INTERNATIONAL LIAISON COMMITTEE OF WORKERS AND PEOPLES

July 31, 2009

The ILC hereby forwards to you the following Communiqué from Honduras:

Appeal to the International Workers' Movement,
To the Trade Union Federations on the Continent and Internationally,
To all Trade Unions in the Americas

Dear sister and brother unionists and workers in the Americas and around the world:

Honduras has been witnessing for the past 33 days horrors, repression, state-of-emergency suppression of basic democratic rights -- all of which are the result of the coup d'etat that was organized by the high military command at the behest of the large landowners and the transnational corporations.

This coup d'etat has put in place a de-facto dictatorial regime that has broken with the institutional rule of law; deposed the legitimate president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya Rosales; and interrupted the process of consulting the people via a popular referendum on the proposal to convene a National Constituent Assembly to draft a new Constitution.

The labor federations in Honduras -- together with the grassroots, human rights, peasant, indigenous, youth, and women's organizations -- have formed the National Front of Resistance Against the Coup.

Over the past two days, on July 30 and 31, the National Strike of Public Sector Workers has taken place.

On July 30, the National Front of Resistance Against the Coup carried out its protest actions, with road-blocks. The response of the police and army was to attack the thousands of peaceful protesters with firearms, wood and rubber bullets, and toxic tear gas shot down in canisters from helicopters.

We have reports that many of the protesters were seriously injured and that one teacher, Roger Abraham Villegas, received a bullet to his head and is in critical condition.

Among those injured are Carlos H. Reyes, who is co-coordinator of the National Front of Resistance Against the Coup, general secretary of the Union of Bottling Industries (STIBYS) and a leader of the Popular Bloc. Also detained is Juan Barahona, also co-coordinator of the National Front of Resistance Against the Coup.

We issue this appeal to our sisters and brothers the world over, but particularly to those on our continent:

It is in the interest of working people and democracy across the Americas to defeat this coup d'etat.

We cannot accept "solutions" that would have use place on equal footing the legitimate government of Honduras and the perpetrators of the coup d'etat.

We cannot accept the duplicity of the U.S. administration which condemns the coup, on the one hand, while supporting the perpetrators of the coup, on the other.

The defense of democracy in each and every country, the defense of workers' rights and of the very possibility to forge processes of Constituent Assemblies requires that across the continent workers and peoples support unconditionally the resistance struggle that we are waging in Honduras.

That is why we believe it is necessary to carry out a campaign directed at every government and at the embassies with demonstrations and/or sit-down occupations, as well as a CONTINENTAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY AND MOBILIZATIONS. Together we can thus promote the interests of workers on the continent and around the world.

We call most particularly on the dock-worker unions internationally so that they can organize the boycott of ships bringing cargo to Honduras.

Sisters and brothers on the continent and worldwide:

Let us join forces to demand:

* Freedom for all the detained unionists and activists!
* Down with the military coup!
* Immediate and unconditional return and reinstatement of Manuel Zelaya Rosales, Honduras' legitimate president!
* Onward toward the Constituent Assembly in Honduras!

signed by:

Joao Batista Gomes
CUT - Brazil

Carlos H. Reyes
General Secretary,
Union of Bottling Industries (STIBYS)
Honduras

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International Liaison Committee of Workers & Peoples
P.O. Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140.
Tel. (415) 641-8616; fax: (415) 626-1217.
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