Radio Mundo Real

The popular response to the coup d’état and the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya in Honduras, has been strong and peaceful, although tension is in the air.

Nearly 500 military officers are still outside the Presidential Palace, where thousands of demonstrators are calling for the reinstatement of the constitutional order.

Workers, indigenous and environmentalists are demonstrating outside the Presidential palace, challenging the tanks and heavy weapons of the military forces. The Popular National Resistance Front has declared a national strike, and it is preparing mobilizations across the country.

Earlier today, Juan Almendares, from Movimiento Madre Tierra, Friends of the Earth Honduras, told Real World Radio some of the details of this complex situation. He was taking part in the demonstrations called by the grassroots organizations.

Even though military repression is a possibility, thousands of Hondurans have decided to take to the streets. “This shows the moral strength of the people”, Almendares said. He is urging the international community to express its rejection to the coup d’état.

The information barrier is concerning the local organizations. In the recent hours the communications workers’ union was militarized, most of the country has no electricity and the emails of many leaders have been interfered.

This leads to a fragmentation of information. The participants of the demonstration were saying that a worker has been purportedly killed and another could be on the brink of death, after they were ran over in an incident with military effectives.