Written by Sandra Cuffe
Marcial Hernandez: beaten, detained & hospitalized. Photo by Sandra Cuffe.
Repression against the national movement opposing the military coup in Honduras has become a daily occurrence. All over the country, police and the army are using tactics of terror and violence to disperse protests and illegally detain demonstrators.
Nevertheless, the resistance actions coordinated by the National Front of Resistance to the Military Coup in Honduras (FNRCGE, for its acronym in Spanish) continue to grow across the nation.
On August 14, organizations and citizens from the northwestern region of the country mobilized in Choloma, blocking vehicle traffic along the highway between San Pedro Sula and Puerto Cortés, which leads to the country’s main port. Puerto Cortés has a great volume of exports, principally to the United States, of textile goods from the maquila factories in the northwestern region, as well as the fruits of the Tela Railroad Company, subsidiary of the transnational banana company Chiquita.
Soon after the highway blockade began, there was a negotiation between resistance leaders and police officials, supposedly in order to avoid yet another violent eviction. According to witnesses, a verbal agreement was made between the two parties to allow the protest to continue for another hour and peacefully disperse.
However, approximately twenty minutes after the agreement was reached, a large police presence gathered, along with some elements of the army. The police then proceeded to violently quell the protest, using tear gas and a water cannon. The demonstrators dispersed, but police ran after resistance participants running towards downtown Choloma, using brutal violence during their arrest of protesters and others, and during their transfer to the nearby police station in Choloma.
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