As a grassroots organization committed to the self-determination of all peoples and communities, and thus in support of transparency and inclusion in democratic processes, the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN) expresses its concern for the current developments in the Honduran national elections.
The Central American nation is notorious as a drug trafficking trade route and for having the highest homicide rate per capita since the 2009 coup against democratically-elected and popular leader Manuel Zelaya. It is now also earmarked for large trade investments from Canada. With this in mind, two MISN organizers – Monica Gutierrez and Raul Burbano – participated in a delegation to Honduras that started on November 18th organized by Common Frontiers. Raul stayed in the country as an international observer to the national elections.
On Sunday evening of November 24th, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) projected Juan Orlando Hernandez in the lead with 34% of the vote. It did so with only approximately 54% of the votes tallied and with no indication of where those numbers came from. By Monday afternoon, a day after national elections took place, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) [1] declared Juan Orlando Hernandez of the conservative National political party as the winner of the presidential election, with 35% of votes still outstanding. National newspapers reported congratulatory calls from presidents of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia and Spain. On Monday evening, the TSE went silent and their website appeared to be down [2]. This arouses great suspicions in the context of grave irregularities witnessed by international observers from various groups.
In the days leading up to the elections, there were numerous reports of intimidation by Honduran security forces. Masked men with guns who were presumed to be military police surrounded LIBRE party headquarters in the Kennedy neighbourhood in Tegucigalpa. On the night of November 23, Maria Amparo Pineda Eduarte, a peasant leader of Cooperativa el Carbón, a member of the Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC), and president of a polling station for the LIBRE party in Cantarranas was assassinated along with Julio Ramón Araujo Maradiaga after leaving a polling station training [3]. Groups such as the Honduran Solidarity Network, The Observatory of Violations of Human Rights and Women’s Resistance, the Committee of the Relatives of the Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH), The National Lawyers Guild, The Citizen’s Platform of Youth of the Center of Studies for Democracy (CESPAD), international observers, independent reporter Jesse Freeston [4], Berta Caceres, of the Indigenous Council of the Council of Indigenous and Popular Organization of Honduras (COPINH) [5] and Canadian-based delegations all reported incidents of intimidation, bribery, coercion, irregularities, and inadequacies that point to fraud. The Common Frontiers delegation has also reported irregularities and have voiced their concern through a Press Release [6].
When analyzing the current situation, it is puzzling that after auditing Honduras’ electoral system, the Organization of American States (OAS) Electoral Observer Mission reached the conclusion that the system was reliable and that there is little chance of fraud [7]. Lisa Kubiske, the United States ambassador in Honduras and Ulrike Lunacek, head of the European Union observer mission also vouched for the electoral process stating that the vote and the latest counts were regular [8].
Canadian investment has played a large, mostly unfavourable role in the human rights situation in Honduras. Resource extraction projects such as Goldcorp’s mines in the Siria Valley [9], Gildan’s large-scale maquila industries [10], and mega tourism projects that infringe on Garifuna territories [11] exemplify the lack of respect for sovereignty and virtually inexistent free, prior, and informed consent. This is further encouraged through the recently signed Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Honduras which has been widely criticized as promoting private interests and weakening the sovereignty of Honduran institutions. As Stacey Gomez, Program Officer, Americas Policy Group writes, “Canada can, and should, play a more constructive role in Honduras.” Instead, Canada is currently “amplifying trade and investment in a context in which there are no legal or democratic guarantees for those who may be adversely affected” [12]. In an open letter to the presidential candidates, Amnesty International pleaded for them to prioritize human rights in their political campaigns. In recent years Indigenous leaders, peasant leaders, LGTBQ activists, justice officials and journalists, “have been the target of abuse and human rights violations”. Social organizers and human rights defenders suffer threats, attempts, surveillance, violence and face potential kidnappings or murder [13].
Given the gravity of the current situation, and the importance of these elections after the 2009 coup, we call for solidarity with those who are raising questions concerning the election results. We call on national and international solidarity and human rights organizations to continue close scrutiny of the ongoing count, backstage negotiations and the discrepancies observed by national and international observers. We also demand respect for the democratic process, for intimidation and obstructions of suffrage to be properly documented and investigated, and for human rights to be upheld through this process.
[2] http://siede.tse.hn/escrutinio/index.php
[3] http://www.laprensa.hn/sucesos/policiales/428199-96/simpatizantes-de-libre-mueren-en-emboscada
[4] http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/honduran-elections-live-blog
[6] http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/#Nov25_13
[7] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdwMhCaDY24&feature=youtube_gdata
[8] http://world.time.com/2013/11/24/vote-count-begins-as-hondurans-choose-president/
[10] http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/taxonomy/term/312
[12] http://www.mediacoop.ca/fr/blog/common-frontiers/19599