Let us stop spurious Pepe Lobo government repression
In August 2009, the politics of the Honduran oligarchy and U.S. imperialism was clearly to “hide” the coup, at first with spurious elections and then normalizing relations with all countries of the new illegitimate Pepe Lobo’s government.
Although the government had a weak room for political maneuvering in the beginning, it finally ran out this margin. The state is bankrupted. Not only are tens of thousands of lost jobs, but the government intends, at the lack of resources, to pay its debts with bonds.
Lobo’s strategy is to try to make working people pay the coup economic costs and to ensure that the Honduran oligarchy “withdraw” the State.
Above all, Manuel Zelaya played an unfortunate role facilitating the arrival of Porfirio Lobo to power, and, consequently, the triumph of the imperialist politics, as Zelaya prepared the ground by accepting the Guaymuras agreement. Having in view the demonstrations that are occurring, we must construct the working class independence and the resistance towards bourgeois sectors, such as Zelaya. In fact, it was shown that to Zelaya mattered most to have agreements with the bourgeoisie and imperialism than to defeat the coup by mobilizing Honduran people.
If the current government had some room to negotiate with the Unified Peasant Movement of Aguán, that margin is gone. The status in the teaching sector is the same, as trade unions, during the last month, took to the struggles and mobilizations in defense of public education, payment of back wages to thousands of teachers and also demanded the resignation of Education Minister.
We thus see that the status is the following:
1) Bankruptcy of the Honduran State.
2) Deepening of plunder measures and exploitation showed by the refusal of the Government to close the negotiations on the minimum wage and his proposal for labor reform. This Labor Reform proposal will actually destroy the working class collective rights (right to unionize, right to go on strike, right to collective bargaining), plus the delivery of one-sided contracts with the major economic groups that financed and supported the coup.
3) A new upsurge of popular movement – whose center is the workers, from both education and private sector workers.
The events that occurred in Honduras are of continental scope. If the working class, with its classical organizations, manages to defeat Lobo’s government, we will advance the defeat of imperialism in the region. Let us not forget that the coup, to run, required the joint policy of the bourgeoisie in the region, either through the agreement of San Jose, or with the current process of “reintegration” of Honduras in the SICA (Central American Integration System) and, eventually, in the OAS (Organization of American States).
Nowadays Yankee imperialism relies more on Costa Rica government to carry out their plans than in Honduras government, which, from all angles, is much more unstable. The imperialism defeated the resistance through Arias Plan. The entry of U.S. troops and ships in Costa Rica, supposedly to combat drug traffic, is another example of U.S. interest in the country. Imperialism has another very important ally in the region, since nobody forgets that Funes-FMLN government led the international and regional meetings through which Pepe Lobo’s government entered again in the OAS and SICA.
Therefore, it is more imperative than ever that the Central American working class be united and show solidarity with the workers’ struggles in Honduras. A completely new correlation of forces would open here. That is why it becomes imperative to surround Honduran people new struggles with regional and continental solidarity.
Trade unions, student associations and the popular movement in general throughout the continent should organize themselves according to four major tasks:
1) Conduct a major campaign to support the struggles of teachers and other Honduran popular sectors.
2) Similarly, to support the prep movement aiming at the creation of dozens and hundreds of committees to organize the general strike as from the basis.
3) Require the international non-recognition of Pepe Lobo’s government.
4) Require the calling for a National Constituent Assembly to re-found Honduras.
. The more repression, the more fighting!
. Central American and International solidarity to the Honduran people!
. For the triumph of the Honduran working class!
Source: El Proletario no. 5, September 2010
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Translated by: Wilma Olmo Corrêa
