Features » November 13, 2009 » Web Only
‘Blood and Fire’ in Honduras: An Interview with Mel Zelaya
As peace accord negotiations continue, the ousted president speaks from his Brazilian Embassy refuge.
By Jeremy Kryt
Soldiers and police guard the Honduran National Congress building on November 7, 2009. The graffiti in the foreground, which refers to the de facto president reads: 'Micheletti the fascist.' Thousands of anti-coup protesters have maintained a daily vigil in front of the building for the last two weeks. (All photos by Jeremy Kryt.)
'There are certain people who want to have elections, because they want absolution from their illegal actions,' Zelaya says.
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS—In late September, ousted President Manuel “Mel” Zelaya slipped back into Honduras and took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy with about sixty supporters and his family.
Zelaya has been besieged there ever since, the compound surrounded at all times by more than 400 soldiers and riot police, all waiting to arrest him should he set foot in public. The U.N. has documented the use of chemical and sonic weapons against those inside, and Honduran forces continue to keep out visitors and the press.
A wealthy rancher known for his trademark vaquero hat and eloquence, Zelaya returned to his country after three months in exile. Just after dawn on June 28 of this year, the democratically-elected leader was awakened by soldiers firing M16s inside his home, kidnapped and flown out of the country.
Zelaya had attempted to change the face of Honduran society. In less than one term in office he raised the minimum wage by 60 percent, set up financial aid for students, invented Honduran social security, and imposed strict laws to combat rampant and exploitive mining and logging.
He even went so far as to suggest reforming the Honduran Constitution, which permits a very form of weak democracy that is easily controlled by a tiny but well-funded minority of land owners and textile tycoons. On the day Zelaya was seized by soldiers, the first-ever public referendum in the history of Honduras was supposed to take place—a nonbinding poll that would’ve let the citizenry vote on whether or not to go ahead with restructuring the country’s social contract.
Although those who authored the putsch have claimed that Zelaya secretly wished to alter the constitution to extend presidential term limits, there is no evidence for this. Zelaya himself never spoke of such a thing, and there was no mention of it on the ballot for the proposed referendum.
In any case, immediately after the putsch, the military-business junta began a reign of terror against the anti-coup forces, imposing martial law, shuttering independent media, and frequently using violent methods to break up peaceful demonstrations. Thousands have been illegally detained by authorities. At least 21 people have been killed.
Two weeks ago, U.S. President Barack Obama sent a team of diplomats down to Honduras to negotiate a peace accord that would restore constitutional order in time for the presidential elections on November 28.
After a pact was signed by both parties, pundits believed the crisis had ended and that Zelaya would be restored to office—albeit with significantly limited powers and the constitutional referendum off the table—to finish out his term.
But the Tegucigalpa accord had appointed the elite-controlled Honduran Congress to re-instate Zelaya, and so far the body continues to balk, refusing even to convene. U.S. diplomats have continued to confer with both parties, but Zelaya has publicly declared the deal a “dead letter” and urged the citizenry to boycott the elections. Many Hondurans believe that elections under a military dictatorship simply can’t be fair or transparent.
When In These Times spoke to Zelaya by cell phone on Tuesday, November 10, the call often faded in and out, probably because its transmission was being jammed by the authorities. Some of Zelaya’s words were inaudible. An edited transcript of the conversation, translated from Spanish, is below.
Zelaya spoke calmly and in measured tones, with a hint of exhaustion in his voice.
In These Times: How are conditions inside the embassy?
Mel Zelaya: We have the basics of food and water—but other things are not allowed in. We’re all physically well. Our health is good—unlike that of the country itself. There are grave political problems in Honduras. Problems that are, so far, without resolution.
ITT: Are you still being harassed by forces outside the embassy?
Zelaya: The police aren’t bothering us now, but they were, and we have denounced their cowardly actions. After [U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas] Shannon’s visit, for the last two weeks, there has been less oppression against us.
ITT: [De facto President] Roberto Micheletti’s negotiating committee has just ordered Congress to convoke on the matter of your reinstatement. What is your opinion of that ruling?
Zelaya: [Inaudible]…Mr. Micheletti and his military henchmen.
ITT: Do you believe there was a secret pact between Ambassador Shannon and [congressional leader and presidential candidate] Pepe Lobo, in which Lobo promised to have you reinstated if the U.S. would recognize elections?
Zelaya: No, it never happened. That is a lie.
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