Song of Loss, Song of Hope

by Melissa Cox, Colombia International Team

I first met Daira Quiñones, a courageous community leader, when I interviewed her for the National Days of Action for Colombia. She shared with me a pain so raw and an insatiable commitment to justice so deep that it permeates every facet of her being. Even in the face of threats against her own life and the brutal murders of the most important people to her, she is not silenced—she continues to speak out against the assaults on humanity. Since hearing her story, I have not been able to get it out of my mind. I hope that you can’t forget it either. Do not let her stand alone.

To hear her story check out her video blog below or read Fleeing the Guns of Big Business.

Courageous and Organized People

by Gail Phares, WFP Southeast Regional Organizer

On January 22nd, I returned from a ten-day visit to Colombia. Our Witness for Peace delegation visited an Afro-Colombian community called La Toma as well as two indigenous communities, Honduras Reserve and Cerro Tijeras. They asked us to come and listen to their stories. All of these communities live high in the Andes Mountains and have been threatened by paramilitary death squads that are closely tied to multi-national corporations. Their land contains gold, emeralds and other metals.

We met courageous and organized people, many of whom live under death threat. In the Cerro Tijeras community ten indigenous leaders were assassinated in December and January. A number of indigenous leaders in the Reserve Honduras have been killed in recent months and many more live under threat. Jose Goyes - former Governor of the Honduras Reserve survived an attempt on his life and now lives with his family on the edge of Bogotá. The paramilitaries burned down his home. The people told us that they believe that large multi-national corporations want both the Afro-Colombian and indigenous lands for mining. They told us powerful stories and asked us to return home to tell our members of Congress of the threats they are enduring. We were told that there is total impunity in Colombia.

The Indigenous Guard who protects their communities through nonviolent tactics carrying a staff accompanied us. We had 30 indigenous guards accompany us up to Cerro Tijeras as a means of offering us protection.

We met with a number of women who are victims of State Sponsored Violence. Their husbands or brothers were taken by the military, killed and then dressed in guerrilla uniforms. They call these cases false/positive. There is almost total impunity for both Colombian military and paramilitary accused of serious crimes. Our last day in Cali, we attended a trial of one of the officers accused of state sponsored murder in order to show solidarity and support to these women. Dozens of soldiers armed with Uzi’s streamed out of the courthouse while we stood there. Witnesses in these trials are often threatened with death.

Two human rights workers we met, Alberto Bejarano and Juan Pablo Ochoa, are being accused of sabotage and conspiracy even though there is no evidence against them. They supported sugar cane workers during a 2008 strike in Valle de Cauca. They told us,” To accompany workers in their struggle is not a crime." In late January they were scheduled to go on trial.

Finally, on our last day in Colombia, we had a powerful meeting at the US Embassy in Bogotá. We told the human rights officer and a U.S. AID worker of the human rights violations we had observed and of the threats that both Afro-Colombian and Indigenous leaders are enduring.

People in Colombia are alarmed at the announcement that the US will be building seven military bases there. We were told that this violates Colombia's sovereignty and is seen as a threat to Colombia's neighbors. At the U.S. Embassy we said that we had hoped the Obama Administration would refocus U.S. Latin American policy. We stated that even before President Obama named an Ambassador or Assistant Secretary of State for Western Affairs, the ten-year contract for seven bases was announced. What a disappointment! It is time to change US policy toward Latin America.

I do not know when I felt that our presence as Witnesses for Peace was more needed and appreciated. I hope that our voice will be heard and that we will be able to provide solidarity and support to these courageous people. I left Colombia - inspired by these brave and organized people but worried about the future and troubled by current US Colombian policy. I believe that we should support the victims not the warriors in Colombia. The people told us, “Tell President Obama that we have social problems. We need development programs not support for Colombia’s military."

Tragedy and "Tranquility" Reveal Dual Realities in Honduras

by Galen Cohee Baynes, Nicaragua International Team

On the eve of Honduras’ “elections,” Angel Sagrado lays in critical condition in a hospital bed in downtown Tegucigalpa. After nearly twenty-four hours of delicate surgery during which doctors attempted to remove the bullet lodged in Angel’s head, he was transferred to the recovery room late this afternoon.

