Honduras: The President is Back
NEWS STORY: Tomm Kristiansen UPDATED: September 22, 2009
PHOTO: REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS (ACT) — Manuel Zelaya has secretly gone back to Honduras. He is now residing in the embassy of Brazil in Tegucigalpa, after having been out of the country since the coup d’etat three month ago. The poorest among the population of Honduras has been suffering in this period. Due to restrictions of movement, they are not able to take care of their families.
President Zelaya told reporters on the phone from the Brazilian embassy that is was a long journey home. "I was travelling for around 15 hours using different routes and different methods of transport to arrive here and call for dialogue, which is my role as the elected president of Honduras," he said. Several thousand Zelaya supporters gathered outside while a military helicopter clattered overhead.
Zelaya's surprising comeback has increased political pressure on the country's de facto ruler Roberto Micheletti to find a political dialogue - and has also increased the risk of more violence. A national curfew was declared after the news of Zelayas comeback was broken.
ACT members closing office
ACT International member DanChurchAid and Christian Aid closed down their offices Tuesday as the social ambience and political situation in the capital was tense and insecure. The curfew, set by the regime on Monday, is now extended. “The next days will show if the political crisis can be solved in a peaceful way”, says DCA-coordinator Katja Levin from Central America.
Hope for change
Katja Levin also tells that there is an increasing awareness within the democratic movement in Honduras about the need for constitutional changes that can further a more democratic and just society. "The positive aspects of the actual crisis are that a lot of Hondurans are no longer passively sitting and looking at corrupt politicians and an elite that is still getting richer. Now the Hondurans have grasped the opportunity and the courage to react and to think that a change is possible,” says Katja Levin from Central America.
Critical media off the air
ACT members report that military forces started relocating people from houses opposite the embassy of Brazil. The situation in the capital was calm Tuesday afternoon, but people are afraid of further violent confrontations. Communication has been interrupted and critical media taken off the air. Collaborators of ACT members are locked in their homes, while they try to keep up the communication with the world through telephones and internet.
