three years as president he raised the standard of living of Hondurans, especially in rural areas, eliminated public school tuition, and raised the minimum wage to from $143.46 to $292.22 per month in urban areas and from $79.70 to $223.16 in rural areas. With first lady Xiomara Castro, he set up a network to distribute food to public school children throughout the country. He campaigned to reduce poverty by improving agriculture, and with help from ALBA (The Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America) he distributed tractors, fertilizer, high yield seed, and technical assistance to campesinos. He even subsidized fuel prices. He stimulated the arts, creating cultural centers and subsdizing publication of books. He created incentives for writers and artists and provided awards for journalists. In short, the Zelaya government has sought to reduce the power of the wealthy elite in favor of the masses. Its centerpiece has been the flowering of participatory democracy.

In 2009 José Manuel Zelaya proposed a popular referendum to assess public support for a constitutional reform that would increase the participation of historically marginalized persons --black, indigenous and other ethnic and racial groups scattered throughout the country.

Eighty percent of Honduras' eight million citizens live below the poverty line, suffering all the ills of underdevelopment and social abadonment from alarming rates of functional illiteracy to poor health. President Zelaya inherited from his predecessor, Panamanian Ricardo Maduro Joest, a bleak economic situation. He also inherited the highest level of corruption in the country's history, incarnated in officials from ex presidents to ex mayors to congressional deputies.

According to the constitution, the Armed Forces are the "military arm of the people," obedient and not autonomous. In Honduras, this theoretical concept, established by the Magna Carta, has been scorned throughout the Honduran history. We might recall a definintive moment when during the dictatorship of Tiburcio Carías Andino, the President of the Senate, Plutarco Muñoz Pineda, said, "the constitution is a pile of stupid shit," an attitude that has led to uninterrupted violations of its principles.

What happened on June 28 at two in the morning is a concrete example of contempt for the constitution: the coup ousting President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, who was assaulted and humiliated by a group of military men lodged in the deepest oligarchic pit in Latin America.

This sudden forced change of government, imposed by politicians from congress allied with the military, proves beyond a doubt that the defenestration of President Manuel Zelaya fully qualifies as a coup. Sources within the new government headed by Roberto Micheletti Bain call it a "substitution," and defend themselves by saying that leader elected by the people of Honduras is being punished for abuse of power. It should be noted that the justification of the coup rests on trumped-up charges. Zelaya has been charged with 18 supposed crimes and has been threatened with arrest when he returns to his native land. These charges are made in the name of peace and democracy.

These events have given rise to protests by many groups, such as the women's rights group Sociedad Civil, the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People, the Sociedad Civil of Santa Rosa de Copán, and The Fools' Political Organization, along with major organizations of teachers, workers, campesinos, and labor unions. The teachers have called for a general sit-down strike intended to last until Manuel Zelaya is restored to power.

The coup returns us to the repression of the 80s, an era of persecution, abuse, and ruthless searches of private homes. Once again we are seeing incidents like the arrest [on Monday morning] of cartoonist Allan Mac Donald, who was removed from his home with his seven-month-old daughter Abril, and the harassment of journalists Eduardo Maldonando and Esdras Amado López, for their stories on the opinion poll and the "fourth ballot box" [proposed for the November election, for the possible referendum]. Honduras is in a virtual state of siege.

The return of Manuel Zelaya to the Presidency of the Republic is backed by Honduran intellectuals, including Fabricio Estrada, Marco Antonio Madrid, Salvador Madrid, Rafael Murillo Selva, Eduardo Båhr, Rigoberto Paredes, Juan Ramón Saravia, Roberto Sosa, Roberto Quezada, Efraín López Nieto, Ezequiel Padilla, Dino Fanconi and Domingo Torres.

Written by "Talabaranes"-- and translated by Jo Anne Engelbert

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