According to a report by The Real News Network, Honduras has pretty much been forgotten by the international community. Now that the United States has endorsed the coup and the subsequent piloted presidential election, the international community is acting as if everything is back to normal in the small and poor Central American country. This could not be further from the truth, and the Honduran people and political dissidents have been subjected to intimidation at best and outright assassination at worst ever since the June 28, 2009 military coup which ousted president Manuel Zelaya.
In the report we learn how ten political dissidents have already been killed since Pepe Lobo has been inaugurated as president. Among those killed was Claudia Larissa Brizuela, daughter of resistance leader Pedro Brizuela. She was assassinated in her own home in San Pedro Sula on February 24, 2010. It was the day of her 36th birthday, and the day before a planned demonstration in Tegucigalpa which had been organised by the FNRP (Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular, or National People's Resistance Front).
On the positive side, it looks like sensible tourists and divers (Honduras' Bay Islands are a prime diving destination) around the world are speaking out with their wallets against the silence of their own governments. A few days ago, I received a 2 for 1 email offer from Anthony's Key Resort, one of the biggest resorts in Roatan, Honduras. If they need to send out offers like this in April, they must really be hurting. Hopefully, this kind of voluntary boycott by conscious tourists around the world will translate into a more proactive approach by the international community.
Cross posted on Daily Kos.
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