Angel Sagrado lays in critical condition after soldiers fired on his car on Friday night.

According to witnesses’ reports, the bullet that penetrated Angel’s skull was just one in a hail of gunfire that soldiers unleashed on Angel’s car on Friday night. As his car took a turn near the neighborhood La Granga in Tegucigalpa, Angel was surprised to find himself rapidly nearing a military barricade constructed alongside the road. He apparently attempted to slam on the breaks, but his vehicle scraped the cement barrier. At that point uniformed soldiers open fire directly on the car, putting a bullet into the back of Angel’s head. It is unclear whether he will recover from the shooting.

As Angel’s car approached the barricade, M.H. was selling food at her nearby stand. Hearing the squeal of tires and the first shots fired in the barrage of bullets, she attempted to crouch down for protection. At that point it appears that a stray bullet grazed the left side of her head. After he was shot, Angel’s unmanned car swerved in the road, smashing into a taxi. The impact of the vehicles sent them spinning onto the sidewalk, crushing M.H. and causing serious injury to her lower abdomen. She is also in critical condition in a Tegucigalpa hospital.

M.H. was injured in the same incident, likely by a stray bullet.

O.H., the sister of M.H., gave an interview on Saturday under the condition that only her initials be printed. Why does she feel the need to protect her identity? “We are afraid of the people that did this,” she says. “How can we file a complaint if it is the police, if it is the soldiers that fired the shots? My sister has three children. What will we do? She was both mother and father to these children…The police cleaned up the whole area, cleaned up all of the blood, collected the bullets.”

O.H. feels that the only place she can turn to for help in an investigation are independent human rights organizations. This is the atmosphere of terror that innocent victims of police and military violence are living under the day before the “elections” that have been much celebrated by the coup regime as a way to solve Honduras’ five-month old crisis. Those that have suffered repression or violence at the hands of soldiers know they cannot turn to the official legal institutions for justice. Indeed, filing claims could lead to harassment, threats, or much worse.

A group of election observers whisked off on a Supreme Electoral Tribunal retreat this morning were presented with a markedly different picture of pre-“election” Honduras. In Valle los Angeles, a small tourist hub forty minutes west of the capital, the officials strolled leisurely down closed-off streets and bought memorabilia at cigar and souvenir shops. Other observers paused to examine paintings at the town’s small museum. One Costa Rican delegate noted that, though he has only been in the country for two days, the atmosphere appears to be quiet and normal.

Election observers in front of a souvenir shop in Valle los Angeles

When asked about their strategy for monitoring tomorrow’s elections, delegates replied that they had not yet been informed where they will be stationed. A patrol of soldiers was assigned to secure the town while the observers were present. The de facto government has promised that Honduras’ armed forces will “ensure tranquility” during the electoral process tomorrow.

Armed Forces patrol Valle los Angeles

The heavily armed troops might signify comfort and tranquility to election observers, but tomorrow will be anything but a tranquil day for the Sagrado family.

"They are afraid of us, because we have no fear."

by the Witness for Peace Staff in Honduras

This is the mantra of the resistance movement in San Pedro Sula. After meeting many leaders and demonstrators here, we discovered that no solution to this crisis will gain popular support while the military and police repression continues, despite the media’s assertions that a peaceful resolution is near. Protestors are incensed by Micheletti’s actions and decrees including the decree banning constitutional rights and the push for elections in November.

Women from area churches gather for community and action

On Saturday morning, we participated in an ecumenical meeting, in which people of different faiths came together to share their experiences and ideas for taking action against the injustices they have seen. Thirty women sat together in a circle. They shared how the occurrences of the last few months have taken over their lives – changing their communities, congregations, work and home life. Some cried as they talked about the internal conflict they face deciding to speak out against the coup, but not wanting to put their children in harm’s way. They strategized together on ways to engage their church communities and bring a new image to the resistance to show the world that their struggle is not about Zelaya or any political party.

Over lunch Gladys told us about her eighteen year-old son. He fled to Nicaragua after police showed neighbors a picture of him at a demonstration and asked for his whereabouts. The women confirmed that they are killing young people and then claiming they were gangsters. Soldiers boast that they are “cleaning up society” with these suspicious deaths. Police took a picture of one young man holding an empty tear gas canister in his hand and changed it to a Molotov cocktail. They then put the photo on the news as a wanted terrorist.

