Honduras today: Renewed commitment to end militarization

Delegates from El Salvador, Colombia, Cuba, Costa Rica,  Brazil,  United States, Italy, Spain and Canada are in Honduras this week in response to an urgent call for solidarity issued by the Continental Campaign Against Military Bases, of which the Fellowship of Reconciliation plays a very active role. A three-day mobilization against military bases and in resistance to the criminalization of social protest was organized by Honduran activists to commemorate the second anniversary of the June 28, 2009 military coup.  

At their gathering in the Aguan town of La Esperanza, the Honduran groups issued a statement expressing their renewed commitment to work against militarization. The participants will carry out this pledge through activities such as: advocating at the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR); organizing against Honduras’s newly-mandatory military service; campaigning for a boycott of junk food and coup supporters’ businesses; prioritizing art as a tool for nonviolent resistance; and reclaiming October 3 as annual day to mark the power of the Honduran People, not the might of its army.   

Militarization was identified as a strategy for generating immense wealth for war-lords but more poverty and violence for the people; not only in Latin America, but also the United States. Furthermore, international solidarity was highlighted in the La Esperanza Declaration, considered “vital” for maintaining the resistance, “in spite of death and violence that threat [the Honduran resistance] faces.”  

See the list of events planned in the United States. If you are in Washington, New York, or Chicago, come and join the activities planned for today.