Honduras Accompaniment Project works to accompany the nonviolent social movement in Honduras in the face of the repression begun by the coup.
Here is another testimony taken by a member of our International Witness Delegation.
Lilian, a 46-year old resident of Tegucigalpa, was in the region of the Brazilian Embassy yesterday, along with hundreds of others, celebrating democratically-elected president Mel Zelaya’s return. At about 5:30am, members of the police and military came to displace the assembly.
Twenty-four year-old Eric was participating in his Tegucigalpa neighborhood’s protest last night when the nonviolent gathering was attacked by police. He was beaten with police batons before being detained for two hours along with a nineteen year-old compañero.
Police continued to beat Eric after he was detained. “They made us put our hands flat on chairs so they could beat them,” he said. He heard police talking among themselves about killing them.
They’ve declared another full-day curfew today, which is disastrous for most people, who need to work every day for income, and who therefore buy food on a day-to-day basis. People are calling into television and radio stations saying they don’t have any food in their houses, and in some neighborhoods the water has been cut, too. One woman just called in and said that her mom is diabetic and hasn’t had insulin in three days. Even if these individuals decide to defy curfew, as many are doing, the stores and markets are closed.
This is an excellent video summary of the situation in Honduras.
Hundreds of people have been detained in the Chochi Sosa Stadium in Tegucigalpa which is being used as a massive detention center.
In a move calculated to remind dissidents of the torture that took place in the Santiago stadium in 1973 where, among other things, Víctor Jara was tortured and killed, the nonviolent protestors from all the jails and prisons in Honduras have been rounded up and taken to the stadium.
The human rights organization, COFADEH, with which we work closely, has just reported that their offices have been attacked with tear gas. Prisoners are being are being taken to the national stadium. The Brazilian Embassy is militarized and being buzzed with helicopter over flights.
Today the Quixote Center Accompaniment Delegation struggled in the midst of a state of siege to reach hospitals where wounded are being treated and to the stadium where detained are being held prisoners.Tonight they report that they can hear explosions from protests that are being repressed in neighboring barrios and tear gas and smoke from burning tires is filling the air.
We’ve heard from our partners within the Brazilian Embassy that Honduran troops have cordoned off a 6 block perimeter around the Brazilian Embassy. They’ve cut communications lines and have tear-gassed those inside and nearby.
The Frente Naciónal Contra el Gólpe reports that about five police stations have been taken by the Resistance. Meanwhile, in the Kennedy, in Tegucigalpa, the police are using live bullets and teargas against the crowds. Our delegation is in a nearby neighborhood and can hear chanting – “Adelante, Adelante – la lucha es constante. Forward – forward – the struggle is constant.”
