Indigenous Hondurans demand asylum in Guatemala embassy

[Judi Lynn]

Indigenous Hondurans demand asylum in Guatemala embassy
Posted : Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:17:07 GMT
By : dpa

Tegucigalpa, Honduras - A group of 12 indigenous Lenca Indians entered Guatemala's embassy in the Honduran capital Tuesday, demanding political asylum, news reports said. One of the protestors, Salvador Zuniga, said that his people, who are opposed to the ouster of president Manuel Zelaya, were being suppressed by the de-facto government of Roberto Micheletti.

Zuniga is a leader of the Lenca, Honduras' largest group of indigenous people.

Talks between the two opposing government factions were to begin Wednesday in Tegucigalpa under the mediation of foreign ministers from the Organization of American States.

Small-scale protests by Zelaya's supporters followed a decision by interim leader Micheletti to lift a decree limiting freedom of movement and freedom of expression.

More:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/289017,indigenous-hondurans-demand-asylum-in-guatemala-embassy.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. "Indigenous request political asylum in Guatemala."

OAS Commission in Honduras
October 7, 2009 |

HAVANA TIMES, Oct. 7 - The following is a report from Honduras from the website rel.uita.org, with photos by Giorgio Trucchi.

Dialogue with Wolves

Campesinos continued struggling for their freedom on eve of the arrival of the OAS mission. Indigenous request political asylum in Guatemala.

Expectations are growing in Honduras with the arrival of the delegation of OAS foreign ministers and the initiation of dialogue, though its content remains contradictory and uncertain. Meanwhile, the victims of repression -who continue struggling for their freedom after more than 101 days of resistance-, have intensified their efforts with the recent repeal of the executive clampdown on civil rights imposed by the de facto government.

Early yesterday morning, October 6, the Court of Oral Appeals of the Supreme Court of Justice in Tegucigalpa was the scene of the trial begun against 51 of the 55 people belonging to the three main campesino confederations of Honduras. They were evicted by the police and the army after a peaceful three-month takeover of the facilities of the National Agrarian Institute (INA).

Accused of sedition against state security, 38 men have remained in jail for more than one week on a hunger strike after having declared themselves political prisoners. At the same time, preventive measures were taken against five adult women, six elderly individuals and two minors.

The judge who ordered these provisional measures at the same time released four INA workers who are members of the Union of Workers of the National Agrarian Institute (SITRAINA), an organization affiliated with UITA.

According to defense attorneys for the 51 individuals, there are sufficient grounds for their cases to be definitively dismissed; however, they are concerned that reprisals will be taken against their defendants to thwart the resistance movement against the coup.

More:
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=14787