Honduras Solidarity Delegation – November 17th-26th, 2013

Support Human Rights, Democracy, and Sovereignty in El Salvador and Honduras!

The Honduran people currently face a situation similar to El Salvador in the 1970´s with increasing militarization, repression, and violent murders of activists and community leaders. In response to this growing crisis the people of El Salvador and Honduras call for solidarity and accompaniment. El Salvador solidarity organizations like Sister Cities are in a unique position to offer years of experience in solidarity and electoral observation. In the words of Marcos Galvez, president of Sister Cities partner CRIPDES: 

“The struggles that the Honduran people have faced before, during, and after the coup are similar to the struggles here in El Salvador. As a people, we need to be in solidarity with other pueblos. As Salvadorans who know the importance of solidarity, we call on the international community to accompany Honduras in this new electoral reality, and in a way, be the voice of the Honduran people to applaud or denounce the elections.”

Sister Cities, the Share Foundation and our partner organization CRIPDES invite delegates to learn about current human rights issues in El Salvador and Honduras, observe the pre-electoral climate in El Salvador, and travel together with Salvadoran community leaders to Honduras to serve as election observers supporting the right of the Honduran people to free and fair elections and a return to democracy following the 2009 coup.

On the delegation, we will:

• Meet with human rights organizations in El Salvador and Honduras working to fight impunity, militarization, and repression.
• Advocate for the U.S. government to cut military aid to Honduras and declare neutrality in the upcoming Salvadoran presidential elections.
• Ensure that Hondurans have the right to vote without fear of  violence or fraud
• Help Salvadorans share with their Honduran brothers and sisters lessons from their long struggle for democracy and human rights

Sister Cities and SHARE are offering 3 delegation options:

1.  November 17-26^th El Salvador and Honduras: Travel to both El Salvador (17-19) and Northern Honduras (20-26) to learn about current human rights struggles in both countries and observe the elections in the Bajo Aguan region. Cost-$850*

2.  November 20-26^th, Honduras short delegation: Travel just to Honduras, meet with human rights organizations in San Pedro Sula and observe in the Bajo Aguan. Cost-$750*

3.  November 17-26^th: Honduras long delegation: Visit Tegucigalpa (17-19), San Pedro Sula, and the Bajo Aguan. Cost-$850*

*cost includes $100 donation to bring Salvadoran leaders to observe in Honduras

Background:

On June 28^th, 2009 a military coup with U.S. government backing removed the democratically elected president of Honduras from office . Since then, journalists, campesinos, labor unionists, members of the LGBTQ community and anyone opposing the coup have been threatened, arrested or even killed. The coup has had a chilling effect in all of Latin America, especially in El Salvador, which also continues its struggle against militarization, youth repression, impunity, gang violence and a long history of electoral fraud.

On November 24^th, 2013 Honduras will hold its first major elections since the coup, to elect the president, legislative representatives, and mayors. The main competing parties include the Liberal and National parties and LIBRE, the newly formed party of the Honduran resistance movement. The Honduran people are asking for international observation to ensure their right to vote for leaders who represent them and vote out the leaders who have been pushing the privatization of social services, neglecting the poor and giving public land to the transnational extraction industry. 

For this delegation, Sister Cities is partnering with the SHARE Foundation and the Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN) to coordinate logistics and observation. SHARE and Sister Cities staff, accompanied by our Salvadoran partners, observed the primary elections with HSN last November and traveled to Honduras in March to prepare for the observation in the Aguan region.

 How to Register: 

Email Alexandra Early at sistercities.elsalvador@gmail.com or Estela García at estela.sistercities@gmail.com . For information about the Tegucigalpa-San Pedro Sula travel option please email Tanya Cole sistercities@gmail.com

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