Editorial

Democracy betrayed again in Honduras – Urge Langevin to sign on to HR 1299: The Berta Cáceres Act

On November 26th the Honduran people seemingly had elected an opposition candidate as President, replacing the president whose party had been brought to power by military coup in 2009. The opposition candidate had a five percent lead with the vast majority of votes counted. But the corrupt government that received firm support from both the Obama administration and now Trump,

Rhode Island News: Democracy betrayed again in Honduras – Urge Langevin to sign on to HR 1299: The Berta Cáceres Act

February 15, 2018, 5:00 pm

By Erin Papa and Taylor Ellis

On November 26th the Honduran people seemingly had elected an opposition candidate as President, replacing the president whose party had been brought to power by military coup in 2009. The opposition candidate had a five percent lead with the vast majority of votes counted. But the corrupt government that received firm support from both the Obama administration and now Trump, temporarily closed the election board, manipulated results and is now indicating the current President has won.

As Americans we treasure electoral freedoms and were outraged when our own presidential election was tarnished by foul-play and outside interference. United States interference and control of Honduras goes back to the 19th century and continues today. We funnel millions of dollars of military and security aid to a government that is clearly involved in massive corruption, the drug trade, stealing of lands from indigenous peoples, and assassinations of human rights activists including Berta Cáceres. Our State Department certifies that the country is OK on human rights when the record is clear: a state of impunity exists in the country where 95 percent of violent crimes go unsolved, un-prosecuted, un-investigated or covered up.

We urge our congressional delegation to speak out for the democratic process in Honduras and end the military funding to Honduras which costs American tax-payers millions of dollars and costs Hondurans the opportunity to shape their future without outside interference. Please help us in urging Representative James Langevin to join the sixty-nine other Representatives, including Representative David Cicilline, in co-sponsoring H.R. 1299, The Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, by signing on to this petition.