Repression by Coup Perpetrators against the Honduran People Intensifies

On July 26, amid a growing political tension, the National Front against the Coup in Honduras agreed to intensify actions of peaceful resistance, until democracy is restored in their country and President Zelaya is reinstated to his post, the Prensa Latina news agency reports.

The decision was adopted during the third meeting of popular forces in that organization held for several hours at the office of the Trade Union of Workers in the Beverage Sector (STIBYS). Thirty minutes after the meeting, a bomb exploded in the STIBYS building.

A few hours after the attack with explosives, an unidentified person called the Jesuit Radio Progreso radio station to announce that former guerrilla groups in the country are only waiting for orders to act.

The short message, issued from the city of Catacamas, in the Department of Olancho, mentioned the Morazani National Liberation Front and the Cinchoneros Popular Liberation Movement, which were active in the country in the 1980’s.

Three nights ago, a person who identified himself as an officer of the Armed Forces called Radio Progreso radio station to inform on the disagreement of many commands with the orders of repressing the people.

Shortly after the rally, participants attended the burial of Pedro Mandiel Muñoz, a young man assassinated in the eastern locality of Alauca a few hours after his arrest by the police, according to denunciations made by several witnesses.

The National Front against the Coup also denounced the state of humanitarian emergency of thousands of people trapped between military posts, which prevent aid from reaching them.

Military troops and the police have closed the passing of caravans with aid for these people, as well as of National Red Cross teams and a group of 15 medical professionals who wanted to treat the diseased.

Zelaya’s wife, Xiomara Castro, demanded the head of the Armed Forces, General Romeo Vazquez, to let that aid pass the military posts, and held him responsible for any blood bath in the country. She also accused him of trying to starve to death the people who want to reach the Nicaraguan border to meet Zelaya.

The general secretary of the Unitarian Federation of Workers, Israel Salinas, also warned about the serious situation of the eastern department of El Paraíso, submitted to a permanent state of siege, he affirmed. He informed that the people will continue seizing the streets and public institutions, and carrying out demonstrations throughout the country, including a national civil strike on Thursday and Friday, agreed by the nation’s three labor unions.

Meanwhile, Hondurans marching to the Nicaraguan border to support Zelaya affirm that the coup perpetrators have also kidnapped the country’s sovereignty, Granma newspaper reports.