The Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras, COFADEH, sends an urgent message to the national and international community to express our deep concern regarding the official government communication issued via national TV stations, in an intimidating tone similar to that used by official radio and TV broadcasters following the June 2009 political, military coup. The so-called “Government of Reconciliation and National Unity” used state and private frequencies to repeatedly air messages regarding criminal charges for the fabrication, storage, use, or acquisition or supply of arms, explosives or materiel for war or combat, emphasizing AK47 assault rifles, submachine guns, pistols and homemade weapons.
The surprising announcement was issued at the very moment when the population is reporting the movement of troops and approximately 2,500 police to the zone of the Bajo Aguán. At this moment the Unified Campesino Movement of the Aguán (MUCA) is involved in a negotiation process with businessmen René Morales (Nicaragua), Canales (Salvador) and Miquel Facussé Barjum (Palestinian) who have appropriated the “government” of Porfirio Lobo Sosa.
The official communication does not allude directly to the agrarian conflict in the Aguán, but it is obvious that it coincides with warnings issued by the “minister” of security, Oscar Álvarez, last Monday during the last meeting to negotiate the conflict in the Presidential Office when he repeated that the National Police could not refuse to carry out the eviction order issued by judges in the zone regarding land occupations by the MUCA.
We alert the international community that while Mr. Lobo Sosa makes political efforts to find solutions to the agrarian crisis and seeks regional recognition of his government in Managua and Guatemala, at the same time, his government deploys police and military troops to the zone as a means of pressuring and challenging over 3,500 peasant families who are in a process of discussion regarding accepting or refusing the official offer to end the conflict with the three agro-industrial businessmen mentioned.
The communiqué on arms, in real terms, is an accusation against the social and political forces that reject the criminalization of the conflicts in Honduras. This behavior is typical of the secretary for internal security who acts in concert with the Armed Forces of Honduras. It is a clear reflection of the absence of control on the part of the civilian government in state affairs.
Committee of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras, COFADEH
Tegucigalpa April 9, 2010