by the National Labor Committee
The military coup d’état in Honduras is a dangerous step backward for Honduras and threatens democracy across Central America.
Democracies thrive only when democratic institutions operate peacefully and under the rule of law. The military coup against Honduran President Manuel Zelaya brings back terrible memories of the 1980s when the Honduran military killed, disappeared, and tortured thousands of its people during “Reagan’s war.”
When New York City mayor Michael Blumberg and the New York City Council recently took steps to extend their two-term limit so that they could run for office again, citizens who opposed this went to court to have the term extension overturned. The case is still in the courts. There was no coup by the New York City police or the U.S. military. And New York City’s population of 8.3 million is far larger than that of Honduras.
The NLC strongly urges the following steps:
1. All U.S. military aid to Honduras should be immediately suspended.
2. Honduras, a member of CAFTA, is among the largest exporters in the world of garments to the U.S., with U.S. companies importing $2.6 billion worth of apparel in 2008. The NLC calls on Wal-Mart, Fruit of the Loom, Russell, and the dozens of other major U.S. retailers and apparel firms sourcing production to Honduras to go on record publicly opposing the military coup and insisting on a return to peaceful functioning of the country’s democratic institutions.
President Manuel Zelaya has supported the rights of trade unions in Honduras, which is one of the reasons the wealthy businessmen and oligarchs are so anxious to remove him from office.
MR Zine for more