Tag: Honduran Elections 2009: Delegation Report-backs

Letter from President Zelaya to Presidents of Latin America

Presidente Zelaya sends letter to Latin American Presidents asking them to stand firm in the defense of democracy and not to recognize illegitimate elections, “Every time a legitimate, elected government is overthrown in America, violence and terrorism win a battle and Democracy suffers a defeat.”  

From Tocoa to Tegucigalpa, “I didn’t vote!”

Tegucigalpa, November 30, 2009
Jackie McVicar, Common Frontiers Canada

After a long bus ride back from Tocoa in the northern department of Colon, we arrived in the capital today just in time to join a massive caravan organized by the Popular Resistance Front. Like the other demonstrations held since the coup d’etat on June 28, the mobilization winded through the "barrios", the neighborhoods in Tegucigalpa where supporters left their homes to show their support. This time, instead of walking, organizers decided to drive their cars in a caravan, to avoid confrontation or repression that they feared by the State security forces. Hundreds of cars and people drove through the streets honking their horns, with flags, horns and music. Both those in the caravan and people yelling support from the streets, "I didn’t vote!" showed their ink-less fingers, to show they had not been registered at a polling station where a finger print as part of your id is normally taken. Though the media is reporting record high turnouts for Sunday’s election, no one is buying it. One woman I interviewed who didn’t want to be identified because of fear ("if they see my picture, they [the military] will come after me"), said, "I have over 150 people in my [extended] family and not one went out to vote."