Support the Honduras Solidarity Network
Dear friends of the Honduras Solidarity Network, 2019 marked the 10th anniversary of the US-backed coup d’état and the beginning of a ruthless neoliberal dictatorship in Honduras. Now, under Juan Orlando Hernández’s (JOH) regime, we have seen how the consolidated power of a US and Canada-backed narco-dictatorship has destroyed democracy, the environment, and living conditions for the Honduran people.
To violence, repression, and impunity, we respond with solidarity. The Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN) was founded not long after the 2009 coup and has been an active witness to the 10 years of the people’s resistance as we accompany the Honduran movements and organizations and fight against the policies of the United States and Canada in the region. The HSN has 29 member organizations and we are still standing strong with the Honduran people in the face of continued US and Canadian government support for dictatorship.
Our solidarity work is only possible because of your support. The US and the world need and deserve to know about the negative impacts of US and Canadian interests in Honduras. Help us get the word out. Support HSN today!
Member organizations and our coordinators Karen Spring (based in Honduras) and Vicki Cervantes (based in the US) led delegations from Canada and the US to support political prisoners, indigenous organizations, campesino communities, and to work with Honduran human rights organizations. Our coordinators have spoken at public events and with press and academics in Honduras, the US, and Canada. The HSN has also provided support to lawyers fighting asylum cases in US courts for Hondurans fleeing political persecution.
In the fall 2019, Karen Spring traveled to New York to document and publish daily updates about the trial of Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, JOH’s brother. Karen’s writing and HSN’s work helped to expose the structure of the narco-state ruling Honduras as well as the connection between neoliberal “development” projects and drug trafficking networks.
Karen also visited Washington DC to pressure US officials about the condition of the Honduran political prisoners and human rights issues in general. She also met frequently with Canadian authorities and international organizations to discuss the human rights violations committed in the context of the 2017 electoral crisis. The HSN’s efforts with other internationals in collaboration with work led by Honduran organizations achieved the release of over 20 political prisoners from pre-trial detention in military-controlled prisons. The HSN continues to provide legal support and accompaniment to all of these cases.
Also in 2019, the HSN assisted Honduran community groups to access over $15,000 in international funds that go directly to the grassroots, to the people that most need the funding and support. Maintaining a HSN coordinator in Honduras allows key information and research to reach U.S. and Canadian organizations and governments and provides strategic support for Honduran communities and organizations. For example, when activists are kidnapped by Honduran security forces, HSN is also part of an emergency response through information sharing and phone calls to authorities.
The HSN published numerous declarations and organized international social media days of action, email actions, and urgent phone actions in support of the Honduran movements. These included actions against US and Canadian support for dictatorship on the 10th anniversary of the coup; support of the campaign for justice for Berta Caceres, the Berta Caceres Human RIghts in Honduras Act – H.R. 1945, and against the assassinations of members of the Garifuna community and the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH). The HSN continues to be a part of the fight for the complete freedom of all political prisoners and an end to the criminalization of protest.
HSN – Afgj@Afgj.org
