2017 Delegations Announcement, Part 1 (+ flyers)

Join Witness for Peace Southwest on two delegations in 2017 to Honduras! Look out soon for additional announcements for delegations to Cuba and other locations across Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Radical Organizing Across Difference: Alternative Spring Break in Honduras

March 17th -26th 2017, Delegation Flyer

The Honduran resistance movement makes up a wide variety of grassroots organizations that are committed to creating alternatives in their country. African descendants, indigenous, women, students, union workers, alternative media outlets and other sectors of Honduran society have taken a courageous stand against the 2009 coup, corruption, impunity and injustice. Their organizing spans generations and their determination to build a more just and equitable society is inspiring.

Across movements and difference, Hondurans have come together to defend their country from state violence and corporate exploitation, their right to life and their right to sovereignty. Join Witness for Peace on an alternative spring break delegation to learn more about grassroots struggles as well as strengthen the links between U.S. organizing and Central American realities.

This delegation will:

● Meet with representatives of grassroots delegations across a variety of organizing sectors.

● Learn about the ways different groups have built coalitions across movements and the country to defend their livelihood and to build their people’s power.

● Develop a better understanding and strategize based on first-hand narratives how our communities can stand in solidarity with the Honduran people in their fight against state repression and corporate exploitation.

Cost: $1000 plus airfare from U.S. (Deposit $150 due by January 15th, 2017) Payment due February 20th, 2017). Delegation fee covers all meals, lodging, interpreters, and transportation within Honduras, along with extensive reading and activist tools. Fundraising support and scholarships may be available.

Contact: WFP Southwest Regional Organizer, Jeanette Charles at jcharles.wfpsw@gmail.com or 805-669-VIVA with questions

To apply visit: http://www.witnessforpeace.org/delegations

 

The Fight for Reparations in Honduras

June 25-July 5, 2017, Delegation Flyer

Descendants of the African Diaspora as well as Indigenous peoples across the Caribbean and the continental Americas have historically fought to repair the colonial and imperial wrongs perpetrated against their nations for centuries. In Honduras, the Garifuna, an Afro-indigenous people, have won two unprecedented cases at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in defense of their ancestral rights to land, inherent rights to cultural preservation and their livelihood. These landmark cases have resulted in clear demands for the Honduran state to guarantee the return of all the Garinagu ancestral territories and financial restitution. As Black and Indigenous movements in the US give rise to a new era of organizing, it is a critical time to reflect on shared resistance histories and exchange strategies.

The delegation will:

● Meet with representatives of Honduran Garifuna and Indigenous organizations such as the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH)

● Learn about the inspiring organizing and power that Honduran Garifuna and other indigenous movements have generated through their struggles, amidst oppression by state and economic forces

● Develop a better understanding, from first-hand experience on the ground, of how our communities and organizations stateside can be in solidarity with Honduran grassroots movements and build our own campaigns for reparations

Cost: $1000 plus airfare from U.S. (Deposit $150 due by April 30th, 2016). Full payment due May 20th, 2016. Delegation fee covers all meals, lodging, interpreters, and transportation within Honduras, along with extensive reading and activist tools. Fundraising support and scholarships may be available.

Contact: WFP Southwest Regional Organizer, Jeanette Charles at jcharles.wfpsw@gmail.com or 805-669-VIVA with questions

To apply visit: http://www.witnessforpeace.org/delegations

Witness for Peace (WFP) is a politically independent, grassroots organization. We are people committed to nonviolence and led by faith and conscience. Our mission is to support peace, justice, and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing U.S. policies and corporate practices that contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean.

 

Honduras Today: 5 Years and 5 Actions to Take for Honduras

 

Honduras Today: 5 Years and 5 Actions to Take for Honduras

student protests after elections Honduras

June 28, 2014 (declaración en español abajo)

STATEMENT AGAINST VIOLENCE AND FOR THE DEFENSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HONDURAS

FNRP-Libertad Y Refundación, LIBRE Party Department 19/US-Canada and the Honduras Solidarity Network USA/Canada

 

We Honduran immigrants, residents in USA-CANADA organized in Collectives of the FNRP / LIBRE Party, and we, members of the Honduras Solidarity Network in the US and Canada on this June 28, 2014, the fifth anniversary of the military coup in Honduras, reaffirm our commitment to continue fighting, hand in hand with our brothers and sisters in Honduras who struggle for the fundamental, urgent and necessary changes in Honduran society.

 

This June 28 we also pay tribute to the martyrs of the resistance, brave men and women, who have offered their lives to defend the right to be a free, sovereign and socialist county. We are here to tell the bloody oligarchy of Honduras, that Morazán walks with the Honduran people  and that the country will be liberated.

 

Since the brutal military coup of 2009, the suffering of the Honduran people has been exacerbated by the continuing violations of human rights, killings, state repression, mass exodus of migration (including children), theft of public funds and impunity. Honduras tops the list of the most violent countries in the world where 22 Honduran citizens are murdered every 24 hours.

 

Thousands of Hondurans have left the country in search of better opportunities, fleeing violence and inhumane living conditions, even at the risk of being killed or being mutilated by the train known as the Beast in the crossing. According to public statistics, since 2013, Honduras is the Central American country with the highest numbers of migrants and sadly also the country with the largest number of deportees from the United States.

 

This June 28, we condemn the murders of leaders and members of FNRP / LIBRE Party, the social movements and Honduran society in general and the abuses by the army and military police against the Congressmen and Women at the National Congress of Honduras on May 13.

