Jun
On June 5th, 6th and 7th, El Salvador hosted the annual General Assembly of the Organization of American States. While representatives from 34 nations met in the La Feria Internacional in San Salvador and at nearby hotels to discuss security issues facing the region, Salvadorans and Hondurans protested the return of the post-coup government of Honduras to the OAS. About 200 Hondurans from COPINH (the Civil Counsel of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) and from campesino organzinations of the Bajo Aguan, Honduras came to participate in numerous rallies and marches. Housing, food and transportation for the visitors was arranged by a number of social movement organizations, as well as tents for the Hondurans who occupied a traffic circle near the OAS meeting.
While officials like Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez of El Salvador praised the agreement between de facto President Porfirio Lobo and democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya that allowed Zelaya back into Honduras and Honduras back into the OAS, the Honduran delegation sent another message. With signs saying “The OAS is a joke” and “No More Human Rights Violations in Honduras”, the Hondurans decried the OAS for legitimizing a government that they say is complicit in more than 200 assassinations and a climate of extreme impunity.
The resistance movement under the banner of the National Front of Popular Resistance (FNRP) had been demanding that Honduras not be readmitted until the government met a list of: an end to human rights abuses with investigations into their perpetrators, the return of all political exiles with assurances of their safety, allowing the Honduran people convene a National Constituent Assembly, and the recognized of the FNRP as a legitimate political actor.
Over a hundred international organizations, including U.S-El Salvador Sister Cities and seven local committees, joined the FNRP in their demands in a letter to the OAS in May.These efforts were accompanied by a letter signed by 87 U.S. Congresspeople to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton that cited human rights violations and called on the State Department and U.S. Embassy “to vigorously press the Honduran government to take concrete steps to end abuses by official security forces by suspending, investigating and prosecuting those implicated in human rights violations.” Sister Cities committees were key in getting congressional signers. MOFGA members, for example, convinced Maine representative Chellie Pingree to sign the letter, her first about Central American issues. On the last day of signature collecting, Philadelphia committee members contacted Representative Michael F. Doyle who decided to sign on at the last moment. It was due to such pressure that so many representatives signed the letter and that it got so much mainstream press attention. Click here to see press coverage in El Salvador and Honduras.
In San Salvador, the Honduran delegation and their Salvadoran host organizations seemed to spend every moment of the delegation´s visit protesting the OAS meeting. On Saturday June 4th, the Hondurans protested in front of the El Salvador del Mundo park and later held a vigil in front of the National Cathedral in downtown San Salvador. The next morning, the delegation attended mass at the crypt of Monseñor Romero, where followers of Romero and liberation theology meet every Sunday. The Hondurans held signs of murdered and disappeared resistance members and presented symbolic offerings to the priest to the applause of the congregation.
On Sunday, hundreds of frustrated Salvadorans gathered at El Salvador del Mundo to protest the passage of Decree 743, which changes the way the Sala de lo Constitucional, the section of the Salvadoran Supreme Court that rules on the constitutionality of laws, can make decisions. With this decree, which was pushed through the National Assembly by right-wing parties Gana, Arena, PDC and PCN, the Sala can only make decisions by the unanimous agreement of all five magistrates. In effect this would paralyze the court since one of the magistrates has radically different political views from the other four. Many see this decree as the right-wing´s reaction to court decisions this past year that chip away at the power of the mainstream political parties. The most recent court decision strips the PDC and the PCN of their right to be political parties because they did receive the percentage of votes necessary in the past elections to maintain that status. The two parties will have to re-form with new names and colors and collect signatures before being able to participate in future elections. To the great shock and disappointment of many, President Funes decided to approve Decree 743 instead of vetoing it. At Sunday´s gathering, Salvadorans young and old voiced their anger and indignation at Funes and the right wing parties. The Honduran delegation decided to show their solidarity with their southern neighbors by participating in the rally.
On Monday June 6th San Salvador´s commuters circling the Salvador del Mundo traffic circle were surprised to see yet another rally, this one decreeing the human rights abuses in Honduras. The rally brought together members of the MPR-12, including 40 or so CRIPDES folks, and members of the Honduras delegation. The protesters blocked traffic and marched up to the site of the OAS meeting. A block from the building, a line of soldiers, police and tanks stopped the march, but Honduran and Salvadoran community leaders continued chanting and expressing their mutual solidarity.
On the last day of the OAS meeting, while government representatives bemoaned the scourge of organized crime and strategized about how to combat it (including securing more aid from the United States), Salvadorans and Hondurans continued to protest in the streets of San Salvador. Despite all the OAS rhetoric about strengthening democratic institutions and protecting human rights, the people of Central America know they still have a long ways to go before their political leaders are forced to put their metaphoric money where their mouths are.
To read more coverage of the OAS meeting, Decree 743 or the human rights situation in Honduras follow these links:
Diario CoLatino on the OAS- http://watchingamerica.com/News/77641/the-deterioration-of-the-oas/
Diario El Mundo on Decree 747- http://www.elmundo.com.sv/nacionales-/11445-magistrados-hacia-la-guerra.html
The Nation Magazine- http://www.thenation.com/article/161102/zelaya-returns-honduras-justice-still-not-done
Two Videos by the Real News about Zelaya´s Return to Honduras-
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=74&jumival=408
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=6840
