TORCHES AND HUNGER STRIKES

Jorge Varela Márquez / Goldman Prize 1999

Demonstrations by a people lit with torches and hunger strikes to protest corruption are becoming more numerous throughout Honduras. The protests are led by the "Indignant Youth Against Corruption" and its demands are: The establishment of an International Commission Against Impunity in Honduras (CICIH), because they have lost confidence in President John O. Hernandez (JOH) and many are demanding his resignation as a step towards a referendum or a constituent assembly. In the Public Ministry, the general and deputy prosecutors must resign because they were elected illegally and manipulate the application of the law. They also point to a Supreme Court ready to amend or repeal articles of the Constitution of the Republic deemed inconvenient with the complicity of a National Congress controlled by Mr. JOH with votes from members of his party caucus, the caucus of another party, and dissident members of the opposition, singled out to sell their vote when required.

In a week of "hunger strikes" outraged leaders of the Indignant Youth have highlighted corruption in Honduras and have attracted the attention of international media, which has forced the president to lie when he says that the Minister of Communications Ms. Hilda Hernandez --his sister-- is not a minister but a "person in charge," although she has been sworn in as such by himself in violation of article 250 of the Constitution that prohibits family members of the President from becoming ministers. The leaders of the Indignant Youth have suspended their hunger strike and re-joined planning of the movement. They are analyzing proposals for a national protest and/or a total civilian strike, etc.

The trigger for the accusations is the looting of the Honduran Institute of Social Security (IHSS) by the government party. This looting has been labelled as a genocide leading to the death or disability of thousands of patients. The stolen funds were used in the electoral campaign that put Mr. JOH in the presidency. Before that, 4 of the 5 judges of the Constitutional Chamber were dismissed so that their replacements could enact a "Law of Employment and Development Zones," which delivers territories and national sovereignty to foreigners. There is also the decision of the Supreme Court to amend the Constitution to open the way for the re-election of the president. The leadership of the Armed Forces has yet to react to this violation of its Charter that requires them to "ensure respect for the Constitution of the Republic and the alternation of power." The torch protests and hunger strikes continue...

Translation: Alexis Aguilar