Honduran dictatorship, Day 30

Congratulations to RAJ and Adrienne for a job well done. The resolution to the American Association of Anthropologists passed:

AAA Approves Honduras Resolution

Dear AAA Member:

As the Secretary of the American Anthropological Association, I am pleased to report to you the results of our latest ballot initiative. At the most recent annual meeting, a resolution was adopted at the business meeting by a quorum of members. This resolution, in short, asks that the AAA denounce the current human rights violations and support Hondurans that have resisted and continue to resist the June 28, 2009 military coup in their country. The resolution also calls for the support of efforts by progressive forces to facilitate a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis.

Just over eight percent (8%) of the membership voted on this ballot, and the ballot passed, with 656 members voting in support and 166 voting against. Based on the passage of the resolution, AAA is now committed to urge President Obama and Members of the United States Congress to do the following:

1. Acknowledge and condemn the human rights violations that have been committed by the de facto government in Honduras since the June 28, 2009 coup d’ etat;
2. Give support to progressive forces in Honduras striving to create a real democracy and provide support not received from the international community;
3. Work with allied countries to find a peaceful and democratic solution to the ongoing crisis in Honduras; and
4. Join other Latin American countries in withholding recognition of individuals selected in a subsequent election held November 29, 2009

Voting on the resolution began January 18, 2010 and ended February 19, 2010. Full text of the resolution, along with comments provided by members, is available on the AAA blog at the following URL: http://blog.aaanet.org/2009/12/17/aaa-honduras-resolution-vote-jan-xx/

I thank you for your participation in this process, and I look forward to communicating with you all very soon.

Best,
Debra Martin
AAA Secretary

Getting 8% of anthropologists to vote may in and of itself be a feat.
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From Adrienne’s site, Arturo J. Viscarra:

Elizabeth Gutierrez Reyes is the coordinator of the National People’s Resistance Front (FNRP) for Puerto Cortés, the port city a half hour to the north of Honduras’s industrial capital, San Pedro Sula. She has also championed maquila workers’ rights through the labor federation FESITRADEH, and the working women’s collective COMUTRA. In 2009, Elizabeth spoke throughout the US regarding the sorry state of labor rights in the Honduran maquila industry.
…
On Thursday, February 11, 2010, Elizabeth’s 14 year-old daughter [name withheld] was following her usual routine when she was savagely attacked by a group of “well-dressed” adults.

As passengers began to board the bus that takes Elizabeth’s daughter home from school, an approximately 30-year old man in a collared shirt pulled her close to him and said something along the lines of, “Be careful not to scream, or I will kill you.” She noticed that he had a handgun in a holster under his jacket. Once they had their young victim isolated, the gun-toting man and several women dressed in business suits began to assault the teenager while yelling profanities at her. The violent group disparaged her mother repeatedly during the 10-15 minute long assault. The teenager immediately sensed that the ambush was related to her mother’s involvement in the FNRP.