Statement by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN)
CONDEMN THE COUP IN HONDURAS:
The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN) strongly condemns the undemocratic coup conducted by a small group of military, members of the oligarchy and their political agents in Honduras. The violent kidnapping and expulsion to Costa Rica of democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya is a ruthless attack on the rights of the Honduran people to freely elect their own leaders, and decide their own political future.
The pretext for the coup was no more than the president's plan for a non-binding national poll to determine support for a future referendum on the convening of a Constituent Assembly to recommend changes to the undemocratic Honduran Constitution, which was imposed on the country during the Reagan administration's puppet regime in Honduras in 1982. Now the congressman who organised the poll has reportedly been assassinated by the military.
The assault on the Venezuelan, Cuban and Nicaraguan ambassadors, who were trying to protect the foreign minister of Honduras from arrest by the military, is a further threat to the international Bolivarian movement for unity and social change throughout Latin America. AVSN declares that an attack on any progressive Latin American government -- especially a member of the Bolivarian Alliance for Latin America (ALBA), as Honduras is -- is a danger to all people's governments in the region.
This return to the era of military coups is a throwback to the dark past of Latin America of decades ago, and must be firmly rejected by all the peoples and governments of the world.
In particular, we call on the governments of the United States, Europe and Australia to resolutely condemn this coup, to refuse any recognition to the new, fraudulent regime in Honduras, and to cut off all military, economic and political ties with the Honduran junta.
We salute Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez when he warned of CIA involvement in the Honduran events, and when he called on US President Barrack Obama to "reject the coup right from the marrow." We also fully support the moves by the nine governments of ALBA to prepare a plan of action to combat the coup. We also note the vigorous condemnation of the Honduran coup by the Organisation of American States.
Moreover, we call on the United Nations Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to condemn the coup and completely isolate the coup-plotters internationally until President Zelaya is returned to his rightful presidential office, all Honduran military forces are sent back to their barracks and the coup-plotters arrested and put on trial for their crimes.
We pledge the full solidarity of the AVSN and the Latin American solidarity movement in Australia until the coup is overturned and democratic rights reinstalled in Honduras.
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