HONDURAS UPDATE AUGUST 2 2009

By Emile Schepers

There were not huge new developments over the weekend, but the clock is ticking. Here is what I have for now:

1. ADDITIONAL FATALITY FROM REPRESSION OF TEGUCIGALPA DEMONSTRATION. The body of another schoolteacher, Florencio Rivera Barrientos has been found in Tegucigalpa, with 25 stab wounds. Mr. Rivera had been arrested after a memorial service for a colleague, Roger Vallejo, who had been fatally wounded in a demonstration last week. The teachers' union in Honduras has strongly supported the return of president Zelaya and has been on strike since the coup. The US press is saying there have been 3 fatalities of Zelaya supporters since the coup, but others say there have been up to 9, excluding the possibility that there are ones nobody knows about yet.

2. OBAMA REPEATS DESIRE FOR ZELAYA TO FINISH HIS TERM. President Obama, interviewed by the Spanish language U.S. TV network UNIVISION, reiterated on Sunday his wish that president Zelaya be returned to power to finish out his term, and that clean elections be held in Honduras. He also repeated the position articulated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Zelaya's movements toward crossing the border are not useful and that every effort should be made to work through the Costa Rican mediation process (which, however, has bogged down due to Micheletti's refusal to consider a return of Zelaya). Much of the Latin American left in and out of power is suspicious of the mediation by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias, because they don't like Arias for his support for neo-liberalism and his anti-communism, and because they strongly suspect that the Arias mediation is designed to, or at least has the effect of, running out the clock on Zelaya and making sure that the November 29 elections (which Micheletti wants to reschedule for earlier) can go forward without the participation of left wing candidates, i.e. merely be between the candidates, already selected, of the two right wing parties, the Liberal Party and the National Party. This means that the eventual return of Zelaya is not the only issue at play here, and explains the haste and urgency of the Honduran left.

3. DEMONSTRATIONS, BOYCOTTS PLANNED. The National Resistance Front Against the Coup is calling for an international boycott of Honduran products. New demonstrations will be organized in the coming week.

4. THERE WERE NO NEW SIGN-ONS FOR H RES 630 TODAY. We have to keep contacting our representatives on this, as well as finding ways to keep the Honduras issue in the eye of the public.

All for now, more Monday Aug 3 2009