*Robelo is the husband of Wendy Elizabeth Avila, a 24 year old girl who died in September 2009 as a result of tear gas fired in a brutal manner by the police during the eviction outside the Embassy of Brazil, where former President, Manuel Zelaya, had been locked up.
Honduras: "They tried to kill me, but I'm still in the struggle"
Motorized member of the Resistance denounces persecution and attempted murderby Giorgio Trucchi
There is something schizophrenic in the attitude of the government of Porfirio Lobo and the Honduran police, or they just play with double talk, trying to pretend that in Honduras there is no persecution against members of the Resistance.
While the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, IACHR, includes Honduras amongst Latin American countries where human rights are mostly violated, the Security Minister Oscar Alvarez said that the killing of seven journalists have nothing to do with their professional performance.
In the Lower Aguán, the delicate situation of the agrarian conflict between the Unified Movement of Peasants of Aguan Muca, and three landowners, has been partially resolved with the signing of an agreement between the government and the farmer organization
However, the militarization of the area remains, as well as the detention and prosecution of farmers, and threats and harassment of union leaders and trade unions.
If that were not enough, on Tuesday April 20 Oscar Flores was kidnapped, a member of the Resistance, who once released, reported that his captors admitted having the wrong person. Their target were the board members of the Syndicate of Workers of the National Autonomous University of Honduras, Sitraunah.
Recently, the president of the Teachers Union of Middle School Education in Honduras, COPEMH, Jaime Rodriguez, reported a persistent persecution against him, and since the coup seven teachers involved with the Resistance have been killed.
Due to this dramatic situation, consternation is generated by statements of the high command of the police to assure the Committee of Relatives of Detained and Disappeared in Honduras, Cofadeh, the application of the precautionary measures granted by the IACHR to more than one hundred people.
However, human rights organizations have repeatedly denounced the complete abandonment in which these people find themselves, many of whom had to leave the country because of fear of losing their life.
It is in this context of persecution that fits the situation of Edwin Robelo.
Robelo is the husband of Wendy Elizabeth Avila, a 24 year old girl who died in September 2009 as a result of tear gas fired in a brutal manner by the police during the eviction outside the Embassy of Brazil, where the former President Manuel Zelaya had been locked up.
Both were part of the motor group of the Resistance, and now Edwin continues its struggle path, as he promised to Wendy before she died.
Information List "Nicaragua y más" spoke with him to know the difficult situation he is living.
-What kind of repressive acts have you suffered?
- "With the takeover of Porfirio Lobo, repression has intensified. In my case, I have suffered several attacks and it seems that the repressive forces have me on their list as one of the objectives to be slaughtered under a strategy of selective prosecution.
-What kind of attack?
-In the marches, there are always infiltrators and we always try to identify them to neutralize them. In one of the last demonstrations we arrived to Parque Central and I, along with other people, started to paint graffiti on the walls.
Suddenly, three infiltrators from the police came out of the crowd. They walked with headscarves and carrying flags of the Resistance. With guns in hand, they headed towards me and made an attempt to shoot, but the gun failed.
Several members of the Resistance, who had noticed what was happening, ran after them but could not catch them.
-Why do you think they want to kill you?
-It's hard to say. They know me very well and they know that I am a very active member of the Resistance, and that I will never surrender. Perhaps I, like many other colleagues, are viewed by them as a threat to their interests. That's why they continue with threats and attacks against our lives.
However, we are not afraid and we will go to the very end.Even if we have to offer up our blood, we will. Like Wendy said, it is better to die standing than to live on your knees.
-Are you taking any security measure?
- "I filed the complaint with various human rights organizations and they will ask the IACHR to grant me precautionary measures.
Besides, I am also taking security measures to avoid being an easy target for those who want me to eliminate me. Among colleagues, we look after one another.
-As of June 28, 2009, there has been a constant violation of human rights in Honduras. In your case, you have personally suffered the death of Wendy and repression. What do you hope for the future?
-Wendy was a very valuable partner and gave her life for this struggle. We will not be intimidated and we will get to the end of this struggle. The blood of our brothers and sisters has not been shed in vain. There are hundreds of thousands of Hondurans in the streets of the country and their children, their grandchildren, will be able to see the dreams for which our martyrs died.
Watch Robelo speaking and Wendy's funeral on a December Fault Lines Documentary on the Coup and the Human Rights Violations reported by Al Jazeera’s Avi Lewis (married to journalist and author, Naomi Klein) trip to Honduras here:
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