Down with the coup in Honduras!

1. The army in Honduras has kidnapped and exiled its constitutional president, Manuel Zelaya, arguing that the popular referendum, due to be held on Sunday the 28th, on consitutional changes to add a call to a Constituent Assembly to the referendum to be held in November was illegal. So far, the coup has received the support of the main bourgeois forces, the parliamentary opposition, the Supreme Court and the Army with the complicity of the Catholic Evangelic Churches, who were opposing the referendum.

2. Beyond Zelaya’s intentions of seeking another term in office which are expressed in his call for a Constituent Assembly, the opposition of the main bourgeois sectors and its representatives to Zelaya’s call is a reactionary move. It is a right wing opposition that is accusing the government because of its relation with Venezuela and the countries gathered in the ALBA. The opposition is responding to the interests of American Imperialism. The character of this coup is very similar to the one attempted against Chávez by the Venezuelan reactionaries in 2002. As we are writing this declaration, Chávez has called to repudiate the coup while the Organisation of American States (OAS) still “deliberating” on the matter. The government of Costa Rica has also rejected the coup that has ousted Zelaya. For its part, the pro-imperialist press in several countries is trying to legitimate the coup arguing that the army has acted according to the law.

3. We must condemn the coup attempt and call to the widest mobilisation in Honduras and in the entire Latin America in order to prevent it. We must build solidarity with the workers and the masses in Honduras, who have already taken into the streets as a sign of protest. We must condemn the repression against them. We must demand the governments in the region to condemn the coup, not to acknowledge the acting president established by the coup and to break relations with the coup faction. In particular, we must appeal to direct action through the general strike and the mobilisation of the workers and popular masses in Honduras.

The groups who are part of the FT-CO call to actively mobilise in the entire Latin America in order to defeat the pro-imperialist coup.

Buenos Aires, Sunday 28th of June

All Eyes on Columbia: We Must Build a National Campaign to Defend the Right to Protest for Palestine

After suspending and evicting students and ordering the repression of a student occupation, Columbia University has become the ground zero for attacks against the pro-Palestine movement. What happens at Columbia in the coming days has implications for our basic democratic rights, such as the right to protest.