Demonstration to Protest the military coup d'état in Honduras

Wednesday, July 1, 4:30 PM
Hart Plaza, Woodward & Jefferson, Detroit

Demand the restoration of the Manuel Zelaya as president of Honduras

Demand that the U.S. cut off all economic and military aid to the military junta

On Sunday, June 28, the democratically elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, was overthrown by the U.S. trained, and equipped Honduran military. Honduran soldiers invaded the residence of President Zelaya as he slept, and forcibly exiled the president to Costa Rica, just hours before a nationwide referendum was scheduled to take place.

It has been reported that the ambassadors of Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua in Honduras have been kidnapped along with Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas, and have being beaten by Honduran military forces.

While President Obama has expressed that he is "deeply concerned" and that the coup is illegal, Secretary of State Clinton has stated the the U.S. government has not formally designated the military coup as a military coup. And why? Such a move would require, according to U.S. law, that the U.S. cut off almost all U.S. aid to Honduras. In addition to aid to the Honduran government and military, aid is provided to various rightist groups and political parties from such entities as USAID, the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

While the U.S. denies any involvement in the coup, at least two of the coup leaders have received training from the Pentagon's School of the Americas, located at Fort Benning, Georgia, and known by many as the School of the Assassins. Just about every military coup in Latin America since the 1960s (and there have been quite a few) has been led by graduates of the School of the Assassins and supported by the U.S. government.

Furthermore, the U.S. maintains about 550 military and 650 civilian personnel at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, which is also the home of the Honduran Air Force and Naval Academy.

And let us not forget, the U.S. has dispatched military forces to Honduras on several occasions to protect the interests of the United Fruit Company (now known as Chiquita) and the Standard Fruit Company (now Dole).

The Honduran people are in the streets protesting and resisting the military. As of Monday evening, there are reports of several Honduran military battalions refusing to support the coup.

Join us Wednesday in solidarity with the people of Honduras.

Initiated by MECAWI, the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice, and Latinos Unidos de Michigan