Roger Abrahim Vallejo has died. Shot in the head by Honduran police on Thursday, he was a high school teacher who recently had married and become a father. He slipped into a coma and died on Saturday morning.
On Sunday, as he was returning home from Vallejo's funeral, Martin Rivera, also a teacher, was stabbed 27 times.
Teacher's union leader Milton Bardelas told the http://hablahonduras.com/2009/08/02/asesinaron-a-otro-docente-en-honduras>Honduran news media that the killings were part of an orchestrated campaign of intimidation against the teachers union, the largest and best organized union in the country.
Why does this matter to us? Our government is permitting the repression, after permitting the coup in the first place--if not facilitating it. Therefore this blood is on our hands. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm really tired of all the blood.
No matter what happens in Honduras in November, the military and oligarchy will have been permanently strengthened, and the forces working to improve the lot of the poor and marginalized will have been weakened through exactly these kinds of acts.
The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras is investigating reports of another death, that of Pedro Pablo Hernandez, and of an attack by soldiers and police on Jorge Avila. Meanwhile, according to Artistas Contra El Golpe, Fidel Ernesto Medina Salazar, last seen in police custody, has disappeared.
It's easy for our government to keep its current policies in place when no news of murders or disappearances shows up in our papers. Please, OSers, be vigilant and strident. Let's demand that the repression stop! Rep. Raul Grijalva is leading a congressional effort to urge the Obama Administration to increase U.S. pressure on the coup regime by canceling U.S. visas and freezing bank accounts of coup leaders. You can ask your Representative to sign Representative Raul Grijalva's letter http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1439/t/9410/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1298>here>
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Ezili Danto
the Zen Haitian
FirstAwake
David Danzig
Faith Paulsen
Lainey
Salon.com
Comments
I have a friend from a playwriting group who is working on a play about Haiti and is desperate to go there or otherwise fill out her knowledge. I'll send the information you've provided along to her.
It's great that you're on OS.
I've rated this piece and also added you to my favorites. Thank you for the comment on our position paper to Obama. I've also ask my Representative to sign on to the Grijalva letter pursuant to your link above. The Honduras coup resonates and indeed, like the last two Bush coup d'etats in Haiti, 1991 and 2004, such events only strengthens the repressive military and ruling/tyrannical Oligarchs. Haiti doesn't get media attention and the blood continues to pour for us, unhindered by any world outrage...Our struggle continues. Thank you for expressing solidarity. I enjoyed reading your bio and saw we share much in common. Ezili Danto