Take Action in Solidarity with the People of Honduras

Gather on Saturday, July 25 at 10:30 am at NW 87th Ave & NW 36th St in Miami

On June 28, SOA-trained Honduran generals overthrew the democratically-elected government of President Manuel Zelaya in a military coup.  The Honduran social movements are resisting the coup regime and engaged in daily pro-democracy protests, strikes, and civil disobedience.

On Saturday, July 25, you can join human rights activists in Florida taking action in solidarity with the people of Honduras by converging on the headquarters of the US Southern Command (US SouthCom) in Miami.

Join us and demand from the U.S. government:

• unequivocal denunciation of the military coup
• no recognition of this military coup and the 'de facto' government of Roberto Micheletti
• withdraw U.S. ambassador Hugo Llorens from Honduras, investigate his actions and the actions of US government agencies in the lead-up to the coup.
• unconditional return of the entire constitutional government
• concrete economic, military, and diplomatic sanctions against the coup regime
• respect for safety and human rights of all Hondurans
• application of international and national justice against the coup plotters
• reparations for the illegal actions and rights violations committed during this illegal coup, and
• remove all U.S. military from the Palmerola Air Base
• shut down the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC)

SouthCom coordinates all US military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean -- and is in charge of the SOA/WHINSEC (School of the Americas, renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation).

This notorious military school trained some of the worst human rights abusers, death squad, and coup leaders in the Western Hemisphere, including General Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez, who attended the SOA twice before ordering the kidnapping and forced deportation of President Zelaya on June 28.

When Your Only Tool Is a Hammer, Every Problem Looks Like a Nail

SOA/WHINSEC & SouthCom's military solutions are sowing the seeds for further repression of Latin American social movements.  Since 2001, military aid to Latin America has skyrocketed, and SouthCom definitions of terrorist threats expanded from "traditional terrorists" like gangs, paramilitaries, and guerilla groups to include "radical populists" whose only crimes include listening to their people and challenging the failed neoliberal model of development.

Evidently President Zelaya's social reforms have put him in league with the "emerging terrorist" threat known as radical populists, and the army (which is still being trained and aided by the US) removed him from power.  But the people of Honduras continue resisting and are calling for you to join them in solidarity!

Obama's military policy in Latin America is not an improvement after the Bush Era.  Though the US air base in Manta, Ecuador will close this year, the US will replace it with five new bases in Colombia with expanded missions.  You have an important chance to join our brothers and sisters resisting militarization throughout the Americas.  Please join us this Saturday at SouthCom!

The protest is sponsored by SOA Watch: South Florida; Miami for Peace; CODEPINK: Miami; South Florida Palestine Solidarity Network; the Red de Solidaridad Latinoamericana-Miami/Miami Latin American Solidarity Network.  It is endorsed by the Alliance for Global Justice; Broward Anti-War Coalition; Campaign for Labor Rights; Humanists for Peace; Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Nicaragua Network; North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA); Office of the Americas; Patriots for Peace; Florida Peace Action Network; The Green Party of Florida; Interconnect; U.S.-El Salvador SisterCities; Venezuela Solidarity Campaign.

For more information and to endorse the action, call Ray Del Papa at 754-423-0051 or Linda at 305-801-0245.

Yours in struggle,
Linda and Ray
SOA Watch South Florida