Today, February 25, 2010 marks an historic date in the struggle fortrue democracy and the respect for human rights in Honduras. Tens,maybe hundreds, of thousands of supporters of the National People’sResistance Front (FNRP) will march through the streets of Tegucigalpato demand that the largely unrecognized month-old government ofPorfirio “Pepe” Lobo halt its attacks on the peaceful Resistancemovement. The FNRP has documented at least 254 human rights violations,including murder, kidnappings and rape, since Pepe Lobo took over forthe de facto government.

Just yesterday, FNRP supporter Claudia Larisa Brizuela Rodriguez wasgunned down in her home in San Pedro Sula. Her two young children, ages2 and 8, witnessed their mother’s murder.

Claudia was the daughter of high-profile Resistance leader and Radio Uno host, Pedro Brizuela. It is believed that Claudia’s cowardly assassination is meant to intimidate not only the FNRP, but also the independent media. Radio Uno hosts, including Pedro Brizuela, have consistently denounced the abuses and corruption of the post-coup governments, and therefore have become a consistent target of threats. Yesterday those threats became violent action once again.

Please join us in calling the State Department’s Human Rights desk in order to demand that our government not continue to ignore systematic human rights violations. The United States is one of only a handful of governments that has officially recognized Pepe Lobo’s coup-stained administration, which is not recognized by the UN, OAS, and the vast majority of Latin America. The United States is dramatically impeding any progress towards international human rights by attempting to force others to legitimize the abusive government of Honduras.

Dial 202-647-4000 and ask for Human Rights Desk at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Alternately, you can ask to speak to the office of Maria Otero, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, who coordinates the work of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

Sample script:

 Hi, my name is ____________ and I am calling because I am deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Honduras. Just yesterday, Claudia Larisa Brizuela, activist and daughter of prominent member of the resistance movement and opposition media personality Pedro Brizuela, was assassinated in her home in San Pedro Sula in front of her two young children. In recent weeks, other resistance leaders have been attacked and murdered, amounting to over 254 documented human rights violations since Porfirio Lobo took power only a month ago. This represents the continuance of an ongoing policy of state terrorism and aggression that began after the July 28th coup d’etat.

The U.S. has not supported democracy in Honduras through this crisis. I understand that the U.S. split from a regionally unified position on the Honduran coup in supporting a transition that did not require the return of President Zelaya or hold any of the coup-perpetrators accountable for their actions. The U.S. also split from the majority of Latin America by recognizing the fraudulent November 29th elections that took place under conditions of martial law. While the U.S. may never repair the damage done by its anti-democratic actions around Honduras, I demand that steps be made in the correct direction. I ask that the U.S. SOTRONGLY CONDEMN the Lobo administration for continued human rights violations and call for the protection of all human rights defenders and media workers in Honduras, while cutting military aid to the country. I also urge the U.S. to reject the Lobo administration’s proposed Truth Commission, and push for an independent truth process that would thoroughly investigate the human rights violations and other crimes committed under the interim government of Roberto Micheletti, as well as the current administration, instead of simply whitewashing the coup in Honduras. NO BUSINESS AS USUAL. Thank you.”

This alert was written by allies in the Central American solidarity movement. For more information about the crisis in Honduras, please visit:
Comunicado about the murder from the FNRP:  http://quotha.net/node/723
The Quixote Center: http://quixote.org/
School of the Americas Watch: http://soaw.org/
Honduras Resiste: http://hondurasresists.blogspot.com/
National Resistance Front Against the Coup (en español): http://contraelgolpedeestadohn.blogspot.com/