 

We urge the National Resistance conformed by all sectors of Honduran society (unions, peasants, women, youth, students, LGBT Community, indigenous groups, Human Rights Defense organizations, Social groups, Garífuna, political parties, immigrants, intellectuals and media) to close ranks and fight together against the want-to-be dictatorship of Juan Orlando Hernández, puppet of the Honduran assassin oligarchy and international power groups conjoined with the international right.  We hold the current fraudulent regime (a continuation of the military coup) accountable for the widespread violence in the country; we demand an end to the violations of human rights, justice for the victims and punishment for the guilty.  

 

As residents of the United States and Canada we condemn the policies of those governments that have in the past and continue in the present to support dictatorship in Honduras and which, along with corporations from those countries impose their anti-people and anti-environment agendas with violence and corruption. We support the right of the Honduran people to struggle against oppression and abuse and we stand in solidarity with  them and with their organizations. 

We resist and we shall overcome!

 

5 Actions you can take for Honduras.

1. Get Educated
2. Educate Others
3. Become and eyewitness in Honduras
4. Pressure the US Government
5. Take it to the Streets

1. Get Educated- Get yourself informed on the situation in Honduras. Join a live video webinar on Honduras this Sunday June 29th at 5pm EST. Also Email us for our resource list on Honduras including articles, websites, books, films, listserves and recommended Facebook pages.

2. Educate Others- Host an event at your home, school, community center, or faith community. You don’t have to be an expert on Honduras to host an event. Show one of our recommended films or videos on Honduras followed by a discussion or contact us for a list of Honduras speakers available in your area.

3. Become an eyewitness in HondurasJoin a travel delegation to Honduras this August 11-20, 2014. Learn first hand from Hondurans about their struggles and resistance. Click here for the delegation description, application, and a list of FAQs.

4. Pressure the US Government- Just this month an unprecedented 108 members of the House of Representatives signed a Dear Colleague letter on human rights in Honduras. Because of the continuing record of human rights abuses by the Honduras military and police, members of congress have repeatedly called for a cessation of US funding to Honduran security forces.
Contact your Representatives to thank them for their signature on the June Schakowsky Dear Colleague letter or ask them to join the growing movement in congress for an end to US military and police aid to Honduras.

Click here to see the list of signers and to send a message to your representative.

5. Take it to the Streets: You can organize or participate in a public vigil, protest or memorial for the victims of the Honduran coup. Contact us for a list of victims names and photos for a memorial display or funeral procession. Go to the Honduras Solidarity Network’s website for a list of June 28th actions across the country. (www.hondurassolidarity.org).

 

FNRP-Partido Libertad y Refundación, LIBRE
Departamento 19/EE.UU—Canadá y la RED de Solidaridad con Honduras

COMUNICADO CONTRA LA VIOLENCIA Y LA DEFENSA A LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS EN HONDURAS

28 de junio de 2014

Los inmigrantes hondureños/as residentes en EEUU-CANADA organizados en Colectivos del FNRP/Partido Libre y la RED de Solidaridad con Honduras, este 28 de junio de 2014, quinto aniversario del golpe de Estado en Honduras, reafirmamos nuestro compromiso de seguir luchando de la mano de nuestros/as hermanos/as hondureños/as por los cambios fundamentales, urgentes y necesarios que requiere la sociedad hondureña.

Este 28 de junio también rendimos homenaje a los mártires hombres y mujeres valientes, que han ofrendado su vida por defender el derecho a ser un pueblo libre, soberano y socialista. Estamos aquí para decirle a la oligarquía sanguinaria, que Morazán camina con el pueblo hondureño y que el país será liberado.

Desde el fatídico golpe de Estado del 2009, el sufrimiento del pueblo Hondureño se ha agudizado, por las permanentes violaciones a los derechos humanos, asesinatos, represión estatal, éxodo masivo de migración (incluido niños/as), robo del erario público e impunidad. Honduras encabeza la lista de los países más violentos del mundo en donde 22 ciudadanos/as hondureños/as son asesinados/as cada 24 horas.

Miles de hondureños han abandonado el país en busca de mejores horizontes, huyendo de la violencia y las condiciones inhumanas de vida, aun arriesgándose a morir o quedar mutilados en la travesía por el tren conocido como La Bestia. Según estadísticas públicas, desde el año 2013, Honduras es el país de Centro América con mayor número de migrantes y tristemente también es el país con mayor número de deportados desde los Estados Unidos.

Este 28 de junio, condenamos los asesinatos cometidos contra dirigentes y miembros del FNRP/Partido Libre y la sociedad hondureña en general y los atropellos por parte del ejército y la policía militar contra los Diputados del Congreso Nacional de Honduras el pasado 13 de mayo.

Exhortamos a la Resistencia Nacional conformada por todos los sectores de la sociedad hondureña (sindicatos, campesinos, mujeres, juventud, estudiantes, profesionales, comunidad LGBT, grupos originarios, organizaciones defensoras de derechos humanos, grupos sociales, garífunas, partidos políticos, inmigrantes, intelectuales y medios de comunicación) a cerrar filas y luchar unidos frente al aprendiz de dictador, Juan Orlando Hernández, títere de la oligarquía asesina hondureña y los grupos de poder confabulados con la derecha internacional. Responsabilizamos al régimen fraudulento actual (continuador del golpe de Estado) por la violencia generalizada, corrupción e impunidad que vive el país, demandamos un alto a la violación de los derechos humanos y exigimos justicia para las víctimas y castigo a los culpables.

Como residentes de los Estados Unidos y Canadá, condenamos las políticas de los gobiernos que en el pasado han apoyado y en el presente continúan apoyando a la dictadura en Honduras y que, junto con las empresas de esos países imponen sus agendas antipopulares y anti-medio ambientales con la violencia y la corrupción.
Apoyamos el derecho del pueblo hondureño a luchar contra la represión y el abuso y nos solidarizamos con sus organizaciones.
¡Resistimos y Venceremos!