Eye-witness Account of the Honduran Coup and Return of President Zelaya

Wednesday, November 4

7 PM

Downtown Presbyterian Church

121 N. Fitzhugh St.

Sponsor: The Rochester Committee on Latin America; Contact: Bob Kaiser, ROCLA convener, 293-3194

Grahame Russell, a lawyer and global human rights and development activist, will be in Rochester on Wednesday, November 4, to give an eye-witness account of the June 28 military coup d’etat in Honduras. Mr. Russell, co-director of Rights Action, flew into Honduras within 24 hours of the coup and has spent much of the time since there, observing the illegal de facto government, the huge popular resistance, the secret return of President Zelaya to the Brazilian Embassy in Tecucigalpa, and the army’s violent repression of the protesters – still ongoing. He will speak at 7 pm at the Downtown Presbyterian Church at 121 N. Fitzhugh St., across from the Rochester City Hall. The church is wheelchair-accessible and looped for the hearing impaired. The talk is free, open to the public, and sponsored by the Rochester Committee on Latin America (ROCLA).

Rights Action is a multi-faceted community development, enviro- and human rights organization for community-controlled development, environmental and human rights projects in Guatemala and Honduras, Chiapas, Oaxaca and El Salvador.

Background:

At 1 AM on June 28, Honduras’ democratically-elected President Zelaya and his family were seized by the military (on Supreme Court orders) and sent to Costa Rica. He sneaked back into his country on September 21 and took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy. Mr. Micheletti, the illegal coup president, was pushed into negotiations with President Zelaya while he was in Costa Rica; but he insists that it is Zelaya who is the criminal and should be arrested. As army and police surround the Brazilian Embassy in an increasingly violent stand-off, the US has insisted that President Zelaya must not be harmed. US foreign aid to Honduras has been decreased and travel visas stopped, but President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have not been willing to call this a military coup or to exert more pressure. Canada also has given mixed messages. Grahame Russell’s Rights Action has offices in Canada and the US as well as in Guatemala. He will address the unclear role of the US and Canada.

President Zelaya was elected four years ago. He was a conservative from the business community, but he has become increasingly liberal, raising the minimum wage by 60%, increasing support of teachers, and joining with other nations in Venezuelan-inspired trade and financial organizations. It is the wealthy elite that want him out and the poor who want him back. All other Latin American nations, the UN, the European Union, and the Organization of American States have condemned the coup and demand Zelaya’s return.