The dictatorship in Honduras, which overthrew the elected government of Manuel Zelaya in a military coup on June 28, has stepped up its reign of terror.

A state of siege remains in place. The most recent targets of the repression have Radio Globo and Channel 36 — the two main media outlets opposing the coup and giving the mass resistance movement in the Central American nation a voice.

The continual repression has affected the size of anti-coup protests.

However, the ongoing resistance has caused further cracks to open within the pro-coup forces as support for the resistance spreads.

“They have just attacked our comrades from the resistance who had been protesting at the offices of Radio Globo”, Dirian Pereira from the National Front Against the Coup in Honduras (FNRG) said, over the phone from the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

“They were brutally attacked, the police fired tear gases and a number of people were beaten up.”

“Right now, there is no media outlet that is speaking about the resistance”, said Pereira about the shutdown of Radio Globo and Channel 36.

Having shut down critical media, “they are carrying out heavy acts of repression. This morning there kicked out some peasant comrades who had been occupying the office of the National Agrarian Institute.”

Gilberto Rios, an FNRG leader, told this reporter: “This is the tenth time that they have taken [Radio Globo] of the air and left us without any possibility to communicate.

“They are violating an elementary right, which is the right to information and free speech. They are hitting us hard, and the balancesheet we have drawn up is that this is not positive.

“Nevertheless, the majority of the population is against the most repressive measures the government is carrying out. This has meant that more sectors are joining the resistance against the coup. We are converting ourselves into a force that, if we can unite, will defeat this coup.”

On September 28, coup leader Roberto Micheletti declared a state of siege, suspending all civil liberties. A day later, under pressure, he promised to lift it.

However, Pereira said: “The only thing they have said is that they will study the decree because the Congress asked them to … but they have not annulled it. Micheletti said that maybe next week they will annul it, but the repression continues. They are trying to undermine the motivation of the resistance to fight.”

Rios added: “Their attitude is one of strength that, according to our reading of the situation, does not correspond with the strength they have. Rather, it comes from the strength of the forces supporting them — the transnational companies such as Exxon Mobil and other powerful financial forces that are behind this coup.

“In that sense, there is not only a Honduran coup. We have already defeated the Honduran coup. What we are fighting to defeat now is the coup by the transnationals.”

A proposal to end the conflict between the coup regime, backed by the oligarchy, and the poor majority supporting Zelaya has emerged from a group of Honduran business leaders. The proposal would result in both Micheletti and Zelaya resigning. Power would be handed over to a United Nations mission that would oversee elections.

Rios said: “The proposal reflects a decision taken by the oligarchy in the face of the elections scheduled for November 29. The siege decree would exclude any possibility of the presidential candidates being able to carry out a political campaign during the next 45 days — leaving only a week or two for campaigning.

“Many saw this as an attempt by the Micheletti government to prolong their stay in power beyond the date of the elections.

“This reflects a lack of confidence among [those that support the coup]. There is a process of fracturing within the oligarchy that is in power as a result of the coup. That is why the resistance is standing firm on its proposals.

“The resistance is continuing to make the same demands as always: the reinstatement of Zelaya and a national constituent assembly.”

On the possibility of a UN intervention, Rios said: “The resistance is not in favor a such an intervention.”

The mass protests continue. The resistance has called for a mobilisation tomorrow, Friday October 2, outside the U.S. embassy in the morning and protests in the poor neighbourhoods throughout the afternoon and night.

The FNRG has called a meeting of the neighbourhood-based resistance groups in Tegucigalpa for Sunday, October 4.

 

 

Federico Fuentes writes for Green Left Weekly, where this article first appeared. It is republished here with permission.