Carolina worries about the future

Nelly told us about a young woman who, while running from tear gas at a protest, found shelter in a nearby house with a family not participating in the demonstration. The police busted in and found the woman wearing a shirt with a resistance slogan. They pulled the young women out by her hair and beat her, as well as accosted a member of the family who gave her refuge.

Later, we met with Onelia, Idealmy, and Ernesto who were exhausted after a long day of marching. They have each received death threats, but remain committed to their cause. Idealmy calmly pulled a red resistance shirt from her purse that she said she can’t wear and walk alone in public. She has seen the police taking pictures of her at the demonstrations.

Onelia lives in a secure, middle class neighborhood. On Wednesday, a curfew was in effect but her colonia decided to have a party inside their gated community, complete with volleyball, barbeques, and sparklers for the children. Their festivities were interrupted by 200 police shooting tear gas into the peaceful crowd of families, including grandparents and children. Chaos broke out. Gerald, Onelia’s son, said he was nearly shot when the police told people to go into their homes.

Onelia shares her story

While these stories were difficult to hear, we found a spirit of resistance in San Pedro Sula. They are struggling for peace, but this situation does not seem to be on the verge of resolving itself anytime soon. Political repression continues. Now is the time to stand in solidarity with the masses of Hondurans fighting for a return to democracy and their constitutional rights including freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech.

Restore Civil Liberties, Protect Human Rights

Witness for Peace joined human rights organizations and faith groups to sign the statement below.

Honduras: Restore Civil Liberties, Protect Human Rights

September 29, 2009

We call on the de facto government of Honduras to restore constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties, respect human rights and freedom of expression, accept international monitoring and mediation, and establish dialogue with the constitutionally elected administration of President Manuel Zelaya. We call on all parties in Honduras to resolve this conflict through peaceful means.

We are greatly concerned about the Micheletti government’s decision to suspend constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties through the decree published on September 26^th, 2009 in the official government newspaper. We are also concerned about the violations of human rights and freedom of expression that have taken place since President Manuel Zelaya returned to Honduras on September 21st. We call upon the government to immediately cease excessive use of force by police and military directed at peaceful protestors; arbitrary detentions; and harassment, surveillance and attacks against human rights defenders. We urge the government to cease acts of hostility and harassment directed at the Brazilian Embassy. We are gravely concerned about restrictions upon the freedom of the press, including the suspension of guarantees of freedom of expression included in the September 26^th decree and actions to cut off power to, occupy and close media outlets.

We urge the de facto government to immediately accept Organization of American States mediators, and call upon the Honduran Supreme Court and Congress to accept the request of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to conduct a visit to verify the reports of human rights abuses since September 21^st. We further call upon the government to provide access to other UN and OAS special rapporteurs to monitor the human rights situation.

Finally, we urge the U.S. State Department to advocate strongly for protection of human rights and civil liberties, and to use all diplomatic means to restore constitutional order in Honduras and support, in conjunction with Organization of American States, a process for national dialogue.

Jean Stokan
Director
Institute Justice Team, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Reverend John L. McCullough
Executive Director and CEO
Church World Service

Vicki Gass
Senior Associate for Rights and Development
Washington Office on Latin America

Robert E. White
President
Center for International Policy

Jennifer Atlee
Co-Director
Quixote Center

John A. Nunes
President and CEO
Lutheran World Relief

Viviana Krsticeviv
Executive Director
Center for Justice and International Law

Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo, Executive Minister
Michael Neuroth, Policy Advocate on International Issues
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries

LaMarco Cable
Program Associate for Advocacy and Education
Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ

James E. Winkler
General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society
United Methodist Church

T. Michael McNulty
Justice and Peace Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Sara Stephens, Executive Director
Bart Beeson, Program Associate
Center for Democracy in the Americas

Mary B. Campbell
Associate Director for Companionship, Advocacy and Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, Global Mission
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Erin Kliewer
Executive Director
STITCH

Amanda Martin
Director
Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

Eric LeCompte
National Organizer
SOA Watch

John Lindsay Poland and Susana Pimiento Chamorro
Co-Directors
Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean

Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Nan McCurdy
President
CEPHRI, Ecumenical Committee of English Speaking Church Personnel, Nicaragua

Stephen Coats
Executive Director
US Labor Education in the Americas Project- USLEAP

Kristen Moller
Executive Director
Global Exchange

Dave Robinson
Executive Director
Pax Christi USA: National Catholic Peace Movement

Rob Dzelzitis
Executive Director
May I Speak Freely Media

Laura Carlsen
Director, Americas Program
Center for International Policy

Sharon Hostetler
Executive Director
Witness for Peace

Barbara Mecker
Staff Liason, Latin America/Caribbean Committee
Loretto Community

Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee

Sarah Aird
Board Member
Amnesty International USA

Fear and Intimidation of Women

by Rachel Anderson

Micheletti’s decree last weekend stripping Hondurans of their constitutional rights is rapidly shrinking the massive marches and protests that have taken place here over the last three months. With the ever-present threats of violence and jail, many people now fear talking about the resistance in public, walking the streets, or even “looking different”. Leaders have left their homes, fearing for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Most of our partners have changed their daily routines to avoid being detained by the military or police.

Strong police presence at a peaceful protest

Alba, coordinator of the Committee of the Politically Persecuted, was at the demonstration on September 22. As she was fleeing the tear gas released on the peaceful, joy-filled crowd, she saw a policeman grab a young man randomly from a crowd and start beating him with a baton. She started to take a picture and yelled, "Don’t hit him!" Police then grabbed her, hit her, and stole her camera. She was detained for hours, enduring verbal and physical abuse. Now Alba feels she can no longer go to public demonstrations. She knows she is blacklisted and will be targeted by the police.

Blanca, Celeste, and Gabriela from the Collective of University Feminists (COFEMUN) told us their ongoing experiences of intimidation. Since July 2nd, COFEMUN staff members have noticed an omnipresent vehicle with tinted windows outside their offices and homes watching them. A pre-school opened up across the street this summer, but no children have ever been seen entering or leaving the building. There have only been security guards and other adults filming people entering and leaving COFEMUN’s offices.

Recently, as one woman left the COFEMUN office, she passed an armed soldier. He quickly blocked her way and said, "We are going to get you soon". Overnight on September 30th the power was cut to their offices and their internal security camera damaged, after capturing an image of a dark silhouette.

Finally, the women shared the chilling tale of three staff members being chased after meeting with a Witness for Peace delegation on September 6th. As they left the office at 8:30pm, a private power company vehicle without plates drove onto their bumper, trying to push them into a corner or off the street.

COFEMUN is not aligned with a political party nor is it a registered partner of the resistance. The women we met do not see Zelaya as a hero. They have simply participated in peaceful marches protesting the violation of the Honduran constitution. COFEMUN promotes women’s rights, including educating woman about birth control options and providing support for gay and lesbian groups. Earlier this year, they helped win the battle to make emergency contraception legal, which several members of Micheletti’s coup regime fought.

We continue to hear stories of women singled out by the police and military with verbal abuse, physical abuse on their breasts and backsides, and cases of rape. Another woman speculated on the sudden failure of her car brakes, right after she took it to a private auto-shop for unrelated repairs.

Blanca noted the psychological and emotional damage this intimidation has caused. “Yesterday was the first night they didn’t announce a curfew in weeks and it was the first night I was able to sleep. During the curfew the military could come and do anything they want. They could rape or kill you and no one would know. That sort of systematic intimidation takes away one’s voice and feeling of worth. It kills you on the inside.”

She despairs of the success the de facto regime has had in so quickly stripping the citizens of their rights and voices. "We are a nobody in the grand scheme of things – just a small country, with no power, economically or politically. Now that all of our constitutional rights have been stripped from us, we feel completely impotent.”

But we have not found a powerless citizenry in Honduras. In just under a week, we have met many organized, intelligent, and incredibly strong people. From this crisis, some veteran human rights organizers have noticed an ¨awakening" in a historically poor and repressed country. Over the last three months, Hondurans that have never rallied together before have united in their efforts to protect their democracy. This massive uprising was not for a politician, but for their shared country and constitutional rights.

