By
Suyapa Portillo, Pitzer College
@SuyapaPV
Women
took over the road for a peaceful march in Quebrada Seca, El Progreso, Yoro, on
November 25, 2018, National Day of the Honduran Woman. On this same road, just
a day before, protesters experienced heavy repression. People have been here almost daily protesting the
fraudulent elections of November 26, 2017. They have been met with disproportionate
force and violence from riot squads of the National Police, Military Police of
Public Order and the Armed Forces, who have harmed, threatened, and shot real
bullets at innocent people. One young man was taken out of his house without
proper warrant and falsely accused of burning a police station and taking
police gear. Unable to find the actual perpetrators of the alleged crime,
police have framed him. Contrary to the fabricated story of the police, this
young man’s only activity was his participation in peaceful street protests in
opposition to electoral fraud. Another young woman was picked up at a protest
by an unmarked civilian car. She was beaten, insulted and then thrown out of
the car in the street down the road. Other protesters have been followed by
National Police and Military Police agents after the demonstrations to their
homes, beaten, and told they would be killed, as happened to the son and
brother in law of former LIBRE congressperson Bartolo
Fuentes on November 26, 2018.
These intimidation tactics are infringing on local Progreseños right to
peacefully protest the imposition on them of a repressive authoritarian
government, which is starting to look more and more like a nascent dictatorship.
"Pare 1 minuto y proteste es su derecho Fuera JOH" Quebrada Seca, El Progreso, Yoro
Photo taken by: Suyapa Portillo
Since
the elections of November 26, 2017, there has been no peace in Honduras. The unrest is not that of hopeful, peaceful protesters who bring banners, flags and creative chants calling for the
resignation of the fraudulent president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, but rather the violence of the Military
Police and Armed forces who shoot to kill, invade homes and shoot tear gas
canisters often affecting children and the elderly. Far from a true democracy,
the government regime has sought to repress civilians’ right to peaceful protest,
a protected value alongside freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Quebrada
Seca was heavily militarized on January 20, the first day of the Paro Nacional
(National Stoppage) to oppose the illegitimate president’s swearing in
ceremony, a national strike called by those who oppose the dictatorship—the
Alliance Against the Dictatorship. The exaggerated
levels militarization that day dwarfed contingents of protesters and local
citizens in El Progreso and the nearby Valley of Sula. In this context, the taking of Quebrada Seca
by young and elderly women on Honduran Women’s Day has special significance.
Women
have had to fight for any political and labor rights they have in Honduras,
including the right to vote. This is why many are unhappy their vote was stolen
by Juan Orlando Hernandez. They are confident in their claims, even if ample proof of vote rigging and Nationalist
Party intimidation tactics,
doctoring of voting documents, and plain force and repression have not
convinced the US State Department, nor the Organization of American States, to invoke
the Inter-American Democratic Charter, demand due process in Honduras, call
for annulment of the elections and a new electoral process, with full civil
society participation as well as international observers.
Resident of Quebrada Seca shows International Observers real bullet casings shot at them the night before during protest. Photo by: Suyapa Portillo |
November
25, 2018 marked 63 years since women in Honduras gained suffrage. Though they
won the right to vote in 1955, they did not vote until the election of 1957,
when President Ramon Villeda Morales was elected, the first Liberal President
since the dictatorship of Carías Andino, and his hand-picked successors. Since 1955, women in Honduras has been
important social actors in every ambit of society, yet Honduras remains one of
the most violent countries to be a woman.
The feminicide rate soars as
does impunity, where apparently most of these cases remain in file
cabinets. Now, with the current electoral coup (as many local women call the illegal re-election of Juan Orlando Hernandez), many Feminist groups consider their situation dire. Women are
employed mostly in the informal economy, including maquiladoras, which are
non-union and enforce no-pregnancy and negative HIV test to hire workers.
Military Police for Public Order, National Police and DPI Investigators stationed on both sides of street during peaceful protest. Photo by: Suyapa Portillo |
Locals
ascertain that they were not physically harmed on that day only because of the
solidarity of international observers, a delegation of 50 North American clergy members, Jesuit priests, pastors, ministers
and affinity groups accompanying local Jesuit
Radio Progreso. On
January 27, 2018, the inauguration of Juan Orlando Hernandez, took place with
no international dignitaries present. Even more noteworthy, 5 rings of
security, including National Police, Military Police and the Armed Forces,
created a fortress around Juan Orlando Hernandez in the National Stadium, where
he was installed as president of the people he was keeping at bay. The event was underwhelming and overshadowed
by protesters courageously taking the streets to express their discontent
in the face of vicious military response against unarmed citizens. While National TV and Radio stations were
forced to play the ceremony live, over 80% of the population throughout the
country protested, took over streets, and made their voice heard using creative
protests tactics chants and posters that in invalidated the inauguration. Honduras’
future remains in the balance as the various social movements align in one
concrete demand: #FueraJoh.
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