To all brothers and sisters struggling against the coup in Honduras:

1.- We salute your heroic struggle for the restoration of democracy and the reinstament of the legitimate president of the republic, Manuel Zelaya to power.

2.- We totally and absolutely condemn the de facto regime and demand its immediate resignation. We also demand the immediate reinstatement of legitimate President, Manuel Zelaya, and of the democratic order in Honduras.

3.- We condemn the systematic violation of human rights being perpetrated daily by the de facto regime in Honduras -reminiscent of the dark days of the military dictatorships of the 1970, 1980s and 1990s in Latin America- and whose main manifestation is brutal military and police repression. These violations of human rights involve the suppression of independent media (radio, TV stations and newspapers), illegal arrests, shooting against peaceful demonstrators, the supression of the freedom of association and assembly, the right to freedom of movement, to leave, enter and stay within the national territory (all consecrated in articles 69.71,72,78,79,81,84,99 of the Honduran Constitution), and extra judicial killings (so far six individual have been assassinated in the style of the 1980s death squads).

4.- The de facto regime is the result of a coup d'etat and it exists because it has unleashed the full weight of armed repression against your peaceful struggle to restore democracy in your country. All the atrocities perpetrated against your fundamental rights have been certified and reported by an International Human Rights Commission composed of fifteen independent professionals (legal experts, journalists, anthropologists, political scientists, sociologists, and human rights experts) from Germany, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, El Salvador, Spain, Nicaragua, Peru, Sweden, and Uruguay. The airwaves are full of the terrifying images of the daily repression your just struggle faces at the hands of the military and the police ostensibly following the orders of the de facto Micheletti regime. Any suggestion that the Micheletti government is some sort of 'constitutional government of succession' is simply ludicrous.

5.- President Obama, State Secretary Hillary Clinton and officials in the US State Department have engaged in semantics to cover their shameful retreat from their first stance of condemnation of the coup, the demand of the immediate reinstatement of President Zelaya and the restoration of the democratic order in Honduras. The fact of the matter is that the US current stance of studious 'neutrality' vis-a-vis the crisis in Honduras, makes them objectively supporters and accomplices of the de facto regime in Tegucigalpa. Micheletti and Co know they can count on US inaction and the fact that no punitive measure will emerge from Washington. No other country in the world has the level of political and military influence and the economic clout to help restore democracy in Honduras.

6.- The British government has taken an unequivocal stance, Foreign Office Minister for Latin American Affairs has clealry condemned the coup:

"The UK condemns the expulsion of President Zelaya and calls for the restoration of democratic, constitutional government in Honduras. We support the Organisation of American States' call supporting the rule of law and are deeply concerned about the deployment of military personnel onto the streets of Tegucigalpa."

This is in line with the UN, the EU, the OAS, the NOAM, the Rio Group, MERCOSUR, SICA, and just about everybody else in the world. No government in the world has recognised the de facto regime in Tegucigalpa.

7.- We salute you all in this moment of sorrow and pain for your nation but we know you will be victorious. From over here we will continue to do everything in our power to
a) publicise and champion your struggle in the UK exposing the daily violence the de facto regime subjects the people of Honduras;
b) ensure that your struggle gets broad based support among trade unions, parliamentarians, students, progressive forces in general, solidarity movements, intellectuals, Latin American communities and everybody else;
c) endeavour to make the UK government stance to translate into concrete sanctions to hasten the demise of the de facto military dictatorship in Honduras;
d) continue to demand the US applies full sanctions against the Honduran de facto government as it is not only morally obliged to do so but which is dictated by its own legislation (Section 7008 of its foreign relations operational bill).

Yours in solidarity

Dr Francisco Dominguez
Secretary Venezuela Solidarity Campaign
London
United Kingdom



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