Many leaders are especially inspired by the huge influx of young people taking an interest in their government for the first time. The older generation, organized since the 1980s, had worried about the lack of youth interested in most human rights causes. Alba noted that her organization "had a small membership made up of mainly people in their forties and fifties. Now we have many youth as young as 13 years old participating in events."

Police Detentions in Honduras

by the Witness for Peace Staff in Tegucigalpa

Agustina Flores Lopez, a 54-year-old teacher and mother, was arrested in the early morning of September 22nd as she was walking near the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa. Of the dozens who were originally detained that morning, she is one of only two people left in prison.

Agustina descibes her arrest, “While one of them twisted my arms behind me and put handcuffs on me, another was hitting me in the face and choking me around the neck. First, they took me to the Manchen prison. The Patrol had six members of the resistance there, all beaten. Then, they took me to the Chochi Sosa stadium. At first there were 11 of us detained. Later, I saw some 30 members of the resistance, beaten and wounded. Then I was taken to the CORE VII detention center."

Dr. Juan Almendares was finally allowed to visit Agustina days after her initial arrest. Dr. Almendares found her to be “in a state of deep sadness; her face was distorted. She had bruised skin in various parts of her body - face, neck, and shoulders – caused by the beatings from the police. At times, she was dizzy and lost her balance. She does not remember if she lost consciousness at times. She was confused.” Agustina has pre-existing conditions, including problems with her immune system, leaving her susceptible to infections and diseases.

Agustina, who has received national recognition for her teaching and community work, is being charged with sedition. Judge Laura Casco concluded there was “sufficient evidence” of sedition against Agustina to proceed to trial, and ordered her to be held in jail until her trial. Judge Casco determined that Agustina, if released, might incite others to insurrection.

The only witnesses allowed to speak at the hearing were two police officers who participated in the detention and beatings of Augustina and other detained. Judge Casco found that the police officers used the “minimal amount of force necessary” to detain Agustina, even though a video presented in court showed Agustina with her hands handcuffed behind her back, being beaten in her face and other parts of her body. The judge also used, as “evidence”, that Agustina said that she was a member of the resistance and that she had been exercising her rights to peaceful protest.and human rights groups and lawyers working pro-bono are trying to get her out.

Agustina's sister Bertha Caceres

Noelia Nunez, a pro-bono lawyer working on Agustina’s case commented on police action in the detainment of Agustina. They “didn’t read the accused their rights, they didn’t detain them in a proper detention center, but rather a stadium. They didn’t provide us with access to the case file or police statements and wouldn’t allow anyone to visit them. Furthermore, Agustina is being charged with sedition, which is a serious and complex crime that implies pre-planned intentions that simply are not true, especially in this woman’s case. Her only crime was being in the street, participating in a peaceful protest. We are confident that she was targeted for being the sister of Berta Cáceres, an active leader in the resistance and director of the Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras."

Mario Enrique Molina, metal-worker and father of four, was also detained and beaten on September 22nd. He and his wife are not involved in organizing the resistance, but simply participated in the peaceful march. "They just picked people off the street that were marching peacefully, for no reason." Mario was also charged with aggravated assault and sedition, but was released yesterday after all charges were dropped. He told Witness for Peace, “What they did to Agustina was terrible – I wish it could have been me instead of her. She didn’t do anything wrong and it was horrible what they did to her.”

Mario Molina shortly after his release from eight days of detention

A Struggle for Rights and Livelihood

This morning protestors gathered again at the Universidad Pedgogica to demand the return of democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya. Surrounded by even more police than the day before, the group decided not to march through the streets for the second day.

A line of police three-deep block the street

As the group dispersed, we talked to four people from Sonaguera, a city eight hours from Tegucigalpa in the countryside. Joel, Doris, Oscar, and Wilmer came to Tegucigalpa yesterday to defend the rights of all Hondurans. They feel it is their duty to “march peacefully in the streets according to their constitutional rights to fight for the respect of the rights of all citizens".

Wilmer lifted his shirt to show us various bruises and cuts on his back and arms that he sustained when nine policemen broke into his house, beat him, and arrested him a week ago. ¨I was actually happy when they put me in handcuffs and took me out, because then I would at least be around other people to witness what they were doing to me. If I was alone in my house with no one around they could kill me."

