Vigil Thursday 12-1pm, Downtown Federal Bldg

Honduran elections held by the coup government have been called a fraud by the Honduran people. Estimates from 52% to 65-70% of Honduran voters boycotted the election.  Latin American governments including Venezuela and Brazil called the elections illegal. In a flip flop, the US State Department recognized the elections after first saying they would not recognize them unless President Zelaya was reinstated. Two days after the elections, the Honduran Congress announced it would not reinstate President Zelaya to serve out the rest of his term which ends in January.

 And in Haiti, the coup government there has banned candidates from Fanmi Lavalas, the party of beloved President Aristide who was kidnapped by a US-backed coup in 2004, from running in legislative elections scheduled for February 2010.  In an unprecedented victory for grassroots organizing, over 90% of Haitian people boycotted elections last summer after Fanmi Lavalas candidates were banned from running.

Latin American governments have rightly condemned the coup and the illegitimate elections in Honduras. Brazil has provided refuge for President Zelaya. But some of the same Latin American governments have been collaborating with the occupation of Haiti. The UN occupying forces are headed by the Brazilian military and include troops from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay.  As Latin American governments are opposing the coup in Honduras, we call on them to also stop collaborating with the coup in Haiti. 

Come stand with the people of Honduras and Haiti at this critical time.  From Haiti and Honduras to Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine – Occupation is the Crime. 

For more of the latest news, Sojourner Truth’s host Margaret Prescod has been covering the coup in Honduras and the resistance against it regularly, as well as the Haitian people’s ongoing resistance to occupation.  For more on the elections from Honduras, as well as the banning of Lavalas candidates from Haiti’s next election, listen to the Sojourner Truth show for December 1^st and 4^th. To hear the shows, go to www.KPFK.org, click on Archives, scroll down to Sojourner Truth and click on those shows (available for 90 days after the original broadcast).

Honduran elections held by the coup government last Sunday have been called a fraud by the Honduran people. Estimates from 53% to 65-70% of Honduran voters boycotted the election.  Latin American governments including Venezuela and Brazil have called the elections illegal. In a flip flop, first the US State Department said they would not recognize the election unless President Zelaya was reinstated, and then last month they said they would recognize it.  

And in Haiti, the coup government there has banned candidates from Fanmi Lavalas, the party of beloved President Aristide who was kidnapped by a US-backed coup in 2004, from running in

legislative elections scheduled for February 2010.  In an unprecedented victory for grassroots organizing after Fanmi Lavalas candidates were banned from running in elections last summer, those elections were boycotted by over 90% of Haitian people.  

Latin American governments have rightly condemned the coup and the illegitimate elections in Honduras. Brazil has provided refuge for President Zelaya. But some of the same Latin American governments have been collaborating with the occupation of Haiti. The UN occupying forces are headed by the Brazilian military and include troops from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay.  As Latin American governments are opposing the coup in Honduras, we call on them to also stop collaborating with the coup in Haiti.  

Come stand with the people of Honduras and Haiti at this critical time.  From Haiti and Honduras to Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine – Occupation is the Crime.

For more of the latest news, Sojourner Truth’s host Margaret Prescod has been covering the coup in Honduras and the resistance against it regularly, as well as the Haitian people’s ongoing resistance to occupation.  For more on the elections from Honduras, as well as the banning of Lavalas candidates from Haiti’s next election, listen to the Sojourner Truth show for December 1^st. To hear the show, go to www.KPFK.org, click on Archives, scroll down to Sojourner Truth and click on those shows (available for 90 days after the original broadcast).

They are part of the Honduran Justice Tour speaking in LA about the coup in Honduras, the Honduran people’s resistance and efforts to win constitutional reform.  People's resistance -- through marches, pots and pans demonstrations, general strikes -- and international pressure forced the coup government to agree to reinstate the democratically-elected president Manuel Zelaya.  But his reinstatement, made conditional on a decision by Congress which passed it on the Supreme Court, has not taken place.  Honduras is still under military occupation