Honduras: Terms Being Offered “Aren’t Sincere”

[Joanne98]

Tegucigalpa, Honduras – “It’s like being trapped in some kind of Neo-Nazi concentration camp,” said ousted Honduran President Mel Zelaya, during a cell phone interview on Friday afternoon. Mr. Zelaya was referring to conditions inside the Brazilian Embassy, where he’s been holed up for almost two weeks, after sneaking back into the country on foot. The president, known for his trademark cowboy hat and flamboyant mustache, said that the hundreds of soldiers surrounding the Embassy are very strict about how much food they allow into the building. “They also don’t let us have anything to read, or even important papers. And no visitors,” he said. “Only their people are allowed inside the perimeter … Our supporters can’t even come near the building.”

The rest of the country, like the deposed president, also remains under lock down. Friday saw another peaceful protest march dispersed by police, and unconfirmed reports that a teacher who had actively opposed the de facto regime was killed in an execution-style slaying. Civil rights, including freedom of the press and of assembly, were suspended last Monday, and the authorities have used their new-found powers to crackdown on the growing, pacifist anti-coup movement that swept the country in recent weeks. Independent media outlets have been shuttered, and soldiers and police ordered to break up peaceful marches and rallies. The troops have repeatedly fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and even live rounds into the crowds of peaceful demonstrators. Meanwhile at the Embassy, Mr. Zelaya reported that although the chemical weapons attacks against the compound ceased several days ago, the U.S.-developed sonic crowd-control device known as LRAD is still being deployed at irregular intervals.

“The machine is damaging our health,” said Zelaya. “They also try to jam our phone calls.” The quality of the audio signal fluctuated throughout our interview.



A young man arrested by police on the streets of the capital, after the
dispersal of a peaceful protest. Hundreds have been arrested during
the recent crackdown.
Despite the arrival, on Friday, of an Organization of American States envoy, and a flurry of rumors that mediators were engaged in diplomatic overtures, Mr. Zelaya indicated there has been little in the way of dialogue of between himself and Mr. Micheletti. “Their offers so far are unacceptable,” said Zelaya. “The terms they’ve proposed aren’t sincere,” he said. “It is a false dialogue… aren’t even allowed to be in contact with the rest of the country.”

Mr. Micheletti’s office did not respond to repeated requests for an interview, nor to e-mailed questions.

Zelaya was deposed by the military-backed regime in June, after he attempted to hold a public polling on the issue of constitutional reform. Since his surprise return to the country on September 21, scores citizens have been beaten and hundreds more detained illegally. The authorities, however, insist that the situation is under control.

“We police are very professional,” Inspector Rivera, of Tegucigalpa’s First Precinct, told me in his office, earlier this week. “Our conduct all depends on the behavior of those in the streets. If they push us – we’ll react!” he said, bouncing his palm off the table top. I had come to the station to inquire about a mass arrest the day before, during a police raid on a nearby agricultural center. I would be allowed to see the imprisoned farmers, Rivera told me, if I were willing to surrender my camera.

Speaking of the general censorship of the media in Honduras, Inspector Rivera said it was only a matter of perspective. “If they would just put on the right kind of news, the good news, there wouldn’t be any problem with them being on the air.”

In his own references to the de facto regime’s suspension of civil rights, President Zelaya cited grave concerns for common citizens. “In Honduras there is no longer separation of powers. No freedom of expression. No right to assemble. The only thing we have here now is brutal repression.”

Zelaya suggested that the best solution to the current crisis might be to give the people what they wanted in the first place: the right to convene a popular assembly, to discuss constitutional reforms that would allow a more participatory form of democracy.

“A constitutional assembly is the right of the people,” Zelaya said. “It’s not my idea. When the country decides the time has come, a legal solution will be found.”

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http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/honduras_dispatch_interview_with_zelaya/