Wilmer lived for twelve years in the US, but was deported two years ago and returned to his hometown. Currently unemployed and looking for work, Wilmer believes the police attacked him after curfew hours because earlier he had been at a resistance rally at a park. The police had been there taking note of those who participated. The police falsely accused him of robbery and resisting arrest. He was thrown into a cell with 18 other people, including teenagers as young as fourteen and four pregnant women. He wasn’t released until the next day.

Wilmer and his friends all agree that it is very risky to be involved in the resistance movement, but they are proud to participate. They say they will continue even if it means they are beaten, jailed, or killed. They expressed again and again their desire for peace, progress, and the respect of their constitution. Yet, they also fear a civil war may erupt if the de facto regime stalls until the elections in November or tries to assassinate president Zelaya.

The majority of the people in Sonaguera are agricultural workers on farms or plantations growing corn, beans, vegetables, or palm oil. Doris, Oscar, and Joel are all public school teachers, each earning about $400 a month. While this is above the current minimum wage that Zelaya raised to $250 per month, the group estimates that a family needs closer to $750 per month to cover basic expenses.

"That is why we are here," Joel explained. "We aren´t here fighting for Chavez, or Zelaya, or any politician or party. We are here for the majority of poor people that live and work in the country. The majority of us own nothing, and have no way to improve our lives nor the lives of our children.”

Teachers from Sonaguera share their stories

Each member of the group expressed frustration with the portrayal of their struggle in the media. “This is a struggle for our constitutional rights, that are being violated and repressed. The crisis we are facing is due to the poverty in this country, and the fact that US business interests own politicians here. Micheletti is a puppet for those interests.”

A labor organizer from San Pedro Sula confirmed Joel´s statement that their struggle is for survival. “Ten families that represent .05% of the total population of the country, own 80% of the country´s wealth, condemning the rest of its inhabitants to poverty and misery. It is these families, in alliance with the oligarchy of the continent, that promote and sustain this treacherous attack against our people."

The Waiting

by Rachel Anderson

Today, the first day after de facto leader Micheletti announced a suspension of constitutional rights, was a day filled with tension and waiting. After a restless night, we awoke and immediately turned on channel 36 to find out what was happening in the streets. We were dismayed to find only static.

Our presence was requested at a human rights office. We went expecting the worst. Zelaya had called all Hondurans to the capital, and everyone was expecting massive repression by the police against the thousands of people organized to march, as they have for 93 straight days.

At the office, we spent more time waiting. As we sat at a small table, I looked at the walls filled with 8x10 black and white photos of Honduran citizens murdered by their government in the 1980s and 1990s. I studied their serious faces, and wondered how they faced death by their own government. Some in the office knew people in the pictures and told me details about their lives, personalities, family members,and friends. I cannot get some of the young female faces out of my head.

One woman we met at the office lost her husband in the 1980s. He was a well-known campesino leader, fighting for the rights of the people when he was disappeared. His body was never found. His wife hugged us as we left and made us promise to be extra careful wherever we go. She told us she has the same feeling in her stomach now as she did when he disappeared, twenty years ago.

Police barricades surrounded the demonstration at the university, blocking off all traffic. The many businesses nearby were either locked up with metal gates or equipped with dozens of police in riot gear. After several hours, the protesters decided not to march due to the fear created by the decree. The call went out to gather again in the late afternoon for the funeral of fallen compatriot, Wendy Elizabeth Avila.

Breathing sighs of relief that no apparent violence broke out among the demonstrators and police, we took a lunch break and went to find a pharmacy. In the business sector, life appeared to go on more or less as usual. That is, if you are accustomed to walking through a dozen armed guards to buy tampons.

Police wait outside Burger King

The hundreds of policemen gathered in the area looked bored. Some were perusing Honduran soccer jerseys for sale in the street. Others were lounging in the shade. Our taxi driver passed through an underground parking garage - vacant except for 45 black-clad policemen sitting on the curb eating their lunches with guns at their sides.

Returning to the human rights office, we were distraught to learn that earlier in the morning, two Guatemalan journalists were beaten and detained. We tried to find more information about where they were, to no avail.

