International Fast in Honduras

The International Fast for Honduras began its water-only phase on October 6th, 2009. One core faster, Andrés Thomas Conteris, is fasting inside the besieged Brazilian embassy with the elected President of Honduras.

We are calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Honduras, the cessation of human rights violations by the de facto regime, and the immediate return to Constitutional order. More information about the fast can be found at http://www.ayunoporhonduras.net./

The sign in one of the first photographs in this video says in Spanish, "So there haven't been murders, murderers?" It is followed by the graphic photos (sorry) of three of those already confirmed dead at the hands of the coup regime by the time of my visit, September 5-12th. I took all of the photos in this video during that period, while in Honduras as part of a rapid response delegation with the human rights group Witness for Peace.

I intend now to fast a day for each of those confirmed dead at the hands of the coup regime thus far. Though a difficult number to pin down, I am using the figures of trusted authorities whom I had the honor to meet in Tegucigalpa, such as Bertha Oliva of COFADEH (The Committee of Families of the Disappeared in Honduras). Today is already my eighth day without food, and I plan to go at least a few days longer, and possibly more. Sadly the death toll keeps rising as more politically motivated deaths are confirmed.

If you are in the United States, please call the State Department (202-647-4000) and demand a more coherent US policy toward Honduras. Tell them to stand firmly against the illegal coup regime and their planned elections (which will be far from free or fair). Tell them to freeze bank accounts, impose sanctions, and encourage much-needed investigations in The Hague. Tell our government not to be afraid to stand clearly and openly with the strictly nonviolent resistance movement which has sprung up since the coup (the worst violence they can be accused of is vandalism), and which seeks the same stated goal as the United States government: the return to power of democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya and thus the return to Constitutional order in Honduras.

We cannot let this coup stand. It sets too ugly a precedent for the hemisphere and for the world. The era of coups and military dictatorships must not begin again in Latin America.

In solidarity (and hunger),

Nate Kleinman