We finally decided to accompany those heading to the funeral outside the city. It was after 3:00pm and we hadn´t yet heard what time the curfew would be. I found it amazing that after only three days of living with a curfew I was already programmed to know when I could and couldn't be out in public. Our taxi driver, Edwin, told us it hadn´t been announced. When I asked if he thought there would be one tonight, he laughed. He said of course there would. He was right. It began at 10:00pm.

Edwin is from Tegucigalpa but lived and worked as a cook in Texas for five years. He finally returned to Honduras last year. I asked if he had been deported like many other Hondurans were over the last two years. He smiled and said, "No, I came back because I missed my three children and my country too much." I asked him how the current situation has impacted his job. He replied, "Well, I work every day of the week from 6:00am until whenever the curfew begins, sometimes 3:00, sometimes 6:00, sometimes 10:00. This is definitely impacting all working people and the businesses here. I work whenever I can, and with the curfew, not only can I not work, but the traffic is so backed up. Even when they announce a 6:00 curfew at 5:00, I can´t get to my home until 8." Edwin does not want to be caught by the police after curfew. He eagerly asked us if we had journalist credentials, because then he could drive past curfew.

When we arrived at the modern cemetery nestled into a large hill, we watched as busloads of mourners approached. When Wendy´s body was laid to rest, all sang the national hymn with raised fists in the air. Then a dozen or more motorcyclists honked their horns and reved their engines for a few minutes in salute. Dramatically, the sky quickly turned to black, and the rain came fast and hard. We ran to our taxi to avoid getting soaked and headed back to the city.

Mourners raise their fists for a fallen friend

The drive back was equally surreal. The sunset beautifully back-lit the low clouds and mountains surrounding Tegucigalpa with shades of orange, pink and violet. But, an unsettling feeling remained, one I still can´t quite place. It is a mixture of fear and impatience and frustration. It is the waiting. The waiting for the repression and fear to end. The waiting for meaningful dialogue to take place. The waiting for the curfew to be lifted, and the waiting for a solution to this complex and hostile situation.

In the car, Edwin somberly told us, "We have a legend here. If it rains while someone is being buried, it means that something worse is yet to come. It is not a good sign."

Our compañeros fear the worst repression is yet to come, while they continue to document the human rights abuses that have occurred over the past week. When we returned to the hotel, we received a call that eight more innocent people had been arrested on false charges. Unable to talk over the phone about it, we agreed to meet our contacts tomorrow to get the details. The waiting continues.

Constitutional Rights Suspended in Honduras

by the Witness for Peace Staff in Tegucigalpa

Police enter the blockade surrounding the Brazilian embassy.

Last night President Manuel Zelaya called for a massive mobilization of peaceful protests on Monday. Speaking from the Brazilian embassy where he has been taking sanctuary since his return to the country last week, Zelaya asked Hondurans to come together in the streets of Tegucigalpa in a show of support for the constitutional leader.

In response, Roberto Micheletti, the head of the de facto government has called a state of emergency suspending all constitutional rights for the next 45 days. This executive decree prohibits all unauthorized gatherings, any speech against the coup and media stories that do not agree with official pronouncements. The military continues to clear the streets every night with a curfew that begins at a different time each day, and lasts until 5 or 6 in the morning.

The human toll of the coup continues to grow. Wendy Elizabeth Avila, a 24-year-old student, died yesterday from complications caused by the gases released in the Brazilian embassy on Tuesday. A doctor allowed inside the embassy reports that more than 80 people continue to suffer from the effects of the gas with nosebleeds, sore throats, and signs of internal bleeding.

Protesters confined inside the Brazilian embassy since Tuesday

Diplomatic relations with the de facto regime have further deteriorated. The de facto regime refused entry to an OAS delegation that arrived this afternoon to try to negotiate an end to the crisis. Micheletti has given the Brazilian government 10 days to declare Zelaya’s status or risk losing diplomatic status for their embassy in the Honduran capital. The US administration revoked the diplomatic visa of Blanca Micheletti, the coup leader’s daughter, who had been working in the Honduran embassy in Washington, DC.

Human rights leaders in Honduras are extremely concerned about the growing tensions here, and continue to call for international support. If you have not already done so, please call the State Department and White House with the following message.

"Work for the unconditional immediate reinstatement of President Zelaya. Pressure the Honduran military to stop the violence against the people and their democratically elected president, Mel Zelaya."